sideshowtim
Banned
Who is "they"? And if he did do that, it's pretty damn ridiculous and a blight on his mark as a batsman. Your aim is to score as many runs as you can out there.
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Could've been a candidate for an All Time Great XI but for..........
- Thread starter Lillian Thomson
- Start date
sideshowtim
Banned
Uh...Of course. But the aim of it is to pick proven performers. Barry Richards was not a consistently proven performer at Test level, and deciding whether he would've been is pure speculation. Now, at least with the others that may be picked we are certain that they had an excellent Test record. That was my point. Surely wasn't that hard to comprehend?
archie mac
International Coach
Richards himself for one, ala Trumper, Bradman and Mark Waugh on occasions
Shaggy Alfresco
State Captain
Not to mention Hobbs, and Miller.Richards himself for one, ala Trumper, Bradman and Mark Waugh on occasions
archie mac
International Coach
Yes Hobbs was well known, and the famous Miller quote when he allowed himself to be bowled for a duck when Aust scored 700 in a day against Essex 'thank god that is over'
neville cardus
International Debutant
Tempted though I am to do so myself, I'll allow you to quote, too, what Braddles said almost immediately after that.
archie mac
International Coach
archie mac
International Coach
I think they made 708 in a day, I don't think they needed too many from MR Miller
neville cardus
International Debutant
Close enough. It was "He'll learn".Testing the memory now NC
Something like "Keith will learn"
neville cardus
International Debutant
He might well have thought it privately, but he'd never have said anything like that. He cared too much for his squeaky-clean record.
Richard
Cricket Web Staff Member
But he never did.
Richard
Cricket Web Staff Member
Indeed, and it's such a shame.
Richards himself for one, ala Trumper, Bradman and Mark Waugh on occasions
As it was in the Hobbs and, to a lesser extent, Miller cases.
I have to look at Richards' - excellent nonetheless - First-Class record and think "what might it have been had he tried his best ATT"? Likewise Hobbs. Both "only" averaged early 50s IIRR, and both seem quite capable of having averaged over 60, if only they could have attained the desire.
neville cardus
International Debutant
He wouldn't be quite the same legend he is if he had.
Richard
Cricket Web Staff Member
Merchant and George Headley are the two players I most wish had played more Test-cricket.Vijay Merchant but for not too much test cricket. Still his record is fabulous.
I was talking to the late Ramesh Divecha once and he told me how he would smell the ball in a forward defensive stroke and then let it go to the keeper.
Lots of batsmen (Gavaskar for example) are terrific at letting go the slightly short pitched delivery by moving quickly to the front foot and then watch and let the ball go, with in nanometers of the stumps, if they felt there was no need to play. Merchant was one of those who would go forward in defense (he had an immaculate forward defense reminiscent of Jack Hobbs) and just as he seemed to be so low over the ball with the bat coming down to meet it, he would decide it was not to be and let the ball go through within nano meters of his nostrils
There was accute rivalry between Divecha's father and Merchant - Vithal Divecha being boss of the BCA and Merchant the boss of BCCI and both being involved in the running of the game in Bombay . Ramesh Divecha felt that was the reason why Merchant would organise games where Divecha and Phadkar (the India attack) would be the bowlers for one side and Merchant would open with Hazare for the other side and bat on and on for ever and ever.
He did admit, grudgingly, that it was also a compliment of sorts for Merchant was making sure he got his practice against the best new ball bowlers India had to offer. However, his political rivalry with the elder Divecha made him never select Ramesh Divecha for Bombay. Divecha went on to play for India without having played in Ranji Trophy for his home state and only his University games in England to commend his case.
Both could quite conceivably have been the 2nd-greatest batsman there's been since the turn of 1900.
Richard
Cricket Web Staff Member
Absolutely - it was all part of the Miller package.
Had that differed, so much else too would probably have done.
Richard
Cricket Web Staff Member
It's very different, it's important to note, rating a batsman who had no or next to no Test career on his achievements in domestic-FC cricket than it is rating one who was for the greater part a failure in Tests on said dom-FC.
shortpitched713
International Captain
Shoaib Akhtar, if the Pakistani fielders could catch anything.
JBMAC
State Captain
Headley was widely known as " The Black Bradman"