Best test opener, Hayden or Trescothick?

[DirtySocks]

Who do u think is the best?? I don't think there is any other besides them to choose from.

[aussie_beater]

Are you talking about current openers ?

If yes, then Gary Kirsten also has to be on the list for people to give their opinions.

And I would vote for Hayden on current form, but Kirsten has played almost thrice the amount of tests that Hayden has, and so his has been a more consistent performance that Hayden may well beat if he goes on with the current form.

[Edited on 19/10/2002 by aussie_beater]

[royGilchrist]

Hayden

I like Gibbs too.

[Neil Pickup]

Originally posted by aussie_beater
Are you talking about current openers ?

If yes, then Gary Kirsten also has to be on the list for people to give their opinions.

And I would vote for Hayden on current form, but Kirsten has played almost thrice the amount of tests that Hayden has, and so his has been a more consistent performance that Hayden may well beat if he goes on with the current form.

[Edited on 19/10/2002 by aussie_beater]

Gary Kirsten isn't actually opening for SA at the moment, he's coming in at 3 behind Gibbs and Graeme Smith.

Let's look at this country by country:

Australia
Langer - Not bad, but in a bit of a rut atm and not matching Hayden
Hayden - In absolutely exceptional touch, scoring for fun all over the shop

England
Vaughan - One superb summer, let's see what you can do vs Aus
Trescothick - I can remember the Aussies cutting him to shreds all too clearly last summer. Please not again...

India
Bangar - Solid, but not in contention for World's Best
Sehwag - Gets out too much too early currently

Pakistan
Taufeeq Umar
Imran Nazir - Less said the better
Shahid Afridi - Not a test opener
Saeed Anwar - Is he still playing or has he quit?

South Africa
Gibbs - Hit a lot of ODI tons of late but yet to really turn it on
Smith - One for the future. Not good at handling sledging, mind..
Kirsten - Mr Experience. Tons v All Test nations. But so dull...

West Indies
Gayle - Not bad..
Wavell Hinds - More consistency please

New Zealand
Erm, maybe when they decide on their pair I could say something. Vincent? Richardson? McCullum? Fulton? Sinclair? Help... Richardson's probably the best but his average is inflated by the Bangladesh series

Sri Lanka
Jayasuriya - For ODIs maybe, not Tests.
Arnold - Give him a run and he could impress. Won't push Hayden though.
Atapattu - Can knock in the 200s but not enough consistency.

Zimbabwe and Bangladesh
Erm... no. Gripper/Grant Flower/Al Sahariar/whoever it is this week for these two won't get close.

Looks like Hayden to me, there doesn't seem any real competition. If Tresco/Vaughan can deal competently with the Aussie new ball attack then they could stake a claim. IF....

[Kimbo]

richardson's average isnt inflated by the bangladesh series...
he has played 33 innings, 3 against bangladesh.
not that i am saying he is a great batsman. just being defensive about my fellow countryman.

[Neil Pickup]

OK, maybe I was a little harsh on Richardson.

30.40 v Aus (3 Matches)
113.00 v Ban (2)
28.66 v Eng (3)
54.16 v Pak (4)
46.40 v SA (3)
51.75 v WI (2)
48.25 v Zim (3)

58.30 Home (9)
39.42 Away (11)

Looks reasonable, but need a few more games to really judge him. Now, if he hadn't spent years messing around being a spinner and concentrated on batting...

[aussie_beater]

Originally posted by Neil Pickup

Gary Kirsten isn't actually opening for SA at the moment, he's coming in at 3 behind Gibbs and Graeme Smith.

Yes Kirsten isn't opening for SA at the moment, which has been a very recent thing, but IMO he is the only one besides Tresco that gives Hayden a competition.

And yes he is not an exciting batsman for sure.

[Kiwi]

I personally think Hayden is the best at the moment. He is in a really good team as well though. If u saw Trescothick in a team like Aus then maybe it would be different

[Rich2001]

Originally posted by Tamara
I personally think Hayden is the best at the moment. He is in a really good team as well though. If u saw Trescothick in a team like Aus then maybe it would be different

I agree with that comment

Hayden is in such as a strong team, he knows that if he fails there are another 7 or so players in the team that are capable of hitting 50+ as can go out relexed and play his natural game, whereas Trescothick has so much pressure to do well every innings and score big runs. Also Trescothick is by far the more attacking batsman and it's always likly that he could get out early, but if he gets in you can bet money on it that he will go on to score a big innings.

[Tim]

Hayden is better at the moment simply because he is more consistent. If Trescothick was more consistent there would be little to seperate the two.

[Tim]

Apart his disappointing series against England, Richardson does actually have very good stats & I feel that he is partly the reason why NZ have been getting much bigger scores in test cricket in recent times & hence moving up the rankings aswell.

If only he had a decent partner, because I feel that Vincent is not the answer as his opening partner & neither is Matt Horne. I think they should be looking at opening with Gary Stead who has the same attitude as the likes of Langer & Hayden, + he has the experience aswell as several years of captaincy for Canterbury.

I think New Zealand just need to forget about trying to push the younger guys for awhile & use the experience so that the younger players coming through can watch them on tv & understand.

[Simon]

Hayden is currently the number one batsman in the world, hencs he would be the number 1 opener. He has always had the talent, but its only been since India 2001 that he has believed that he can make it in test cricket.
Now he is just batting the way he does for Queensland.

[Rik]

Whats all this mentioning of Fulton for NZ? He's English...

[Andre]

Hayden by a long, long long way followed by Kirsten Langer, Trescothick, Vaughan, Gibbs, Gayle.

[Kimbo]

Originally posted by Rik
Whats all this mentioning of Fulton for NZ? He's English...

ever crossed your mind that there is another cricketer with a last name of Fulton.
I mean, it's not like its a rare last name.