Ben Hilfenhaus : A potential great?

[pup11]

From whatever i have seen of him i can say one thing he has got serious potential, he can swing the ball at lively pace and he seems to be a very mature lad for a guy of his age.
So do you guys think he has the potential to be a great fast-bowler of his era, or do you rate him just as an average bowler?

 

[Richard]

He's done about all that could be asked of him so far.

That's all I can really say TBH. I've seen him bowl once (in a 12-a-side tour-opener), and he's got a good action which shouldn't cause many injuries. His domestic career to date seems to suggest his control is good.

Isn't he Tasmanian?

 

[The_Bunny]

He's done about all that could be asked of him so far.

That's all I can really say TBH. I've seen him bowl once (in a 12-a-side tour-opener), and he's got a good action which shouldn't cause many injuries. His domestic career to date seems to suggest his control is good.

Isn't he Tasmanian?

He is

 

[Flem274*]

No idea. He has alot of hype but so did Johnson IIRC and at least in ODI's he has been like burgers for an american so far. I do get the picture from the rumours/hype however that he is better than Johnson.

 

[Richard]

He is

And UIMM there've been pretty much no Tassie bowlers who've had notable international careers before now?

 

[Swervy]

And UIMM there've been pretty much no Tassie bowlers who've had notable international careers before now?

Boonie had an economy rate in tests of under 2.5rpo.
He really effectively tied up one end for a total of 6 overs throughout 107 tests.

Thats pretty notable for a fat stumpy beer guzzler

 

[The Sean]

And UIMM there've been pretty much no Tassie bowlers who've had notable international careers before now?

You're quite disgracefully overlooking the glittering career of Greg Campbell.

 

[Perm]

FFS the guy has played 1 international game so far. Far too early for this kind of talk.

 

[chaminda_00]

FFS the guy has played 1 international game so far. Far too early for this kind of talk.

AWTA

But if any of the young seamers are going to be any good its him. The rest will have too many injuries, to maintain a decent career. His also showed signs his more consistant then the rest. Will he be a great most likely not, will he be Test Standard most likely yes.

 

[Richard]

FFS the guy has played 1 international game so far. Far too early for this kind of talk.

But if any of the young seamers are going to be any good its him.

Yeah, pretty much my thoughts on the matter.

Remove the second part of the thread title and we might get more interesting discussion than otherwise IMO.

(Allow me to explain that - lots of people will, quite justifiably, say "getting carried-away saying 'potential great' already"; if we don't have that, we might get some good discussion)

 

[Woodster]

I like the look of him from what I've seen, good strong action, seems to hit the deck hard, decent pace, and swings the ball away. Think he is the type og fuy that will run in all day for you if needs be, a real workhorse like Hoggard.

I'm impressed so far, but he has not got a proper chance for Australia yet, so it is yet to be seen if he can cut the pressures of international cricket. I seem to think he will but time will tell how far he can go.

 

[FaaipDeOiad]

He's certainly an exciting prospect, probably the most likely to succeed out of the trio with Tait and Johnson, but there's some stiff competition for spots as a seamer in the Australian team at the moment, so he might not get a decent run for a while.

No idea. He has alot of hype but so did Johnson IIRC and at least in ODI's he has been like burgers for an american so far. I do get the picture from the rumours/hype however that he is better than Johnson.

Johnson averages under 30 in ODIs, and after his first two one-off ODIs before he broke into the side he's only had one bad series. Take out those first two games and he averages under 25. Hardly "burgers for an American".

 

[Perm]

Johnson averages under 30 in ODIs, and after his first two one-off ODIs before he broke into the side he's only had one bad series. Take out those first two games and he averages under 25. Hardly "burgers for an American".

What about the 3 ODIs he played against notably weaker opposition, ie Bangladesh? I think it would be fair to exclude them when making some sort of an analysis. So, once he's become a 'regular' fixture in the side, he averages 27.52 against ODI standard opposition, which is good. However, an economy rate of 6.14 isn't. He's just a rookie, and has undoubted potential, but thus far has only had a couple of good matches, a lot of them have been rubbish. I do expect this to change once he gets established and matures as a bowler.

 

[FaaipDeOiad]

What about the 3 ODIs he played against notably weaker opposition, ie Bangladesh? I think it would be fair to exclude them when making some sort of an analysis. So, once he's become a 'regular' fixture in the side, he averages 27.52 against ODI standard opposition, which is good. However, an economy rate of 6.14 isn't. He's just a rookie, and has undoubted potential, but thus far has only had a couple of good matches, a lot of them have been rubbish. I do expect this to change once he gets established and matures as a bowler.

That's all fine, and I agree, I was just pointing out that Johnson hasn't had a bad start to his career as stated. The only reason I didn't bother with the Bangladesh stats is they are actually worse in terms of average than the rest. Excluding his opening two games, Johnson has 26 wickets @ 24.35, and excluding Bangladesh as well it's 23 @ 23.95. The economy rate sucks, but he's always been among the wickets.

Anyway, the point stands that after breaking into the side Johnson has done fairly well in ODI cricket, so there's no reason based on his record alone to imagine that his hype was unwarranted, as the post I quoted implied.

 

[NUFAN]

Boonie is gun.

I'm a big fan of the Hilf though also. I said ages back he'd get 150 test wickets.

 

[Julian87]

Hilfy owns Johnson. I really do not rate Mitchell Johnson at all. In fact, I think Doug Bollinger is a much better bowler than he.

 

[Perm]

Hilfy owns Johnson. I really do not rate Mitchell Johnson at all. In fact, I think Doug Bollinger is a much better bowler than he.

Haha, sure he is.

 

[bond21]

mitchell johnson is great. Ive watched him play for QLD and he is quick, gets heaps of bounce and hes athletic in the field.

hes really young, he wouldnt be older than 21. Hilfy would be what 26, 27?

If you watch the Aus T20 matches, not that they are a real test of skill but Johnson has been getting wickets when no other bowler could.

Hilfy will probably be next in line after Tait.

 

[The_Bunny]

mitchell johnson is great. Ive watched him play for QLD and he is quick, gets heaps of bounce and hes athletic in the field.

hes really young, he wouldnt be older than 21. Hilfy would be what 26, 27?

If you watch the Aus T20 matches, not that they are a real test of skill but Johnson has been getting wickets when no other bowler could.

Hilfy will probably be next in line after Tait.

Mitchell is 25
Hilfy is 24
I though Hilfy was a bit older too O_o

 

[Flem274*]

Can't really say I rate Johnson. haven't seen Hilfenhaus but, to echo the others, we can't judge him and greatness just yet.