Michael Clarke vs Ian Bell - who's better at spin?

[Richard]

Clarke very easily. Bell isn't anything special against spin.

Yeah, 1st reply on the thread is precisely what I thought upon reading the title.

the advertisements relate to what is said on the thread yea? well thats my theory

They certainly do. Targeted ads.

Though TBH, I'm not sure how the ad Jono posted was targeted to the thread title.

PUBLIC POLLS! Then we can see which ninconpoop voted for Bell.

 

[BoyBrumby]

They certainly do. Targeted ads.

Though TBH, I'm not sure how the ad Jono posted was targeted to the thread title.

I thought someone might have mentioned a "flipper", but on reading the thread back I don't think anyone did. Random stuff from our good chums at Google.

 

[Jono]

that screenshot confused me a bit though.. thought it was genuine part of the page lol

Was hoping someone would try and use the quick reply box, its the only reason I kept it in the screenshot

 

[roseboy64]

Sarwan and Chanderpaulk are good.

 

[GIMH]

I thought someone might have mentioned a "flipper", but on reading the thread back I don't think anyone did. Random stuff from our good chums at Google.

Very liberal with the old broad match at Google

 

[adharcric]

Was hoping someone would try and use the quick reply box, its the only reason I kept it in the screenshot

 

[R_D]

Clarke easily... no contest.

 

[honestbharani]

How about picking a top 6 to face a great spin combination?

Hayden to open with Sehwag?

How about the middle-order? Clarke and Pietersen are obvious candidates along with some of the quality bats from the subcontinent.

Any line up picked specifically to play spin would always be incomplete without Lara. His batting mastery against spin was astonishingly stupefying. It was almost as if Lara telepathically knew what the bowler was going to bowl (length, direction of spin, amount of flight etc.) but even worse was that even when did seem to have judged wrong, he was still able to play with obvious ease........ Honestly, he is EASILY the best player of spin that I have seen and that is no disrespect to the other great players of spin out there....


Woolmer once told that there are 5 ways to counter spin bowling and only Lara seemed to the one who could use all 5 methods. The others, even the better ones, seemed to have at most 3.......

 

[honestbharani]

on the topic of the poll, Clarke by miles.......



He is the one who looks the most naturally talented against spin. KP and Hayden are good, but it is obvious that they have worked on it... With Clarke, it just seems so natural... So if he can put in the sort of effort that KP and Hayden have, he will become frighteningly good against spin, IMHO.

 

[pup11]

Clarke is easily one of the best players of spin in the game, his footwork against spin bowling is really a treat to watch, as HB said KP and Hayden aren't naturally good players of spin, its just that they have just worked hard on their technique while batting against spin and they rely a lot more on the sweep shot against spin rather than using their feet like Clarke does, as far as the topic of the thread is concerned then Clarke is easily a better player of spin as compared to Bell, with all due respect to Bell, its really a no-contest.

 

[Laurrz]

yep, i remember Harsha Bogle during Australia's tour of India.. Pups debut.. called him twinkletoes and referred to him as having lightning fast feet..iidr he noted it very quickly..

during the summer against Murali Harbhajan and Kumble he was a treat to watch, and i recn he tackles spin the old fashioned way.. very nice to watch

ps. apologise for the mismatch in poll lol.. guess i was right to say it was fair to point out pup is better than bell at spin (somewhere else) so ty for proving that all

 

[Richard]

Thing that's so unusual about Clarke and his footwork to spinners is that he's so quick he can spot the length of a ball then go down the wicket and still get a good 2 or 3 paces down before it pitches. Mostly, use of feet to spinners is pre-meditated. When I first heard of Clarke's regularity of using feet to the spinners I presumed it'd be a weakness, as it is for near enough any batsman who uses his feet too often. After watching him bat against spinners for the first time (didn't happen until 2005, because he didn't last long enough against the seamers in 2004/05

) it became clearer that he has a pretty rare gift. Brian Lara had it too, of course. They say Alvin Kallicharran did as well, as he was another of the greatest players of spin you'll see.

 

[Jono]

Any line up picked specifically to play spin would always be incomplete without Lara. His batting mastery against spin was astonishingly stupefying. It was almost as if Lara telepathically knew what the bowler was going to bowl (length, direction of spin, amount of flight etc.) but even worse was that even when did seem to have judged wrong, he was still able to play with obvious ease........ Honestly, he is EASILY the best player of spin that I have seen and that is no disrespect to the other great players of spin out there....


Woolmer once told that there are 5 ways to counter spin bowling and only Lara seemed to the one who could use all 5 methods. The others, even the better ones, seemed to have at most 3.......

You're right (Murali will testify to that) but Lara's retired Honest, otherwise we may as well throw in players from the 50s and so on.

Btw, you saying "Honestly" in your post made me chuckle

 

[Richard]

That Mike Gatting was damn good against spin. And as for that Frank Woolley, well, he was a nonpareil.

 

[silentstriker]

A current top order against spin might be:

1. Hayden
2. Sehwag
3. Sangakarra
4. Tendulkar
5. Clarke
6. KP

Would give even the best spin attack in history some trouble.

 

[Agent TBY]

A current top order against spin might be:

1. Hayden
2. Sehwag
3. Sangakarra
4. Tendulkar
5. Clarke
6. KP

Would give even the best spin attack in history some trouble.

Don't they all bowl spin? Co-incidence? (Except Kumar, of course)

 

[Jono]

Hayden bowls seam up doesn't he? He did in 2001 vs. India anyway.

 

[GIMH]

Yeah he does on Brian Lara Cricket as well

 

[Richard]

Btw, you saying "Honestly" in your post made me chuckle

Haha yeah, me too TBH.

 

[Laurrz]

Hayden bowls seam up doesn't he? He did in 2001 vs. India anyway.

lol at Warney at slip.. roles reversal..usually Haydos appealing from slip

Australian cricketer Mathew Hayden (L) and teammate Shane Warne appeal for an LBW at Bombay's Vinayak Mane, 22 February 2001, during a three-day warm-up match prior to their three-Test series against India. McGrath raised the stakes for the upcoming series against India, saying 22 February that Indian player Sachin Tendulkar feigned injury to avoid an early confrontation with him.