Prodigies who came good and the waste men

[RossTaylorsBox]

Expected way more from Napoleon Einstein.

 

[morgieb]

Atul Sharma tbh

 

[Burgey]

Ian Pont's intervention into the Atul Sharma training regime debate is the stuff of CW lore.

 

[jcas0167]

Yeah Rutherford copped it bad with that debut. Not dissimilar to Graeme Hick, who walked into Ambrose and Walsh and, although he showed glimpses, was never as awesome at rest level as his ability suggested he would be.

Yes, Hick was touted as the saviour for English batting. He also broke records playing in the NZ domestic competition and NZ were keen to snare him. Although he had a horror start against Ambrose and Walsh, he adapted his game and had a pretty good tour to the Windies in 1994 as well as a ton against South Africa later that year. I still remember Atherton declaring on him when he was on 98 at the SCG.

He should have had an extended run in the test side, but wasn't picked for the 97 Ashes which seems incredible. Duncan Fletcher said if he had been coach in the 90's he would never have dropped Hick or Ramprakash.

 

[TheJediBrah]

Ramprakash should have been dropped more often/earlier than he was if anything. How a bloke plays 50+ tests as a batsman averaging sub-30 is beyond me. England must have been seriously desperate back then.

He's like a batting version of Mohammad Sami (picked for 36 Tests averaging over 50 with the ball). At a certain point surely you stop picking these guys?

 

[jimmy101]

I remember Jimmy Adams set the world ablaze pretty early on in his career, yet never managed to kick on as a player after the mid-1990's.

 

[mr_mister]

Something something copped a bouncer and was never the same player or whatever

 

[jimmy101]

Another from the Windies camp who had somewhat of an opposite career trajectory - Chanders. Pretty sure he was averaging well below 30 with the bat up until the turn of the century.

 

[SillyCowCorner1]

Another from the Windies camp who had somewhat of an opposite career trajectory - Chanders. Pretty sure he was averaging well below 30 with the bat up until the turn of the century.

The dude debuted in 94 and had to wait until 97 for his maiden century.

 

[TheJediBrah]

love chanders. Players with unusual techniques are tight

 

[jimmy101]

Gayle took a few years to get going as an international cricketer as well. Think his rise as a batsman coincided with him growing his dreads.

 

[SillyCowCorner1]

Gayle took a few years to get going as an international cricketer as well. Think his rise as a batsman coincided with him growing his dreads.

Pre-dreads Gayle was brutal in 2004-2005

 

[jimmy101]

Pre-dreads Gayle was brutal in 2004-2005

The emergence of Tha Universe Boss.

 

[mr_mister]

Chanders reason was some floating bone shard in his foot right?(I assume from a break he didn't treat properly) Different player after it was fixed

 

[aussie tragic]

David Hookes is definitively up there.

Made his FC debut at 15 and as a 20 year old he scored 5 FC centuries in 6 innings (in 17 days) which got him picked in the 1977 Centenary Test. There he made 56 by tonking Tony Grieg for 5 consecutive fours in an over....then WSC happened and Andy Roberts broke his jaw...

 

[cnerd123]

*Hoping this diversion in mentioning a batsman out of the blue here meets with the arbiter's approval.

Approved. This was a good post and I hope you keep this up.

Atul Sharma tbh

Not much of a prodigy though. Had no cricket history, and was 20 when all the hype was building about him. Definitely the biggest disappointment relative to hype though.

He was planning a comeback a few years ago but it seems that never materialized either:
https://www.dnaindia.com/sports/rep...s-atul-sharma-is-back-to-bowling-fast-2203222

 

[CricAddict]

I remember Unmukt Chand was hyped up quite a bit after the Under 19 world cup but never lived up to the expectations.

 

[cnerd123]

Hasan Raza probably worth a mention as well - test debut at 14, but plenty of questions of the legitimacy of his age, and ultimately got mixed up in that Al Jazeera match fixing expose.

 

[Burgey]

Umar Akmal was another who looked like he was going to be a skinnier, better Inzi, but didn't put it together consistently. Fearsome player when on-song.

 

[aussie tragic]

Mitch Marsh another wastemen. Has been talked about as future Test captain and potential World class allrounder ever since he captained the Aussie U19 teams