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Loading ...Agreed! liked Sidebottom’s bowliing during our team’s(Ind) tour to England.
Zaheer would have been in the list had he not been on a long injury-related layout.
Sidey and RP Singh are the ones to watch out for
Is Sidebottom the best left-arm seamer in the world?
By Jonathan Liew 2 months ago Leave a comment on this post
England have won a Test match, so let’s get carried away…
Here’s a list of the best left-arm seamers in Test cricket since 2000, with a qualification of 2000 balls.
1) Franklin (NZ) 76 wkts @ 28.2
2) Sidebottom (Eng) 45 wkts @ 28.4
3) Vaas (SL) 223 wkts @ 29.5
4) Wasim Akram (Pak) 31 wkts @ 30.0
5) Pathan (Ind) 100 wkts @ 31.4
Franklin tops the list, but take away two series against Bangladesh and Zimbabwe and he slips to fourth. Do the same to Pathan and his average soars to 44.
Sidey’s got a long way to go, but he’s definitely got more to his bowling than someone like Vaas, who tends to bore batsmen out these days.
Tags: chaminda-vaas, england, england in new zealand, fast-bowling, james-franklin, left arm fast bowling, ryan-sidebottom |
15 Responses to “Is Sidebottom the best left-arm seamer in the world?”
March 17th, 2008 at 11.35 am
March 17th, 2008 at 12.26 pm
Zaheer, RP & Sidebum. Mitchell Johnson could also reach there.
March 17th, 2008 at 12.59 pm
I think that you have to look at where Sidebottom’s taken his wickets as well. Most have come on seamer friendly tracks in England and NZ. He is still a very good bowler but I think that judgement needs to be held back until he’s played in a variety of conditions against more teams.
March 17th, 2008 at 4.27 pm
The first line of this sums up the basis for your judgment of Sidebottom.
National team heroes make one get carried away.
You are excused.
March 17th, 2008 at 8.43 pm
Sad not to see Nathan Bracken on that list, and it’s like a ghost from the past seeing Wasim Akram on there.
I always find these ‘best in the world’ comparisons a bit futile. Today it’s one person, next week, it could be another.
Yes, he is bowling very well and the moment and is England’s senior bowler. Well done to the lad. He’s clearly put a lot of work in. I hope it continues to pay off.
March 18th, 2008 at 8.37 am
Pretty much everything that has been said is what needs to be said. Sidebottom is good, but so are Mitchell Johnson, Nathan Bracken and Zaheer Khan.
Although… if you want to be really technical, only Sidebottom and Bracken have the long, flowing locks to be truly great fast bowlers. 
March 18th, 2008 at 9.14 am
Only reason I didn’t put Bracken in my list is coz he doesn’t play tests.
March 19th, 2008 at 3.05 am
Another thing in Sidebottom’s favour is the fact that he’s economical, as well as incisive. Franklin goes at well over 3.5 an over, as does RP Singh, and Pathan also goes at over 3- and as you say, helps himself to wickets against weak opposition. Sidebottom’s ER is only 2.8- well under that of Hoggard, Harmison, and Mills among others- and he’s a genuine wicket-taker.
March 19th, 2008 at 4.48 am
Statistics are mostly irrelevant.Instantaneously sidebottom wouldn’t be close to the best left-armer.
Zaheer Khan,RP singh,Mitchell Johnson ,Nathan Bracken & Sohail Tanvir from pakistan is also good at breaking the stumps.
Importantly,bowling averages of english bowlers will always be better than their corresponding asian counterparts.
Zak & RP had a field day in england when india toured there.Given the same conditions to bowl in,these are the best lefties along with sidebottom who comes inlast for me.
March 19th, 2008 at 4.53 am
Lastly, I’d put RP & Johnson at the top.Both bowl at good pace,bowl unplayable deliveries with regularity & have taken wickets against the best batting lineups.Sidebottom might be having a great time in newzealand taking a hattrick et al,but pathan’s done that to pakistan as well.That was inpakistan.I’d like to see s.bottom get wickets in faisalabad or multan.Then he gets better than the rest.Johnson is very talented too, i can see him gettn wickets in difficult conditions.
March 19th, 2008 at 7.38 am
Man… you must be drunk when you wrote that he is the best left arm fast…..he has just played hand full of games that too in england and newzealand, where the conditions are similar to those you have in england… let him come to subcontinent and try his luck. Zaheer, RP, pathan are better than him and always remain better. Another bowler who is good is Mitchel johnson from Australia.. he has bowled very well in subcontinent too..i would request you and your english journalist to kindly come out of that Ashes 2005 winining dream and live in reality. you got a serious hiding in last ashes.. so be realistic about your team and its future. in the coming 5 years, there will be only two teams who will be fighting for top spot, Australia and India.
March 19th, 2008 at 10.51 am
Anshuman- Zaheer probably has a pretty good case for being better than Sidebottom. But RP Singh has played less Test matches than Sidebottom has- so if you’re going to disquliafy him for playing a “handful of matches” then you have to do the same for RP, surely? Ah, but he’s Indian nad has bowled on Indian pitches, therefore he HAS to be better. As for Pathan, as mentioned, against the major Test nations (ie. excluding Bangladesh and Zimbabwe) he averages 44 with the ball.
And another thing. I don’t think anyone’s disputing that India’s a better team than England, but the fact that you bring it up at all suggests to me that your points are more nationalistic than anything else.
March 20th, 2008 at 4.10 am
Sidebottom -The best left armer in the world is the most nationalistic statement i’ve heard in a long time.
March 23rd, 2008 at 2.19 am
After tea in Napier, that average has dropped to 25.9, on a decent batting pitch. I’d have to say that if only on current form, Sidebottom is the best.
March 25th, 2008 at 10.29 am
It might be a decent batting pitch, but that qualifier works if there are decent batsmen to play on it.
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