Andrew Hall - Unlucky

[karan316]

Was Andrew Hall unlucky to not have played more tests?
Played just 21 tests, although he seemed like a pretty good bowling all rounder.
His death bowling in ODIs was also remarkable.

 

[benchmark00]

Didn't he get shot once? Would say he's lucky itbt.

 

[Langeveldt]

Yeah he was carjacked while taking a car on a test drive, or at least that is the story..

Not sure, about the original point.. He was around when one all rounder's spot was taken by Pollock.. I'm not sure he was a good enough bowler or batsman to be in on one ability alone.. Fun player to watch though, I'm sure he would have flourished at T20

 

[BoyBrumby]

Slightly dodgy action, tbf.

Think he opened the batting in a test once tho, didn't he? & in a proper "selected to open" not in an emergency "the opener's dead; who fancies a crack at it?" kinda way.

My guess is he'd have played more internationally if he hadn't taken the Kolpak shilling.

 

[Goughy]

Yeah he was carjacked while taking a car on a test drive, or at least that is the story..

Not sure, about the original point.. He was around when one all rounder's spot was taken by Pollock.. I'm not sure he was a good enough bowler or batsman to be in on one ability alone.. Fun player to watch though, I'm sure he would have flourished at T20

Exactly. Tidy cricketer but didnt do either well enough to play Tests regularly. A poor man's David Capel

 

[Flametree]

Exactly. Tidy cricketer but didnt do either well enough to play Tests regularly. A poor man's David Capel

Both Northants legends...

 

[fredfertang]

David Capel - A man for whom Movember came about 15 years too late

 

[GIMH]

Yeah he was carjacked while taking a car on a test drive, or at least that is the story..

Not sure, about the original point.. He was around when one all rounder's spot was taken by Pollock.. I'm not sure he was a good enough bowler or batsman to be in on one ability alone.. Fun player to watch though, I'm sure he would have flourished at T20

He was incredible on my ICC 05 game. I don't know if it was just coincidence on the games I played on it but he was basically the premier all-rounder, outperforming Kallis, Flintoff, Afridi, Pollock, Watson etc

 

[Dan]

Slightly dodgy action, tbf.

Think he opened the batting in a test once tho, didn't he? & in a proper "selected to open" not in an emergency "the opener's dead; who fancies a crack at it?" kinda way.

My guess is he'd have played more internationally if he hadn't taken the Kolpak shilling.

IIRC he wicketkept in a "the keeper's dead; who fancies a crack at it?" type situation as well.

 

[Jono]

He choked hard in the 434 chase and almost cost South Africa one of the greatest victories ever.

Thank God for Ntini.

 

[Prince EWS]

Think he opened the batting in a test once tho, didn't he? & in a proper "selected to open" not in an emergency "the opener's dead; who fancies a crack at it?" kinda way.

Hit a ton too!

IIRC he wicketkept in a "the keeper's dead; who fancies a crack at it?" type situation as well.

He actually took up bowling rather late in life; he was a originally a keeper/batsman and he spent some time in the South African ODI squad as a genuine backup to Boucher. I'm not sure if he ever kept in a Test - might've if Bouch went off injured mid-way through a Test or something I suppose, but yeah. I recall a couple of games in which he kept for 40 overs and then gave someone else the gloves in order to come on and bowl his spell at the death; that was awesome.

I agree with what people have said largely about his Test career - not quite good enough at either batting or bowling to really be considered particularly unlucky, especially since his bowling came along so late in life, but one could argue that he was a fraction unlucky to have his career coincide with Pollock, Kallis and Klusener. That South Africa's best spinner was Nicky Boje for a while didn't really help his selection chances a great deal either as he too strengthened that lower order.

I think he's the most under-rated ODI player of all time though. Certainly the most under-rated I saw. He'd not be anywhere near as effective today for two reasons - firstly the two new balls (or indeed mandatory ball change if we go back a little further) would really negate his awesome reverse swing death bowling, and secondly the generally bigger scores, smaller grounds, bigger bats, harsher fielding restrictions etc has really taken his best batting role (middle overs accumulator) out of the game. But for the needs of his time he was actually outstanding. At first change and through the middle overs he bowled that annoying length that just refused to go for runs unless you took some risks against him (which batsmen loathed to do during that period in his time) and at the death he'd bowl great big reverse swinging yorkers; he was a genuinely bloody good ODI bowler. As a batsman he was actually really good at the "Bevan role", and although he was perhaps more comparable to the likes of Grant Elliott, it should have been a boon for South Africa, for a period, to have someone picked as a specialist bowler who could come in at five not as a pinch hitter but as a specialist manoeuvrer of the ball to set up the final assault. I remember a series in England where they did this regularly with Hall for great success, and I think it was a really under-utilised ploy by them in general, especially when they had Boucher and Klusener to come. I honestly wouldn't hesitate to call the guy an all-time great in ODI cricket.

 

[Jarquis]

The bloke batted 9 times between 3-7 in ODIs. You've lost your mind.

 

[Prince EWS]

The bloke batted 9 times between 3-7 in ODIs. You've lost your mind.

As I said, it was an under-used ploy.

Nah, a certain series just stuck in my mind forever basically. He seemed genuinely quite good at that role and then was rarely ever used in it again. I'll try and find it.

 

[Prince EWS]

Apparently he scored 59, 29 and 3 batting in the middle order of the ODI series I recall. So yeah, maybe I got a little carried away with that.

 

[Jono]

I am convinced you are thinking of a different player. How the hell have you called Andrew Hall a ODI all-time great. So confused.

 

[GIMH]

I am convinced you are thinking of a different player. How the hell have you called Andrew Hall a ODI all-time great. So confused.

There were a couple of ODI greats called Andrew at that time so lets assume Cribb is referring to one of those as otherwise he's lost the plot

 

[Prince EWS]

I am convinced you are thinking of a different player. How the hell have you called Andrew Hall a ODI all-time great. So confused.

Nah he was seriously under-rated in ODIs. Good death bowlers are seriously hard to find - even some of the best ODI bowlers really struggle there - and he was awesome at it. He got the white ball to reverse and landed his yorkers as well as anyone, and he could bat anywhere in the order (admittedly my memory of his middle order batting seems to be a bit distorted by one series for some reason) and keep wickets. The perfect guy to have around your ODI setup. All-time great was probably hyperbole but he was seriously under-rated in the format and "very good" at worst.

 

[Furball]

Great middle order batsman and handy bowler? Cribb can only be referring to Andrew Symonds.

 

[Dan]

Nah he was seriously under-rated in ODIs. Good death bowlers are seriously hard to find - even some of the best ODI bowlers really struggle there - and he was awesome at it. He got the white ball to reverse and landed his yorkers as well as anyone, and he could bat anywhere in the order (admittedly my memory of his middle order batting seems to be a bit distorted by one series for some reason) and keep wickets. The perfect guy to have around your ODI setup. All-time great was probably hyperbole but he was seriously under-rated in the format and "very good" at worst.

Poor man's Ian Harvey.