My first post! It's gonna be a long one....
When I think of talent I think of who can become a great of the game, not merely a good player who did steady stuff for his country i.e. those whose test batting average is the right side of 50 and bowlers who can average closer to 20 than 30. Also I take into account who I think will perform in all conditions against the best opposition, who needs fair weather players? I've also given an opinion on most of the young players in International Cricket...just for fun I guess
Here goes...
Fast Bowlers:
Mohammed Asif - this guy is one of the smartest bowlers I've ever seen at a young age and has tremendous accuracy, bounce, decent pace as well a handy bag of tricks. Barry Richards called him a 400 wicket man, however with the severe lack of test cricket Pakistan will play over the next 2-3 years this could really reduce his exposure.
Dale Steyn - Can anyone stop this guy? Forget the new AD, he may well surpass him by the time he's done, I can't wait to see him in England this year. The way he consistently performed in tough conditions in the subcontinent shows me this guy is the complete package, let's just hope he stays fit.
Morne Mørkel - Amazing build for a pace bowler and complements Steyn and Ntini nicely, he gets great bounce and is genuinely quick, if he can improve his consistency he'll get to the very top of the game.
Ishant Sharma - Aguably India's first genuine quick, gets good bounce even on lifeless surfaces and understands how to set batsmen up. Also has good stamina and moves the ball in a lot more than most bowlers. Was outstanding in Australia and impressed in Kanpur against RSA with his reverse swing. Needs to bulk up and let's hope he doesn't use Shoaib Akhtar as a role model (they're playing together in the IPL for Kolkata).
Honourable and not-so-honourable mentions:
Stuart Broad - Since changing his action to more front on he's lost some of the swing that made him so dangerous in his first season. However with his height if he can pick up a yard or 2 of pace he'll make a fine bowler yet. He looks a genuine batsmen too.
Mitchell Johnson hasn't convinced me, his inability to move the ball in to the right handers will seriously hamstring his potency outside the helpful tracks of Australia and SA. Problem stems from wrist postion which will be very hard to correct with his shoulder catapulting action. Also has a tendency to bowl quite defensively.
Sreesanth - Has a great away swinger but his temperament is frankly appalling, when he gets it right he has shown he can trouble the best.
James Anderson - IMO has had too many chances at the Test level, 30 odd tests and an average of close to 40 is nowhere near good enough. Far too inconsistent, even at his best he's merely good, not great. Will probably do an adequate job to see off NZ in helpful conditions but will be shown up by the South Africans this summer. England need to set their sights higher.
Umar Gul - a much improved player, decent pace and swing, good attitude, like Asif lack of exposure in Test cricket will hurt him.
Sohail Tanvir - his awkward action makes him a handful in limited over cricket, however I have my doubts over his ability in the longer forms of the game.
Lasith Malinga - A quality strike bowler in the making, was dissapointing in Australia but is still young. Suprisingly accurate for a man with his action, has an almost Akram-esque ability to bowl unplayable balls, see the throat ball he bowled to Pietersen.
RP Singh - A smart bowler at a young age, needs to work on his consistency and adding another string to his bow. Nice build for a quick.
Irfan Pathan - Seems to be working more on his batting but when the ball swings he's a force to be reckoned with. Has a knack of picking up wickets at important times. Star all-rounder in the making.
Tim Southee - Nice swing, decent pace, still very young in age and experience.
Amit Jaggernauth - Young WI spinner, when is this kid going to be given a chance? The WI aversion to spin has got to end, he looks a big talent who should be nurtured carefully.
Watch out for....Stephen Finn 6'8" of fast medium currently playing at middlesex, will almost definitely get a call up in the future. Also there's doubtlessly numerous young South Africans straight from the Veldt ready to pace their way to the top.
Chris Jordan - young West Indian fast bowling all rounder who is playing for Surrey. Let's hope he chooses his home country over England, they need his talents so much more.
Spinners:
Ajantha Mendis - When a guy's touted as the next Murali after one game he's worth a look in. It would appear this 23yr old can bowl it all; offbreaks, legspin, googlies, doosras, flippers - and he does it all with imperceivable flicks of his fingers. His first class record is comparable with SF Barnes! The future of spin bowling IMO.
