Shouldn't the record be in terms of bowling innings, not matches? Anyway, Steyn's a modern gem, and I just wish I could watch him more!

Maybe I'm showing my age gap here... but...
Dennis Lillee was scary and all... but Dale Steyn has a truly ferocious quality about him. The way he bowls and the way he celebrates are both fearsome. I wouldn't like to face him from 22 yards. I think his smooth bowling action will let him have a longer career than Lillee.

No.
Dale Steyn is overconfident about his bowling now and it won't help him no longer.Definitely he will be hammered by Viru today.

Well I think he is already a legend, bound to be the best. That is an ominous statement knowing how far his career still has to go.

Steyn is the inspiration for all new bowlers

Sreesanth the best bowler of all time

it all in the hands of shewag sachin and laxman

He seems to be the best fast bowler in the mordern day cricket and his bowling this series has been superb. and with the modern day cricket test being played less in number his fitness has been great.... so I can agree with u that is ONE of the best if not the BEST fast bowler in the morden world.

I do not know whether I can say Dale Steyn is the greatest fast bowler we have ever seen but having followed cricket in last 20 years, I have not seen anyone swinging the bowl, both inswinger and outswinger with that speed except the great Malcom Marshal and Denise Lille. But if stats are real way to judge the great fast bowler then in my book he is at the moment greatest among all. He has brought new interest in test cricket. Long live Steyn.

I dont think so.... dannis lilly was a great bowler and dale styne should have to spend 2-3 more years to show how good he is to be compared with dannis lilly.

steyn is arguably better than most quick bowlers and definitely the best in my generation

Hi Guys

What is the highest score ever made by a nightwatchman and who was he.

Thanks

I havent seen dennis bowl but this guy us right up there!!!his outswingers are like warne's leg-break and he's is doin it at that pace...he's certainly the best!!!

India will Retain its Position, I think Yes Bcoz its Happening for last a Year India Win 1, Loss 1 and than Draw the Final 1. (1-1) Good Luck!!!

india win

yes i think so.steyn is as steady as lillee.Lille was very much attacking minded.he always tried to keep batsman in pressure.in maintaining line and length he was superb.Among the bowlers of this era steyn is the only bowler to perform stedily like to lillee.so for these reasons i think that steyn is as deadly as lillee

Gambhir and Sehwag should make at least a strand of 50 runs to 70 runs for the 1st wicket,i have one guess tht the team which makes good start continues to stay good at batting till end of the game.

Yesterday, I went through his record and I felt he can be considered one of the best bowlers in terms of records. He has lots of cricket and may be he would be able to get more than 600 test wickets.

Lilee was most then steyn.

Jacques Kallis could beat Chuck Norris

He is really good bowler...he has accuracy. However I still feel he is not street-smart bowler like MacGrath...

NO doubt he is the best fast bowler in the recent time.
In 90s there were lot of good fast bowlers but rest fast bowlers are way behind steyn.

Steyn will be next bowling legend.

He is really a world class bowler and he is able to do it becoz is a very good athelet by which his fitness is good, unlike most of the other bowlers...

Steyn is good but D K Lille was the best

now i think if we have to win overseas we need another tendulkar as bowler, other wise i doubt we will ever win a test series abroad

Lillee was the most complete fast bowler of all time even though some might have better statistics than him.His run up , classical action , his speed , variation in bowling , understanding of batsman psychi, his aggression and his body language all converging together made him the most unique fast bowler of cricketing history.Many modern day batsman have better statistics
than Viv Richard but those who saw him bat would not find anyone among modern day batsman who would dominate like him aginst the best bowlers in the world.

I am a fan of Steyn and as I read that Steyn is bowling where batting averages at its highest and Steyns average 23.31 and strike rate 39.7 45 tests a wickets 232.
Steyn is better and more deadly than Lilly.

Steyn's without question the best bowler in the game at the moment. Given the statics are as impressive as they are, his most impressive asset is his agression. Much like Dennis Lille he only ever tries to get you out.

How can Harris make the Proteas set up and KP is sent to the UK? Something in the system is wrong. Harris has to be one of the poorest test bowlers in test cricket - bring back Rodney Ontong!

i dont think so.....as lilee is all time best bowler....but as far as steyn's current form is considered he can mack his own special image in world cricket....& also this will depend upon how he will handle his good times.....

Just go through Lillee's stats and you'll see the real picture...he captured a total of 355 wickets and 327 of those were in Australia (231) and England(96)...the four tests he played in the subcontinent he managed only 6 wickets, three against Pakistan (averaging 101) and three against Sri Lanka (averaging 35)...so as far as I'm concerned Lillee doesnt deserve to be the gold standard when looking at a fast bowler's (in this case Steyn) achievements. Pick someone who's done well in every part of the world (McGrath, Wasim, Ambrose, Waqar)

Its not overconfident if your the best in the world and it looked like Viru didn't hammer anyone

Dale Steyn has a better average than Lilee, a better strike rate than Lilee, and, most importantly, he did this at a time when batsmen's averages are a lot higher than they used to be. Enough said

To the Q "Doesn't this day feel like an anti-climax? "

Well, if SA did not put up a large score on Day 4 to ensure they could not lose, then perhaps the score would be getable. As it is, India are entitled to ensure tat they too do not lose the match ... unfortunately!

