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Why nobody can touch Brian Lara

Josh

International Regular
I agree with the Lara part but I fail to realise why you're critisising Matty Hayden.
 

andyc

Cricket Web: All-Time Legend
Josh said:
I agree with the Lara part but I fail to realise why you're critisising Matty Hayden.
Pretty much seconded. I couldn't give a stuff how he scores his runs as long as he does.
 

Tom Halsey

International Coach
thierry henry said:
Your anti-statistical attitude rather ignores the fact that cricket is about one team trying to score more runs than the other. Average is a calculation of average runs scored. Hence, while your post makes sense in terms of "who I would prefer to watch", it makes no sense whatsoever in terms of who is actually the better batsman.
Erm, players playing on different pitches etc means that stats are rarely any use unless comparing players in the same game played on the same pitch (and even then one game doesn't make/break a player).
 

SJS

Hall of Fame Member
archie mac said:
SJS are you asking and answering your own questions ? :D
I meant, I watch but I dont crib :p If one is going to crib, might as well not watch. My wife watches every soap ever made (and she watches them twice a day since some of them are telecast twice) but keeps cribbing that they are so predictable and so repititive :p
 

open365

International Vice-Captain
your asumption that Hayden is an emotionless is robot based on what exactly?

are you his mother?do you know him personaly?have you ever spoke to him?

No?thought not.

Are you that stupid to think a player who's scored over 6000 test runs doesn't like batting at all and only does it because he gets paid?
 

FaaipDeOiad

Hall of Fame Member
Bizarre timing for this criticism as well.

What exactly was boring about Ponting's century, under the circumstances? You clame that he "ground out a century to inflate his average", and yet he was scoring at close to a run a ball for the majority of the time, and in fact he and Hayden belted the West Indies seamers out of the attack, and Chanderpaul was forced to send down more than half his overs in that second innings from part-time spinners to slow the scoring. Ponting was dropped, he took chances, he struck repated boundaries and he scored quickly. It is not as if he took 250 balls to get there and pushed the lead on past 700 just because he could.

And as far as accusing batsmen of being ugly and unenjoyable to watch, I find Ponting anything but. Ponting is, quite simply, one of the best players of the pull and hook shots the game has ever seen, and almost unquestionably the best practitioner in the world today. He is devastating off his pads, and drives gloriously on the up. The only area where (in terms of attacking strokes) he isn't quite in the league of some of his peers is square of the wicket on the off-side, and no player is perfect. He's a superb player of pace bowling in any conditions, and once he gets set at the crease he is incredibly hard to either dismiss OR tie down. Lara is my favourite batsman in the world to watch, but Ponting is no Chris Tavare.
 

Isolator

State 12th Man
open365 said:
are you his mother?do you know him personaly?have you ever spoke to him?
Ahaha, I can imagine his mother saying "Ah Matthew, he's a fine lad. A bit robotic, though."
 

Mr Mxyzptlk

Request Your Custom Title Now!
Mike Hussey said:
He is a great player. One of the all time greats. But he is past it now.
Once again, neglecting the SuperFarce:

Brian Lara in 2005

196
4
176
13
4
130
48
153
0
30
14

Such insight!

Average of 65+ over his last 25 Tests. 10 hundreds and 6 fifties in 45 innings. 8 of the 10 centuries have been 150+, with 5 of them at 190+.

Even if you remove 400 not out, he still averages 55.76 over the period.
 

archie mac

International Coach
Mr Mxyzptlk said:
Once again, neglecting the SuperFarce:

Brian Lara in 2005
Such insight!

Average of 65+ over his last 25 Tests. 10 hundreds and 6 fifties in 45 innings. 8 of the 10 centuries have been 150+, with 5 of them at 190+.

Even if you remove 400 not out, he still averages 55.76 over the period.
To be fair Skull on ABC radio also voiced the opinion that he thought Lara was finished. I do hope he proves his critics wrong and scores one more hundred here in OZ.
 

Pratters

Cricket, Lovely Cricket
archie mac said:
To be fair Skull on ABC radio also voiced the opinion that he thought Lara was finished. I do hope he proves his critics wrong and scores one more hundred here in OZ.
Why do great players always have to prove some critic who wants to just criticise for the sake of criticising?

A few poor performances and people just jump at these players. People held doubts over McGrath when he was returning. I find this always very silly that people will just say this player is crap now based on some recent performances. Lets see if he can prove us wrong in the future. :D
 

thierry henry

International Coach
Tom Halsey said:
Erm, players playing on different pitches etc means that stats are rarely any use unless comparing players in the same game played on the same pitch (and even then one game doesn't make/break a player).
??

We are talking about comparing 3 players who have all played a large number of tests.
 

Top_Cat

Request Your Custom Title Now!
Although I agree with the sentiment about Lara and certainly, when he's going, batting is more art than technique with him (although I still say he's technically excellent anyway BUT to complain about Ponting and Haydos is misleading; they were putting their team into a winning position which, ultimately, is the point. Maybe if Lara and others in the WI team had 'ground out' a few innings of that ilk (ignoring completely that they were both tons scored in quick time), the WI might have been in a position to win more games than they have in the last 10 years. I'm certainly not blaming Lara for the decline of WI cricket but they way Hayden and Ponting played is hardly meritless.
 

archie mac

International Coach
Pratyush said:
Why do great players always have to prove some critic who wants to just criticise for the sake of criticising?

A few poor performances and people just jump at these players. People held doubts over McGrath when he was returning. I find this always very silly that people will just say this player is crap now based on some recent performances. Lets see if he can prove us wrong in the future. :D
In Australia we call it the 'tall poppy syndrome'
 

vic_orthdox

Global Moderator
archie mac said:
To be fair Skull on ABC radio also voiced the opinion that he thought Lara was finished. I do hope he proves his critics wrong and scores one more hundred here in OZ.
I know a lot of people love Skull, but just because he says Lara's past it doesn't mean it's gospel. Suddenly the knives are out from Australian commentators because of 5 innings when he was underprepared and the side was under the pump chasing massive totals, and now he goes out to a blinder and gets a shocker and he's "past it". Clap-trap.
 

Top_Cat

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I know a lot of people love Skull, but just because he says Lara's past it doesn't mean it's gospel. Suddenly the knives are out from Australian commentators because of 5 innings when he was underprepared and the side was under the pump chasing massive totals, and now he goes out to a blinder and gets a shocker and he's "past it". Clap-trap.
'Trap' being the operative term, especially if the Aussies fall into it and don't keep bowling well to him. Lara still has the capability to punish anyone. His 30 in the first dig looked ominously good.
 

burr

State Vice-Captain
Lara hasn't done a lot for a while now. I've never been a big fan - he's too busy at the crease, forcing everything in that anxious style of his. Plus he doesn't really come across as a team man
 

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