By the end of their careers who do you think will be the better batsman? Cook or AB?

[Himannv]

As we have seen in the ODI's I honestly think the captaincy will help Cook. Will make him more determined to perform IMO.

 

[BoyBrumby]

I personally think those claiming Cook in the top five batsmen in the world are being just as trigger-happy as those who wanted him dropped before that ton against Pakistan just prior to the Ashes. Personally I'm in neither camp. I see him as a batsman in the upper echelon of Test cricket who would probably even make my world XI due to a lack of competition from other non-Sehwag openers bar Smith (who is IMO an extremely similar player in worse form) but I wouldn't have him in my top five and he might even struggle to make my top ten.

Couldn't disagree more, actually. Aside from being left-handers they have very little in common. Cook's all about the cuts and pulls, but Smith, being so bottom handed, is much more of an on-side player. Scores a lot more in the V down the ground too. Smith's the bankrupt's Hayden IMHO.

Their "Cliffs Notes" weakness are totally different too; Smith when not in top form stuggles with the ball coming back into him, but Cook is far more likely to nick off the ball slanted across him.

Gah, stop being deliberately obtuse. Cook averaged 35 last year. De Villiers averaged 35 between 2004 and 2007. When he was a wicket keeper. It's clearly not the same thing.

That's a bit of a stretch. He kept about twice on our 2004/05 tour & (IIRC) scored a ton in the fifth test doing so. Never really been a regular keeper in the longest format.

My one fear with Cook is that it might turn out to be a Vaughanesque annus mirabilus, especially if he's burdened with the captaincy in the near future. No particular reason for that assessment - just natural pessimism from watching England fail to produce a genuinely world class batsman for about 20 years.

What about Trott? Can't be too much wrong with the English system when we produce players like him.

/Tesco Value irony.

 

[Prince EWS]

Couldn't disagree more, actually. Aside from being left-handers they have very little in common. Cook's all about the cuts and pulls, but Smith, being so bottom handed, is much more of an on-side player. Scores a lot more in the V down the ground too. Smith's the bankrupt's Hayden IMHO.

Their "Cliffs Notes" weakness are totally different too; Smith when not in top form stuggles with the ball coming back into him, but Cook is far more likely to nick off the ball slanted across him.

Oh, I wasn't meaning the specifics of their techniques at all, which are obviously quite different. When I said they were similar I meant they were both technically limited openers with gaps in their strokeplay who make up for some well-known weaknesses and shot biases with mental strength, concentration, playing to their strength areas, jumping on poor deliveries and making the most out of good form.

 

[BoyBrumby]

Oh, I wasn't meaning the specifics of their techniques at all, which are obviously quite different. When I said they were similar I meant they were both technically limited openers with gaps in their strokeplay who make up for some well-known weaknesses and shot biases with mental strength, concentration, playing to their strength areas, jumping on poor deliveries and making the most out of good form.

You could've been clearer...

 

[vcs]

After Graeme Smith's 2008, I was really expecting him to push on TBH.. he led SA to the unofficial top spot in Test cricket leading from the front.

 

[Prince EWS]

You could've been clearer...

Haha yeah, sorry about that. I think it's a good example of how I often see cricket in a completely different way to most people, actually. I definitely see Cook and Smith as extremely similar players despite the fact that they're polar opposites technically.

 

[Teja.]

I think AB has been absolutely fantastic over the last few years and Cook however godly he has been in the short run needs to maintain an exceptional standard for a longer period of time to be put alongside AB. AB scoring heavily and consistently over the last few years has been pretty underrated around here, IMO. I'd back ABDv to become an ATG bat but I'd be a little apprehensive about doing the same to Cook. I have a massive man-crush on AB though so I might be pretty biased.

I'd have only Sanga, Kallis, Tendulkar and Laxman ahead of ABdv in the best batsman in the world stakes tbh. But I'd have a few more ahead of Cook.

This might sound weird but when both careers are done, I think Trott will retire as a better batsman than Cook though Cook will probably have more runs. Trott might even surpass ABdv.

 

[weldone]

Oh, I wasn't meaning the specifics of their techniques at all, which are obviously quite different. When I said they were similar I meant they were both technically limited openers with gaps in their strokeplay who make up for some well-known weaknesses and shot biases with mental strength, concentration, playing to their strength areas, jumping on poor deliveries and making the most out of good form.

I personally think that Graeme Smith is technically much more limited than Cook is.

 

[Prince EWS]

I personally think that Graeme Smith is technically much more limited than Cook is.

Well I wouldn't say "much more" but I'd agree that he is to some extent. I also think he's more exaggerated in the other good areas that I listed though; he's more likely to really push on and make big hundreds than Cook, for example.

I rate them about equal overall, tbh. If I was picking a team to play tomorrow I'd obviously take Cook ahead of him given they're both form-dependent players and Cook's form is infinitely better, but I wouldn't say he was a better batsman, as such.