On all 4 preceding days of this match, I have been at the gym doing 2 hour slogs on the cross trainer watching the match - how those 2 hours just whizzed away - Today, well I did not go and how glad I did not - it would have felt like ages!

I'd say Steyn is BETTER

Lillee is/was all hype, he's played 65 of his 70 tests in Aus,Eng & NZ ie places which help seamers one way or another, especially back then (now, of course, most pitches ALLOVER are designed to be batting-friendly) & in his other 5 tests in Pak,SL,WI he's taken ONLY 6 wickets @ 68.33 while Steyn on the other hand, has been playing in post-2000 era of flat-pitches & flat-pitched-bullies that thrive on them which makes his average of low 20s EXCEPTIONAL considering that most GREAT bowlers in the future will average in mid/high 20s as opposed to days gone by when great seamers averaged low/mid 20s; this ENORMOUSLY magnifies Steyn's achievement. Lillee MAY have performed better on less helpful pitches had he not been "injured" so much BUT that's a matter of baseless speculation considering he called sub-continent "fast-bowlers' graveyard"; on the other hand, Steyn has ALREADY PROVEN that he can be just as deadly even on flat pitches, can't say same about Lillee

lol at Sankar & people saying India will win! Your precious Sehawag isn't very good.

I rate Steyn better than Wasim, McGrath, Ambrose and Donald - and only Waqar as his equal (these being the great bowlers I've seen a lot of). and better than Lillee.

He's proven his abilities as a genuine fast bowler hitting the ninety mile per hour mark, and the big test for him I feel, is how he copes with losing pace.

Well, he's cut back on pace in the ongoing India series, delivering the ball at standard 80-85 mph, but he's swinging it enough to be deadly anyway. All the Indians struggle with him, even with an older ball. Who else can make a well set Sachin Tendulkar play and miss with a 50 over old ball (without reverse swing)? Could Lillee do the same to Gavaskar or Viv Richards?

He seems to be able to get normal swing even with an older ball - never seen anyone do that. and can reverse it as well as any non-Pakistani. Accuracy has picked up with less pace, he's more economical. Think Waqar's method of knocking over the tail with yorkers better than Steyn's (cont)

use of the bouncer, which is a tactic that might not work as well on pitches with less pace and bounce. But its been successful enough in South Africa. Bowling within himself also makes him more dangerous in the sense that he can slip in a faster ball - Roberts, Hadlee and Snow showed how lethal that can be.

Note all - Lillee wasn't all that good at removing the tail, and while that makes his record against top order even more impressive, removing the tail is no small job. The tail can be not only invaluable, but also psychologically pricking, when they wag.

If Steyn develops an inswinger without losing the outswinger as Ray Lindwall did, he'll probably be the best fast bowler of all. As he is, I think he's right up there amongst the best already

@ Bhim " I do not know whether I can say Dale Steyn is the greatest fast bowler we have ever seen but having followed cricket in last 20 years, I have not seen anyone swinging the bowl, both inswinger and outswinger with that speed except the great Malcom Marshal and Denise Lille"

I think we're forgetting Waqar Younis ?

Having said that, Steyn's prodigious away swing bowling on the 3rd day was awesome!

I went to school with Dale Steyn

So proud to see a Merensky boy on top of the world

Why not compare him to Waqar, probably the least discussed of the great fast bowlers? Statistically they are the same, except Waqar bowled on dead Pakistani pitches longer

Steyn is a modern day legend! With a strike rate of his and in a batsmen dominated era he has shown his class.
I cannot understand why some of the comments are so biased - Tendulkar is a legend of the modern age yet we still cannot compare him to The Don...its a different era - let the numbers over a sustained period speak for itself.

Steyn will surely at the end of his career become a fast bowling great - god willing he stays fit and keeps his energy up.

Sreesanth "the best bowler of all time" - what nonsense!! Greatest nutcase of the lot - needs to go for rehab guys - he can become a REALLY world class bowler if he keeps his head in place - and you wonder why Bhaji slapped him a while ago:-)

Mohammad Asad from USA ...........................................
Yeah !!! right now, Steyn is the one of the best bowler in world cricket and his stats is impressive too....
I don't want to compare with Lille on stats point of view .......
I guess D. Lille was the most complete fast bowler --- kind of icon ------ and that's why I think you guys want to compare with him.

I think Steyn is the best bowler of all time. Given the era and the placid conditions, to have a strike rate of 39 is unbelievable. It basically says that he picks up a wicket every spell that he bowls. Brilliant!!

Dale Steyn is the rarity in international cricket:a genuine world class fast bowler.I watched him bowl in Pakistan and was stirred by his pace and hostility.It is too early to compare him with Lillee but he is very gifted and will definitely get better.I think every era has had its great cricketers and it is not fair to compare their merits on statistics alone.The modern cricketer is under more pressure,plays more matches and has to adopt himself to varying type of matches besides preparation for international matches is too scarce etc.So give credit where due and leave out statistic.

