Was Phil Hughes one of the best offside players ever?

[mr_mister]

Just a thought that sprang in my head today. I remember when he came on the scene he put a remarkable amount of balls to the boundary through cuts and squareish drives and at a really rapid rate too. Like it was very noticeable he was a beast in that area, regardless of how many fielders there were. And it's not supposed to be a scary place for bowlers to bowl traditionally, so it made it extra interesting to me.

International teams obviously worked out he wasnt great at working the ball to the leg side (though did okay slog sweeping spinners iirc) and so it became very beneficial to not give him even a sniff of width outside off. I can't recall such a massive gap between offside and legside ability with anyone else

But with offside shots, can we say he was one of the best ever?

 

[SillyCowCorner1]

Close...but i think that Carl Hooper was the best in picking gaps through the off-side.

 

[_00_deathscar]

No, Inzaghi was.

 

[RossTaylorsBox]

c Guptill b Martin 4 times in a row

 

[Migara]

No

 

[flibbertyjibber]

No.

 

[CricAddict]

Ganguly was also renowned for his offside play.

 

[BoyBrumby]

I don't know about the best, but the man who adorns my avatar (well, not much more than a boy, really. Vale) was very probably the most offside dominant player I've seen. If BC Lara could play a dozen shots to any ball, Phil was his polar opposite; he seemed to want to play the same shot to every ball.

I think I read somewhere that his parents' garden had a very narrow legside and, to mitigate losing balls, favoured the larger space of the offside and it stuck with him.

 

[mr_mister]

I don't know about the best, but the man who adorns my avatar (well, not much more than a boy, really. Vale) was very probably the most offside dominant player I've seen. If BC Lara could play a dozen shots to any ball, Phil was his polar opposite; he seemed to want to play the same shot to every ball.

I think I read somewhere that his parents' garden had a very narrow legside and, to mitigate losing balls, favoured the larger space of the offside and it stuck with him.

Yeah, maybe I should have just asked the question if he was the most offside dominant player, or the player with the largest noticeable ability between off and legside.

My main goal was just to get discussion going about it anyway. Didn't know that about his backyard! If he had been right handed, he might have been a compulsive hooker

 

[Nikhil99.99]

Walter Hammond was said to be the GOAT on the offside.Pollock was really strong in offside as well.

 

[Red_Ink_Squid]

Zak Crawley currently scores most of his runs through gaps in the slip cordon.

 

[TheJediBrah]

If he was he made up for it by being hopeless on the leg side

 

[JBMAC]

Hammond, G.Chappell and Colin Cowdrey

 

[Burgey]

Yeah I don't think Hughes was the best through the off side but was probably the most off side dominant I've seen since Kepler Wessels.

They both got so side on that they basically closed off the leg side to themselves. Hughes was trying to fix that as he went along at the time he passed away. And he'd made a decent fist of it tbh, getting back int the test side. Tough gig to try to rebuild a technique as you go at that level. So sad he died when he did. I really thought he had a good shot at regaining a spot and making a longish career of it with the remodeled technique which was starting to show signs of being the real deal for him.

Ganguly was very good through the off side, so was TOTAB. Both lefties - I guess the prevailing angle from right arm over helps with it to some extent.

 

[ImpatientLime]

was harmison in that lions v australia match the first time at international level he got a proper working over into his body and legside?

 

[Calm_profit]

Saeed Anwar

 

[Burgey]

I don't recall Saeed bowling to Phil Hughes but yeah, certainly a fine player.

 

[TheJediBrah]

was harmison in that lions v australia match the first time at international level he got a proper working over into his body and legside?

Maybe. He made a ton in each innings of his second Test against SA and the whole time they kept bowling to his cut shot. Funny in hindsight

 

[Zinzan]

Yeah I don't think Hughes was the best through the off side but was probably the most off side dominant I've seen since Kepler Wessels.

Ganguly was very good through the off side, so was TOTAB. Both lefties - I guess the prevailing angle from right arm over helps with it to some extent.

See your Wessels and Ganguly & raise you Lara, Sobers & Sangakkara. Masters through the off-side.

 

[OverratedSanity]

Ganguly being great on the offside is a bit of a myth, really. He looked aesthetically pleasing when he drove through the offside, but he'd also nick off very frequently.