Furball
Evil Scotsman
English conditions probably suit him the least, and he plays half his Tests in England.
-
Welcome to the Cricket Web forums, one of the biggest forums in the world dedicated to cricket.
You are currently viewing our boards as a guest which gives you limited access to view most discussions and access our other features. By joining our free community you will have access to post topics, respond to polls, upload content and access many other special features. Registration is fast, simple and absolutely free so please, join the Cricket Web community today!
If you have any problems with the registration process or your account login, please contact us.
Alastair Cook - Will he break all the England records?
- Thread starter Captain_Cook
- Start date
Captain_Cook
U19 12th Man
I could be over-reacting but Cook's difficulty may only be limited to Australian new ball bowlers in England. Australia is the only test playing nation, he has failed to score a century against in England! I find this incredible as he has scored four centuries (including 235*) against Australia. Aside from failing to score a century against Pakistan in Pakistan/UAE the only other Test playing nation he has failed to score a century home and away is Australia in England.
Maybe it's one of those curses that will hang over his career, like Tendulkar never scoring a test triple century.
Michael Clarke's average was under 50 until his unbeaten triple century and that has boosted his average. Who is to say that Cook won't score an unbeaten triple century in the next 5 years?
flibbertyjibber
Request Your Custom Title Now!
This and captaincy usually grinds down English players and their average suffers as a result. Only Gooch improved as a bat whilst captain in the last 20 odd years of players who had a decent run at the job.
centurymaker
Cricketer Of The Year
His raw abilty (excluding mental side of things) to play is much inferior to even his team-mates so once he is a bit older, he'll struggle to get much runs imo. Whenever I have seen him against quality or even decent fast bowling, he has struggled a lot. I even remember Ishant Shrama or all bowlers troubling him back in 2011. It is a testament to his beyond incredible levels of mental toughness and concentration that he has a record like he does atm.
Adwin
Cricket Spectator
A common criticism I hear is the (lack of) use of his feet. It makes any player vulnerable to the ball moving off the straight. Cook is very much a grinder, who digs in for his runs, whereas those who go on to have those 50+ averages tend to be more fluent in their strokes, in my opinion - fact may well nullify my argument!
It could go either way. I think he'll certainly stay above 45, but 50 would take a marked and continued improvement. A great achievement if he succeeds.
It could go either way. I think he'll certainly stay above 45, but 50 would take a marked and continued improvement. A great achievement if he succeeds.
Yeah the raw ability thing is totally irrelevant now, and has always been overblown. He cuts, pulls and plays off his pads as well as anyone. He has as much ability as a Graeme Smith, who is still scoring runs, so there is no rational reason to think he will decline.
centurymaker
Cricketer Of The Year
Maybe you are right
Furball
Evil Scotsman
I think the raw ability thing is over-stated as the difference between good and great batsmen tends to be more mental than technical.
Furball
Evil Scotsman
It's an interesting question.
There's no doubt that the ECB made a couple of changes to the system that have been hugely beneficial to English cricket - moving to 4 day First Class games, bringing in central contracts and splitting the Championship into two divisions is much better for English cricket than what we had in the 1980s or 1990s, but given the cyclical nature of sport, it's quite possible that England's improvement in the 2000s is nothing more than a coincidence and that the likes of Pietersen, Bell, Cook, Anderson etc are just better than their predecessors and would have improved England regardless of any changes made.
Adwin
Cricket Spectator
Sometimes it just comes down to appeal and ability - does the game appeal to youngsters? And are they talented?
I have a friend who seems to have a knack for just about any sport he comes across, and had one of those taken his fancy enough for him to make it his main game, he would probably be a professional in that chosen endeavour ( probably full-contact tiddlywinks given his love of obscure things). And there are thousands of kids each year with an aptitude for sport in many forms. Sometimes the question is - is cricket a big enough draw for them to be focussed on that one discipline? Get a talented kid early enough into the game, and the world's their oyster.
I have a friend who seems to have a knack for just about any sport he comes across, and had one of those taken his fancy enough for him to make it his main game, he would probably be a professional in that chosen endeavour ( probably full-contact tiddlywinks given his love of obscure things). And there are thousands of kids each year with an aptitude for sport in many forms. Sometimes the question is - is cricket a big enough draw for them to be focussed on that one discipline? Get a talented kid early enough into the game, and the world's their oyster.
Furball
Evil Scotsman
That's the big issue, not just with cricket, but with all sports in this country. Kids don't get introduced to them at school, don't get a chance to try them out and don't get a chance to pursue a career.
Someone like Graeme Swann basically fluked his way into the game because his dad played cricket. He didn't play at school, and if his dad hadn't been a prolific club cricketer it's plausible that Swann might never have taken the game up.
Adwin
Cricket Spectator
It will be interesting to see whether T20 has any effect on kids starting cricket at a young age, either inside or outside of schools. I know it's a much maligned format, but it certainly brings in interest from youngsters. Step two involves getting them coached well, and early, in how to play cricket in multiple formats.
And that's where infrastructure becomes important. Too few grassroots coaches, or poor quality ones, will lead to less able players, regardless of natural talent or numbers taking up the sport. There's an awful lot that needs to be right from the off. If that's not there, then the production of world class players comes down to dumb luck.
And that's where infrastructure becomes important. Too few grassroots coaches, or poor quality ones, will lead to less able players, regardless of natural talent or numbers taking up the sport. There's an awful lot that needs to be right from the off. If that's not there, then the production of world class players comes down to dumb luck.
Ditto with Jimmy Anderson. His school didn't play either.
Captain_Cook
U19 12th Man
Cook's first duck as captain was a beautiful example of this, although credit where it's due it was a great ball from Harris who is having a great series!
Has Cook's style developed like this due to a Boycott "occupy the crease at all costs" mentality of opening batsman or because he's technically inferior to players like Ian Bell and Michael Clarke and hence couldn't be a successful no.3, 4 or 5 batsman?
I feel when players with solid batting skills take the position of opener it is a selfless decision but maybe it's a job done better by people with less flair.
Expressway76
U19 Vice-Captain
My school had no cricket facilities. They had (and still have) endless fields devoted to rugby and football but deemed cricket not worthy of setting aside one of them for it.
Furball
Evil Scotsman
I'm coming at football from a Scottish perspective though. Although I think in the UK in general clubs are ****ing up youth development and school football, and sport in general, should be much more important than it is.