Dale Steyn is the white Malcolm Marshall! Best 2 fast bowlers of all time. Lillee was great too, but having seen all 3 in action, Dennis is not their equal. Oh yes, and as for all you one eyed Indian fans, Sachin is great, yes, but Sehwag has been shown to be a flat track bully. Kallis has no charisma whatsoever, but what a test player! Watch out Sachin, play as long as you can because your records may not last as long as you think!

Steyn is once in a generation bowler that any team in the world would love to have him. The very fact that he is being spoken in the same breath as a Lille or a Malcolm Marshall speaks volume about this cricketer. Having seen him perform from close quarters both in the MCG test of 2008 and also as strike bowler for RCB, guess he is one bowler I would pay to watch. Keeping my fingers crossed that RCB will get him back in the auctions. All this from an Indian fan :))

No doubt steyn is really one of the best bowler in the history of test cricket.He is fast as well as accurate and what speaks about him that is his average of 23 which is not easy specially in the era of GREAT SACHIN TENDULKAR...RICKEY PONTING...METHEW HEYDEN ...VVS LAXMAN..VIRENDRA SEHWAG AND RAHUL DRAVID.So in my eyes if STEYN is not better than LILEE then not even less than him.He is just 12 wicket away to break LILEE's record that he'll defenitly break.ALL THE VEY BEST TO STYEN

Steyn is the best fast bowler in the world at the moment. But how does he stack up againt the all time greats.. To put things in perspective, I ambrose and walsh or wasim and waqar on a final day pitch would have been far more dangerous.

Steyn is very lethal in the sense that he can utilize the old ball more effectively than a lillee. The deadly reverse swing spells against India at Nagpur to deadly first day lively spells to a hot sultry furious spell against India at newlands he was really a treat to watch. But I would like to test him more on bouncy pitches. I suspect swing is an aide everywhere but a good bouncy pitch with no lateral movement. But if he is injury free i can bet him being the most lethal fast bowler and join the greats.

I don't understand the fascination we have for the old and can't accept the fact that a current bowler may be of a higher caliber than a past one. Steyn has proven himself in every continent. Lillee did not prove himself in the subcontinent, where Steyn has turned up some golden performances. And, also the fact that he has such stellar average in the age of batting (flat pitches/batting friendly conditions) makes him greater than any other bowler.

Steyn is a high quality bowler no doubt. However, his performance/s & stats etc look much better simply because he has not been sufficiently tested - given that there have not been many top class batsmen against whom he has had to bowl for any length of time.

I think Steyn is fantastic, its always great to have competition and it would have been great to have Bond fit and selected to give both good go against each other. Having Morne in the team helps and being different types is good for SA.
I hope Dale stays fit for a long time to come and he will be great to all, he is to me already.
Shame on NZ selectors, Bond had that potential once too.

Batting averages have crept up during Steyn's period but it's not the same quality of batsmen, more along the lines of dead pitches and a lack of quality bowling. You do have to give Steyn some credit for some of these dead tracks he has to bowl on and yet maintain a good wkt per match stat. Lille will be heads and shoulders over Steyn even if Steyn manages to break his record and remember Lillee took 300 wickets in 56 tests, still the record.

@Hassan Yassin points correctly. Lillee showcased his abilities primarily in aus and eng. No doubt a great bowler but remains unproven globally. His outstanding figs of 8 for zilch against a world XI early in his career did prove his mettle but then again it was in Perth in his prime and many have done it. Steyn's success in a batsman's era at that strike rate is remarkable albeit less flamboyant than Lillee as a picture! Vote goes to Dale merely on figs.

I don't know why Lillee is being touted greatest! He was not THAT good! The best by far were Richard Hadlee (of Glenn McGrath mould) and Malcolm Marshall! Dale Steyn is today's Macolm Marshall! He performs on every pitch! Lillee couldn't even bowl in the sub-continent!

Lillee is the most overrated fast bowler of all time, hardly played in the sub continent and got hammered when he did. Gold standard of fast bowling, mate you've got to be joking.

I do agree that he is at present the best fast bowler in the game.But, having said that I am a bit circumspect in labelling him as one of the great.No doubt he is a genuine quickie, who keeps the batsman on their toes all the time and the spectators on the edge of their seats. He steams in and put the balls in the right areas with venom right throughout his bowling spells. He is fit,agile and one of the better fielders when it comes to fast bowlers. He literally has everything a fast bowler could ask for- pace, deadly in-swinger, toe crushing yorker when need, physically very fit, mental concentration to bowl long spells with patience and an awesome action which is very effective and easy to repeat ball-after-ball. So he is what I would like to refer to as the 'comlete package' when it comes to fast bowlers and indeed every captain's dream.

