Michael Clarke vs Alastair Cook

[Ali TT]

Ok, I am perfectly happy to say that he was an awful, excruciatingly bad leader for the Ashes 2013/14 tour and the following series at home to Sri Lanka. He also sucked with the bat very badly from the start of the home Ashes series in 2013 until scoring a ton v West Indies in 2015. There was a ton gap of around 2 years and 20 tests. Never the same player from that time on until his retirement.

I'm not sure I rate Cook that highly as a traditional "see off the moving new ball" opener either. He averaged 27 in NZ, 31 in SA and 32 in Australia excluding his Bradman-esque 2010/11 performance. Even his home average of 44 is far short of his efforts in Asia and on the often slow wickets of the Caribbean where he really excelled. As said elsewhere I'd rank him as the best English player of spin I've seen, even if a lot less flashy than Root or KP.

 

[capt_Luffy]

Clarke was ranked 50, Cook did not make the list, we didn’t go beyond 50. The other modern openers (Smith, Sehwag, Hayden) ended up 37th, 40th and 41st respectively.

That ranking is 2 years old I believe..... Time for a new one??

 

[BazBall21]

Cook batted in a tougher position and a tougher country for batting than Clarke. But he wasn't that great against extra lateral movement.

His great gift was more how consistent he was at not giving it away in conditions that favoured him, while being decent enough elsewhere.

 

[Line and Length]

Cook's legacy as a leader? He was largely an awful leader for England.

I'm not denying that. However, Clarke's legacy was worse:

"Several of his teammates have criticised his captaincy. Mitchell Johnson described the team atmosphere as 'toxic' under his captaincy, while Michael Hussey described the dressing room was stressful and tense. Several former players including Andrew Symonds, Matthew Hayden and Simon Katich and former coach John Buchanan spoke against his captaincy. Katich, a former team mainstay, blamed Clarke for effectively ending his career once he became captain in revenge for a post-match incident several years earlier which saw Katich grab Clarke by the throat following a row about the singing of Australia's team song in the dressing room."

 

[Coronis]

I'm not denying that. However, Clarke's legacy was worse:

"Several of his teammates have criticised his captaincy. Mitchell Johnson described the team atmosphere as 'toxic' under his captaincy, while Michael Hussey described the dressing room was stressful and tense. Several former players including Andrew Symonds, Matthew Hayden and Simon Katich and former coach John Buchanan spoke against his captaincy. Katich, a former team mainstay, blamed Clarke for effectively ending his career once he became captain in revenge for a post-match incident several years earlier which saw Katich grab Clarke by the throat following a row about the singing of Australia's team song in the dressing room."

Jeez. Curious as to the specifics of this.

Stop singing!

*keeps singing*

STOP SINGING

*grabs throat*

 

[Line and Length]

Jeez. Curious as to the specifics of this.

Clarke wanted to leave the rooms and go somewhere (a party on a yacht?) and wanted the team song earlier than usual. Katich said he should wait until everyone was ready. Clarke insisted it was sung when he requested and Katich let him know, rather strongly, that wasn't how it worked.

 

[morgieb]

I understand that Clarke was probably worse as an off-field leader than Cook - I mean it's hard to be worse than Clarke as a leader of men. But I really don't think Cook was that great of a leader either, and in terms of on-field tactics it's night and day.

In terms of batting though? I think Clarke's peak was more immense/fun, but Cook also had a great peak. I think I'd go Cook because of better longetivity and doing it in tougher conditions than Clarke. It's close though.

 

[Chin Music]

I hadn’t really dealt with the question of Clarke’s batting quality. As an England fan, I obviously remember him struggle a fair bit against Broad, but he still had a reasonable record in England nonetheless and was generally destructive at home. I was a little surprised at his Asian record, I had recalled him playing really well in India in 2004 but overall, his record in Asia is a little disappointing. Some pretty special innings nonetheless. I probably rank Cook less highly than some England fans because he had a long middling period from summer 2013 until the end of his test career.

 

[Spark]

Clarke's 151 in the 47ao game might be the best innings I've watched in real time on TV, just hugely over-shadowed by what followed.

This was just about the most absurd innings I've ever watched. It was an absolute nightmare greentop against one of the greatest attacks ever fielded and he made it looked like park cricket against the U15s.

 

[BazBall21]

I hadn’t really dealt with the question of Clarke’s batting quality. As an England fan, I obviously remember him struggle a fair bit against Broad, but he still had a reasonable record in England nonetheless and was generally destructive at home. I was a little surprised at his Asian record, I had recalled him playing really well in India in 2004 but overall, his record in Asia is a little disappointing. Some pretty special innings nonetheless. I probably rank Cook less highly than some England fans because he had a long middling period from summer 2013 until the end of his test career.

9 times he was stumped in test cricket. His charging down the crease against spin was a bit all or nothing. Didn't give himself a great chance of adjusting.