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I have been following, observing & playing cricket since 25+ years. It is indeed interesting to ask whether Dale Steyn has been the best South African pacer ever in international cricket.For argument’s sake, let only include those cricketers post-apartheid (1991 onwards) as they are part of the TV-era, & for including previous eras one would have to dig much deeper into the available data (not much TV, more reviews/articles, etc.)I think as per all the data available, & even as per people’s observations & watching cricket matches, it is safe to say that the SA pacers with the most prestigious & celebrated careers in this period are Allan Donald, Shaun Pollock, Makhaya Ntini & Dale Steyn. Apologies to the others including Kagiso Rabada, Morne Morkel, Vernon Philander, Andre Nel, Nantie Hayward, Fanie De Villiers, Brian McMillan, etc., but I think this is a fair shortlist.So then, how does one define ‘best’? Is it purely based on:Strike Rate, or sheer destructive power of a pacer?Overall Career, such as total count of wickets, or maybe career length?Or both?How I would go about answering this question, is based on the following parameters:STATISTICS, METRICS, KPIs: One cannot argue with the stats. Stats don’t lie. However they do have limitations, such as:Stats can be twisted to incorrectly prove someone right/wrongFor e.g. Someone can say that there is some bowler XYZ who has average of 15 so s/he is better than ABC’s average of 23, but XYZ might have played only 5 home Tests whereas ABC has played 50+ tests globallyStats don’t give the full pictureFor e.g. What was the pitch like, what was the match situation, etc. are not captured in the official match statsDuring this lockdown, a lot of former greats gave interesting podcasts. In one podcast by Inzamam-ul-Haq on Rashid Khan, he said that if stats are all that is required to determine a cricketer’s quality, then it’s better to have mathematicians & statisticians as chief selectors rather than cricketers! I highly encourage anyone interested in cricket to watch such podcasts.OBSERVATION: Watching the pacer live on TV, or through highlights on YouTube or similar, can give a lot of insights outside the stats, such as:What was the match situation like when the pacer delivered?Were the opposing team already in trouble, or doing very well?What was the pitch like when the pacer delivered?Was it a flat batting track, or a juicy pitch full of bounce, pace, seam or swing?Who were the batsmen facing the pacer?Were they top-order or tailenders? All-time legends or bunnies?How did the pacer get the opposition’s batsmen out?Bowled & LBW? Caught by keeper or slips? Or batsmen’s faults on long hops??IMITATION: Trying out the pacer’s action yourself! This is not often discussed, & will be limited to your body type & capabilities, but I think it can offer some valuable insights too, especially technique-related, such as:How hard it is to bowl quickly with pacer ABC’s action?How much swing can you get with pacer XYZ’s action?How many batsmen could you get out with pacer DEF’s action?Taking all of these parameters into consideration, I would like to add my thoughts on the strengths & weaknesses of our 4 shortlisted greats chronologically, to see which one is the ‘best’:ALLAN DONALD:Stats say that AD had an illustrious decade+ long career in Tests & ODIs from 1991 to 2003, with an exceptional average & strike rate. He could have played even more (1st class debut around 1987) if not for apartheid. I think he was rated the world’s best fast bowler from 1996–1999, & keep in mind there were many great bowlers at that time.Observing AD was thrilling. He had a great & smooth bowling action, the ‘Michael Holding’ of his generation. He was able to deliver in all conditions & against all opponents. AD’s bowling style for the first 5 years, was mostly reliant on pace. He would come in at a slight angle & deliver a back-of-a-length delivery to the batsman’s above-waist regions. After 1996, he shortened his run-up & pace a little, which allowed him to get more seam & swing movement.AD’s bowling action or technique required high-energy but also felt very natural. One could simply blow away batsman with pace if you could get it right, without even trying out yorkers or bouncers.SHAUN POLLOCK:Stats say that SP had a highly celebrated cross-format career from 1995 to 2008, with an exceptional average & total wicket count across Tests & ODIs. SP was rated to be the only bowler in history with under-20 average in his 1st 50 Tests, & as per ICC ratings remains one of the top 3 greatest ODI bowlers in history.Observing SP was interesting. He had a funny shuffling run-up, & then would ‘stop’ & bowl with a high-arm action. SP’s bowling style was that he would come close to the stumps & deliver a back-of-a-length delivery which would seam away. Later, he was strictly wicket-to-wicket with slight variations that would cause the ball to slightly come in or move away. In his first 5 years, he was almost as quick as AD. After 2000, he streamlined his action due to groin issues, but lost a lot of pace in the process. He would sometimes bowl in 120ks, & naturally struggled in batting-friendly conditions.SP’s bowling action or technique required a lot of energy too, but didn’t feel very natural. It would take great effort to bowl like this, & naturally the stamina would be affected. I guess it was a wise choice for him to reduce his run-up & groin movements, & rely more on arms & wrists. Here it would be more helpful if the pitch had some juice, else it would be a struggle.MAKHAYA NTINI:Stats say that MN, after a tough start to international cricket in 1998, went on to become South Africa’s greatest wicket-taker in the decade of the 2000s. It was interesting because he had so much energy & stamina, that not just me but even he was so sure that he would play for 10 more years, in a public statement he made