Troughiest Troughs

[Bijed]

Felt only right that there should be a Yang to the Peakiest Peaks thread's Yin.

Same concept as that thread, only negative: the worst (reasonably extended) runs of form you can think of - either across formats, or limited to just one and can apply to bowlers as well as batsmen.

There'll be far troughier instances than this I'm sure, but Nasser Hussain going ~18 months or so in tests with just 1 half-century (51) is the kind of thing I'm after

 

[ankitj]

Ishant Sharma's entire career. (tbf he had a bit of recovery towards the end). Mohammed Sami's career worth a call out.

 

[fredfertang]

Marvan Attapattu's single run in his first six Test innings (0,0,0,1,0,0)

Mohinder Amarnath's disappointing mid career sequence a few years earlier (4,7,0,0,1,0,0,0)

in the context of which Ken Rutherford's start (0,0,4,0,2, 1 and 5) a couple of years after Amarnath's run doesn't look quite so bad

 

[OverratedSanity]

 

[Top_Cat]

Highlight of the video of course was the scorecard bloke back late after smoko.

 

[morgieb]

I think Mark Taylor went about 20 innings or something without hitting a 50.

 

[mr_mister]

Man Rutherford and Attapattu were lucky their selectors had faith in them


Madinson will never get the chance to rectify his shocking start to his test career

 

[S.Kennedy]

Cook had that long dip 2013-14 ish which seemed to go on forever.

 

[mr_mister]

Mark Waugh's 4 ducks in a row in SL in '92 should have probably meant he wasn't retained for the Windies tour down here a few months later, but he was and scored a fifty in the first test and then a ton in the second

his next tour to SL in '99 wasn't much better, scoring 6, 0, 10 and 13.


Mark then scored 100 in the opening test against Pak at the Gabba in '99, but then followed that with 5, 0, 0, 5 and 8 before a couple of decent starts and a fifty against India to start and end the summer with the perception of 'form', bookending and kind of smothering the horror trot of scores in the middle



I feel like Mark Waugh's whole test career was full of horrible troughs followed by a brief purple patch, usually including an effortless ton, often in tough conditions against hard bowlers to show the selectors he did have what it takes to score runs against the very best. He was just so inconsistent

 

[SillyCowCorner1]

Keith Arthurton's World Cup (Wills) 1996 campaign with the bat.

 

[srbhkshk]

Agarkar had this run of like half a dozen ducks against Australia and the crowds actually cheered when he finally got a run.

 

[_Ed_]

Man Rutherford and Attapattu were lucky their selectors had faith in them

Actually, I think in Rutherford's case they picked him too early against a ruthless WI team (in WI, no less) and did some permanent damage to his international career. The bloke was only 20 at the time.

 

[vitalogy83]

Lahiru Thirimanne's entire Test career.

Not really a trough but Kohli's ICC event KO career made for interesting reading at last count.

 

[vitalogy83]

Chamara Kapugedara's entire international career.

 

[GoodAreasShane]

It pains me to say this, but late career Ricky Ponting surely counts. He was badly out of touch for most of his last couple of years in international cricket, I hoped his strong 2011-12 summer would be a career revival but sadly is wasn't to be

 

[Burgey]

Yeah, it became a case of hoping he’d bat well despite the evidence, rather than expecting him to because of it.

 

[vitalogy83]

Taylor's run before the 1997 Ashes. Was basically in the side because he was captain..no 50's in 18 months or something right?

 

[J_C]

Tendulkar post 2011 WC was pretty bad. Averaged 32 in 23 Tests with no 100s.

 

[OverratedSanity]

Late career declines aren't really what this thread should be about. Those declines happen to everyone. Troughs in the middle of a career where a player goes through a terrible patch in what should be his prime (or close to it) are much more interesting.

Sachin post 2011 is a natural decline which happens to literally every batsman. Sachin 03-06 when he was getting knocked on his arse by Asif and being called "Endulkar", now that's a proper trough.

 

[S.Kennedy]

...unless you get out at the top of your game like Sangakarra.