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Weak Ends to A career

Mr Miyagi

Banned
Who ruined a fine career by carrying on playing too long?

The obvious answers are Bradman's final innings, and Botham. Khan didn't bowl as often, and Dev chased the most wickets record.

Anyway - the question for you is who ruined their career stats with too many years of mediocrity.

Extra points for people who dropped a 50+ test batting average to below 50 - this is a huge stat if you know of anyone, sincerely.
 
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trundler

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Neil Harvey let his average drop below 50. 79 tests was a lot back then. Each of the 3 Ws only played about 50. From the footage I've seen and what I've read, the average doesn't do him justice.
 

Daemon

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Ponting was having a miserable time from 2010-13 iirc. In between he still managed to feast on India in Australia of course.
 

trundler

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Ponting was having a miserable time from 2010-13 iirc. In between he still managed to feast on India in Australia of course.
That is the one which makes me the most furious IMO. He should've retired after 130-ish matches. Would be rated a lot higher if he did so but in my mind he's still second only to Don when it comes to convict bats.
 

OverratedSanity

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Gotta be Ponting. He was rubbish for the best part of three and a half years and his average dropped almost 10 points in that time. Not to mention there was this wonderfully embarassing image

 

Bolo

State Captain
Plenty of bats have gone from above 50 to below 50 at the tail end of their careers recently. Sehwag, Clark, Jayawardene, G Smith spring to mind.

Almost everyone sees a bit of a dip at the end. The guys from this era who ended up averaging above 50 were almost all sitting on late 50s averages well into their careers. Some of them had pretty similar average trajectories- Dravid, Ponting and Tendulkar spring to mind.

Botham is the gold standard here. Very few players are capable of falling that far, because they haven't hit the requisite heights in the first place, but if they are, either they or selectors have the sense to call time after a few years of drivel. Botham had a full length career as a bad end to his career.
 

trundler

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Gotta be Ponting. He was rubbish for the best part of three and a half years and his average dropped almost 10 points in that time. Not to mention there was this wonderfully embarassing image

Longevity aside he's only slightly behind Tendulkar. The latter admittedly has a superior all conditions record.
 

vcs

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Longevity aside he's only slightly behind Tendulkar. The latter admittedly has a superior all conditions record.
Time-wise, nearly a decade. Australia played a lot of Tests when he was at his peak, and India didn't play that many in the '90s.
 

Bolo

State Captain
Tendulkar is miles ahead IMO even without factoring longevity into it. Pontings peak was ridiculous, but it came when only his side had an attack that was even close to respectable, and pitches went to pot. Particularly pitches in his home country, where he bossed it, but even in his peak he had a massive preference for home games
 

OverratedSanity

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Time-wise, nearly a decade. Australia played a lot of Tests when he was at his peak, and India didn't play that many in the '90s.
Tendulkar missed out on around 2000 runs purely because he didn't get to play more tests in the late 90s. He only got to play 6 tests or something in 1998 when he was smashing a run a ball hundred every week.
 

trundler

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It's not as if he was a seasoned pro at the turn of the century and he suddenly exploded into a run machine when conditions became easier. The two just coincided. No one bossed fast bowling like peak Ponting bar Richards, not Chappell G, not tendy, not Gavaskar. Also think his weakness against spin is overplayed. Played Murali well enough, just had something with Bhajji.
 

Engle

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I wouldn't say Imran had a weak end to his career. Lifting the World Cup 92 in your last international was a crowning glory to a superlative career.
 

Top_Cat

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It's not as if he was a seasoned pro at the turn of the century and he suddenly exploded into a run machine when conditions became easier. The two just coincided. No one bossed fast bowling like peak Ponting bar Richards, not Chappell G, not tendy, not Gavaskar. Also think his weakness against spin is overplayed. Played Murali well enough, just had something with Bhajji.
And Kumble. Common factor? Both were quick through the air.