The main reason for me not to keen to tag him as one of the greats is simply because I feel he hasn't played enough to rate him amongst the all time greats. He has played 46 tests and has tore batting line-ups time and time again with great consistency which is reflected by enviable average. As Imran mentioned he has had prolofic success in his career so far which tempts us to compare n rate him amongst the all time greats. What I would like to do, is to wait a bit longer see how his performances are when he has played for a bit longer(i.e about 60-70 tests) and then compare him to the others and hopefully we can then be definitive when declaring him as one the best.
Steyn is 27 now and so far and to his credit he has had a pretty smooth ride in international cricket, especially the past few years. The only thing which remains to be seen in if he could still stay fit and bowl South Africa to test victories even when he passes the 30 year old mark. Lillee, if I'm not mistaken suffered a potentially career ending injury, but he someone managed to fight anginst all odds to make a come back as a much better bowler. Lillee didn't have the physios ,dieticians, trainers and doctors to look after him like what Steyn and other International cricketers have nowadays. Statistically speaking Steyn at present certainly sits on top of the list, but for me longevity matters and a champion is one who pulls off victories not only when he is at his peak but even when the chips are down.

Dale Steyn no doubt has the potential to achieve heights which no other player has achieved before but he just needs to continue his good work for a few more years .

please dont copare steyn to lillee first steyn is not a bowler he should be playing baseball this guy is a pitcher i dont why they let these pitchers play the beautiful game and call them bowlers i also think he should attend anger management classes that guy does not play any sportmanship thats my take umpires have some balls and call these pitchers

This is not to undermine Steyn's achievements - one day if he can sustain such form and skill he will be one of the greats.

All the top fast-bowlers have had the ability to change / win a game singlehandedly by their own exploits -- that is my belief of what makes a fast bowler "great".

With so much more cricket being played today, many players have more opportunities to go to India / England / West Indies than ever before in history -- facilities, coaching, support, medical, food (anyone remember D Jones after a bad curry when he scored 200 in India) all count to "making it easier" to perform away from home than what it was in the yester-year.

One must also consider the state of the Caribbean and Sub-continent tracks that they played on 20+ years ago, so many heavily doctored tracks, far more than the light doctoring / flat tracks that we see today.

steyn has taken wickets everywhere which is not the case with lillee..and everything is in favor of steyn as compared to lillee...ave, SR etc etc...

Guys I do agree with your comments about Steyn. But I think he is only deadly in the Test Arena. He still has to prove a point in ODIs n T20s. His economy in ODIs is 5.38 and in T20s is 6.8. He is not even in the top 15.

Dale Steyn is one of the best bowlers of the modern cricket. No doubt abt it....

Steyn is the best fast bowler in the world at the moment.His Caliber , Quality , Speed N Variation is alot Better than Wasim n
Waqar in Test Matches.He is count Lille ,Mcgra N Country White Lightening (Allan donald ) League Only He Reqd. Improve Himself For ODI Matches Same Deadlyness n it's not difficult for bowler like steyn there is need to played more no. ODI'S Bcoz Practices makes men perfect i like him he is gentleman fast bowler

To those who are talking about Lillee achieved his records in England and Australia: What about Steyn? He is from South Africa, which currently has the most bowler friendly conditions. He plays at least half of his tests in those conditions. You add the tests played against Australia and England to those numbers. Its not much different from Lillees's. I am not saying Steyn is better or worse, but just saying that he also got wickets in bowler-friendly conditions.

Steyn is easily one of the greatest fast bowlers of all time. Him and Bond aren't given enough recognition, imo. Both of them have ridiculous averages and strike rates in a decade where a bowling average of 30 is considered good, and batting records are ever-increasing.

Steyn does need a bit more time for me to consider him the greatest fast bowler, but certainly he's on his way there.

The best fast bowler of the modern generation who posesses a phenomenal strike rate,better than that of any great fast bowler.Remember ,he is bowling on flat pitches,in an era when wickets raely provide assistance to seamers or pacemen.Steyn posesses lethal pace combined with the ability to wing the ball both ways,in addition to great control.He would have been a terror had he bowled on the fast tracks of the 1970's and 1980's when there was no restriction on bouncers.His fiery bolwing reminds you of the likes of Holding and Lillee.It is significant that the likes of Lillee received far more assistance from the wickets of their era than Steyn.

Who say's Lillie is the gold standard of fast bowling??? To me Waqar Younis is the gold standard. Had Lillie played on the pitches that waqar did, he would have averaged more than 30 runs per wicket, and would have reached 250 wickets in atleast 70 tests. Steyn has to improve his record in ODI's if he wants himself to be compared with the great Waqar Younis. Waqar has 13 five wicket halls in ODI, the best in the world.

We're watching a legend at close to his peak. Who cares about comparisons...let's just rejoice at the privilege!

I always rated McGrath a better bowler than Dennis only because he got tailenders out as well, I watched Dennis bowl a lot and he could never finish off a tail.

As to the best bowler it would have to be Ambrose.

However Steyne has a chance to put his name up there with the rediculous soft pitches that have made averages of 50 the equivalent of 40 back in the older days of the 60s and 70s.

A super batsman would have to average 60 plus these days to really be above all else.

