Jayasuriya v Ponting in odi as cricketers

[Prince EWS]

God there's some (IMO) absolutely dross from both sides of the debate in this thread. There's absolutely no doubt that Ponting was a significantly better ODI fielder than Jayasuriya IMO, and that's in no way suggesting that Jayasuriya was a poor ODI fielder. However, there's equally little doubt that Jayasuriya's bowling added significantly more value to the team than the difference between the fielding of the two. I also think I saw a couple of people suggest Jayasuriya was as good as Ponting on batting alone, which also bewilders me.

Personally, I'd go with Ponting. I've always felt Jayasuriya's ODI batting to be a bit over-rated - a league or two behind Ponting in this area IMO. I can see why people disagree here though, and it's not ridiculous to vote for Jayasuriya if you do given the added benefit of his bowling. Some of the reasoning in this thread either way is horrendous though.

 

[Burgey]

God there's (IMO) absolutely dross from both sides of the debate in this thread. There's absolutely no doubt that Ponting was a significantly better ODI fielder than Jayasuriya IMO, and that's in no way suggesting that Jayasuriya was a poor ODI fielder. However, there's equally little doubt that Jayasuriya's bowling added significantly more value to the team than the difference between the fielding of the two. I also think I saw a couple of people suggest Jayasuriya was as good as Ponting on batting alone, which also bewilders me.

Personally, I'd go with Ponting and by some margin. I've always felt Jayasuriya's ODI batting to be a bit over-rated - a league or two behind Ponting in this area IMO. I can see why people disagree here though, and it's not ridiculous to vote for Jayasuriya if you do given the added benefit of his bowling. Some of the reasoning in this thread either way is horrendous though.

I agree fully with your first para here Cribbage, but would lean towards Jayasuriya as a player overall because of his bowling.

 

[Prince EWS]

I agree fully with your first para here Cribbage, but would lean towards Jayasuriya as a player overall because of his bowling.

Yeah, I have no problem with that position at all. I've agreed with basically everything you've said in this thread FTR. Would personally go for Ponting even though I do love my allrounders because I rate Jayasuriya's batting a little lower than most, but I have no problem with your position or anyone else who takes it.

Some of the crap in here from some of the other posters to justify their choice (and it's been both sides) really has been.. well, crap, though.

 

[Burgey]

Yeah, I have no problem with that position at all. I've agreed with basically everything you've said in this thread FTR. Would personally go for Ponting even though I do love my allrounders because I rate Jayasuriya's batting a little lower than most, but I have no problem with your position or anyone else who takes it.

Some of the crap in here from some of the other posters to justify their choice (and it's been both sides) really has been.. well, crap, though.

Yeah it's a bit hard to try and quantify one player's fielding with another's bowling. Personally find fielding the least quantifiable part of the game anyway, other than to say "that bloke's decent, the other bloke's brilliant/ ordinary", whereas if you're comparing the other disciplines at least you have like with like.

 

[Migara]

You think Jayasuriya was one of the best fielders of his generation? Or am I misconstruing what you're saying here?

Can you please name the best fielders in 91-96 period other than Jonty?

 

[Burgey]

Can you please name the best fielders in 89-94 period other than Jonty?

Can you please tell me how on earth you say Jayasuriya's career went from 89-94?

Off the top of my head:

M Waugh
S Waugh
D Jones
M Taylor (slips)
Gus Logie
Carl Hooper (slips)
Viv (past his best but still gun)
Kapil (see Viv)
Azhar
Akram was good early on in his career too


to name a few who spring to mind.

 

[Migara]

Can you please tell me how on earth you say Jayasuriya's career went from 89-94?

See the edit.

 

[vcs]

Dean Jones was a superb fielder. Took some blinders in the slips in that Perth Test where Tendulkar got his hundred.

 

[Burgey]

Ah sorry.

M Waugh
S Waugh
AB (failing but still gun in the short mid wicket area)
Jones
Taylor (slips)
Bevan
Hooper (slips)
McMillan (slips)
Akram
Azhar
Tendulkar
Trying to think of some Poms but struggling
Martyn Crowe

I've left out the SL guys, as for the most part we didn't see a lot of them before 96. In fact, I don't think we saw much of them at all tbh.

