Howe_zat
Audio File
I've never said he was that great a batsman. I just think he was among the best ever at what he did.
-
Welcome to the Cricket Web forums, one of the biggest forums in the world dedicated to cricket.
You are currently viewing our boards as a guest which gives you limited access to view most discussions and access our other features. By joining our free community you will have access to post topics, respond to polls, upload content and access many other special features. Registration is fast, simple and absolutely free so please, join the Cricket Web community today!
If you have any problems with the registration process or your account login, please contact us.
The 2nd Greatest Cricketer From A Country
- Thread starter salman85
- Start date
smash84
The Tiger King
Yes but I don't think anybody is arguing that he was a great batsman. Even towards the end of his career he was a very solid batsman but not really one that would turn matches on their head.
honestbharani
Whatever it takes!!!
My point was about the averages mate.. Just because he was averaging 40+ doesn't mean he was better than the batsmen above him, even if they were averaging less than him. As I said, there is a reason he batted lower than those guys....
Outswinger@Pace
International 12th Man
I would agree with you on Australia, Pakistan, SL, WI and NZ for the greatest player. My list for the greatest two cricketers of each nation is:
New Zealand: R.J.Hadlee, Martin Crowe
Australia: Bradman, Keith Miller (regrettably, a plethora of insanely talented folks missed out)
Sri Lanka: Murali, Aravinda De Silva
India: Sunil Gavaskar, Kapil Dev (Tendulkar, Gupte and the two Vijays - Merchant and Hazare - are right up there too)
Pakistan: Imran Khan, Javed Miandad (Hanif, Wasim, Fazal and Zaheer ran Javed real close there)
South Africa: G. Pollock, Mike Proctor (apologies to B. Richards, Kallis, Tayfield and Donald)
Zimbabwe: Andy Flower, Heath Streak
England: The good Doctor, Jack Hobbs (Sutcliffe, Hutton, Barnes and Trueman are unlucky)
West Indies: Gary Sobers, George Headley (I can name 8-10 possible candidates who missed by a whisker)
Last edited:
Spark
Global Moderator
Outswinger@Pace
International 12th Man
Lol! Thanks. I see what you mean.
I do expect some opposition from staunch Tendulkar fans. For purely Test cricket, I can justify my choices though. Good to note that Teja and you haven't taken me to task for this!
Howe_zat
Audio File
I have difficult rating the 1970-92 South Africans as better than those who had full Test careers. It seems like there's a lot of unkown value there thanks to them playing so few Tests. It's not like it was for the pre-war cricketers whose FC records were more indicative of their talent - they spend the majority of their careers playing at a lower standard.
We know that many cricketers can be great at one level but fail to make the jump (Hick, Ramps), or have brilliant starts to Test careers but tail off (Hussey, Kambli) so I tend to hold back on judging the apartheid-era cricketers against those who had long and successful Test careers like Kallis and Shaun Pollock.
We know that many cricketers can be great at one level but fail to make the jump (Hick, Ramps), or have brilliant starts to Test careers but tail off (Hussey, Kambli) so I tend to hold back on judging the apartheid-era cricketers against those who had long and successful Test careers like Kallis and Shaun Pollock.
Good point.
Last edited:
vcs
Request Your Custom Title Now!
I take your point but I think Pollock and Richards did great in WSC/County Cricket, didn't they?
EDIT : Seems only Richards did.
Last edited:
Outswinger@Pace
International 12th Man
Certainly! That was an unintentional omission. Dexter, May and Lohmann would be fair shouts too.
honestbharani
Whatever it takes!!!
Howe_zat
Audio File
Just his natural classiness shining through. I'm willing to bet he uses a mouse with his little finger sticking up.Welcome to CW..how come you get a nice and diff. font to the rest of us?
smash84
The Tiger King
At first I thought that I had posted this since I usually recognize posters with their avatar.....only to realize that it was that other great all rounder from the 1980s, Richard Hadlee, in your avatar.
zaremba
Cricketer Of The Year
Because some people don't understand how batting averages work, and what they mean, and therefore think that not outs somehow "inflate" them.
honestbharani
Whatever it takes!!!
It's a difficult one to judge isn't it, Z? Not Outs DO Inflate averages but one has to see the context of the not out too.. Sachin himself, for instance, has provided instances of both sides.. AT times he has remained not out simply because he didn't get the support needed from the other end and yet, in SA this year in the first test, there was the instance of him playing obviously for the red ink than trying to hit out to get as many runs as he can... It is a tough thing to call either way unless you have seen the games in question...
vcs
Request Your Custom Title Now!
No he wasn't.. the tailenders weren't good enough to support him.
He played exactly the same way as he did in Sydney 2008 where the tail wagged heavily and Harbhajan got a lot of runs. You can criticize his strategy, but to say he played specifically for the not out is just wrong.