(Dis)Honourable mentions:
Piyush Chawla - very young but the fact that he's considered the bet young spinner in India perhaps says more about the bareness of the spin cupboard than of a prodigious talent. Has some technical issues with his front shoulder that are making him inconsistent. I think a county season would do him a world of good. .Potential all rounder in the making
Monty Panesar - I don't see an awful lot of potential in Monty, he doesn't seem willing to experiment and is basically the same bowler he was when he first arrived on the international scene. He seems to rely too much on assistance from the pitch and needs to develop more variations if he's to be more penetrative.
Batsmen:
To be honest I don't see any of the young batsmen currently playing test cricket scaling the heights of a Tendulkar or Lara, or even a Dravid or Ponting, Kallis, Sangakkarra, Hayden or Yousuf. But here are some of the guys who have the best chance of doing so:
Michael Clarke - pretty young still and seems settled at no.5, if he can convert more of his starts he should be very productive. Has looked a different player since his ashes return, tighter technically and mentally a lot lot stronger. He could star next summer.
Alastair Cook - has immaculate technique but England's 'good enough' attitude might hold him back. He needs to really set his sights a bit higher and learn to adapt to different conditions faster, I can see him churning out hundreds later on in his career. Also neeeds to work on building big hundreds, seems to get out very often just after reaching his ton.
Gautam Gambhir - has scored runs for fun in the Ranji trophy and seems to have turned a corner in his career. Looks a very complete player, was very impressive in Australia and plays spin very well indeed. Has a lot of natural gifts, perhaps a return to the Test side ahead of Wasim Jaffer is needed; at 26 he's approaching his most productive years.
Rohit Sharma - this kid looks good, very, very good. Has a simple compact technique that should serve him well at the international level, matched with an outstanding temperament it just seems a waiting game for one of India's middle order to retire untill he get's a chance at the higest level. The obvious long term replacement (well replace is a bit much but he can bat at 4) for Sachin Tendulkar.
AB de Villiers - May well have turned a corner in the recent India series, we all know he can attack but whether he can graft is yet to be seen. Looks a bit vulnerable around the off stump. Probably the best fielder in world cricket.
Hashim Amla - Impressed in India, has the benefit of Indian wrists and an upbringing on South African pitches, a combination that should mould him into a very complete player. If he can improve his off-side play he could really be one to look out for.
False Dawns or Great New Hopes?
Ian Bell - Spoken of very highly in England but his test record is very misleading. An average of 25 against both India and Australia show not a particular weakness but a general fallibility against the best test cricket has to offer. Hasn't scored runs in difficult conditions (averaged 16 at home against India when the ball was swinging) and all of his 8 hundreds have either come against very weak attacks (the touring Pakistan side for exmaple was missing it's bowling attack through injury) or when there was noticeable absence of pressure. A fairweather batsmen for what it could be argued is a fairweather team.
J P Duminy - This young South African looks a true class player and I predict a fantastic Test career for this guy, has already shown a great temperament in ODI's. Can play shots all around the ground, might have to wait a bit for chances though. Possible long term replacement for Kallis.
Yuvraj Singh - His failure in Australia was down to his inability to adapt his technique, the Australian's targeted his pads and he just didn't learn. Greg Chappell commented 'Yuvraj thinks he is a great player when he is merely a good one who could be great'. Very disappointing as he has talent oozing out of his ears. Where he stands in the line for a place in India's middle order is unknown.
Suresh Raina - prodigiously talented to say the least, a strokeplayer to the core (a strike rate of 85 in his last domestic season!). However a poor conversion rate of just 5 100's to 20 50's in first class cricket point to some serious temperament flaws. Whether he can score runs outside the subcontinent is yet to be seen. A livewire in the field.
Brendon Mccullum A.K.A Super-Mac - best keeper batsmen in the world (as long as Sangakkarra keeps the gloves off)? Quite possibly, there doesn't seem to be a situation where he can't score runs rapidly, and he's only 26! Undoubtedly the most exciting batsmen in the world today, though I can't see him scoring double hundreds any time soon.
Ravi Bopara - Has been fantastic this season for Essex, whether he can translate this to the Test arena is to be seen. Looked out of his depth in Sri Lanka but has a pretty good technique, needs to improve against spin though. Should forget any ambitions as an all rounder frankly and concentrate on his batting.
