Ugly but effective

[luckyeddie]

Rob Key, Rikki Clarke.

No there's ugly...

Almost Merv ugly.

 

[Mr Mxyzptlk]

Gary Kirsten would probably qualify - not a lot of flair, but very effective.

Gary Kirsten was beautiful to watch! I don't consider ugly to be a batsman with a simple technique, or not much to look at. I consider an ugly batsman one that makes me cringe when I see him bat, and cringe even more when I see him score runs.

Hayden, Gilchrist, Jacobs (if he weren't one of the bravest players I've seen, I'd probably hate him) are some examples for mine.

 

[Shounak]

Tresco stands out.. His action seems so lazy to me.. I'm amazed at every fast ball he faces, how he can face them.. Bolt upright with (what looks like) a very loose grip on the bat.. But then he effortlessly guides balls away so effectively on the off side..

Love watching it, but ugly IMO..

 

[Jono]

I never thought of Lehmann as an 'ugly' batsman...he wasn't elegant but not ugly for me...then again, this is all subjective. I find Hayden to be a very 'ugly' batsman to watch.

Nah I never really liked watching him. He was undoubtedly a good batsman, but just the way he would open up and bat like a mile outside leg sometimes, other times move exposing leg, it was just not pretty to look at. I didn't like how he'd play balls off his pads either.

 

[Barney Rubble]

I know he's not that effective, but Simon Katich is easily the ugliest batsman I've ever seen. I cringe every time I see him play a cover drive. I can't understand how a technique that looks like it was taught to him by a monkey with no elbows turned him into an international cricketer (well, briefly ).

 

[Chubb]

I know he's not that effective, but Simon Katich is easily the ugliest batsman I've ever seen. I cringe every time I see him play a cover drive. I can't understand how a technique that looks like it was taught to him by a monkey with no elbows turned him into an international cricketer (well, briefly ).

That's what I was going to say! But it's what makes Katich my (only) favourite Australian cricketer... he reminds me of me. I said to one of the guys at the club during the Trent Bridge Test that I liked him because he obviously wasn't as good as the other australians, and he said "He's not good enough for that side." scornfully. Later on during the match he made a crack about him, so I said "I like Katich because he reminds me of me."
"Why's that?"
I gestured to the rest of the first team and said "Not good enough for that side."

 

[Barney Rubble]

That's what I was going to say! But it's what makes Katich my (only) favourite Australian cricketer... he reminds me of me. I said to one of the guys at the club during the Trent Bridge Test that I liked him because he obviously wasn't as good as the other australians, and he said "He's not good enough for that side." scornfully. Later on during the match he made a crack about him, so I said "I like Katich because he reminds me of me."
"Why's that?"
I gestured to the rest of the first team and said "Not good enough for that side."

It's not that I think he's rubbish - although I do think he's pretty bad - I just don't understand how he succeeds in playing any shots! He never moves his feet, or gets his elbow high, or gets in line behind his defensives, or anything - yet he still gets runs occasionally. Bizarre.

 

[Jamee999]

You don't need technique to make a score, GBH has a Test 40

 

[Barney Rubble]

You don't need technique to make a score, GBH has a Test 40

Did you not see him step down the track to Warnie and launch him for two straight fours? He has technique in his attacking shots, just not in his defensive ones. If he had defensive technique as good as Hoggard's, and played a few less shots, he could probably make a decent no9 or even no8.

 

[Tom Halsey]

Did you not see him step down the track to Warnie and launch him for two straight fours? He has technique in his attacking shots, just not in his defensive ones. If he had defensive technique as good as Hoggard's, and played a few less shots, he could probably make a decent no9 or even no8.

Not really - the 'Harmison Heave' as one of the commentators put it today sums it up for me.

 

[steds]

Can you get much uglier than this?

 

[steds]

Can you get much uglier than this?

I take that back

 

[Tom Halsey]

I take that back

 

[deeps]

"Those gritty players over the years that don't often look elegant or look like natural strokeplayers who have made up for this due to their great concentration and guts.
...snip...

Also, I usually think that batsman who "play within their limitations" are less likely to play appallingly loose, ugly attacking shots.

With Rahul Dravid being the exception. In my opinion, Dravid is now the premier batsman in the world.

 

[PY]

Tresco stands out.. His action seems so lazy to me.. I'm amazed at every fast ball he faces, how he can face them.. Bolt upright with (what looks like) a very loose grip on the bat.. But then he effortlessly guides balls away so effectively on the off side..

Love watching it, but ugly IMO..

He once upper-cut/scooped Shoaib over the slips for six at the Oval and that was clocked at 95+ mph I seem to remember. Most of the time though he just backs his eye and amazing timing. A flat bat from Tresco is likely to go for four if it gets through the in-field.

 

[Barney Rubble]

He once upper-cut/scooped Shoaib over the slips for six at the Oval and that was clocked at 95+ mph I seem to remember. Most of the time though he just backs his eye and amazing timing. A flat bat from Tresco is likely to go for four if it gets through the in-field.

It helps that he uses an absolutely monstrous bat. All he has to do is make contact and it goes for six!

 

[Scaly piscine]

I'd suggest Graeme Smith for this thread, he tends to just 'slap' the ball around.

 

[Slifer]

Shiv Chanderpaul

 

[Disgorge]

Michael Atherton

 

[SJS]

Chetan Chauhan
Moin Khan
Alan Knott