Best Test opener of the 21st Century?

[subshakerz]

Better than Hayden too by the same token.

Yes IMO. Good records in SC, Australia, NZ and Eng.

Anwar had quality series against Donald/Pollock in SA and McGrath in Australia. Very good records against Warne, Murali and Kumble.

Plus he was an aggressive player and would have easily averaged over 50 if his career started a decade later.

 

[Victor Ian]

What Sehwag was capable of doing on his day. Bloke makes 300 a day. There have been very few who could do that

Did he do it in a day? I thought he completed the 300 the next day.

 

[Coronis]

Did he do it in a day? I thought he completed the 300 the next day.

Bradman wins again, only bloke to grab 300 in a day.

 

[BazBall21]

Ability wise I think Anwar is arguably the best opener to have debuted post-1990. Body of work is the issue.

 

[Jayro]

On the other hand, Sehwag's 2 ODI hundreds in 2002-03 were scored on proper green mambas where no one else in the team could lay bat to ball.

That was a seven match one day series, no other batsman in both teams could make a century other than Sehwag (who made two) on such menacing tracks.

 

[honestbharani]

I really do think Smith was a level above Sehwag/Hayden. Cook is a hard one to place because he was consistent but not exactly the matchwinner the other 3 were. And its silly to think either of Sehwag or Hayden were any level above each other.

 

[BazBall21]

1) Hayden
2) Smith
3) Sehwag
4) Cook

1-3 same tier, 4 a tier below.

Greenidge probably better than all of them though imo.

 

[nightprowler10]

Better than Hayden too by the same token.

It was mostly Richard bait but still

Hayden or Anwar?

Who has/had the better technique to have played well against the bowlers of the 70s and 80s like the West Indies greats, Imran Khan and co., etc?

www.cricketweb.net

 

[BazBall21]

I think Anwar had a better technique than Hayden and Smith

 

[Prince EWS]

It was mostly Richard bait but still

Hayden or Anwar?

Who has/had the better technique to have played well against the bowlers of the 70s and 80s like the West Indies greats, Imran Khan and co., etc?

www.cricketweb.net

View attachment 32766

Better technique and better batsman aren't really the same question to be fair. I'd have voted for Anwar there too but Hayden was definitely better.

 

[Prince EWS]

Actually it looks like I voted for Jumanji but you get my point

 

[Raz0r6ack]

That’s why I don’t take his record at home with a pinch of salt like most people do despite SA being so tough for openers

For what it's worth Herschelle Gibbs averaged 51 as an opener in South Africa during the 2000s so it wasn't like opening in South Africa during Smith's career was some unconquerable task worth putting Smith a tier ahead of Hayden and Sehwag.

 

[BazBall21]

For what it's worth Herschelle Gibbs averaged 51 as an opener in South Africa during the 2000s so it wasn't like opening in South Africa during Smith's career was some unconquerable task worth putting Smith a tier ahead of Hayden and Sehwag.

Yeah Smith gets too much of a free pass for his home record when it comes to ranking him.

 

[TheJediBrah]

Herschelle Gibbs was an underrated opener who doesn't get talked about enough. Fantastic fielder (when he tries) too

 

[subshakerz]

Yeah Smith gets too much of a free pass for his home record when it comes to ranking him.

What is worse though? Smith's record at home in SA or Hayden and Sehwag in NZ, SA and Eng?

 

[BazBall21]

What is worse though? Smith's record at home in SA or Hayden and Sehwag in NZ, SA and Eng?

Agree on Sehwag.
Hayden did reasonably well in SA. In England yeah that’s a major black mark against him.

 

[subshakerz]

Agree on Sehwag.
Hayden did reasonably well in SA. In England yeah that’s a major black mark against him.

First, I dont think we should exclude minnows for something like home record since we dont take apart others' records the same way. But even if we do, Smith still averages around the same as Hayden there. Granted you wouldnt classify Hayden as a failure in SA, but then Smith cant be too far off.

 

[Bolo.]

Yeah Smith gets too much of a free pass for his home record when it comes to ranking him.

AB has the second highest home average of the last 32 years... 47. He averaged 30ish as.an opener in RSA.

Smiths home record is nothing fantastic, but averaging 42 as an opener in a really tough place to bat is not a massive hole.

 

[BazBall21]

AB has the second highest home average of the last 32 years... 47. He averaged 30ish as.an opener in RSA.

Smiths home record is nothing fantastic, but averaging 42 as an opener in a really tough place to bat is not a massive hole.

34.16 at home to the top six opponents. The other three were Ban/Zim, both proper minnows, and WI’s bowling during his career can’t be far off minnow status, definitely poor. I don’t think his home record is a dealbreaker, particularly given how good his away record is, but it’s definitely some valid context when rating him.

 

[Bolo.]

34.16 at home to the top six opponents. The other three were Ban/Zim, both proper minnows, and WI’s bowling during his career can’t be far off minnow status, definitely poor. I don’t think his home record is a dealbreaker, particularly given how good his away record is, but it’s definitely some valid context when rating him.

Put this way, it sounds a fair bit worse.

He is being compared to guys who averaged around that or worse in a bunch of countries, and this without (arbuably) fudging the figures... runs against weak opponents still count for something.