SillyCowCorner1
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On the basis of an opener, I think he's good. He's no Chris Rogers though
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Nominate your top 15 best ever test opening batsmen - another in my countdown series
- Thread starter mr_mister
- Start date
stephen
Cricket Web: All-Time Legend
Rogers was a 100 test cricketer if he wasn't an Australian at that particular point in time.On the basis of an opener, I think he's good. He's no Chris Rogers though
TheJediBrah
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I feel like we say this about a lot of players, a lot
honestbharani
Whatever it takes!!!
If Graeme Smith is not already in, I would like to nominate him. And Gary Kirsten.
stephen
Cricket Web: All-Time Legend
Comparing a guy who played 24 tests after he was 35 (and one when he was 30) and averaged 43 to a guy who played 58 tests in his prime and averaged the same isn't really fair.
Rogers was a gun batsman who couldn't get a game because he was competing against guys who were averaging 50 at test level and then against guys who were being fast tracked with youth policies. By the time he got his second test (the first was injury cover) he was past his prime. He played for 3 years and averaged 43 in test cricket, including averaging almost 50 in England over 10 tests.
The guy made 76 first class hundreds. He was a gun who happened to be in an era of ridiculous depth for Australia.
He and Jaques are both really unlucky not to have played a lot more tests. And both are the last couple of players to be in that category for Australia. Love, Law, Bevan etc... were the early victims of the super strong Australian domestic competition. Rogers was the last.
ataraxia
International Coach
I'm going to include players who haven't had an impact in Tests because that's what we normally do.
1. Jack Hobbs
2. Len Hutton
3. WG Grace
.
4. Herbert Sutcliffe
5. Barry Richards
6. Sunil Gavaskar
.
.
.
7. Bob Simpson
8. Geoffrey Boycott
9. Arthur Morris
10. Bill Lawry
11. Victor Trumper
12. Graeme Smith
13. Virender Sehwag
14. Matthew Hayden
15. Bill Ponsford
Valuing longevity highly here. 4-5-6 all very close.
1. Jack Hobbs
2. Len Hutton
3. WG Grace
.
4. Herbert Sutcliffe
5. Barry Richards
6. Sunil Gavaskar
.
.
.
7. Bob Simpson
8. Geoffrey Boycott
9. Arthur Morris
10. Bill Lawry
11. Victor Trumper
12. Graeme Smith
13. Virender Sehwag
14. Matthew Hayden
15. Bill Ponsford
Valuing longevity highly here. 4-5-6 all very close.
mr_mister
Cricket Web: All-Time Legend
There's no nomination process this time
Just post your personal top 15 and I'll tally all votes
honestbharani
Whatever it takes!!!
Ah that is tougher. Gimme sometime. Will do by evening.
TheJediBrah
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tbf he's usually right
Gary Kirsten is a much better choice than Gibbs
Always forget about that guy, and how good he was. Peaked late though. He's one guy who you probably couldn't say "if he wasn't Australian blah blah blah" because he wasn't much good until a year or 2 before he was picked then his career ended because he was unfit for cricket
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h_hurricane
International Vice-Captain
Jack Hobbs
Len Hutton
Sunil Gavaskar
Herbert Sutcliffe
Graeme Smith
Mathew Hayden
Virender Sehwag
One who's grandmother was a cricketer
Bob Simpson
Bill Lawry
Vijay Merchant
Victor Trumper
Alastair Cook
Gordon Greenidge
Graham Gooch
Vijay Merchant is unlikely to end up with many votes here, but he was a truly great cricketer and deserves at least a vote.
Len Hutton
Sunil Gavaskar
Herbert Sutcliffe
Graeme Smith
Mathew Hayden
Virender Sehwag
One who's grandmother was a cricketer
Bob Simpson
Bill Lawry
Vijay Merchant
Victor Trumper
Alastair Cook
Gordon Greenidge
Graham Gooch
Vijay Merchant is unlikely to end up with many votes here, but he was a truly great cricketer and deserves at least a vote.
morgieb
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Ehhh, wouldn't say he was a late bloomer. If anything he peaked too early - his career was effectively done by the time he turned 30.
But yeah he probably would've only played 20 more Tests than what he actually did if he wasn't Australian.
Regarding Rogers, I wouldn't go quite as far as saying he'd play 100 Tests for another country, but there's no doubt he would've played more than one Test before he turned 35 for someone else. Even those with good batting lineups (India, South Africa) struggled to find reliable partners for Sehwag or Smith.
morgieb
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Geoffrey Boycott loved saying "my nan could hit that with a stick of rhubarb". Not entirely certain in what context though.
stephen
Cricket Web: All-Time Legend
Jaques was good enough pretty early on tbf.
TheJediBrah
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He had a very short window though. He burst on to the first-class scene and then was around about the Aussie side within a couple of years.
Basically the opposite of Rogers or Hussey who were first-class stars for like 15 years
stephen
Cricket Web: All-Time Legend
He was demanding a limited overs spot from as early as 05 though when he scored 4 limited overs hundreds and averaged 90+ in the season (and was averaging over 50 in fc cricket too at that point).
You're right though that he didn't wait as long as some.
TheJediBrah
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you say "early" as '05, but then he played his last test in '08.
He was only really on the scene for like 3-4 years