in 2008! Unfortunately for him, his bowling dropped astonishingly during that year, & he had to retire in 2009.Observing MN would give you energy! He used to come extremely wide-of-the-crease, & deliver back-of-a-length or short deliveries (keep in mind one of his mentors was the legendary West Indian Malcolm Marshall, someone who himself used to have a very wide run-up & who is generally regarded to be one of the most complete & greatest fast bowlers in history). MN didn't rely that much on swing or other variations, which is why perhaps he didn't succeed that much in batting-friendly conditions like the Indian subcontinent. MN never sacrificed his pace or bowling action, he would give 100+% all the time from his 1st to his last delivery across his entire career.MN’s bowling action or technique again felt very natural, & not as energy-draining. One could get any type of batsmen out, & keep on going all day long. Slight issue was, it wasn't an action for swing bowling, though it wasn’t really required!DALE STEYN:Stats say that DS, after an inconsistent early period from 2004–2006, went on to become one of the most phenomenal wicket-takers in Test history during South Africa’s golden period from 2007–2015, until recurring injuries derailed his career later. What is even more remarkable is that his career overlapped with a phase that is generally regarded as batsmen-friendly globally, yet he managed astonishing averages & strike-rates during his entire career!Observing DS would be electric. He would be pretty much all the time ‘charged’ up. He would release the ball close to the stumps to set it up to swing away from the right-handed batsman. Being short did not prove to be an issue, as he could bowl superb yorkers & lethal bouncers, following in the tradition of other short greats such as Malcolm Marshall, Waqar Younis or Darren Gough. Another great quality is that he achieved success in all conditions & against all batsmen.DS’s bowling action or technique was whippy, natural, & not very energy-draining. One could bowl extremely quick without much effort, & get any batsman out in any condition. Only thing is, it could also be expensive if not accurate, as you have to pitch the ball up instead of short like AD, SP or MN.In conclusion, all the bowlers discussed have strong points going for them. What I would regard to be the ‘best’, as per my entire experience of watching, analyzing & playing cricket, would be the bowler who can do the ‘most’ or is an ‘all-rounder’, i.e.:Can utilise tradition seam & swing, as well as reverse swing both waysCan generate great pace through their bowling action or techniqueCan generate difficult bounce or ‘zip’, which is harder to play than paceCan adapt in tough conditions by using cutters & other finger variationsCan keep things very tight by being extremely accurate with line-and-lengthCan come in at different angles (wide-of-the-crease, close-to-stumps, around-the-wicket or natural left-arm angle) to create more opportunitiesIf you look at these all-round capabilities, you will understand why many experts regard Dennis Lillee as the greatest pacer of the 70s, Malcolm Marshall of the 80s, Wasim Akram of the 90s, Glenn McGrath of the 2000s, or James Anderson of the 2010s. This is because they were the most talented as they had all the previously-mentioned strengths, & of course they performed and have great stats too.So I conclude that the most complete, and hence the ‘best’ bowler out of all our 4 shortlisted South African greats, based not just on stats but also on observations & technique tryouts, is Allan Donald. Consider this as my personal recommendation. There is very little separating all the four, & we should be thankful to have watched all these greats in action.As a fun exercise, further points for comparison analysis can also be:Could be better to segregate performances into Tests, ODIs, T20s instead of clubbing them all together. My personal take is that in T20s it would be Steyn as he could have the quickest impact, & Donald in ODIs for his ability to take wickets yet keep the runs down. If Ntini could get more sideways movement, he could be the choice in Tests. Pollock narrowly misses out as I feel he has the worst technique out of the four.It is important to remember that cricket is a team game, not an individual one. Maybe a better comparison analysis might be to select the best 3–4 pacers to include in a team of 11, which can be further varied as per opponents, pitches, etc.Shane Warne has said many times that he rates someone on how they perform when the team needs them the most. So one can dig up the stats of who performed in the most difficult conditions, & take it further.For extremely deep analysis based on stats, I would highly recommend you to check out Anantha Narayanan’s articles on CricInfo. I have been a fan of his for many years, & haven’t come across such good stats articles yet.Looking forward to more interesting analyses. I hope Rabada & the next generation make South African cricket more stronger in the near future, as the team have struggled somewhat since 2015. It will be good not just for African cricket, but for the world & for every cricket-lover as well! 😊

Weather….that's the only thing which will bother you the most. If you are coming from a big city in CA to Mankato, the city will be very small and boring for you. If you like to live in small towns, then this is a good place to live. There is a walmart supercenter and Sam's club, so you will find all the basic everyday things in the city. People travel to twin cities (Minneapolis/St.paul) for movies and malls which is about 3 hours drive from Mankato.Another thing to keep in mind is to get winter clothes from CA. I don't know how much price difference it is between MN and CA, but when compared to TX, the clothes were way more expensive in MN.Overall the city is good, but after a month or two it gets boring.Best of luck and Welcome to Kato!