In my time watching, Ponting’s end was the most torturous. Bloke was fitter than ever, still able to make FC attacks look rank but lost the mental battle, personally. He claims he stayed on to help the transition after McG/Warne retired and that seems plausible but still, sad to watch. Clarke’s end wasn’t so great but he seemed pretty crocked.

Notice how it’s always ****ing batsmen?
 

trundler

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And Kumble. Common factor? Both were quick through the air.

In my time watching, Ponting’s end was the most torturous. Bloke was fitter than ever, still able to make FC attacks look rank but lost the mental battle, personally. He claims he stayed on to help the transition after McG/Warne retired and that seems plausible but still, sad to watch. Clarke’s end wasn’t so great but he seemed pretty crocked.

Notice how it’s always ****ing batsmen?
He even bossed McGrath in the shield. I for one rate him very highly. If I wanted to play a Marshall-McGrath-Steyn attack in suitable conditions, peak Ponting is my 3rd pick.
 

a massive zebra

International Captain
Vinod Kambli probably suffered most from this unwanted affliction.

First 7 Tests: 793 runs at 113.29 with 4 centuries
Last 10 Tests: 291 runs at 22.38 with 0 centuries.

Jimmy Adams. On the 1995 England tour, Adams was hit on the head by a brutal delivery from Dutch bowler Andre van Troost. This fractured his cheekbone and really shook him up. He came back into the game, with a slightly different stance and approach and never looked the same batsman again. Prior to this, he had one of the best temperaments and was one of the finest players of spin in the world.

First 14 Tests: 1296 runs at 86.40 with 4 centuries
Last 40 Tests: 1716 runs at 29.58 with 2 centuries

Arthur Morris. A very stylish batsmen of great talent who had an outstanding start to his career, Morris was eventually worked out by Alec Bedser who dismissed him 18 times in Tests.

First 19 Tests: 1830 runs at 67.77 with 9 centuries
Last 27 Tests: 1703 runs at 34.75 with 3 centuries

Neil Harvey started his career spectacularly but matured into a merely good Test player.

First 9 Tests: 959 runs at 106.55 with 6 centuries
Last 70 Tests: 5190 runs at 43.98 with 15 centuries

Frank Worrell also

First 22 Tests: 2046 runs at 63.93 with 7 centuries
Last 29 Tests: 1814 runs at 39.43 with 2 centuries

Viv Richards was world-class for most of his career but really did go on a little bit too long.

First 101 Tests: 7482 runs at 53.44 with 23 centuries
Last 20 Tests: 1058 runs at 35.26 with 1 century

Ranjitsinhji finished the 19th century with a higher average than any established player in the history of Test cricket, but his final series was so disastrous that his career average dropped by nearly 10 runs in this series alone.

First 12 Tests: 970 runs at 53.88 with 2 centuries
Lat 3 Tests: 19 runs at 4.75 with 0 centuries

Contemporary West Indian bowlers Lance Gibbs and Wes Hall were outstanding for an extended period, but declined.

Gibbs
First 34 Tests: 151 wickets at 23.47
Last 45 Tests: 158 wickets at 34.45

Hall
First 23 Tests: 116 wickets at 21.87
Last 25 Tests: 76 wickets at 33.27

As an allrounder, Ian Botham was up with the greatest of all time for two thirds of his career. However, his careless, unhealthy and unprofessional approach to life led to a huge decline and he probably should have been dropped 5 years before his last Test.

First 64 Tests: 3686 runs at 37.61 with 13 centuries and 283 wickets at 24.98
Last 38 Tests: 1514 runs at 26.56 with 1 century and 100 wickets at 38.06

Derek Underwood didn't exactly have a poor end to his career, but he did become much less potent after the abolition of uncovered pitches.

First 23 Tests: 100 wickets at 18.53
Last 63 matches: 197 wickets at 29.54
 
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trundler

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Bit harsh on Morris and Harvey. Can't keep averaging that high unless you're Bradman.
 

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