Philip Hughes - scored his maiden first class ton for NSW against Victoria in the Pura Cup final, looks very good at young age, already being spoken of as a long term replacement for Matthew Hayden. That's not a bad rep! However it should be noted that there aren't too many young Aussie batsmen making waves right now.
Cameron White - if he can't crack it at the Test level the world will be poorer for it. An incredibly attacking player that's great to watch, has been a big dissappointment for Bangalore in the IPL though.
Adrian Barath - Spotted at 12 by none other than Brian Lara apparently Lara has been mentoring him ever since and has bemoaned lack of facilities holding back the young right hander. Apparently he has gone on tour with Lara several times and is predicted as the next great WI batsmen, He currently opens for T&T, expect a WI debut in the future.
Shikhar Dhawan, Tanmay Sristastava, Chetashwar Pujara, Manoj Tiwary, Mithun Manhas, Parthiv Patel and Ajinka Rahane all look like very talented strokemakers who've scored a lot of runs and the Indian selectors will be keeping an eye on all of them, however time and again it's been compact defensive technique that's been the key for Indian batsmen to succeed at the international level. Whether any of these guys can crack it or not time will tell, my bets on Manoj Tiwary to score big time if he can adapt quickly enough.
Approaching the hill, perhaps even over it:
Mark Ramprakash - everyone knows what he's done, they should have picked him for the last ashes when Vaughan was injured, he would have scored some quality runs.
Brad Hodge - Test cricket seems to have passed him by after that double hundred, would have carved out damn good career. Looks set to have his plave against the Windies stolen buy Simon Katich.
Simon Katich - Australian cricket's renaissance man, if he does get a chance I hope he makes the most of it, I'd be suprised if he doesn't. Is fit enough to play for a while yet.
Subramaniam Badrinath - Looks set to become India's Ramprakash (without the dissapointing test career). Was incredibly unlucky to miss out to Mohammed Kaif when Tendulkar was injured, the decison smacked of this age old prejudice against Chennai players. Looks a top batsmen, could have a Hussey-esque impact given the chance. Damn good fielder to boot, something India's test side could bloody well use. At 27 he could yet play an important role in Indian cricket.
That's about it. God this is an easy way to procrastinate.
When I think of talent I think of who can become a great of the game, not merely a good player who did steady stuff for his country i.e. those whose test batting average is the right side of 50 and bowlers who can average closer to 20 than 30. Also I take into account who I think will perform in all conditions against the best opposition, who needs fair weather players? I've also given an opinion on most of the young players in International Cricket...just for fun I guess
Here goes...
Fast Bowlers:
Mohammed Asif - this guy is one of the smartest bowlers I've ever seen at a young age and has tremendous accuracy, bounce, decent pace as well a handy bag of tricks. Barry Richards called him a 400 wicket man, however with the severe lack of test cricket Pakistan will play over the next 2-3 years this could really reduce his exposure.
Dale Steyn - Can anyone stop this guy? Forget the new AD, he may well surpass him by the time he's done, I can't wait to see him in England this year. The way he consistently performed in tough conditions in the subcontinent shows me this guy is the complete package, let's just hope he stays fit.
Morne Mørkel - Amazing build for a pace bowler and complements Steyn and Ntini nicely, he gets great bounce and is genuinely quick, if he can improve his consistency he'll get to the very top of the game.
Ishant Sharma - Aguably India's first genuine quick, gets good bounce even on lifeless surfaces and understands how to set batsmen up. Also has good stamina and moves the ball in a lot more than most bowlers. Was outstanding in Australia and impressed in Kanpur against RSA with his reverse swing. Needs to bulk up and let's hope he doesn't use Shoaib Akhtar as a role model (they're playing together in the IPL for Kolkata).
Honourable and not-so-honourable mentions:
Stuart Broad - Since changing his action to more front on he's lost some of the swing that made him so dangerous in his first season. However with his height if he can pick up a yard or 2 of pace he'll make a fine bowler yet. He looks a genuine batsmen too.
Mitchell Johnson hasn't convinced me, his inability to move the ball in to the right handers will seriously hamstring his potency outside the helpful tracks of Australia and SA. Problem stems from wrist postion which will be very hard to correct with his shoulder catapulting action. Also has a tendency to bowl quite defensively.
Sreesanth - Has a great away swinger but his temperament is frankly appalling, when he gets it right he has shown he can trouble the best.
