Mark Waugh overrated?

[GotSpin]

Cricket is ultimately a form of entertainment. Mark Waugh was the ultimate entertainer, such a pleasure to watch when at the crease. He may not have grafted out the runs of some of his teammates like Steve Waugh, Border and Ponting, but every young kid in Australia during the 90's wanted to bat like Mark Waugh.

What does it matter that he averaged 'only' 41.81, he has the respect of true cricket fans in that he played the big innings when they mattered, he entertained a generation and he made bowling with sunglasses so cool.

Indeed. He was so cool.

 

[vcs]

I honestly don't get people admiring batting strokes tbh. I would class people like Jayasuriya, Afridi, Sehwag, Astle, Symonds etc as 'entertainers'. Don't see how Laxman, Waugh etc can be called entertainers along with the aforementioned names.

Everyone has their own preferences, but I love watching stroke-play that is based on timing rather than brute force. Most of the traditional entertainers like Mark Waugh, Martyn, Gower, Laxman etc. fall into the former category. Even Tendulkar for the most part. Quick footwork and perfect balance is also important for me.

 

[Pothas]

Everyone has their own preferences, but I love watching stroke-play that is based on timing rather than brute force. Most of the traditional entertainers like Mark Waugh, Martyn, Gower, Laxman etc. fall into the former category. Even Tendulkar for the most part.

Yep same here, big hitters never really do it for me apart from those who are ridiculously gifted, Pietersen and Sehwag perfect examples.

Having said that my very favourite shot it probably Ponting's lofted straight drive, combines timing and power perfectly.

 

[Furball]

Fair points all round.

On the "only 41.81 ave" tho, it's a thoroughly respectable return IMHO, but to read some posts here one would think he was down with the Ramprakashes and Hicks in the unfulfilled talent ranks. Of his English contemporaries only Robin Smith and Thorpey averaged more.

Interesting you referenced Hick and Ramprakash, I was going to ask how unfair regarding Mark Waugh as a Test Class version of Hick is.

There's no denying Waugh was clearly a talented batsman, you don't score 8000 Test runs @ near enough 42 without being good, however he certainly comes up short when you compare his Test output to his First Class output.

 

[Shri]

Too many posts above in response to my post to quote, so this post is for the ones who responded to me. Cbf multi quoting.

People call the Mark Waugh like players stylish in general, don't they? I was surprised to see you guys calling him an entertainer, thats all.

 

[Uppercut]

All players struggled against Murali from time to time tbh.

One notable exception is that joke of a batsman against spin that is Ricky Ponting.

 

[Uppercut]

Fair points all round.

On the "only 41.81 ave" tho, it's a thoroughly respectable return IMHO, but to read some posts here one would think he was down with the Ramprakashes and Hicks in the unfulfilled talent ranks. Of his English contemporaries only Robin Smith and Thorpey averaged more.

Indeed- rather sums up just how good he looks. I even think the same about Sachin sometimes- sometimes he looks so damn good that an average of 55 seems an underachievement.

 

[zaremba]

I honestly don't get people admiring batting strokes tbh. I would class people like Jayasuriya, Afridi, Sehwag, Astle, Symonds etc as 'entertainers'. Don't see how Laxman, Waugh etc can be called entertainers along with the aforementioned names.

A question of taste.

Speaking for myself, I am entertained by stylish batsmen. I'd rather watch a David Gower hundred than pretty much anything else in the world, with the possible exception of a few hypothetical bedroom match-ups between certain famous women.

 

[Shri]

A question of taste.

Speaking for myself, I am entertained by stylish batsmen. I'd rather watch a David Gower hundred than pretty much anything else in the world, with the possible exception of a few hypothetical bedroom match-ups between certain famous women.

Yeah, clarified the issue a couple of posts above. I certainly consider Mark Waugh to be one of the most stylish batsmen ever. Along with the likes of Ian Bell. But just can't associate him with the word 'entertainer'.

 

[Burgey]

I think his Test record is over rated by some, but not on here.

As a player to watch, you couldn't really over-rate him though.

And as a commentator I don't think it's possible to rate him low enough.

 

[Anil]

A question of taste.

Speaking for myself, I am entertained by stylish batsmen. I'd rather watch a David Gower hundred than pretty much anything else in the world of cricket

edited and agreed...

 

[Smudge]

Anyone who has such a deep love of harness racing cannot be overrated. Good on ya, Mark Waugh.

 

[HeathDavisSpeed]

Indeed, and not doing justice to one's ability usually gets one quite a bit over-rated. Mark Waugh could've been a great batsman, but he wasn't. I don't really care about his "incredible ability" if he simply wasn't able to perform as anything more than a decent-to-good player.

His record is odd though - for someone who's so widely thought of as not having the concentration to make big totals as often as he perhaps could have, there's a huge difference between his Test and First Class records. He played 49 First Class games for Australia that weren't Tests and averaged 71 in them to go with his average of 59 for Essex and his average of 53 for New South Wales. This doesn't suggest a player with a concentration or application problem, to me, but a player who perhaps struggled a bit with the pressure of Test cricket.

Really good post this. I saw Waugh, M score numerous big scores for Essex with some sublime strokeplay and couldn't fathom how he failed to fill his boots for Australia. He never looked particularly nervous or unsure in Test Cricket (like Ramps or Hick did in their early days at least) but it'd be interesting to know other people's thoughts on Waugh's mental attributes.

 

[Jono]

Ftr, I don't like Mark Waugh. Dislike him a lot actually. Very arrogant person on the mic and on cricket shows.

Anyway, I don't see how he's overrated. Who, particularly on CW, ever mentions him next to "very good" test batsmen such as Yousuf, Inzy, Sanga etc.?

The term overrated gets thrown around a lot when its unwarranted. He's rated pretty much correctly. A talented and aesthetically looking batsman that did quite well in a successful team.

 

[Matt79]

Correct that last sentence to "did well and contributed substantially to a successful team" and that's pretty much bang on.