where would you rate herschelle gibbs as a batsmen?

[Richard]

Looks like he is going to make up for it in 2004...

Hope so.
About time he cashed his share in on the flat pitches and rubbish bowling.

 

[Neil Pickup]

Ever studied optimum grips? There are grips that allow you to play everywhere perfectly.

Ever thought that everything's not quite that simple?

 

[luckyeddie]

We'll see.
Every one of Graeme's 4 averages is higher than Herschelle's. Yes, Herschelle's played more games, but Smith will play them eventually.
It truly amazes me that so many people can find such a large fault with someone who has scored so many runs.

Ah.

It took some time to work him out, but I think they've got it now.

How to get Graeme Smith out

1. Bowl a foot outside off stump
2. er....
3. that's it

 

[Mr Mxyzptlk]

IMO, however, Hayden has two very pronounced weaknesses that will constantly enable you to get him out rather than simply restrict his scoring, being the inswinger and the short-ball. Smith clearly is nowhere near as good on the off-side as on the on, and he has been dismissed caught behind square 4 out of 4 this series, and cheaply 3 times out of the 4. But still, I think Hayden's is a much bigger weakness and I rate Smith much the better batsman.

Hayden will also put away a fair few short balls for 4. That leaves us with the inswinger as his big weakness.

Considering that it's far easier for a bowler to bowl a foot outside off stump than to bowl an effective inswinger, I don't see how his fault is bigger and more telling than Smith. Bowlers should be able to get Smith out much easier than Hayden in my estimation.

The fact is that Hayden can play on both sides of the wicket whereas Smith is somewhat lacking in that regard.

 

[Eclipse]

Hayden has been chosing what short ball's to play and what one's to leave well in this series and as long as he does that it's not a weeknes for him.

And for somone who supposedly has a weekness against seam bowlers it supprised me that he has only been cought behind 10 time's in his entire carear and has hardly ever been bowled. That suggest's to me he is quite solid in deffence.

 

[Richard]

To move the ball off the seam the pitch needs to allow it. Not many pitches Hayden has played on recently have done so.
To swing, the ball needs to be kept in the right condition. Australian outfields scuff up even a Kookaburra ball in 15-20 overs. So will those in the subcontinent.
As you can see, Hayden has recently played in conditions that have made it very difficult for bowlers to exploit his weaknesses. When you add the luck, especially prevolant in series' with England, you get the picture of why he's scored so heavily.

 

[Richard]

Hayden will also put away a fair few short balls for 4. That leaves us with the inswinger as his big weakness.

Considering that it's far easier for a bowler to bowl a foot outside off stump than to bowl an effective inswinger, I don't see how his fault is bigger and more telling than Smith. Bowlers should be able to get Smith out much easier than Hayden in my estimation.

The fact is that Hayden can play on both sides of the wicket whereas Smith is somewhat lacking in that regard.

Let's wait and see how many more times Smith gets dismissed caught behind square this series, and how many runs he scores.

 

[Richard]

Ah.

It took some time to work him out, but I think they've got it now.

How to get Graeme Smith out

1. Bowl a foot outside off stump
2. er....
3. that's it

Let's wait and see how many more times it happens this series.

 

[Richard]

Ever thought that everything's not quite that simple?

Yes, many times.
Little in this cricket World is simple.
I don't think I made a statement that anything was simple.

 

[marc71178]

As you can see, Hayden has recently played in conditions that have made it very difficult for bowlers to exploit his weaknesses.

Yet you still maintain that Hayden's weaknesses are larger than Smith's?

Conditions make no difference to Smith's, hence they must be a lot more exploitable?

 

[Mr Mxyzptlk]

Yet you still maintain that Hayden's weaknesses are larger than Smith's?

Conditions make no difference to Smith's, hence they must be a lot more exploitable?

Which was my point, therefore I agree.

 

[Mr Mxyzptlk]

Let's wait and see how many more times Smith gets dismissed caught behind square this series, and how many runs he scores.

Indeed let's wait and see that he will end up dismissed in that way at least 4 times of 7 in the series. Are you blind?

The West Indian bowlers fed Smith on his legs for almost all of that first Test century and when they bowled outside off' he immediately looked uncomfortable. He instinctively looks to play across the line and has a bit of trouble adjusting otherwise.

Smith is a good batsman, but will never be great with such a massive flaw in his game. Certainly he is miles away from Tendulkar, Lara, Ponting and the like. Miles.

 

[Richard]

I don't even begin to rate him as such. You can't compare people who've played 100 Tests with the few that Smith has.

 

[Jono]

We'll see.
Every one of Graeme's 4 averages is higher than Herschelle's. Yes, Herschelle's played more games, but Smith will play them eventually.
It truly amazes me that so many people can find such a large fault with someone who has scored so many runs.

Agreed, the "Let's hate on Smith" bandwagon seems to be a large one.

Gibbs for me is perceived as purely dangerous. That's the word that pops up in my head when I see him playing. I'd say he's somewhere in the top 10, if not he's pretty damn close.

 

[Mr Mxyzptlk]

The one major flaw I see in Gibbs' game is the occasional large gap between bat and pad. That's what get's him out a fair bit too. If he can solve this then he can get his average up over 50 I believe.

Playing against the West Indian bowling and fielding don't hurt either.:P

 

[Richard]

They've been bad this series, yes, very bad (you can probably tell us if it's been around for longer), but it's not just them - England are this bad sometimes, and other countries occasionally (and usually for just the odd Test here and there) sink that low. For instance Australia in the current India series.
South Africa's fielding ATM is once again back where it belongs - at the top of The World.