Rank these 5 Test openers in order (Boycott, Greenidge, Hayden, Sehwag, G Smith)

[Johan]

The answer is we should downgrade both Kallis and Boycott.

Don't.

 

[Cricket Bliss]

Boycott
Greenidge
Hayden
Smith
Sehwag

 

[OverratedSanity]

Greenidge
Boycott
Smith
Sehwag
Hayden

Maybe. Not too much of a gap between them imo. Could be persuaded to shuffle 2-5 in any order tbh.

 

[Johan]

Boycott, on a team with the spineful leadership required to get him to play for the team, could be a solid opener. Could average low 40s in a typical modern era maybe. Luckily for him he got away with playing a career for himself and his precious average.

This is funny to me, because the other four who would be deemed more "aggressive", convineantly all shared the trait of having ATG batting backing them, Greenidge having Haynes/Viv/Richardson/Lloyd, Hayden having Langer/Ponting/Martyn/Gilly, Smith had Amla/De Villiers/Kallis/Faf and Sehwag had Dravid/Tendulkar/Laxman/Ganguly. The one who played slow convineantly also had Fletcher, Greig, Randall, Roope and Hayes coming down after him, almost like aggressive opening is the resultant of having others to save games if you fail.

 

[MasterBlaster24]

Boycott
Greenidge
Hayden
Smith
Sehwag

 

[DrWolverine]

The one who played slow convineantly also had Fletcher, Greig, Randall, Roope and Hayes coming down after him, almost like aggressive opening is the resultant of having others to save games if you fail.

If you are aggressive, there is a higher likelihood of you throwing away your wicket and that’s easier when your team has other great batsmen.

When you are the best batsman in your team, there is a natural tendency to play more cautiously and give greater value to your wicket.

 

[shortpitched713]

No openers in th last decade can bat aggressively with as much success as Hayden, Sehwag, Greening, Smith, regardless of their batting support behind them. So that's clearly not the only piece to it.

 

[DrWolverine]

No openers in th last decade can bat aggressively with as much success as Hayden, Sehwag, Greening, Smith, regardless of their batting support behind them. So that's clearly not the only piece to it.

Duckett? Jaiswal?

 

[capt_Luffy]

Duckett? Jaiswal?

And of course, Crawley. It's almost the exact opposite, almost all Openers bats recklessly nowadays.

 

[Coronis]

Khawaja has unsurprisingly been the most successful recently with a less aggressive aproach.

 

[BazBall21]

Boycott
Greenidge
Hayden
Smith
Sehwag

Same

 

[BazBall21]

It's natural that T20 influence has had a more adverse impact on the standard of top 3 batsmen than 4-5.

 

[Gob]

Hayden
Sehwag
Smith
Greenidge
Boycott

 

[shortpitched713]

And of course, Crawley. It's almost the exact opposite, almost all Openers bats recklessly nowadays.

They don't score runs at the same cost per wicket, for as long as the previous generation openers though.

 

[shortpitched713]

Khawaja has unsurprisingly been the most successful recently with a less aggressive aproach.

Yeah, batting aggressively successfully at the opening spot is ****ing hard.

 

[PlayerComparisons]

Greenidge
Boycott
Smith
Sehwag
Hayden

I might rank the top 3 differently on another day

 

[Fanboy375]

Boycott
Smith
Greenidge
Sehwag
Hayden

 

[MasterBlaster24]

I feel like G Smith is getting a bit overrated in this forum lately, just my opinion.

 

[capt_Luffy]

I feel like G Smith is getting a bit overrated in this forum lately, just my opinion.

Oh you have no idea how overrated Graeme got at a time.......

 

[Johan]

No openers in th last decade can bat aggressively with as much success as Hayden, Sehwag, Greening, Smith, regardless of their batting support behind them. So that's clearly not the only piece to it.

there's always a skill element, but Yeah it's also funny how Duckett came into his own once the middle order stabilised with Root and Brook. Looks like flat pitches and ATG batting behind them does wonders.