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Clarke or Samaraweera?

Cricketismylife

U19 12th Man
Of these 2 middle order batsman who do people feel is the better currently, overall and who will end up with the better record?

I'm going to go for Clarke, but only just and it's purely because Samaraweera has played so few tests outside the subcontinent, and hasnt done so well when he has...if he rectifies that even partially next year I would be willing to put him above Clarke.

However, when Samaraweera retires which I would guess would be in 3-4 years, I expect Clarke to reach his peak, so probably he will end up with the better record overall.
 

TumTum

Banned
What is the point of this comparison?

I don't know who will end up with the better record, but Clarke's a far better player.
 

Mike5181

International Captain
Clarke will be around for another 5-6 years. Easily enough time for him to add thousands of runs to his tally.
 

robelinda

International Vice-Captain
I dunno, Clarke is all over the place with his batting so often, then has a good patch, then back to having a suspect technique.
 

Spark

Global Moderator
As we said with KP not too long ago, let's ask this question when Clarke isn't in the worst form of his career.
 

Cricketismylife

U19 12th Man
TumTum what's the point in anything?

At least the comparison is a new comparison, and although it might sound like a ridiculous one, both are right handed, middle order batsman and have played similar amounts of tests.

What makes it interesting is that if this question was asked a few years back it would be treated as a joke. Clarke's entry was accompanied by serious justified hype and he has turned himself into a class middle order batsman, not quite up there but probably next tier down.

Samaraweera, on the other hand is so unknown and unrated and began as a bowler, yet his average is quite a bit higher than Clarke's after more than 60 tests!
 

Burgey

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TumTum what's the point in anything?

At least the comparison is a new comparison, and although it might sound like a ridiculous one, both are right handed, middle order batsman and have played similar amounts of tests.

What makes it interesting is that if this question was asked a few years back it would be treated as a joke. Clarke's entry was accompanied by serious justified hype and he has turned himself into a class middle order batsman, not quite up there but probably next tier down.

Samaraweera, on the other hand is so unknown and unrated and began as a bowler, yet his average is quite a bit higher than Clarke's after more than 60 tests!
This.

Though I've always been more a Tendulkar vs Mangoes man myself.
 

morgieb

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Hard to say. Samaraweera's record has got to deteriorate when he plays overseas, but Pup's not looking much at #4. His back might also screw his career Atherton style.
 

robelinda

International Vice-Captain
Hard to say. Samaraweera's record has got to deteriorate when he plays overseas, but Pup's not looking much at #4. His back might also screw his career Atherton style.
One can only grimace at the thought of Clarke facing the same 90's bowlers that Atherton so bravely fought off, like WI in 94 and Donald in 98. Massive respect for Athers here.
 

Himannv

International Coach
Definitely Samaraweera. Very underrated and a man for a crisis. Got us out of many a tight situation.
 

Furball

Evil Scotsman
Hard to say. Samaraweera's record has got to deteriorate when he plays overseas, but Pup's not looking much at #4. His back might also screw his career Atherton style.
He won't play enough cricket outside the subcontinent for his average to seriously drop off though.

Even if he gets completely owned in England next year, it's not going to majorly affect his record, and then when are Sri Lanka next scheduled to go to either Australia, South Africa or New Zealand?
 

akilana

International 12th Man
He won't play enough cricket outside the subcontinent for his average to seriously drop off though.

Even if he gets completely owned in England next year, it's not going to majorly affect his record, and then when are Sri Lanka next scheduled to go to either Australia, South Africa or New Zealand?
You could say that for KP too. He doesn't play in subcontinent for his average to drop.
 

Migara

Cricketer Of The Year
With current form Samaraweera. But I think Clarke is better. Sam will only get very few chances to play overseas as he's already 34, so might be 3 more seasons at maximum. But the way he handled Roach when the ball was boomeranging gives hope to fans that he could do it overseas as well.
 

Cricketismylife

U19 12th Man
Just as a side note does anyone at all see any shades of Greg Chappell in Samaraweera when playing spin? Not that I'm saying Samaraweera is in his league; of course I could be the only one...
 

Uppercut

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It's a pretty tough comparison. Samaraweera has an easier time of it than Clarke because he doesn't play in such a wide variety of conditions, but he does do his job quite a bit better than Clarke does his.
 

Migara

Cricketer Of The Year
Just as a side note does anyone at all see any shades of Greg Chappell in Samaraweera when playing spin? Not that I'm saying Samaraweera is in his league; of course I could be the only one...
Samaraweera is not in Chappel's league as a batsman. But jhe's in his own league when it comes to playing spin. Better player of spin that Chappel IMO. Easily the second or third best player of spin SL has in his entire history after Ranatunga and Tillekaratne
 

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