Dale Steyn

[Rachael]

Originally Posted by Maranello

Having to play 1 or 2 balls an over? And how is that even remotely comparable to Waqar?

The similarity I saw with Waqar was more the tail-destroying ability. As BL notes, this can be valuable to a team: wrapping up innings quickly once the 5th wicket is down never hurts. That said... nothing exposes the gulf between genuine top order batsmen and tail enders than the sort of deliveries that Waqar used to produce.

I've long been of the opinion that ripping through the tail with a mix of in-swinging yorkers and viscious short balls is where being that bit faster really tells: for a world class opening bat those balls might still be challenging... but let's at least acknowledge that a top order batsman who fails to drop is hands and avoid a genuinely viscious short ball or who fails to get his bat down on a yorker should really have done better.

All of which explains my preference for Asif over Steyn: the two might compliment each other nicely... but I'd generally expect Asif (not as quick, but more likely to bowl 5-6 quality balls in an over) to get a higher proportion of top order wickets and Steyn (quicker, but wilder) to cash in rather better in terms of wickets further down the order.

[Nostromo]

My feeling is that batsmen like Bell, Collingwood and even Vaughan might have a few problems with Steyn early on in their innings. All of them have a tendency to play that half-hearted defensive stroke that is neither forward nor back when not yet settled into the innings. With Steyn's fast delivery that moves away - often quicker than the batsman expected - there is the risk of getting an edge.

[gibbs_fan]

Rachael, I do not understand your argument. Steyn has a strike rate of 37 and Waqar had the best strike rate of most of the bowlers in his era. Does the strike rate not mean that the bowler takes a wicket every x deliveries. Now my maths tell me that Steyn and Younis, needed the least amount of balls to get a wicket. Now ask yourself would you rather have a guy makes a batsman play 37 out of 37 balls and fails to get him out or have a guy who makes the batsman play 10 out of the 37 balls then gets him out. I know who I would have A wicket is a wicket. You have obviously not "watched" him bowl because he troubled the top order of both the West Indies and NZ. The ball that got Samuels would have got Bradman. Dont you remember the ball that removed Vaughn. Boycott said that the ball was so good he would have nicked it. Anyway, This guy is improving all the time and I believe that he will be a handful in England next year. I would like o see Morkel play as well. These 2 youngsters compliment each other with Morkel getting the extra bounce and Steyn getting the Swing. Both bowlers can bowl over 150km/h. Its going to be interesting next year. Now if only we can find a few decent batsman

[Seamer]

Originally Posted by gibbs_fan

You have obviously not "watched" him bowl because he troubled the top order of both the West Indies and NZ.

Sometimes, you can get an idea of someone's efforts reading crickinfo, and sometimes you actually need to watch them in action.

This guy is very good and very dangerous and in this case, the stats do not lie. I can not wait to Steyn and Pietersen go head to head.

[greg]

Originally Posted by Seamer

I can not wait to Steyn and Pietersen go head to head.

Now that is a great shout,could be one of the best contests in recent times and neither is likely to back off.

[butchering lee]

Originally Posted by seamer

I can not wait to Steyn and Pietersen go head to head.

Originally Posted by greg

Now that is a great shout,could be one of the best contests in recent times and neither is likely to back off.

KP; last 8 matches averages 38 / Steyn; last 8 matches averages 16.

As he has been mentioned in the thread, Asif's battles against KP were relatively one-sided - it will be interesting how it turns out with Steyn.

[Nostromo]

I know that it is "only" Bangladesh, but we also have to remember the games are being played on the slowish subcontinental wickets. Steyn is past 100 Test wickets now in his 20th match and that IS very impressive. It will be interesting to see how he does on the swinging English wickest this summer.

[Aurelius]

I'm looking forward to seeing him in Australia later this year, especially if he plays at the WACA. An attack of Steyn, Ntini, Morkel, Kallis and Harris will hopefully be a tough proposition for the Australian line-up.

[John]

Originally Posted by Aurelius

An attack of Steyn, Ntini, Morkel, Kallis and Harris will hopefully be a tough proposition for the Australian line-up.

We live in hope more than expectation.

[Nostromo]

Originally Posted by John

We live in hope more than expectation.

High time that changes. I think that Cricket South Africa's biggest enemy is themselves - a lack of self-belief that leads often to the infamous "choking". Paradoxically, SA often do well with extremely difficult targets - the 434 by Oz at Johannesburg for example - because no one expects them to get there - least of all themselves - and so there is no pressure. It is when the task at hand is relatively achievable and the team are expected to do so under the existing circumstances that they manage to tie themselves into impossible knots.