Steyn or Anderson: who s best?
WHO ’ S the better bowler: SA ’ s Dale Steyn or England ’ s Jimmy Anderson? And what, exactly, puts one above the other?
Both are blessed with the rare ability to swing the ball both ways, both bowl at serious pace, both are exceptionally accurate, and both have become the mainstays of their respective attacks.
Off the field they are among cricket ’ s more interesting characters. Steyn ’ s left arm is festooned with tattoos of proteas, he is an allegedly grown-up skater punk, and he is renowned for foraging for junk food late at night.
Anderson appeared on the cover of gay magazine
in 2010 and is currently involved in marketing the products of “Mr Hair Bond ”, a company that sells goo promising to keep fake hair stuck to balding heads.
Both have a penchant for Twitter witticisms.
However, Steyn and Anderson are statistically separable.
Steyn has been the top ranked bowler in test cricket for the past four years, while Anderson has never ventured higher than No 2 in the ICC ’ s pecking order. He is currently sixth.
The South African has taken 15 more wickets than Anderson even though he has played 18 fewer tests, and he has a better average and strike rate.
But Anderson ’ s match haul of 10-158 in the first Ashes test at Trent Bridge in Nottingham last week suggests he deserves more respect.
It could be that Steyn is at the peak of his powers and that Anderson, even though he is a year older, is still approaching his best.