Steyn is truly an amazing bowler, perhaps the best in modern time with his excellent control on the moving ball. He is in the same league as Waqar and Wasim. As pointed out by other reader his smooth action shall help him to play longer. He uses lesser energy than someone like Shoaib Akhtar to deliver ball at the same speed. One thing that no one pointed out is that these 3 greats have played in an era of restrictions on bowlers e.g. one or two bouncer per over whereas Dennis Lillee and Marshall had a free hand. Also, he has been successful on batsman friendly pitches of sub continent and elsewhere.

Dale Steyn's bowling is a treat to watch, no matter whether you are a South African or not. Oh his outswingers, passion and aggression are simply superb.
He also has a wonderful action.

And I don't for a moment, think that he is overconfident about his bowling. Yes he is quietly confident, as who with his prowess wouldn't be.

He is the most deserved best-bowler-in-the-world tag-holder. Hope he gets many more wickets, except against India(though, the next time he faces India, I'm sure he'll roll us over, since we wouldn't be having Sachin and co.).

The Tendulkar-Steyn face-off was really one of the most intriguing passages of play I've watched over all these years. Steyn all fired up and breathing fire and Sten(S Tendulkar) using all his experience and talent to keep him at bay. If Steyn had got Sachin then, India would have been wiped out.

@atul sud: "there have not been many top class batsmen against whom he has had to bowl for any length of time"...

Correct me if I am wrong, in the past 4 years Steyn has bowled to : Hayden, Ponting, Gilchrist, Tendulkar, Laxman, Dravid, Sehwag, Sangakarra, Jayawardene (granted, not much gainst the later two)...if anything, Steyn, as many people have pointed out, is bowling during an era where conditions favour Batsmen, AND we have some of the most prolific batsmen i.t.o of career stats and records facing him. Dravid, Tendulkar, Ponting are 3 of the top 4 all time run getters (Kallis being the other, obviously means Steyn doesnt get to bowl to him much). Jayawardene and Sangakarra aren't far off (three more years, and these two will be up over the 1200 run mark). Get your facts straight bud- Steyn's greatness is exemplified by the fact that he is bowling in this era against such class batsman-and STILL has a record to measure up against the likes of Lillee, Waqar, Donald i.t.o s/rate

Yes, I agreed that Steyn is ever best fast bowler in test matches, Steyn is better than any fast bowler..... At age of 27, Steyn in the news heading that he is best fast bowler, offcourse at the time of retirement Steyn will be best fast bowler obviously.....

Steyn is the already the second best pace bowler of all time (after SF Barnes). No stat is more telling than strike rate. Lillee took a whole two overs longer to get each of his wickets. Steyn vs Tendulkar the other night, with both of them at the top of their games, was one of the all time greatest contests in Test cricket. Probably the second best pace bowler of all time, versus the second best batsman of all time. I'd pick Steyn before Lillee (I'd also pick McGrath before Lillee)

The great Malcolm Marshall is the greatest fast man of all time simple as folks!!!!!

I have never seen a bowler with such a strong action and razor sharp accuracy .... i believe he is the only non sub continent bowler to b successful even in sub continent

Anyone who doubts Dale Steyn's greatness obviously has not watched the first over of the third day to Tendulkar & the spell after lunch to Pujara, Dhoni & Harbajan - the last 3 absolutley clueless. Riveting watching on a par with the Alan Donald/Mike Atherton confrontation,at Egbaston I believe, a few years ago.

A great great bowler in any era.

Why is a batsman greatness measured by where and under what conditions he makes his runs, and the same yardstick is not applied to a bowler? A batsman can only be considered great if he can make runs consistently under all types of conditions. As the article pointed out, Lille was not able to be as lethal in the subcontinent as in other bowling conditions, so how can be considered an all time great? So on the virtue of Steyn be able to produce fantastic performance wherever he is, certainly ranks him ahead of Lillee in my book. Being a great bowler is also about brain, not just brawn, which is why many fast bowlers never do well in the conditions of the subcontinent.

Steyn definitely has proven himself uptil now. It is meaningless to compare players of different eras for obvious reasons. So let dennis be where he is, let steyn be where he is

Lillee, as noted by many, played in only a few countries and had only a few years at peak pace. The only truly fearsome fast bowler in this group, who performed well in every country, was the late Malcolm Marshall. Dale Steyn measures up very well against Marshall. Both had the 90 mph natural outswinger, and bowled at express pace over their first 50 Tests (45 for Steyn now). Marshall probably had a more aggressive bouncer. Steyn probably needs a few more stellar performances against England and Australia to stake his claim to being the greatest express bowler of all time, alongside Malcolm Marshall.

Know doubt he is one of the greatest. Why is it viewed so bad to view a modern player as on of the best ever. His record is just as good (if not better) than any of the previous generation greats, and in arguable (almost definitely) much slower and flatter wickets. He has taken 5 fors in all conditions except England (where he has played just 2 Tests) showing that he is not like these flat track bully batsmen who only get runs when the pitch is good. He took 21 wickets in the series v India despite being one of the most unlucky bowlers during the Cape Town Test. He also had a much better economy rate in the last series (2.95), without his strike rate getting worse, if he can keep the consistency um while still taking wickets his average may go down further, making it impossible for him to be ignored. One last thing, when will bowlers be recognised at ICC awards (I know he one Test player of the year in 2008) but he was magnificent last year and deserved more recognition.

