Choose two openers for post Packer era World XI

[zaremba]

And Mike Atherton would love to believe 40 is the new 50 - since he only averaged about 37.

I was going to point out his vested interest when I wrote that, but I thought I'd let you stick the ball in the back of the net

 

[GilchristFtw]

I would have Hayden and Gavaskar. Left and right hand opening partnership, would be tough to break.

 

[Top_Cat]

Not entirely true. They still knock in the bats - if you don't the bat will crack and knock itself in the first time you hit a ball. What they do though is prepare the wood better (the best players get the best wood - no knots in it) and balance the bats better.

Don't doubt that willow is better but I was under the impression rolling =! knocking in, hence why I said they don't roll them. Thought rolling was the prepare the whole bat whereas the knocking-in machine onto does the surface of the blade?

I don't know if you've ever tried it or not, but my first bat was not knocked in properly and the second I used it in a game the surface cracked and ruined the bat.

Cetainly have, predictable results. Knock-in your bats, kids!

Shorter boundaries these days also makes it appear that the ball has traveled further than it used to. Flatter pitches mean that misqueues are hitting closer to the center of the bat. All of these combine to make it look as though bats hit much further than they used to.

I'm sure you're right that some of the extra power is mythology but the lacking of rolling of the blades must play its part too.

 

[Demon43]

i cant believe JL didnt get one vote he is the biggest nugget out of all of them id like to see the rest of them get up after getting hit by an ahktar bouncer

 

[stephen]

Don't doubt that willow is better but I was under the impression rolling =! knocking in, hence why I said they don't roll them. Thought rolling was the prepare the whole bat whereas the knocking-in machine onto does the surface of the blade?

Cetainly have, predictable results. Knock-in your bats, kids!

I'm sure you're right that some of the extra power is mythology but the lacking of rolling of the blades must play its part too.

You're probably right here, I was confusing the two (they ARE pretty closely linked after all).

I think another thing that is being stuffed into the "the bats are better now" arguement is that players are physically stronger than they used to be as well, due to all the extra training that is done (amateurs vs professionals). Certainly I don't think bat technology has progressed that much that it is making the ball carry that much further than yesteryear - it is after all still a lump of wood.

No matter how much bat technology advances I still doubt I'll ever be a batsman of repute :P.

i cant believe JL didnt get one vote he is the biggest nugget out of all of them id like to see the rest of them get up after getting hit by an ahktar bouncer

JL was a good opener, but there's no way he's better than the openers who got the votes. He was gritty and an integral part of the Australian test side in its dominance, but he's probably the next rung down from the Gavaskars, Haydens and Sehwags. After all, he wasn't the best opener in his team, which counts very strongly against most players in historical comparisons (which is part of the reason why I think Hayden is so underrated by many people - because Ponting was better).