Michael Bevan Retires - and Tribute Thread.

[Richard]

Yea, it is unusual that it has happened at the start of his career. But it happens to most good batsmen sometime, and he's been lucky that he has just started off that way. But really, FC average (usually Test figures are a bit worse) is a good indication of Test average and thats where I put him ability wise.

It is highly doubtful that an FC career lasting 10 years would lie that much about his abilities .

I quite agree - that's why I've been thinking "this can't last" since about his 4th Test and why I'm still thinking it now.

Yet just occasionally, FC careers, even lengthy ones, do lie and that's what's got me wondering whether it will last.

 

[Richard]

But most Aussie players (Steve Waugh a prime example) have been playing for at least 5/6 years by the time when they are 30. If Hussey came into the sid at 30, he is bound to have more appetite for runs, and want to play on longer. Wereas someone who has been playing for 10 years or so when they get to 35 might have lost the drive.

It's not about losing the drive, really - I don't think Stephen Waugh or Justin Langer would ever lose the appetite for runs. Waugh said enough times that after that Caribbean series in 1991, his appetite for runs and victories was insatiable.

It's about the fact that once you get to 37-38, the media take-up the one-bad-series-and-he's-got-to-go attitude... and we've seen it before, that always ends-up with said player axed or feeling retirement on his own terms is for the best.

Incidentally, with the Waugh example - IIRR his Test career spanned 18 years - 1985\86-2003\04.

 

[adharcric]

I've been thinking "this can't last" since about his 4th Test. It's incredibly unusual - even for a 30-year-old debutant - for such a patch-du-purpull to happen at the start of their career. Heck, I'm still thinking "this can't last" in both forms of the game, but it's kept lasting so far...

Somehow I think it will last. Unless he gets worked out in the subcontinent, it just might last. He always seems so in control and natural at the crease - virtually risk-free cricket on top.

 

[Richard]

Well... another game, another Hussey not-out...

 

[andyc]

Bevan's Match: Australia v West Indies 95/96

That 'catch' from Harper was shocking. What happened to him?

 

[FaaipDeOiad]

That 'catch' from Harper was shocking. What happened to him?

Nothing. Possibly the worst faked catch I've ever seen, given that he actually looked at the ball on the ground and then picked it up, but he didn't get a ban or a fine or anything.

 

[FaaipDeOiad]

Well... another game, another Hussey not-out...

Forgetting the first chance average here? Given he was "out" in both of the last two games...

 

[vic_orthdox]

Hussey's ability to hit 6's and take more runs off the final overs exceeds Bevan's.

 

[Jono]

Forgetting the first chance average here? Given he was "out" in both of the last two games...

!

 

[Prince EWS]

Yea, it is unusual that it has happened at the start of his career. But it happens to most good batsmen sometime, and he's been lucky that he has just started off that way. But really, FC average (usually Test figures are a bit worse) is a good indication of Test average and thats where I put him ability wise.

It is highly doubtful that an FC career lasting 10 years would lie that much about his abilities .

Have you ever considered that Hussey has simply improved his game out of sight in recent times, since making his international debut? A "purple patch" can only last so long - I think he's just a class act.

 

[silentstriker]

Have you ever considered that Hussey has simply improved his game out of sight in recent times, since making his international debut?

I'm sure he has improved. Not 30 runs worth though. Thats literally coming close to the Bradman level. He might have improved enough to keep his Test average the same, or maybe even a little higher than his FC average. Thats pretty good, really. Averaging 80? Nah, no way.

A "purple patch" can only last so long - I think he's just a class act.

First of all, please tell me who has denied that. Secondly, so were Sobers, Sir Viv, Tendulkar, Lara, Hobbs, etc. Hussey would not simply match or beat them, he would blow them out the water. I don't think so.

 

[pup11]

Long Live Bevo

there is a player that only comes in a century and bevo certainly is one a team man to core and a man with nerves of steel he is in my view the bradman of odi cricket coz i have seen him very seldom struggle in odi cricket he knew when to play which shot and his placement had surgical precision he won more odi's in the history of the game than any other bloke, today what huss is doing for the last 53 games he did that for 232 games!

 

[Slow Love™]

Hussey's ability to hit 6's and take more runs off the final overs exceeds Bevan's.

Yep. I would say that's part of what precipitated Bevan's exclusion from the national team (apart from a slight loss in form and his tendency to spend two or three couple of overs hitting straight to fieldsman before getting his bearings). He was a master of a run-a-ball cricket, but he didn't really have the sheer hitting ability that's become more integral with bigger and bigger totals becoming more commonplace. He would still have been useful in a game like yesterday's, but obviously we've been lucky and discovered Hussey since, who can do both.

BTW, you don't like Bevo much, do you, Jack?

 

[Craig]

jones had a tremendous influence on odi fielding and running between the wickets and to a certain extent you are right in the sense that more people copied dean jones and that he started a trend in one day cricket, but the main reason for that is that to copy jones, you mainly needed a reasonable dose of talent and exceptional athleticism while viv was a once-in-a-century cricketing genius who could only be watched in awe and rarely if ever copied....jones while being an exceptional one day batsman doesn't begin to compare with viv....

And we also learnt from Deano is never upset a West Indian fast bowler by commenting on the size of his sweetband on his wrist...

 

[luffy]

Great Career bevo. It's a shame he couldn't play in the longer form of the game as good as the One-Day matches. It's a shame to see him go before the end of the Domestic Season but i guess injuries do that to you.

 

[pup11]

yeah i agree bevo was not a big hitter but he more made it up his running between the wickets and placement and timing , he was the swiftest runner with pads on in the world and he is the inventor of this turning 1's into 2's theory .

 

[vic_orthdox]

BTW, you don't like Bevo much, do you, Jack?

I think what I said earlier in the thread encapsulates my view of him pretty well. You do hear some, er, "different" stories concerning him.

 

[FaaipDeOiad]

Yep. I would say that's part of what precipitated Bevan's exclusion from the national team (apart from a slight loss in form and his tendency to spend two or three couple of overs hitting straight to fieldsman before getting his bearings). He was a master of a run-a-ball cricket, but he didn't really have the sheer hitting ability that's become more integral with bigger and bigger totals becoming more commonplace. He would still have been useful in a game like yesterday's, but obviously we've been lucky and discovered Hussey since, who can do both.

BTW, you don't like Bevo much, do you, Jack?

Hussey's not really a great natural striker of the ball either though, like a White or Symonds. I think he's perhaps a player who benefits a bit from the easier nature of hitting sixes today, compared to Bevan's time. Obviously he's a better hitter than Bevan, and his ability to find the boundary in the later overs is breathtaking at times while it was always Bevan's only weakness, but I don't think the gap is as big as big as their records would suggest, with Bevan hitting 21 sixes in 232 ODIs to Hussey's 26 in 52.

 

[Slow Love™]

I think what I said earlier in the thread encapsulates my view of him pretty well. You do hear some, er, "different" stories concerning him.

Can't share any? We're all friends here.

 

[andyc]

We're all friends here.