What is all this toss about Lillee being the "gold standard"? When was that decided? And how many Aussies (and broken Poms) did it take to come to that conclusion? Yes, Lillee's an all-time great, but if you're looking for a gold standard, you'd do well to look at someone like Malcolm Marshall instead. Marshall bowled well in all conditions, on all pitches, against all types of attacks. He was perhaps the most cunning fast bowler of them all, and had a fearsome nasty streak many batsmen with broken bones will attest to. Dale Steyn reminds me of Marshall perhaps more than any other bowler. They're of about the same height, have the same ability to make the ball dance to the tune of their fingers at express pace, adapt quickly and out-think their opponents on the pitch, and both have that ferocious skiddy bouncer honing in at eye-level. Steyn's action is perhaps a bit smoother and more classical. It makes me happy to see Marshall's spirit live on in my favorite Test player.

Jacques Kallis could take punches from Chuck Norris until Chuck Norris fell over from exhaustion.

Wasim Akram is the bowler most batsmen did not want to face. Fast, swung it late both ways, fast arm action, cut it both ways, swung the new and old ball ... he was the complete batsmen's nightmare ... just ask Brian Lara ... the batsman most bowlers didn't want to bowl to ...

DENISS LILLE A VERY MEDIOCRE BOWLER. HE CHOSE TO PLAY ONLY ON FAST AUSTRALIAN AND ENGLISH WICKETS OF 80s. HE WASN'T EVEN HALF A BOWLER OF STEYNS QUALITY IF YOU GIVE THEM EQUAL WICKET CONDITIONS.
Lille played only 5 matches on relatively slower wickets of Pakistan 3, SL 1 and WI 1, and his achievements in those 5 matches are:
Tests:5 wickets:6 average:90,30 SR:164

The thing about Lillee was that most of his wickets were top order batsmen and if he had shown the same aggression at lower order batsmen I am sure he would have taken more wickets more quickly. On top of which, he had to share the wickets with and equally lethal Thomson. Factor in the fact that 2 years of Lillee's prime was spent playing for Packer and there were very few cheap wickets eg Bangladesh around in the early 70's I believe Lillee is the topdog. It is mentioned earlier that Lillee never did the business in India but back then the Indian wickets were so much slower than now and designed specifically for their own spin attack so comparisons are misleading. In fact, I recall the West Indian pace quartets of the period couldn't do the business either. Looking at Marshall, when you think of all the other class acts he played with - Garner, Holding, Croft, Walsh, Ambrose, Bishop etc - he still managed to take so many wickets.

wow i think steyn is the best bowler now.and it seems like better than lillee too . he is in the calibure of ambrose,marshal,donald,wasim,macgrath and waqar. and all the very best to steyn for making the matches more competating and interesting

C'mon folks. Did the batsmen even wear a helmet when Dennis bowled at them? Enough said. I wish that Steyn was born in India! His swing and pace are something to behold. If he stays healthy, he will get 600 -700 wicket easily - incredible for a fast bowler. South Africa batting is brittle except for Kallis. Let's give Dale Styen the respect he deserves.

Dale Steyn is a wonderful bowler who would be one of the first picked in any South African side of any era. How's this for a team:- openers Barry Richards and Graeme Pollock, followed by Jacques Kallis, Eddie Barlow, Jonty Rhodes, Shaun Pollock, Mark Boucher, Peter Pollock, Dale Steyn, Allan Donald and Garth Le Roux. There is some frightening fast bowlers in that line-up, so much so that they would challenge the greatest line-ups from the West Indies and Australia. My Windies team would be Desmond Haynes, Gordon Greenidge, Viv Richards, Brian Lara, Clive Lloyd, Sir Garfield Sobers, Jeffrey Dujon, Curtly Ambrose, Malcolm Marshall, Joel Garner and Wes Hall. My Australian side would be Bill Ponsford, Arthur Morris, Sir Donald Bradman, Ricky Ponting, Allan Border, Steve Waugh, Adam Gilchrist, Keith Miller, Shane Warne, Dennis Lillee and Ray Lindwall. Imagine these teams going at each other?

Dale Steyn is without any doubt the greatest fast bowler of all time.I used to hold Malcolm Marshall as that before Steyn came along. Now I am convinced that he deserves this rating most. Dennis Lillee was also very good but in his only Test in Pakistan his figures were pretty bad. His behaviour on field also was not the stuff that Champions strut out. Dale Steyn on the hand feels it is necessary for him to sledge since he is a fast bowler.He does so after every ball. He is a polite man.I feel his verbal reverse swingers, though mouthed with his coldest expression is so obviously put on. Those that have seen him in the Royal Challengers Bangalore will probably vouch for that.So whatever the figures say about Lillee,my 1 and 2 are Steyn and Marshall.

