Who is better, Gooch or Martin Crowe??

[PhoenixFire]

FFS, I'm not claiming he's anywhere near as good as Bradman, Headley etc. but he's clearly the best Sri Lankan batsman to retire from Test cricket as of this post.

Calm down. I wasn't suggesting that you were comparing them, just commenting that i think you overate de Silva.

 

[Goughy]

EDIT- Apologies. I misread and misunderstood the post.

 

[Richard]

Calm down. I wasn't suggesting that you were comparing them, just commenting that i think you overate de Silva.

Based on what, then, if not on my previous post in this thread?

 

[PhoenixFire]

Well based on that I was assuming by the list of players, that you were suggesting de Silva is better than Sangakkara, which I think is overating de Silva or underating Sangakkara.

 

[Richard]

I simply think that with Sangakkara's career still in motion, he will have to wait to be considered Sri Lanka's greatest-yet batsman.

I have little doubt he will be one day. Admittedly this issue could be clouded by the fact I included Tendulkar in my previous post, for which I should've thought better of.

 

[PhoenixFire]

Indeed, it was. Fair enough.

 

[SJS]

Calm down. I wasn't suggesting that you were comparing them, just commenting that i think you overate de Silva.

Its bound to appear like that since most people tend to under-rate this master batsman as we do for many of the 'less-glamourous' stars of modern cricket.

 

[Richard]

There's no doubt in my mind that Aravinda could've been so much better than he ended-up being. But it was never going to happen. He was too laid-back, too happy that he was good and wasn't as interested as he needed to be in being very, very good.

He really was in so many ways a lesser Vivian Richards. Aravinda could have averaged 50 or 55 in Tests; Richards could have averaged 70. But neither of them were ever going to happen because for all the skills they had they did not possess the Bradmanesque mindset.

 

[funnygirl]

Aravinda De silva is underrated ? The man is known as Viv Richards of Asia simply because the way he treated some of the finest quicks of his time .

As for the topic ,i prefer Martin Crowe .

 

[SJS]

Aravinda De silva is underrated ? The man is known as Viv Richards of Asia simply because the way he treated some of the finest quicks of his time .

As for the topic ,i prefer Martin Crowe .

By many - including on this board.

 

[Richard]

A product, for my money, of the fact that Sri Lankan cricket was rarely televised Worldwide until very recently. Most non-Lankans would have seen de Silva bat only against their own team (and of course there are not a few on here too young even to rememer him at all - I myself only caught the relative tail-end of his career and I'm now depressingly "senior" on this place at 22) and such players with only middling banal career records do tend to be little-known.

 

[Goocheslamb]

gooch was better in ODIS

 

[ret]

like Crowe so ....

 

[zaremba]

Crowe. I think Gooch would give the same answer if you asked him.

 

[Zinzan]

Both tend to get underrated when compared with the zillion batsmen who average 50+ these days.

I think the following summary of top Test batsmen in the decade 1985 to 1995 provide some perspective of how good they both were in that era of pretty damn strong bowling.

Batting records | Test matches | Cricinfo Statsguru | Cricinfo.com

 

[Zinzan]

Or if you want the averages ..

Batting records | Test matches | Cricinfo Statsguru | Cricinfo.com

 

[morgieb]

Wow, fair credit to them. Never realised Crowe was that good. Always would think that Gooch was better, but this opens it up. ITSTL...

 

[thierry henry]

wow, that's interesting

Before 1985 and from the start of 1995 onwards, Crowe played 22 tests and only averaged 22

In the decade in between he had the best average in world cricket

 

[Zinzan]

wow, that's interesting

Before 1985 and from the start of 1995 onwards, Crowe played 22 tests and only averaged 22

In the decade in between he had the best average in world cricket

Haha, that's right. Combination of being selected too early against Lillee, Thomson & co as a 19 y/o & then playing practically on one knee in the last year or so of his career.

 

[social]

Technically, Crowe was the best player that I'd ever seen until Kallis came along PLUS he played with horrific injuries PLUS he played on seamer-friendly tracks in NZ PLUS Gooch was sorted out by Alderman

So it's Crowe for me but Gooch was a mighty fine player