Shocking Declines

[GuyFromLancs]

Does Ian Botham represent one of the worst declines among test cricketers in the past 50 years?

Test Matches played = 102

First 51

Batting- Average 38.8.
11 Centuries

Bowling- 231 wickets @ 23.06

Second 51

Batting - Average = 28.86
3 Centuries

Bowling- 152 wickets @ 36.50

Admittedly, there have been many players who have become worse and worse as time passes- but as Botham was a genuine allrounder, and a great one at that, is his decline among the most shocking in test cricket?

[Zinzan]

Hard to go past Beefy, be interesting to look at Richards career split into halves

[0RI0N]

The Colonel Dulip Vengsarkar
Between 86 and 88 the best batsman in the world.
Hundred's at Leeds and Lords in 86 on green seamers.
Some say it was a text book performance on how to play on seaming wickets.
A couple of hundred's against the WI followed.
I think he averaged > 90 between 86 and 88 incl. 8 hundreds.
Unfortunately after `88 it went pear shaped for the next 4 years.
Ended his test career in Aus 91/92 after a nightmare series.
Last 18 tests 612@ 22.67 incl 5 half centuries.
=
He did play an innings of utter brilliance in the Ranji Trophy Final for Bombay vs Kapil Dev's Haryana in 1990/91 season.
139* off 137 balls incl 5 sixes and 9 fours.
But that match deserves it's own thread.

[Zinzan]

Originally Posted by 0RI0N

The Colonel Dulip Vengsarkar
Between 86 and 88 the best batsman in the world.
.

Yeah, I vaguely remember that because Crowe seemed to always be no 2 to Vengsarkar accordingly to the ratings in that period

[Dissector]

Jimmy Adams is a dramatic case whose decline started exactly at the half-way mark of his career; he averaged 61 in his first 27 tests and 26 in his last 27 tests. Possibly an injury from a bouncer in 1995 played a major role.

[Dissector]

Neil Harvey is another well-known case though not as dramatic as Adams. He averaged 62 after his first 39 tests and 36 in his last 40. You have to feel a bit sorry for the guy. How intimidating it must have been to burst on the scene just when Bradman retired. After 9 tests and at just 21 Harvey averaged an incredible 106. The expectations would have been enormous and despite a few remarkable series in later years he couldn't live up to them.

[social]

Kim Hughes

Started his final year in test cricket with a batting average of 41 and his career averaging 37 - a ridiculously low figure for someone that is generally considered to have played at least 2 of the best innings of all time

[nexxus]

Makhaya Ntini gotta be there, just a couple years ago he took more wickets than anyone else that calendar year, now he's all but written off.

[Sanz]

Brett Lee.

[HeathDavisSpeed]

I forget the guy's name, but wasn't there an Indian spinner in the late 80s who burst onto the scene, tore a few people apart and then disappeared as quickly as he'd arrived.

And maybe, like Uppercut, Mendis could fit in this category

[fredfertang]

Hirwani?

[GuyFromLancs]

Originally Posted by Dissector

Jimmy Adams is a dramatic case whose decline started exactly at the half-way mark of his career; he averaged 61 in his first 27 tests and 26 in his last 27 tests. Possibly an injury from a bouncer in 1995 played a major role.

Unbelievable. I knew Jimmy faded away somewhat but I just ran him though Statsguru and as you say-

First 27 tests = 61 with 5 centuries

Last 27 tests = 25.58 with 1 century

......cricinfo also notes that after 12 tests only Don Bradman had better stats than Adams.

[HeathDavisSpeed]

Originally Posted by fredfertang

Hirwani?

That's the fulla.

[zaremba]

Originally Posted by HeathDavisSpeed

That's the fulla.

Likewise Laxman Sivaramakrishnan

[The Sean]

Arthur Morris would fall into this category too. He scored 10 centuries in his first 36 Test innings, and just 2 in the 43 that followed. His average in that time fell from the 60-70 zone down to its final point of 46.48.