Never watched Lillee much, so cant compare. Steyn looks certainly like the bowler who can get wicket with every delivery that he bowls. In the current series we have witness some of the most unplayable deliveries in the last few years. However is he the most intelligent bowler, I have my doubts. I would rate Wasim Akram and Glen McGrath higher than Steyn, based on what I have seen.

Shreesanth is the best bowler of this generation.Zaheer sometimes come closer.Styne is good though. But watch out for IPL hammering of him this April.

If we are talking about swing, No one can match the Sultan of Swing - One and Only - Wasim Akram - Once in a life time- Greatest left arm bowler to have played so far. One guy who can bowl all ball on the same spot and also bowl a different one for the entire match!! I have seen Holding, Garner, Roberts, Malcom,Hadlee,Imram,Botham, Donald. Some were speedy, Hadlee/Imram could swing and seam, use the crease, , amazing smooth actions of Donald, Walsh but none with the guile that Akram had. Absolute inventiveness.

Had Waqar and Wasim born in Australia or South Africa they would have better average and strike rate than Steyn and Lillee.Steyn showed only few good performances in sub continent but Waqar and Wasim got most of their wickets in their carrier on dead pitches.Whenever they got the opportunities in Australia, N.Z, England and S.A they single handedly won the matches for Pakistan.While steyn is use to of bouncy pitches and Against Pakistan in U.A.E he was unable to get wicket compare to as usually he does..

There should be no doubt in anyones mind about the greatness of Dale Steyn. As of now there is no bowler deadlier than Steyn. And his greatness lies in the fact that he is picking wickets now when almost every possible thing is in the batsman' favor. Cricket is a contest between bat and ball, and the balance should be even which is not as of now. The pitches are all in favor of batsman, batsman are well protected so they don't have to worry about bouncers and, the grounds are smaller. In-spite of all this Steyn has managed to be nothing short of awesome. Just think about how Sehwag failed against him. Does this not make you realize how bloated the averages are of these so-called great, modern hard hitting batsman? He is the same guy who averages more than 50 and has a strike rate of more than 80 in test cricket. Steyn just shut him off completely. Steyn is the only bowler today who can test Sachin. I am sure Sachin would agree.

I WILL RATE SOME OF THEM LIKE THIS STARING 80s, NO. 1 being the best. Lille has an average of 68 in subcontinenet and WI and a strike rate of 164. Playing only on fast trackes could have given any of the following bowler a 10 points lesser strike rate.

(1) Malcom Marshel
(2) Waqar Younis
(3) McGrath
(4) STEYN
(5) R.Hadle
(5) Wasim
(6) Imran
(7) Donald
(8) Shane Bond
(9) Lille
(10) Holding

In a batsmen era, where pitches r flat n so much restriction on d bowlers...steyn made it believe dat he is a genuine paceman who can take wickets anywhere in the world whether it's in australia, england, south africa, or even in subcontinent. he is already a great fast bowler the game ever produced. steyn is as lethal n deadly as lilee with or without his raw pace, take account into the recent series in SA where he rarely hit the 140 mark, still he is the leading wicket taker n why is dat???? it is only bcoz of his line, lenght n swing with d new n old ball with which he troubled sachin, sehwag n others. i rate steyn as better dan lilee as he rarely bowls d yorker or reverse swing still troubling d best batsmen of his time n more importantly gettin wickets. and in d matter of subcontinent pitches, dey r hell for fast bowling, still steyn already rattled d INDs, PAKs n d SLs. and is der any thing left dat he had to do to become a great?? he has already done enough.238from45 mat.wow....

Steyn is currently ranked as number one bowler in the world so,it sounds it up.Cheers!

Dale Steyn is my favourite fast bowler in the world right now. Is he better than Malcom Marshall, Curtley Ambrose and Waqar Younis? Only time will tell - but he will finish right up there no doubt. For all those bagging Lillee's bowling average on the sub continent, keep in mind he was already well into his 30's and in the last year or two of his career when he played those tests there - so we will never know how good he could have been if he had played there earlier.

No doubt he is the best strike bowler today. But he has no variety at all. He just bowls the outswingers. That's it. Thus one cannot call him great. Lillie could do a lot of stuff, so could Malcolm Marshall and Imran Khan. They could bowl 6 different deliveries. Ask Gavaskar and he'll give you an honest appraisal. He said he faced 6 different delivers in the same over from Imran Khan. Of the 3 I mention I saw Imran more. He had 2 different outswingers. The regular one and another slower one like Aaquib's which would keep drifting. Then he had this in-dipper, which was aimed at your waist but would dip at the last moment and you end up digging up a yorker. And ofcourse the inswingers. I mean, I've seen Steyn and he if fearsome, but no comparion AT ALL with the likes of Lillie and Imran or Wasim Akram (look at his variety and look at Steyn's). Wasim is poetry and craft and variety. Steyn is very effective, perhaps more dangerous than Wasim at times, but he is not a complete bowler, yet.

Don't forget Lillee's impressive record in WSC.......wonder howmany tests it took him to reach 250 wickets then?

