players Who You Thought WOULDN'T Make It.............

[tooextracool]

Trescothick. Time and time again I thought that he had been worked out and wasnt going to score a run yet for some inexplicable reason he kept scoring runs with a dismal technique. Good on him for doing so, I still think that he is a flat track bully but theres no doubt that hes very much missed by the England side at the moment especially in terms of his ability to score big runs.

 

[Uppercut]

Trescothick. Time and time again I thought that he had been worked out and wasnt going to score a run yet for some inexplicable reason he kept scoring runs with a dismal technique. Good on him for doing so, I still think that he is a flat track bully but theres no doubt that hes very much missed by the England side at the moment especially in terms of his ability to score big runs.

It's funny how much better he seems now that he's not playing...

 

[Mr Mxyzptlk]

It's funny how much better he seems now that he's not playing...

My instinctive reaction was outrage at this post, but it's actually very true.

 

[Top_Cat]

Trescothick. Time and time again I thought that he had been worked out and wasnt going to score a run yet for some inexplicable reason he kept scoring runs with a dismal technique. Good on him for doing so, I still think that he is a flat track bully but theres no doubt that hes very much missed by the England side at the moment especially in terms of his ability to score big runs.

I suspect he'll be sorely missed in next year's Ashes. His batting in 2005, despite not scoring a ton, was some of the best attacking batting by an opening batsman I'd personally ever seen (Sidhu in 1998 against Aus also comes to mind) and his 90 at Edgbaston was a top-shelf knock. He absolutely led from the front and I think he took the Aussies by surprise.

He was always a bit of a surprise to me too. When I first saw him play, I remember him being tied down by the Aussie attack in a ODI and I thought he was just another defensive player. Then he absolutely launched a ball into the crowd far enough to make Andy Symonds go "Farrrrrrk!" For a bloke with such a limited technique, geez he could hit the ball miles.

 

[Top_Cat]

Time to update my list;

Mike Hussey - Distinctly remember how he would dominate CC in the 90's only to come back for Pura Cup/Sheffield Shield action only to hit a ton in the first couple of games then average mid-30's for the rest of the season. Everyone wonders where he came from, why he wasn't picked earlier, etc.and the truth is, he just wasn't good enough to get picked ahead of the Waughs, Ponting, Taylor, Slater and Hayden. I remember hearing when he was at the academy how the coaches all said he was tough to dislodge but needed some shots and I always thought he suffered from a similar 'WACA-only' technique which precluded front-foot play and enabled scoring only between gully and fine-leg.

Then he started scoring well for WA in domestic OD's lower in the order (career turning-point, that move), had a couple of solid seasons in the 4-day comp and a Test spot followed. Even then I had doubts but boy hasn't he erased them. Has a rock-solid defensive technique and now has shots off the front-foot he never had before. Top-class batsman these days and he did it all himself. Hard to knock him in any way now.

 

[Polo23]

technique which precluded front-foot play and enabled scoring only between gully and fine-leg.

You just described my batting perfectly!

 

[Richard]

Mike Hussey - Distinctly remember how he would dominate CC in the 90's only to come back for Pura Cup/Sheffield Shield action only to hit a ton in the first couple of games then average mid-30's for the rest of the season.

Hussey's first season over here (as a county cricketer anyway) was 2001.

Unless you meant "average in the 90s" of course. And even he wasn't quite that good - he normally averaged just 70 or 80.

 

[SirBloody Idiot]

Stuart Clark - thought it was madness when he was first picked as a backup for McGrath on that Ashes tour on the back of a pretty average FC record. Even on the back of a good season, I never thought he'd become the exceptional bowler he is now.

Hashim Amla - may not have made it in the true sense of the word, but he's hung around a hell of a lot longer than I thought he would. I remember seeing him with that god awful technique when he first debuted and thought he would be out on his arse quickly; but he's actually turned out to be quite effective at first drop.

Andrew Symonds - never thought he'd make it as a test cricketer but certainly has surprised me.

 

[sanga1337]

Yeah I would have to agree with Hashim amla. Had a pretty ordinary start to his career as well. Paul Harris is another one. Thought he would be dropped within a few tests, but he seems to be having a decent run in the side.

 

[Mr Mxyzptlk]

Still not convinced by Amla, as many around these parts know very well.

 

[honestbharani]

Dhoni...

 

[silentstriker]

Dhoni has chosen to drop himself from the cricket side in favor of being in an ODI team, so maybe he has unmade himself.

 

[Manee]

Dhoni has chosen to drop himself from the cricket side in favor of being in an ODI team, so maybe he has unmade himself.

If he had kept poorly and not scored any runs due to fatigue though, he would have certainly been dropped - this way, he is merely accepting a BCCI offer to take a rest.

 

[GIMH]

I suspect he'll be sorely missed in next year's Ashes. His batting in 2005, despite not scoring a ton, was some of the best attacking batting by an opening batsman I'd personally ever seen (Sidhu in 1998 against Aus also comes to mind) and his 90 at Edgbaston was a top-shelf knock. He absolutely led from the front and I think he took the Aussies by surprise.

