63: Vernon Philander

64 matches. 224 wickets @ 22.32. Strike rate: 50.85. 13x 5wi.

10 years. 1x good. 3x excellent. 3x outstanding.

The discussion

I feel like this one is going to cause some controversy among the fans out there.

Vernon Philander, in the second tier of the Hall of Fame?

I’m going to open with these key stats, to get your attention straight away:

Average:          22.32  [14th]

Strike rate:      50.8     [14th]

AARP:               7.83     [13th]

So, let’s start with the fact that Vernon Philander has a top-15 average, strike rate and AARP and we’ll make our case from there.

I’m old enough to vividly remember Vernon Philander bursting onto the international scene. First impressions? It was the unerring accuracy, and an almost metronomic consistency probing the corridor of uncertainty (popularised by Damien Fleming, among others) with just enough movement to take the edge, rather than beat it. It wasn’t long before Philander was starting to rack up some pretty impressive records:

To 50 wickets:     8 Tests      135 days                   [3rd fastest]

To 100 wickets:   19 Tests      2 years, 39 days     [12th fastest]

I do remember wondering to myself after the 2012/13 series against Australia whether Philander was a bit of a flash in the pan — he had burned brightly until that point but struggled against the Australians in Australia. What did Philander do about his first poor series in international cricket? Well, he went back to South Africa, demolished New Zealand and Pakistan and reeled off four straight series averaging under 23 (he averaged 11.85 against New Zealand) and striking at or below 55.

The first half of Vernon Philander’s career was phenomenal. After ten series, his average was still around 20. In fairness, he wasn’t as effective during the second half of his career, but he’d set a very high bar.

That chart needs some context, though. From averaging 20 after ten series, by the end of his international career, his average had ‘ballooned’ out to a rather bloated 22.32. He wasn’t taking Test wickets at record rates any more, but he certainly was taking plenty of Test wickets at a more than decent average.

The other thing in Philander’s favour from a statistical perspective is the consistency of his record against all opposition, and in all conditions. Sure, he averaged a phenomenal 19.8 at home, but he also averaged under 25 against all of the big three, and struck at 52 and 55 against Australia and India respectively. Philander won’t be the only fast bowler in this Hall of Fame to average over 35 in Asia, but it is a minor blemish on an otherwise spectacular record.

The verdict

Is this summary too short for a player bordering on the top 60 greatest cricketers of all-time? Probably, but that’s how I feel about Vernon Philander’s career — too short, leaving me wanting more.

I’m finding the 60-80 bracket the most controversial of the Hall of Fame so far. In the 80-100 bracket, there was a little jockeying over position (Gooch, Stewart), and a few raised eyebrows (Healy, Boucher), but nothing too outrageous. But, like I said in the opening paragraph, I feel like this one is going to stir up a bit of a hornet’s nest. There are fast bowlers with more memorable careers, and flashier highlights. Vernon Philander might not have had the out-and-out pace of Jeff Thomson or Shoaib Akhtar, or a 100-Test career like Chaminda Vaas or Ishant Sharma. He’s probably not in the club of most memorable Test bowlers in the past 10-15 years.

But he should be.

224 Test wickets averaging 22.32, with a strike-rate of 50.8 is an all-time career.

The highest compliment that I can think of when comparing Vernon Philander to other fast bowlers is that ‘he reminds me a bit of a combination of Anderson-McGrath lite’. As I quoted to a friend whose jaw dropped at the prospect of Philander appearing in the Hall of Fame, who does this remind you of:

“not express, nibbled the ball both ways just enough to take the edge, unerring accurate and incredibly patient”.

McGrath? James Anderson? Shaun Pollock? That quote (even if it by me) applies just as fittingly to Vernon Philander as those other modern medium-fast legends.[1]

More so than just about any other player to date in this Hall of Fame, I’m going to stick to my guns here. Take a look at the key stats again:

Wickets:          224      [63rd]

Average:          22.32  [14th]

Strike rate:      50.8     [14th]

AARP:               7.83     [13th]

I just keep coming back to that, over and over again. Vernon Philander was a top-15 fast bowler in terms of his averages and strike rate. I remain convinced: he was a great cricketer and belongs in the second tier of our Hall of Fame.

Apparently, his nickname was ‘the surgeon’. I can’t think of a more appropriate description for a bowler who was an expert at excising batters from the crease.

In one word

Surgeon

Notes

[1] For New Zealand fans, it applies just as aptly to Tim Southee and Trent Boult as well. In fairness Southee and Boult are a level down from McGrath, Pollock, Anderson. As a teaser, expect their stock to rise significantly in Hall of Fame 2.0.

Bio

Record

Source: ESPN CricInfo

career peak