Brendon McCullum - over-rated?

[steds]

He's a fantastic keeper. His batting is over-rated, but he's hugely destructive when he gets going.

 

[Richard]

In other words you wanted the irrelevant 5th option

Relevant fifth option would've done, ITBT.

 

[Mr Mxyzptlk]

Atherton's very far from the only one to express such sentiments.

Not comparing him to Tendulkar.

 

[Richard]

Well I'd imagine he's not even quite the only one to do that.

But there are many other cricketers besides Tendulkar who are better than McCullum at the current time.

 

[Mr Mxyzptlk]

But there are many other cricketers besides Tendulkar who are better than McCullum at the current time.

Obviously.

 

[slowfinger]

I think he's either a pain in the neck (for opposition) or otherwise pathetic, yes. Pretty much that, see him this series, get 90, then really low, then again not up to scratch.

But his wicketkeeping is #1 love it alot, especially as he is a big jumper and makes things so dramatic :P

 

[Natman20]

No way is he over-rated. He earnt this reaction from great scores and demolishing of most attacks recently. i.e 170 n.o for Otago in the state shield final, 150 odd in premier league opening match, great opening partnerships in England tour and was looking good against bangladesh with a rapid 80 odd, his near century further established his name by playing a format not really appropriate to his aggressive style. Over-rated, no. Could he become over-rated, yes. This tag will stay with him even if he doesn't score much more because of the pure destructiveness he has shown to become a symbol of modern day cricket which is evolving into the style of twenty20. He has been a stand-out lifting New Zealands game where others havn't, not only that but puts confidence into players when he smashes it.

Wicket keeping - What can you say? The footage from this match speaks for itself. Becoming more world-class by the day although has tendancy to try and catch balls when the slips should be.

 

[Richard]

No way is he over-rated. He earnt this reaction from great scores and demolishing of most attacks recently. i.e 170 n.o for Otago in the state shield final, 150 odd in premier league opening match, great opening partnerships in England tour and was looking good against bangladesh with a rapid 80 odd, his near century further established his name by playing a format not really appropriate to his aggressive style.

People talk as if he's done far more than this.

The reality is he's smashed a lot of attacks in lower-grade cricket (Bangladesh, Auckland and some Twenty20 crap) which is certainly a decent effort, but people are talking like he's the hottest property going around, which is nonsense, no more.

 

[Natman20]

People talk as if he's done far more than this.

The reality is he's smashed a lot of attacks in lower-grade cricket (Bangladesh, Auckland and some Twenty20 crap) which is certainly a decent effort, but people are talking like he's the hottest property going around, which is nonsense, no more.

Its just because its not often that New Zealand has a player as destructive as he has the potential to do. (Vincent, McMillan, Cairns, Astle all showed glimpses but none have really been able to keep it together). He has been very consistent in the last few series. I'll just find some stats ... (procrastination 1000 more words for an essay due 2mmrw aah - time is 11:11 pm)

Innings from the tour of South Africa till now in ODIs:
SA - 40, 81, 0
AUS - 96, 5, 6
BAN - 40, 35, 80*
ENG - 42, 80*, 4, 58, 77

The tests show a different story with only three scores over 50:
SA - 9, 26, 13, 21
BAN - 7, 40
ENG - 51, 0, 25, 85, 9, 42
ENG (2) - 97, 24, 11, 0.

So yeah some improvement and some inconsistency. He looks to have the century bug.

 

[Richard]

So basically, in the whole 6 innings he's played against good ODI bowling-attacks he's made 2 good innings...

England's bowling is shocking, their catching poor as well (at least one of those innings in that series had a let-off on 1 or something), and Bangladesh are not ODI-standard.

His ODI prowess of late is overstated, I maintain. That's not to say he won't go on to be a good ODI opener - but he certainly isn't one yet, and people are acting like he is. Which is plain wrong.

 

[Natman20]

So basically, in the whole 6 innings he's played against good ODI bowling-attacks he's made 2 good innings...

England's bowling is shocking, their catching poor as well (at least one of those innings in that series had a let-off on 1 or something), and Bangladesh are not ODI-standard.

His ODI prowess of late is overstated, I maintain. That's not to say he won't go on to be a good ODI opener - but he certainly isn't one yet, and people are acting like he is. Which is plain wrong.

I agree completely. He still needs to prove his opening abilities and to be honest i'd still like him down the order. I was a skeptic when he first moved up. His style isn't likely to work that often but when it does it does. He needs to string together a few more good scores for me to be completely happy with his opening abilities. Definately a great keeper and a decent batsmen whatever the result though.

 

[Athlai]

FFS Rich I don't care if the attack is the Waihi B under 14's XI, McCullum's innings in the IPL and his one against Bangladesh were some of the most impressive in sheer terms of destruction I've ever seen.