He was always a bit of a surprise to me too. When I first saw him play, I remember him being tied down by the Aussie attack in a ODI and I thought he was just another defensive player. Then he absolutely launched a ball into the crowd far enough to make Andy Symonds go "Farrrrrrk!" For a bloke with such a limited technique, geez he could hit the ball miles.

So true about the Ashes. What I remember and long for about that series is the way Tresco and Strauss seemed to get us off to 100 starts each time. Not sure how many they actually got, probably only a couple, but that's the perception my mind has chosen

 

[Richard]

If he had kept poorly and not scored any runs due to fatigue though, he would have certainly been dropped - this way, he is merely accepting a BCCI offer to take a rest.

The point is, though, that someone choosing to rest from Tests rather than ODIs is more than a little worrying.

 

[Richard]

So true about the Ashes. What I remember and long for about that series is the way Tresco and Strauss seemed to get us off to 100 starts each time. Not sure how many they actually got, probably only a couple, but that's the perception my mind has chosen

The opening stands in the Second to Fifth Tests were:
112 (25.3), 25 (6.2)
26 (9.2), 64 (15.3)
105 (21.4), 32 (5.1)
82 (17.3), 2 (3.4)

Even at Lord's in the second-innings, where they knew they were beaten and thrashed by the time the second-innings started, they delayed the inevitable for a while with 80 (26.3).

Trescothick, as per usual, was fortunate several times that summer, but on each occasion by that time he already had 30 or 40.

Those two that summer did a fairly superb job of putting-away wayward Australian opening bursts. Strauss made just 2 big scores and Trescothick 0 (chancelessly) but they both regularly made quick starts. And that played a not-inconsiderable part in the victory.

 

[Top_Cat]

So true about the Ashes. What I remember and long for about that series is the way Tresco and Strauss seemed to get us off to 100 starts each time. Not sure how many they actually got, probably only a couple, but that's the perception my mind has chosen

They got there rapidly too which was a huge reason for success. Quoting the opening partnerships is not that useful in the sense that even if one of them went early-ish (even getting to 30 is pretty good because they got there quickly), the other stuck around and scored well. The opening partnership, for mine, was one of teh crucial differences between the two sides. Not just in terms of runs but the attitude; Langer and Haydos always seemed to be on teh defensive or chasing a quickly-made 400+ score. Strauss and Trescothick regularly put the hammer down and it was awesome to watch.

 

[tooextracool]

I suspect he'll be sorely missed in next year's Ashes. His batting in 2005, despite not scoring a ton, was some of the best attacking batting by an opening batsman I'd personally ever seen (Sidhu in 1998 against Aus also comes to mind) and his 90 at Edgbaston was a top-shelf knock. He absolutely led from the front and I think he took the Aussies by surprise.

He was always a bit of a surprise to me too. When I first saw him play, I remember him being tied down by the Aussie attack in a ODI and I thought he was just another defensive player. Then he absolutely launched a ball into the crowd far enough to make Andy Symonds go "Farrrrrrk!" For a bloke with such a limited technique, geez he could hit the ball miles.

I dont think Ive ever seen a player adapt to situations as well as Trescothick did. In ODIs, It didnt seem to matter whether England were chasing 300+ or 150. As long as Trescothick was at the crease you could trust that the require run rate would never get out of hand. I guess he was similar to Javed Miandad in that sense, everytime the required RR would get close to an unmanageable he would open his arms and take a calculated risk (usually a slog sweep for 6) and then hed go back to taking singles and twos. Two of his best knocks I watched live were his 121 at Eden Gardens in 2001 and his 137 against Pakistan at Lords. Both similar in that England lost, but in both games he single handed controlled the tempo as such so that England were always in the game, until he got out of course.
It wasnt just restricted to ODIs either, even in tests you could trust that he would bat according to the situation and if England needed someone to dig in there and bat for patience he would do it or if England needed someone to take the attack to the bowlers (as they did at Edgbaston) he would make that change comfortably. Not many players can do that IMO. I have been one of his major detractors in the past, as many people on this forum know, mostly because I still cant get around the fact that he scored runs around the world with *THAT* technique, but I do respect the way that he played the game and the fact that he was the sort of player who could do exactly what England wanted when England wanted. I've also read from Nasser's biography that Trescothick had a very sharp mind and played a pretty big role in some of the decisions on the field. He didnt do too badly as captain either, came very close to being captain IIRC when Vaughan was selected as Hussains successor in 03.

 

[tooextracool]

Dhoni...

Still dont rate Dhoni in tests tbh. Hes done marginally better than I expected him to do as a batsman given his poor technique, but hes still a very ordinary player that has scored runs against ordinary attacks on flat pitches. I dont expect that to change either. I know that he brings alot to the team outside of his cricketing skills, but I honestly dont think that he does a much better job than KKD Karthik could do.

 

[Uppercut]

Still dont rate Dhoni in tests tbh. Hes done marginally better than I expected him to do as a batsman given his poor technique, but hes still a very ordinary player that has scored runs against ordinary attacks on flat pitches. I dont expect that to change either. I know that he brings alot to the team outside of his cricketing skills, but I honestly dont think that he does a much better job than KKD Karthik could do.

Dhoni just seems to go in with the theory "get bat on ball then run like ****". Really rate him as a captain though, i'd say the best at that in the current India team because Kumble hasn't impressed me much.