 

[vcs]

I think AB has been absolutely fantastic over the last few years and Cook however godly he has been in the short run needs to maintain an exceptional standard for a longer period of time to be put alongside AB. AB scoring heavily and consistently over the last few years has been pretty underrated around here, IMO. I'd back ABDv to become an ATG bat but I'd be a little apprehensive about doing the same to Cook. I have a massive man-crush on AB though so I might be pretty biased.

I'd have only Sanga, Kallis, Tendulkar and Laxman ahead of ABdv in the best batsman in the world stakes tbh. But I'd have a few more ahead of Cook.

This might sound weird but when both careers are done, I think Trott will retire as a better batsman than Cook though Cook will probably have more runs. Trott might even surpass ABdv.

It's weird to think that if some selector had spotted Trott and Tremlett's talent earlier and they had undergone their growing pains in Test cricket rather than FC cricket, they might have ended up being known as much lesser cricketers (stats-wise) than what they might now end up being known as. Cook and Anderson find themselves having to work real hard to overcome their slowish starts and get their averages moving in the right direction.

 

[NasserFan207]

G. Smith is horrible technically. Batsmen like him should be banned.

 

[weldone]

Well I wouldn't say "much more" but I'd agree that he is to some extent. I also think he's more exaggerated in the other good areas that I listed though; he's more likely to really push on and make big hundreds than Cook, for example.

I rate them about equal overall, tbh. If I was picking a team to play tomorrow I'd obviously take Cook ahead of him given they're both form-dependent players and Cook's form is infinitely better, but I wouldn't say he was a better batsman, as such.

Fair enough

And how would you compare Gambhir with these two? (keeping form aside for a moment)

 

[PhoenixFire]

Given that Cook has scored more runs and at a higher average and with more 100s and is younger than AB, I'm slightly surprised that some people have AB as a better player by a reasonable amount.

 

[Prince EWS]

Fair enough

And how would you compare Gambhir with these two? (keeping form aside for a moment)

I think he's technically better but temperamentally weaker (or at least less proven) and has achieved far less overall so far. I'd have him behind both.

 

[MW1304]

I think AB has been absolutely fantastic over the last few years and Cook however godly he has been in the short run needs to maintain an exceptional standard for a longer period of time to be put alongside AB. AB scoring heavily and consistently over the last few years has been pretty underrated around here, IMO. I'd back ABDv to become an ATG bat but I'd be a little apprehensive about doing the same to Cook. I have a massive man-crush on AB though so I might be pretty biased.

I'd have only Sanga, Kallis, Tendulkar and Laxman ahead of ABdv in the best batsman in the world stakes tbh. But I'd have a few more ahead of Cook.

This might sound weird but when both careers are done, I think Trott will retire as a better batsman than Cook though Cook will probably have more runs. Trott might even surpass ABdv.

 

[Howe_zat]

YouTube - ‪AB de Villiers & Ampie du Preez - Maak Jou Drome Waar‬‏

 

[MW1304]

Howezat has done all of my work for me. So, so bad.

And he actually takes that seriously. Tool.

 

[weldone]

I think he's technically better but temperamentally weaker (or at least less proven) and has achieved far less overall so far. I'd have him behind both.

Fair, that.

 

[Bun]

I personally think those claiming Cook in the top five batsmen in the world are being just as trigger-happy as those who wanted him dropped before that ton against Pakistan just prior to the Ashes. Personally I'm in neither camp. I see him as a batsman in the upper echelon of Test cricket who would probably even make my world XI due to a lack of competition from other non-Sehwag openers bar Smith (who is IMO an extremely similar player in worse form) but I wouldn't have him in my top five and he might even struggle to make my top ten.

This is going to sound like an odd observation, but Cook to me has always seemed like the Test equivalent of an awesome First Class cricketer who would struggle to make the step up to Tests. That is - if Test cricket was a domestic competition and there was a level of competition an entire level above it, I think Cook would fail if selected for Team Earth while someone like De Villiers would fare a bit better, even if the latter isn't as good in Tests as the former. Really though that's a completely irrelevant hypothetical that I'd prefer not to judge a cricketer on - after all, his job is to adapt his game to what he's presented with and a theoretical level above Tests is not that - but it is something that often crosses my mind when I think of him.

I voted for De Villiers, but it was just a punt really. I see as being very equal right now and I see them as having pretty equal chance of succeeding in Test cricket into the future; it's a toss-up.

plus one to the cult of price ews...

 

[Jacknife]

Gah, stop being deliberately obtuse. Cook averaged 35 last year. De Villiers averaged 35 between 2004 and 2007. When he was a wicket keeper. It's clearly not the same thing.

Cook averaged 58 last year and as someone else as said, De Villiers has played wicketkeeper, 3 times ever.