He lays a claim to being better than both Gilchrist and Tendulkar in terms of destroying his opposition when he gets going, does he show their class and skill? No.

He's like an Afridi, yet one of the worlds top keepers, and also is better with the bat.

McCullum really started to impress me with the bat in the final CH in early 2007, when he scored that less than a run a ball 70-80 score, guiding NZ to a brilliant win. That was the knock that proved to me he had more to him than just that highest gear. He has a responsible cricketer in him, its just whether he wants to let it out or not,

 

[_Ed_]

McCullum really started to impress me with the bat in the final CH in early 2007, when he scored that less than a run a ball 70-80 score, guiding NZ to a brilliant win. That was the knock that proved to me he had more to him than just that highest gear. He has a responsible cricketer in him, its just whether he wants to let it out or not,

Absolutely.

A lot of people look at the scores for that game and assume it was just another of his aggressive knocks on a small ground, but that was a very mature innings in which he at first provided support for Craig McMillan in a much needed partnership (we were 5 wickets down and more than 200 short of the target) and batted brilliantly with the lower order to see us home.

I rate that 86* at Hamilton the best innings I've seen him play in any form of cricket.

 

[silentstriker]

He lays a claim to being better than both Gilchrist and Tendulkar in terms of destroying his opposition when he gets going, does he show their class and skill? No.

Are you serious? How soon people forget. He hasn't played anything remotely like this in proper cricket.

 

[Athlai]

Dead serious, all in all I believe McCullum is the more destructive, this isn't withstanding that Gilchrist and Tendulkar can't on their day obliterate the opposition, yet McCullum does this more consistently (though scores less so). McCullum's whole game plan is to attack and punish, while Gilchrist was slightly more reserved in his attack, though when he unleashed it you better hope your not bowling to him.

Edit: Fair call if you consider your 'real cricket' stance, but he's still got many years in the tank to improve his Test match standings.

 

[Langeveldt]

Annoys me that someone who seeks to mainly go out and smack the ball and is succesful at T20 can be a good test match player, but I reckon he is.. His glovework has been stunning recently against England.. Rated about correctly for mine

 

[Jono]

Dead serious, all in all I believe McCullum is the more destructive, this isn't withstanding that Gilchrist and Tendulkar can't on their day obliterate the opposition, yet McCullum does this more consistently (though scores less so). McCullum's whole game plan is to attack and punish, while Gilchrist was slightly more reserved in his attack, though when he unleashed it you better hope your not bowling to him.

Edit: Fair call if you consider your 'real cricket' stance, but he's still got many years in the tank to improve his Test match standings.

I like McCullum firstly, so I'm not a detractor or anything. But...

I don't think you can say "On their day, he's more destructive than Sachin on Gilly" when Sachin has blasted the crap out of Warne, and scored against the top bowlers of all time, and Gilly, well his record speaks for itself.

He may score quicker generally, but destructiveness against top quality bowling means more. I'm not talking skill or technique or anything here. But the fact is, those two in their pomp were more destructive batsmen than McCullum, because they did it more often and against better opposition. McCullum still has years up his sleeve obviously, but as it sits, you can't really say that McCullum is more destructive. He just scores his runs quicker and maybe more aggressively.

Its not like he's tonned up against Warne or Murali at a SR of 75+ yet, or batted 50 overs for a score of 160+ in ODI cricket against top nations.

Again, McCullum's gun though and I love watching him.

 

[silentstriker]

He may score quicker generally,

His career S/R is about the same as Tendulkar in ODI, and below Gilchrist. In Tests, its also about the same as Tendulkar - and again, less than Gilly. Obviously, his career S/R may improve, but that remains to be seen - there were periods in both Tendulkar's and Gilchrist's career where they also scored much faster than their career S/Rs.

 

[Woodster]

His glovework has been outstanding of late and I think he is a very able gloveman who deserves the plaudits he is receiving.
Yes he is over-rated as a Test batsman in terms of being a number five, which isn't his fault. I understand NZ have a lack of viable options in the top order but McCullum is far too hit and miss to be a consistent performer at number 5.
His one-day cricket is exciting and destructive and he is rightly considered a massive threat in this form.

 

[Richard]

FFS Rich I don't care if the attack is the Waihi B under 14's XI, McCullum's innings in the IPL and his one against Bangladesh were some of the most impressive in sheer terms of destruction I've ever seen.

Yes, certainly. But I don't place any value on Twenty20 outside Twenty20, and I don't place Bangladesh (or Otago-vs-Auckland) as a ODI-standard game. I'm not saying McCullum is incapable of astonishing innings - I'm saying he's not an excellent ODI batsman. Because he's not. And some people seem to think he is.

If all that was being said about McCullum currently was "he can play some of the most astonishing innings you'll see from time to time" then I'd not consider people overrated him. But so much more is being said, stuff which is completely untrue at this moment in time.