James Anderson - IMO has had too many chances at the Test level, 30 odd tests and an average of close to 40 is nowhere near good enough. Far too inconsistent, even at his best he's merely good, not great. Will probably do an adequate job to see off NZ in helpful conditions but will be shown up by the South Africans this summer. England need to set their sights higher.
Umar Gul - a much improved player, decent pace and swing, good attitude, like Asif lack of exposure in Test cricket will hurt him.
Sohail Tanvir - his awkward action makes him a handful in limited over cricket, however I have my doubts over his ability in the longer forms of the game.
Lasith Malinga - A quality strike bowler in the making, was dissapointing in Australia but is still young. Suprisingly accurate for a man with his action, has an almost Akram-esque ability to bowl unplayable balls, see the throat ball he bowled to Pietersen.
RP Singh - A smart bowler at a young age, needs to work on his consistency and adding another string to his bow. Nice build for a quick.
Irfan Pathan - Seems to be working more on his batting but when the ball swings he's a force to be reckoned with. Has a knack of picking up wickets at important times. Star all-rounder in the making.
Tim Southee - Nice swing, decent pace, still very young in age and experience.
Amit Jaggernauth - Young WI spinner, when is this kid going to be given a chance? The WI aversion to spin has got to end, he looks a big talent who should be nurtured carefully.
Watch out for....Stephen Finn 6'8" of fast medium currently playing at middlesex, will almost definitely get a call up in the future. Also there's doubtlessly numerous young South Africans straight from the Veldt ready to pace their way to the top.
Chris Jordan - young West Indian fast bowling all rounder who is playing for Surrey. Let's hope he chooses his home country over England, they need his talents so much more.
Spinners:
Ajantha Mendis - When a guy's touted as the next Murali after one game he's worth a look in. It would appear this 23yr old can bowl it all; offbreaks, legspin, googlies, doosras, flippers - and he does it all with imperceivable flicks of his fingers. His first class record is comparable with SF Barnes! The future of spin bowling IMO.
(Dis)Honourable mentions:
Piyush Chawla - very young but the fact that he's considered the bet young spinner in India perhaps says more about the bareness of the spin cupboard than of a prodigious talent. Has some technical issues with his front shoulder that are making him inconsistent. I think a county season would do him a world of good. .Potential all rounder in the making
Monty Panesar - I don't see an awful lot of potential in Monty, he doesn't seem willing to experiment and is basically the same bowler he was when he first arrived on the international scene. He seems to rely too much on assistance from the pitch and needs to develop more variations if he's to be more penetrative.
Batsmen:
To be honest I don't see any of the young batsmen currently playing test cricket scaling the heights of a Tendulkar or Lara, or even a Dravid or Ponting, Kallis, Sangakkarra, Hayden or Yousuf. But here are some of the guys who have the best chance of doing so:
Michael Clarke - pretty young still and seems settled at no.5, if he can convert more of his starts he should be very productive. Has looked a different player since his ashes return, tighter technically and mentally a lot lot stronger. He could star next summer.
Alastair Cook - has immaculate technique but England's 'good enough' attitude might hold him back. He needs to really set his sights a bit higher and learn to adapt to different conditions faster, I can see him churning out hundreds later on in his career. Also neeeds to work on building big hundreds, seems to get out very often just after reaching his ton.
Gautam Gambhir - has scored runs for fun in the Ranji trophy and seems to have turned a corner in his career. Looks a very complete player, was very impressive in Australia and plays spin very well indeed. Has a lot of natural gifts, perhaps a return to the Test side ahead of Wasim Jaffer is needed; at 26 he's approaching his most productive years.
Rohit Sharma - this kid looks good, very, very good. Has a simple compact technique that should serve him well at the international level, matched with an outstanding temperament it just seems a waiting game for one of India's middle order to retire untill he get's a chance at the higest level. The obvious long term replacement (well replace is a bit much but he can bat at 4) for Sachin Tendulkar.
AB de Villiers - May well have turned a corner in the recent India series, we all know he can attack but whether he can graft is yet to be seen. Looks a bit vulnerable around the off stump. Probably the best fielder in world cricket.
Hashim Amla - Impressed in India, has the benefit of Indian wrists and an upbringing on South African pitches, a combination that should mould him into a very complete player. If he can improve his off-side play he could really be one to look out for.
