Best Opening Partnerships in Domestic FC History

[mr_mister]

Jamie Cox and Michael Di Venuto


then throw some Michael Dighton in the mix

 

[morgieb]

Jamie Cox and Michael Di Venuto


then throw some Michael Dighton in the mix

Hills was opener during Cox's peak no? Not Diva?

 

[mr_mister]

I'm not sure, there was probably some crossover between the 3 of their careers. 3 good players and I just checked to find Dighton's record was actually super average lol I thought he was good

 

[Burgey]

Shoaib Akthar and Brett Lee opened the bowling for the same club side in Sydney Grade cricket one season correct? What fun that must have been for amateurs to face

Yep, Mosman iirc. Mate of mine opened the batting for Fairfield against them. Didn't much enjoy it.

 

[Victor Ian]

Slater and Taylor came to mind as a possibility. But it seems they were awful for NSW. Maybe worst domestic record for Test opening pair.

 

[Burgey]

I think McCokser & Dyson were more successful for NSW than Slater & Taylor.

 

[TheJediBrah]

I'm not sure, there was probably some crossover between the 3 of their careers. 3 good players and I just checked to find Dighton's record was actually super average lol I thought he was good

I have a feeling Di Venuto was a chronic no. 3 as well while Hills and Cox opened

and yeah Dighton didn't do much in first-class cricket, but he was the first (and only?) player to score a century and take a 6-for in T20 cricket

Most of the Shield sides of the 90s and early 00s had similarly packed sides. Someone already mentioned Queensland, WA would have had some combo of Hussey/Langer/Ryan Campbell, Vics had Matthew Elliott/Arnberger (these 2 actually had some huge stands around 1998-2000). SA were rubbish

 

[mr_mister]

omg lol forgot about Arnberger.

Some other names I thought about recently include Matthew Mott and Corey Richards

 

[wpdavid]

Who did Greenidge and Haynes play for in the WI domestic game?

 

[morgieb]

Who did Greenidge and Haynes play for in the WI domestic game?

Both Barbados, so they're another good one.

 

[Howe_zat]

Who did Greenidge and Haynes play for in the WI domestic game?

Barbados.

 

[fredfertang]

When I was a nipper I was convinced the best opening pair ever were Barry Wood and the man now known as Bumble - I was quite wrong of course - I now know it's really Rob Jones and Haseeb Hameed

 

[jimmy101]

Didn't Martin Love bat at 3 and Jimmy Maher open with Hayden mostly?

The Home of CricketArchive

The Home of CricketArchive

Here are a couple of links to a couple of Shield matches in 97/98. It would seem that Maher mostly opened with Hayden from 98/99 onwards.

 

[AndrewB]

There were some decent fast bowling duos in early 80s county cricket: Imran & Le Roux at Sussex, Hadlee & Rice at Notts, Daniel & Thomson/van der Bijl at Middlesex. In mid-1980, Botham and Garner (Somerset) were ranked 1 and 2 in the world.

A couple of useful pairs in South Africa around that time: Procter & van der Bijl for Natal; Clarke & Donald for OFS.

And of course Lindwall & Miller opened for NSW in the late 40s.

 

[Red]

Arthur Morris and Sid Barnes would have opened a bit for NSW.

 

[morgieb]

There were some decent fast bowling duos in early 80s county cricket: Imran & Le Roux at Sussex, Hadlee & Rice at Notts, Daniel & Thomson/van der Bijl at Middlesex. In mid-1980, Botham and Garner (Somerset) were ranked 1 and 2 in the world.

A couple of useful pairs in South Africa around that time: Procter & van der Bijl for Natal; Clarke & Donald for OFS.

And of course Lindwall & Miller opened for NSW in the late 40s.

Didn't Lindwall go to Queensland around the same time Miller came up from Victoria?

 

[AndrewB]

Didn't Lindwall go to Queensland around the same time Miller came up from Victoria?

Just checked - it turns out Lindwall moved several years later:

Miller was at Victoria 1937-1947, NSW 1947-1956
Lindwall was at NSW 1941-1954, Queensland 1954-1960

 

[andruid]

Where do Sidebottom & Plunkett rank?

 

[TheJediBrah]

Where do Sidebottom & Plunkett rank?

As about your average first-class bowling attack

 

[morgieb]

Just checked - it turns out Lindwall moved several years later:

Miller was at Victoria 1937-1947, NSW 1947-1956
Lindwall was at NSW 1941-1954, Queensland 1954-1960

Aah. Would be well up there then in terms of opening bowling pairings, at least on par with Marshall/Garner if you only consider local players for this purpose.