Dale Steyn - I agree is today's best bowler & does match up well against the Ambrose, McGrath, Marshall, Lillie, Imran, Donald & the likes. 1 thing diff from those days to today is the fact with the addition of too much instant cricket, the overall finnesse & technique to handle fast bowling has gone down quite a bit over the last decade & that goes to the advantage of the serious fast bowler. The serious word is used with the context exactly opposite to that goes in the mind of a fast bowler since he does not expect much of patience & handling from the batsmen. Dale's swing & bounce r praise worthy since that is rare virtue especially on dull wickets, new ball & unfavorable conditions. The other factor that helps Dale is that pitches are more assisted to fast bowling today than spin & the distribution of wickets, if u study the stats, the spinner's have a reduced market share of those at present. I agree that Lillie's/Hadlee's lack of performance on dull pitches is well documented.

I have never seen Steyn bowl. My miss it would seem. To compare him to the greats of old though, must be done with caution. Recent events always loom larger in our memory. The younger posters on this board therefore will usually speak of current players because those are the ones with whom they are familiar. It reminds me of the discussion surrounding Maradona and Pele in football. Let's be thankful that we can experience this young man's performance when he is fit. These discussions bode well for the game of cricket as enthusiasts will continue to engender intense debate and interest. I personally prefer Marshall, Ambrose, Lillee and Holding.

to the night watchman question jason gillespie 201*

Recent India-SA series was terrific and it was a privilege to see Dale Steyn and Morkel's battle with the Indian batting lineups. I hope Dale Steyn stays injury free and continues to provide to us the fans the thrill of watching top-draw fast bowling. The delivery to remove Pujara in Newlands was such wicked that I fear poor Pujara will wakeup in sweats on every match day.

i think both are the great but for me styn is better

every bowler was GREAT at their prime, or in terms of our team, ISHANT, MUNAF, were the next big things when they started taking wickets, they are just ordinary pie chuckers.
Will see how good steyn is after he takes at least 450+ wickets till than he is a very good bowler at his prime.
From my era the bowlers i have seen bowl the best hostile spells constantly were Waqar, Ambrose, Walsh, Donald, Lee. From the first ball to the very last ball of the day, they had the same run up and almost same speed.

steyn is definitely the best bowler in the world currently. The first i saw of him was in NZ series bowling at 15okmph and he sent a guy to the hospital. I was simply in awe of the amount of swing he got back then and at such pace. I always thought he was going to become one of the best, if not the best swing bowler in the world. Then he lost his line and length a bit in SA in 2004's but boy has he bounced back since then..I have never seen Lillee myself, but most of his wickets came in Eng and Aus. He struggled in the sub continent. But steyn has done brilliantly everywhere. I think he is much better and much more deadly than lillee.

Srisanth is the best bowler ever to lay hands on a cricketing ball

Still water is deep....
Steyn proves it well.....
If there is one who can challenge Murari by now, precisely it is you, Steyn.

Well done Steyn, and wish u a bright future.

apropos lillee-- all 355 of his wickets taken in 3 countries-aust,nz & engld. shud that not be mentioned whenever he is compared to other bowlers?

Folks u ol dunno wat u r talkin' .... Srisanth is the best baller ever ... Sir Don in his prime wud'v been afraid to face him

Hi boys, Steyn is a very good cricket. Play good shorts better than my Malwenna. I love him so much. Very good.

Hi guys i am an indian i love batting...mostly indians are getting more fame than their talent(example dhoni, who has less talent than dinesh karthik) india need a such player who plays for india than individual(ex: sachin plays for individual)..At present steyn is best in the world..on seem conditions he is almost unplayable...if he use inswinger regularly..every over he can get a wicket.. he can get at least 600 wickets if he plays 120 tests..

My list for the 2 deadliest fast/fast-med bowlers from recognized cricketing nations from the last 30 years or so.
Australia:Jeff Thomson(Don't blink) Glenn McGrath(Control)
England:Ian Botham(BEEFY!)James Anderson(swing)
India:Kapil Dev(Lethal)Zaheer Khan(India's go-to-man)
Pakistan:Wasim Akram(Sultan of swing) Waqar Younis(Yorkers)
New Zealand:Richard Hadlee(Knighted) Shane Bond(007)
South Africa:Alan Donald(ask Mike Atherton) Mikaya Ntini(A champion of SA cricket,nice smile too^_^)
Sri Lanka:Chaminda Vaas(accurate)Lasith Malinga(4from4)
West Indies:Malcolm Marshall(THE BEST!) Curtly Ambrose(Spell of 7wickets-1run amazing!)
Zimbabwe:Heath Streak(who else?)Eddo Brandes(not your average mulletted chicken farmer).You may have noticed neither Steyn OR Lillee made it."Deadly" doesn't mean just strikerate,but a combo of:variety,tact,control,impotus,fear/pressure in ALL formats in ALL countries.Steyn~Excels at test level only.Lillee~Excelled in Aus/Eng/NZ only.Watch out for Tim Southee(NZ).

Dale is a very good bowler the little I have seen of lillee he is a legend .Malcolm got wickets on a featherbed and he is the best I have seen followed by Wasim.