Cricketers who wasted their talents

[Run like Inzy]

Is talent being able to get a quick 30 then slogging one up in the air, cause that's what Afridi has made a career of.

True, but being able to get the quick 30 in the way he does shows talent which is then wasted by madness. If he just made better choices regarding the deliveries to leave/hit he may have been more consistent and successful.
Also his bowling could have been developed and used more.

 

[honestbharani]

Can't believe that there has only been one mention of Carl Hooper here. The man is the greatest example of wasting cricketing talent, IMHO. He could bat like God when in the mood. People no less than Boycott and Benaud have talked about him being almost as good as, and perhaps even better than, Lara at his best.... He played the ball late, and although he did tend to shuffle a bit, like Inzy, because of his ability to pick the ball up early and yet play it late, he could cope with any kind of quickish bowling. And against spin, he was amazingly good, again due to his ability to play late... And he was one of the best slippers I have seen. Heck, he was very good even in the infield and on the odd occasion, from the boundary as well. Decent to good off spin bowler depending on the pitch.... Cannot believe that a man of his talents didn't do more in cricket.

 

[gettingbetter]

Shoaib Akthar. 43 Tests in nearly 10 years in indicative of this.

 

[Nishant]

True, but being able to get the quick 30 in the way he does shows talent which is then wasted by madness. If he just made better choices regarding the deliveries to leave/hit he may have been more consistent and successful.
Also his bowling could have been developed and used more.

Agree with that TBH...

 

[Mahindinho]

Shoaib Akthar. 43 Tests in nearly 10 years in indicative of this.

You could say that he's been unlucky with injuries, some of which were the flip side of his hyperextension (the other side being his extreme pace).

However, there's the suspicion that Shoaib just didn't manage himself well, train properly, etc. -- if you're not putting the work in at the gym, as a modern fast bowler, you're more likely to break down.

So, I'd definitely include him.

On the subject of Pakistani underachievers, what's with the age thing? It's been noted that Afridi's probably older than his 'official' age, and there's Razzaq too. Is it some sort of cultural thing for kids to say they're much younger than they are?

 

[gettingbetter]

I took that into consideration, he would of easily played maybe 10-20 more Tests bat injuries, but his form has also never always warranted selection. That is quite amazing consdiering that his average is rather good too.

Also, in regards to Pakistani players and their ages, it happened to my mum I think, though she is Indian. What happens is that people who are from a poorer area do not have the resources to document such events, so when the need for DOB is needed, it is created, estimated, made up etc.

 

[PhoenixFire]

Can't believe that there has only been one mention of Carl Hooper here. The man is the greatest example of wasting cricketing talent, IMHO. He could bat like God when in the mood. People no less than Boycott and Benaud have talked about him being almost as good as, and perhaps even better than, Lara at his best.... He played the ball late, and although he did tend to shuffle a bit, like Inzy, because of his ability to pick the ball up early and yet play it late, he could cope with any kind of quickish bowling. And against spin, he was amazingly good, again due to his ability to play late... And he was one of the best slippers I have seen. Heck, he was very good even in the infield and on the odd occasion, from the boundary as well. Decent to good off spin bowler depending on the pitch.... Cannot believe that a man of his talents didn't do more in cricket.

Wow that's some claim.

 

[sideshowtim]

Matthew Elliot

To me he looked the most talented opener off all that Aussies tried in the 90's and that includes greats like Taylor, Slater, Hayden, Langer and other good talents like Blewett and Di Venuto, his 199 in 97 Ashes was one of the major highlights in one of the better Ashes from the 90's, infact I remember Geoff Bycott mentioning at that time that this chap is going to make 8000 runs but unfortunatley he could not kick on and just faded away.

Shane Warne, in one of his early autobiographies also said Elliot will make 5,000 Test runs. So he was highly rated by all....A bit of a shame really. I do remember that 199 quite fondly, an absolutely magnificent innings, I was bitterly disappointed when he was dismissed.

 

[PhoenixFire]

Shane Warne, in one of his early autobiographies also said Elliot will make 5,000 Test runs. So he was highly rated by all....A bit of a shame really. I do remember that 199 quite fondly, an absolutely magnificent innings, I was bitterly disappointed when he was dismissed.

Yeah that was a class innings, the way he just kept on hitting those cover drives over and over again was awesome.

