Who will end up with more test hundreds - Ponting or Kallis ?

[abmk]

At one stage , competiton in the race for most no of test hundreds was b/w Sachin and Ponting and it didn't 'seem' Kallis was going to get there with either of these 2

But now Sachin has gone ahead by some distance and Kallis has caught up with Ponting; in fact has one more hundred.

At present Kallis has 40 hundreds in 246 innings, Ponting has 39 hundreds in 259 innings.

Ponting is roughly 10 months older .

Who will end up with more test hundreds - Ponting or Kallis ?

Will either of them or both get to 50 hundreds ? Or will either of them or both surpass Sachin ?

 

[hang on]

kallis, who might get to 50. the reason being that his technique is slightly more orthodox or tight or classical or not reliant on a preternatural eye and thus will be able to compensate to declining reflexes and the other vicissitudes of age. similar to tendulkar.

that said, i would dearly love ponting to get back to something approaching his top form of the mid noughties. he was quite remarkable then. giving up odi cricket would be a start. i really don't understand why he needed to go to bangladesh this time around.

 

[bagapath]

great thread. finally ponting is being compared with someone of his standard. the ponting vs tendulkar thread was unnecessarily sullying his legacy. i think ponting may end up with one or two more centuries than kallis since i expect him to find a second wind after giving up the captaincy.

 

[hang on]

why was it sullying his legacy? to be compared to the possibly the second greatest batsman of all time is hardly something to be sneezed at.

the interesting point, for me, is how history will have ponting relative to kallis. i would not be loathe to have kallis the better batsman.

 

[vic_orthdox]

Rightio, can we keep this away from comparisons to Tendulkar within the thread from now on. Think it's a topic well worth a good discussion, so lets keep to it, please?

It's really hard to put a finger on it, but I just half expect Kallis to pull up stumps at the most random of times. I think that me may well retire before Ponting, and will be ahead at that stage, just depends on how long Punter goes for after that.

That's my gut feel, with no real logic behind it to be honest. The big one for Ponting is how he goes over the coming 12 months, well basically from the SL tour till the end of the Indian tour. If he does well there, then he'll have the opportunity to depart on his own terms, otherwise he might not get a say in anything at all.

 

[hang on]

Rightio, can we keep this away from comparisons to Tendulkar within the thread from now on. Think it's a topic well worth a good discussion, so lets keep to it, please?

some comparisons or, at the very least, analogies with tendulkar are almost impossible to avoid in this case. why circumscribe them from the very outset? especially since the second wind element of ponting's career (a la tendulkar) is a point that needs to be considered when making the comparison with kallis.

 

[vic_orthdox]

some comparisons or, at the very least, analogies with tendulkar are almost impossible to avoid in this case. why circumscribe them from the very outset? especially since the second wind element of ponting's career (a la tendulkar) is a point that needs to be considered when making the comparison with kallis.

We already have threads comparing both of these players to Tendulkar. Forum trends suggest that too often threads like this get tied up and worsen when comparisons to Sachin get involved.

If people are going to continue to make comments like this:

finally ponting is being compared with someone of his standard.

Then we end up being bogged down in the same old arguments that have been seen throughout the forum over the past 36 months, plus.

I understand that the opening post mentions whether they'd be likely to surpass Sachin. Keep it to talking about whether they'll surpass the tons, and keep it away from a player comparison.

 

[hang on]

fair enough.

 

[vcs]

We already have threads comparing both of these players to Tendulkar. Forum trends suggest that too often threads like this get tied up and worsen when comparisons to Sachin get involved.

If people are going to continue to make comments like this:

Then we end up being bogged down in the same old arguments that have been seen throughout the forum over the past 36 months, plus.

I understand that the opening post mentions whether they'd be likely to surpass Sachin. Keep it to talking about whether they'll surpass the tons, and keep it away from a player comparison.

Agree. That was an unnecessary comment by Bagapath.

As for the thread question, very hard to predict how long players will last, whether (and at what point) their form dramatically drops away after they hit 35. Also, whether there is someone pushing really hard for their place if they have a bad tour somewhere down the line. So a bit of luck involved as well. Recent trends suggest Kallis looks good to keep going for at least another couple of years yet. Ponting also could certainly have a second wind. I don't think anything can be definitely said about the Tendulkar-Ponting-Kallis 100s race in Tests.

 

[Jono]

I think Ponting will go down as the greater batsman, but Kallis will have more centuries.

4 years ago I said Kallis is the biggest thread to Sachin's records. The man is a run machine and I can see him playing a long long time. His bowling isn't even shortening his career either!

 

[Cevno]

I think Ponting will go down as the greater batsman, but Kallis will have more centuries.

4 years ago I said Kallis is the biggest thread to Sachin's records. The man is a run machine and I can see him playing a long long time. His bowling isn't even shortening his career either!

Kallis's bowling has been pretty ordinary for a couple of years now.

He is nothing more than a part timer atm.

He will have to play a couple of years atleast more than Sachin to have any chance of catching up on him,and i can't see it happening.

 

[bagapath]

It's really hard to put a finger on it, but I just half expect Kallis to pull up stumps at the most random of times.

common sense says you are right; especially considering that kallis is a pace bowling allrounder and hence more prone to injuries etc. but somehow that guy's body has withstood so many years of hard toil in international cricket. the phenomenal number of games he has played, both tests and ODIs, and the huge huge volume of runs and wickets in his kitty just look superhuman. so if he goes on for three or four years more I wont be surprised.

having said that, i still think ponting will be able to stay ahead of him in this race. i feel that way because when he (and if) comes back anywhere near his best batting form, ricky is capable of reeling off more centuries in quick succession than most modern batsmen. he is probably next only to hayden in hitting two centuries in a three test series frequently. I dont have the stats with me; just that i feel ponting is, (and hayden) more capable of stamping his authority with back to back big scores than other greats.

 

[Furball]

Kallis.

Ponting won't score another Test century.

 

[biased indian]

A poll will be nice... a public one..like the ponting vs tendulkar one

 

[hang on]

judging by the way he was batting today, albeit only against a mediocre attack, i wouldn't be surprised if he gets back into centuries in clusters mode soon.

btw, anyone know about the batsmen who are best at scoring 100s in clusters?

 

[blahblahblah]

A poll will be nice... a public one..like the ponting vs tendulkar one

won't the result be too obvious , atleast going by the current form of both the batsmen?

 

[hang on]

would be interesting to see the results a couple of years from now! i find the tendulkar ponting 100s one of a few years ago quite fascinating.

 

[zaremba]

Suspect that Ponting may go sooner due to him being a recent captain.
Australian captains don't tend to stay on for very long after standing down.
Completely agree that Kallis might go at a random time.
However I can't see him going unless he so chooses.
If he stays on for a couple of years he might get to fifty Test hundreds.
No-one can predict with certainty, but my money is on Kallis.

 

[silentstriker]

I'd say Kallis but you'd have said that about Ponting too a few years back. People have a way of going into form slumps and/or declines very quickly, especially as they get older, so I don't think it'd necessarily be Kallis.

 

[Blaze 18]

Ponting will overtake Kallis before this year ends. If we're talking overall, it's too close to call.