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cricketers who have made the most of their talent
- Thread starter Jigga988
- Start date
Jakester1288
International Regular
Ricky Ponting, landed a sponsorship with Kookaburra at the age of 12. Been with them for decades now, captained Australia, and been there number 3 batsmen for a long time now as well.
krkode
State Captain
Saurav Ganguly is often described in this context... as in someone who is technically limited, but had a very fruitful career in the end anyway. He's far from being in the same league as Tendulkar, Dravid or Laxman in terms of skill but has done well enough for himself to be considered one of the "Fab Four."
And yeah, agree about Marshal too... not only was he "short" for a fast bowler in general, compared to his peers who were all generally over six and a half feet tall, he was rather tiny. And yet, he was arguably the best of them.
And yeah, agree about Marshal too... not only was he "short" for a fast bowler in general, compared to his peers who were all generally over six and a half feet tall, he was rather tiny. And yet, he was arguably the best of them.
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silentstriker
The Wheel is Forever
Yea, I came in to say Ganguly too.
Langeveldt
Soutie
Allan Donald
Langeveldt
Soutie
Allan Donald
Richard
Cricket Web Staff Member
Indisputably the best of the septuplet of Roberts, Holding, Garner, himself, Walsh, Bishop and Ambrose for mine.
That he was better than the likes of Hadlee, Imran, Lillee, etc. is more arguable but I'd go for him ahead of them all myself TBH. As, I've always got the impression, would more on this forum than not. In fact, it might be worth a poll thread.
Richard
Cricket Web Staff Member
All right, we know he was good, and we know you're his biggest fan, but two's a crowd. Especially separated by 7 minutes.
Unattainableguy
State 12th Man
younis khan
Athlai
Not Terrible
Arguably did slightly better than his max talent.
silentstriker
The Wheel is Forever
Well, obviously he was massively talented and had a fantastic career, but I generally think of people who had not-quite-top-class talent and yet still had a very successful career when answering this question. Of course, that's just my take on it
.Donald was probably my second favorite bowler throughout the nineties, easily. After McGrath. His blowup on Dravid was awesome - hated that India collapsed after it, but the guy backed it up. Awesome player.
NZTailender
I can't believe I ate the whole thing
Chris Martin.
subshakerz
Hall of Fame Member
Imran Khan is the first player to come to mind. Not nearly as talented as Botham or Kapil but had the ambition, professionalism and dedication to achieve more and become a better player. Worked more on his game than perhaps any cricketer who has come from the subcontinent, pushing himself from a medium pacer to a worldclass fast bowler and a supporting bat to one of Pakistan's key batsmen.
Rant0r
International 12th Man
yeah someone mentioned collingwood, shane warne called him an average grade cricketer, yet he peeled off 200 against him, no mean feat. that and warne has and always has had a big mouth.
mark ealham played about 6 tests, i don't know how/if that qualifies, i think he must have touched richard, he's mentioned him in nearly every forum on here.
mark ealham played about 6 tests, i don't know how/if that qualifies, i think he must have touched richard, he's mentioned him in nearly every forum on here.
Precambrian
Banned
Doubtful whether Kapil and Botham had "better" talent than him.
Ganguly for me. Such a limited player, but he amplified his strengths and made his dough due to sheer will power.
Craig
World Traveller
Are we talking about batting or bowling?
As for the thread, I think Matt Hayden and Justin Langer should get a mention.
Rant0r
International 12th Man
i knew someone would mention hayden... do you think it's any coincidence his rise to prominence came at the same time that all the best opposition bowlers retired and were replaced with pop gun wielders ?
my idea of the thread is about players who have no right playing test cricket on talent alone, but do, and are quite successful, say a collingwood. not a bunch of blokes with talent oozing from their pores who succeeded, like ponting
what would be more interesting would be the player who has made the least out of their talent, say a craig mcmillan, or a host of englishmen
my idea of the thread is about players who have no right playing test cricket on talent alone, but do, and are quite successful, say a collingwood. not a bunch of blokes with talent oozing from their pores who succeeded, like ponting
what would be more interesting would be the player who has made the least out of their talent, say a craig mcmillan, or a host of englishmen
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