Brett Lee has labelled Australia’s current bowling attack as the country’s greatest ever, declaring that Pat Cummins’ side have now surpassed his group from the early 2000s.
Australia’s attack will take one step closer to being reunited in Adelaide this week, with Cummins and Nathan Lyon back in the team alongside Mitchell Starc.
Josh Hazlewood remains out, but Scott Boland has proven to be, arguably, the best backup bowler in the game’s history since his 2021 debut.
Cummins, Starc, Lyon and Hazlewood have now played 389 Tests between them and taken a total of 1,586 wickets.
Three of the four have passed the 300-wicket milestone, while Hazlewood sits on 295 and will doubtless join them when he returns from injury.
In the 35 Tests all four have played together, Australia have won 22, lost nine and drawn four.
The 567 wickets the quartet have taken in matches while playing in the same side is also a record.
Boland is not included in those figures, but his 69 wickets at 18.17 means the Victorian still has the best Test average of any bowler in the past 90 years.
Former paceman Brett Lee has heaped praise on Australia’s bowlers. Photograph: Philip Brown/Getty Images
Australia’s first-choice group from the early 2000s of Glenn McGrath, Shane Warne, Jason Gillespie and Lee are usually considered the yardstick of great attacks.
They won 10 of 16 Tests they played together, and were a key part of Australia’s dominance of world cricket with a combined 1842 Test wickets.
But Lee said he believed the current group had now usurped them.
“They’re the best ever, I reckon,” Lee told AAP.
“It’s different eras, and hard to compare, but I would put them above us.
“If you look purely on stats, everyone has taken over 250 Test wickets, and that’s never been done before.
“Scott Boland, if he is included in that, is a bit like Michael Kasprowicz, didn’t really get an opportunity but a wonderful bowler.
“These guys are so good that the Australian public won’t recognise how good they are until they’re gone.”
Josh Hazlewood, Pat Cummins and Mitchell Starc at the SCG in January 2024. Photograph: Dan Himbrechts/EPA
Told of Lee’s remarks, Cummins pointed to the differences in the quartet as a key component to their strength.
“That’s pretty awesome for him to say,” Cummins said.
“We’ve been lucky we’ve all had our careers coincide with each other. I wouldn’t have had anywhere near the career I have had alongside other guys.
“Those guys push me and are the best coaches.
“You have the control Nath brings. Starcy is different as a left-armer. Josh has the bounce and swing. It opens me up to be a bit more creative.
“It feels like we can really dovetail nicely into each other.”
Quick Guide
How the attacks stack up
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Golden era
– Glenn McGrath: 563 wickets at 21.64
– Brett Lee: 310 at 30.81
– Jason Gillespie: 259 at 26.13
– Shane Warne: 708 at 25.41
– Total: 1,842 at 25.24
Current era
– Pat Cummins: 309 wickets at 22.10
– Mitchell Starc: 420 at 26.46
– Josh Hazlewood: 295 at 24.21
– Nathan Lyon: 562 at 30.16
– Total: 1,586 at 26.51
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As Starc points out, comparing eras is hard.
Cricket changes from one generation to the next, and in the past five years pitches in Australia have become easier to bowl on.
But with that has also come finer margins, with Australia’s current group regularly needing to either keep their side in a game or dig them out of a hole.
“Five or six years ago where Melbourne was a graveyard, that’s changed completely now to being quite seamy,” Starc said.
“Adelaide used to be flat, now it’s often a pink-ball game and pretty even. We now play at Optus [Stadium] instead of the WACA. SCG you’re not quite sure what you’re getting.
“You just need to adapt as a team.
“But it’s certainly not lost on us how special the group has been.
“It’s very rare that you get four guys from the same state to have played so much together to the amount we have and have a fair bit of success along the way.
“Scotty has been a part of that group for a number of years now. We’re very lucky.”