False Dawns or Great New Hopes?
Ian Bell - Spoken of very highly in England but his test record is very misleading. An average of 25 against both India and Australia show not a particular weakness but a general fallibility against the best test cricket has to offer. Hasn't scored runs in difficult conditions (averaged 16 at home against India when the ball was swinging) and all of his 8 hundreds have either come against very weak attacks (the touring Pakistan side for exmaple was missing it's bowling attack through injury) or when there was noticeable absence of pressure. A fairweather batsmen for what it could be argued is a fairweather team.
J P Duminy - This young South African looks a true class player and I predict a fantastic Test career for this guy, has already shown a great temperament in ODI's. Can play shots all around the ground, might have to wait a bit for chances though. Possible long term replacement for Kallis.
Yuvraj Singh - His failure in Australia was down to his inability to adapt his technique, the Australian's targeted his pads and he just didn't learn. Greg Chappell commented 'Yuvraj thinks he is a great player when he is merely a good one who could be great'. Very disappointing as he has talent oozing out of his ears. Where he stands in the line for a place in India's middle order is unknown.
Suresh Raina - prodigiously talented to say the least, a strokeplayer to the core (a strike rate of 85 in his last domestic season!). However a poor conversion rate of just 5 100's to 20 50's in first class cricket point to some serious temperament flaws. Whether he can score runs outside the subcontinent is yet to be seen. A livewire in the field.
Brendon Mccullum A.K.A Super-Mac - best keeper batsmen in the world (as long as Sangakkarra keeps the gloves off)? Quite possibly, there doesn't seem to be a situation where he can't score runs rapidly, and he's only 26! Undoubtedly the most exciting batsmen in the world today, though I can't see him scoring double hundreds any time soon.
Ravi Bopara - Has been fantastic this season for Essex, whether he can translate this to the Test arena is to be seen. Looked out of his depth in Sri Lanka but has a pretty good technique, needs to improve against spin though. Should forget any ambitions as an all rounder frankly and concentrate on his batting.
Philip Hughes - scored his maiden first class ton for NSW against Victoria in the Pura Cup final, looks very good at young age, already being spoken of as a long term replacement for Matthew Hayden. That's not a bad rep! However it should be noted that there aren't too many young Aussie batsmen making waves right now.
Cameron White - if he can't crack it at the Test level the world will be poorer for it. An incredibly attacking player that's great to watch, has been a big dissappointment for Bangalore in the IPL though.
Adrian Barath - Spotted at 12 by none other than Brian Lara apparently Lara has been mentoring him ever since and has bemoaned lack of facilities holding back the young right hander. Apparently he has gone on tour with Lara several times and is predicted as the next great WI batsmen, He currently opens for T&T, expect a WI debut in the future.
Shikhar Dhawan, Tanmay Sristastava, Chetashwar Pujara, Manoj Tiwary, Mithun Manhas, Parthiv Patel and Ajinka Rahane all look like very talented strokemakers who've scored a lot of runs and the Indian selectors will be keeping an eye on all of them, however time and again it's been compact defensive technique that's been the key for Indian batsmen to succeed at the international level. Whether any of these guys can crack it or not time will tell, my bets on Manoj Tiwary to score big time if he can adapt quickly enough.
Approaching the hill, perhaps even over it:
Mark Ramprakash - everyone knows what he's done, they should have picked him for the last ashes when Vaughan was injured, he would have scored some quality runs.
Brad Hodge - Test cricket seems to have passed him by after that double hundred, would have carved out damn good career. Looks set to have his plave against the Windies stolen buy Simon Katich.
Simon Katich - Australian cricket's renaissance man, if he does get a chance I hope he makes the most of it, I'd be suprised if he doesn't. Is fit enough to play for a while yet.
Subramaniam Badrinath - Looks set to become India's Ramprakash (without the dissapointing test career). Was incredibly unlucky to miss out to Mohammed Kaif when Tendulkar was injured, the decison smacked of this age old prejudice against Chennai players. Looks a top batsmen, could have a Hussey-esque impact given the chance. Damn good fielder to boot, something India's test side could bloody well use. At 27 he could yet play an important role in Indian cricket.
That's about it. God this is an easy way to procrastinate.
