After Pollock & Richards rank the Saffer batsmen of 70s & 80s

[SeamUp]

Not including Lamb & Wessels.

So much 3-day FC cricket and result wickets in Currie Cup cricket it knocked averages down even more on top of the quality but all kept their averages virtually 40 & more.

Eddie Barlow
Lee Irvine
Peter Kirsten
Jimmy Cook
Kenny McEwan
Henry Fotheringham

Procter & Rice are more a competition for their own.

 

[subshakerz]

Not including Lamb & Wessels.

So much 3-day FC cricket and result wickets in Currie Cup cricket it knocked averages down even more on top of the quality but all kept their averages virtually 40 & more.

Eddie Barlow
Lee Irvine
Peter Kirsten
Jimmy Cook
Kenny McEwan
Henry Fotheringham

Procter & Rice are more a competition for their own.

Eddie
Henry
Jimmy
Kenny
Lee
Peter

Ranking based on alphabetical order.

 

[StephenZA]

Not including Lamb & Wessels.

So much 3-day FC cricket and result wickets in Currie Cup cricket it knocked averages down even more on top of the quality but all kept their averages virtually 40 & more.

Eddie Barlow
Lee Irvine
Peter Kirsten
Jimmy Cook
Kenny McEwan
Henry Fotheringham

Procter & Rice are more a competition for their own.

Kirsten
Cook
Barlow
Irvine
McEwan
Fotheringham

 

[peterhrt]

FC career averages in SA: Cook 43, Irvine 43, Kirsten 41, Fotheringham 40, McEwan 39, Barlow 39, Rice 34

FC career averages outside SA: Cook 70, Kirsten 49, Rice 44, McEwan 42, Barlow 39, Irvine 34. Fotheringham didn't play.

 

[SeamUp]

Kirsten
Cook
Barlow
Irvine
McEwan
Fotheringham

Peter Kirsten is a favourite of mine so I think I would go with him number one too but can understand those that go with Jimmy.

I know Ali Bacher was a massive Lee Irvine fan. Just looking at his tests v Australia and he tore the attack apart at the speed with which he scored. Always an interesting one I thought if they would have gone with him to keep after Lindsay or not.

 

[SeamUp]

FC career averages in SA: Cook 43, Irvine 43, Kirsten 41, Fotheringham 40, McEwan 39, Barlow 39, Rice 34

FC career averages outside SA: Cook 70, Kirsten 49, Rice 44, McEwan 42, Barlow 39, Irvine 34. Fotheringham didn't play.

Interesting so basically all bar Barlow & Irvine averaged more outside SA.

Cook +27 (Somerset)
Rice +10 (Notts)
Kirsten +8 (Derbyshire)
McEwan +3 (Essex)

Irvine had a spell at Essex that was surprisingly middling.


If you look at all other batsman in this time and they were good batsman it was low to mid 30s over their careers.

Others
Mark Rushmere 39.32
Ali Bacher 39.07
Brian Whitfield 38.26
Kevin McKenzie 36.51
Brian Bath 35.62
Philip Amm 35.00
Tiger Lance 34.87
Mandy Yachad 34.78
Lawrence Seeff 34.51
Roy Pienaar 34.15 (Kent)
Andre Bruyns 33.44
Dassie Biggs 32.77
David Dyer 32.66
Chris Wilkins 32.63 (Derbyshire)
Hylton Ackerman 32.49 (Northants)
Adrian Kuiper 32.24 (Derbyshire)
Lorrie Wilmot 32.02
Darryl Bestall 30.74
Simon Bezuidenhout 29.25
Arthur Short 27.88

 

[capt_Luffy]

Jimmy Cook
Peter Kirsten
Eddie Barlow
Lee Irvine
Ken McEwan
Henry Foatheringham

 

[SeamUp]

Mine is the same @StephenZA

Span of FC by age in brackets.

1. Peter Kirsten (18-42)
2. Jimmy Cook (19-42)
3. Eddie Barlow (19-43)
4. Lee Irvine (18-33)
5. Ken McEwan (20-40)
6. Henry Fotheringham (18-37)


For interest
Clive Rice (20-45)
Graeme Pollock (16-43)
Barry Richards (19-38)
Allan Lamb (18-41)
Kepler Wessels (18-43)


It's pretty cool that in the Orange Free State team Kepler Wessels made his FC debut in, Colin Bland was playing & Kepler batted 9.

 

[SeamUp]

Little bit on Peter Kirsten.



Robin Jackman who played against and coached with and against picked his SA team of 80s. His descriptions.

 

[SeamUp]

Ali Bacher on Lee Irvine

 

[PlayerComparisons]

So many great/very good SA players missed out on test careers