 

[Richard]

Shane Warne, in one of his early autobiographies also said Elliot will make 5,000 Test runs. So he was highly rated by all....A bit of a shame really. I do remember that 199 quite fondly, an absolutely magnificent innings, I was bitterly disappointed when he was dismissed.

He can thank Graham Thorpe inestimatably.

 

[Richard]

Can't believe that there has only been one mention of Carl Hooper here. The man is the greatest example of wasting cricketing talent, IMHO. He could bat like God when in the mood. People no less than Boycott and Benaud have talked about him being almost as good as, and perhaps even better than, Lara at his best.... He played the ball late, and although he did tend to shuffle a bit, like Inzy, because of his ability to pick the ball up early and yet play it late, he could cope with any kind of quickish bowling. And against spin, he was amazingly good, again due to his ability to play late... And he was one of the best slippers I have seen. Heck, he was very good even in the infield and on the odd occasion, from the boundary as well. Decent to good off spin bowler depending on the pitch.... Cannot believe that a man of his talents didn't do more in cricket.

Wow that's some claim.

It's not, though, really. People also talked of Jackson and McCabe being equal to or better than Bradman at their best.

Not saying Hooper wasn't good, BTW, but someone saying "he could be better than *insert name of brilliant player*" happens about as often as the sun rising.

 

[Richard]

That doesn't mean much when your best ODI batsman in the said period is Nick Knight.

It does, actually, Nick Knight and Graeme Hick were both superb ODI batsmen, fit to rank with most of the best ODI batsmen of the modern era. As was Neil Fairbrother, and as will Kevin Pietersen almost certainly be in a few years' time.

 

[Sanz]

It does, actually, Nick Knight and Graeme Hick were both superb ODI batsmen, fit to rank with most of the best ODI batsmen of the modern era. As was Neil Fairbrother.

 

[Richard]

I laugh far more in contempt at your lack of any real knowledge of English players than you could ever possibly laugh, frankly.

 

[Nate]

On the subject of Pakistani underachievers, what's with the age thing? It's been noted that Afridi's probably older than his 'official' age, and there's Razzaq too. Is it some sort of cultural thing for kids to say they're much younger than they are?

Happening big-time IMO. Read a lot of stuff about it, and it's a smart (stupid) way to extend your playing career. More opportunities at U-19 level the very least of it. Afridi is no doubt at least three years older than he says, and I think about six/seven. Inzy is said to be 40+. Very interesting stuff.

 

[Richard]

Haven't head that one about Inzy before, but Waqar Younis is generally thought to be 2 years older than cricket's records show him to be; Hasan Raza's debuting at 14 is pretty well inconceivable; and there are any number of cases involving players further back (Mushtaq Mohammed for instance).

By-and-large, as far as I know, more Pakistanis (and Bangladeshis) than not don't tend to have exact birthdates registered, leaving them free to "choose" their ages when they need to.

 

[Sanz]

Happening big-time IMO. Read a lot of stuff about it, and it's a smart (stupid) way to extend your playing career. More opportunities at U-19 level the very least of it. Afridi is no doubt at least three years older than he says, and I think about six/seven. Inzy is said to be 40+. Very interesting stuff.

Happens a lot in subcontinent(India/Pak/BD) and not limited to Cricketers, not the fault of cricketers themselves though, it is fault of their parents. There is an age restriction in most governement/Semi-govt jobs in India and hence lot of parents reduce the the age by couple of years when they enroll their kids in school.

Almost every Indian I know has two Birthdays a real one and an official one.

 

[Sanz]

It does, actually, Nick Knight and Graeme Hick were both superb ODI batsmen, fit to rank with most of the best ODI batsmen of the modern era. As was Neil Fairbrother, and as will Kevin Pietersen almost certainly be in a few years' time.

So how are Nick Knight, Graeme Hick fit to rank with the best ODI batsmen(e.g. Tendulkar, Richards, Bevan etc) of modern era ?

If you are going to make this kind of claim, people will laugh.

 

[Sanz]

I laugh far more in contempt at your lack of any real knowledge of English players than you could ever possibly laugh, frankly.

There wasn't anyone in the modern era worth knowing as far as ODIs are concerned.

 

[honestbharani]

Wow that's some claim.

It was not mine, even Boycott and someone else mentioned it in commentary. Tell me, how many times have you actually seen him struggle to get runs. He just threw away starts almost as regularly as Sachin scores 50s or more in ODIs... He is the very definition of wasted talent as far as I am concerned.