 

[honestbharani]

It's not about catches they dropped, it's catches they took that other fielders wouldn't.

I really really REALLY do not think Ponting took catches that NO ONE else could.. EVER. I have only thought that way about one fielder, esp. in tests, Mark Waugh..

 

[Migara]

Other than for Taylor, Mark Waugh, Jones, Azhar, Harris and few precious others in early 90s who fielded well. unlike Waugh, Taylor and Azhar, Jayasuriya fielded in every position, from short legs to deep mid ons, and was brilliant in the field. There is very little footage of what he did is left, and with Mahanama, he was the first to revive SL fielding in early 90s. He's definietly one of the best in his generation. Later generation may have produced more quality fielders, like Ponting and Symonds, but Mahanama and Jaya were electric in their eras.

 

[Migara]

ah sorry.

M waugh
s waugh
ab (failing but still gun in the short mid wicket area)
jones
taylor (slips)
bevan
hooper (slips)
mcmillan (slips)
akram
azhar
tendulkar
trying to think of some poms but struggling
Martyn crowe

i've left out the sl guys, as for the most part we didn't see a lot of them before 96. In fact, i don't think we saw much of them at all tbh.

lmao.

 

[Spark]

I really really REALLY do not think Ponting took catches that NO ONE else could.. EVER. I have only thought that way about one fielder, esp. in tests, Mark Waugh..

Meant "other" as in "most", not "all". Because, yes, there are people like Mark Waugh.

 

[honestbharani]

better at hitting the stumps ? no one is/was better than punter at that, not even jonty

ponting's fielding does not compensate for jaya's bowling, no doubt, that's why I chose jaya over ponting overall as a cricketer. But IMO, as good as sanath was , ponting was clearly the better fielder. Sanath was very good, but punter was/is an ATG fielder



Still we've seen him on the field many times, considering he played 400+ matches. Its not that sanath didn't get chances to showcase his catching skills

Try AB.. Or Raina who hits them more often than Ponting by my calculation. Also Steve Waugh used to hit the stumps often in his younger days.. Just because others don't get the attention, doesn't mean they do not hit the stumps... And it is not like he hits them everytime..


And the other thing about people not running JUST because the ball goes near Ponting.. jeez.. Finnd me one player who would say that and you would have a point.. He was/is not Jonty..


And unless you tell me you have seen ALL his matches and do not remember catches, it doesn't mean a thing.. I watched a LOT of SL cricket (timezones being similar and all) and I remember him pulling off quite a few good ones and a coupe of stunners.. Moreover, a number of times he would stop twos being taken because he was THAT quick across the turf...

 

[Burgey]

lmao.

Yeah, they were rubbish weren't they?

I thought you just agreed in your next-to-last post that several of the blokes I mentioned were good in their positions? I'm getting confused here now mate.

 

[abmk]

Try AB.. Or Raina who hits them more often than Ponting by my calculation. Also Steve Waugh used to hit the stumps often in his younger days.. Just because others don't get the attention, doesn't mean they do not hit the stumps... And it is not like he hits them everytime..


And the other thing about people not running JUST because the ball goes near Ponting.. jeez.. Finnd me one player who would say that and you would have a point.. He was/is not Jonty..

jonty was clearly the better one at saving runs, but as far as direct hits are concerned, ponting was/is better.

Abdv and raina are not as good.

And unless you tell me you have seen ALL his matches and do not remember catches, it doesn't mean a thing.. I watched a LOT of SL cricket (timezones being similar and all) and I remember him pulling off quite a few good ones and a coupe of stunners.. Moreover, a number of times he would stop twos being taken because he was THAT quick across the turf...

even I've watched quite a bit of sanath, he was very good, but not at ponting's level

 

[abmk]

god there's some (imo) absolutely dross from both sides of the debate in this thread. There's absolutely no doubt that ponting was a significantly better odi fielder than jayasuriya imo, and that's in no way suggesting that jayasuriya was a poor odi fielder. However, there's equally little doubt that jayasuriya's bowling added significantly more value to the team than the difference between the fielding of the two. I also think i saw a couple of people suggest jayasuriya was as good as ponting on batting alone, which also bewilders me.

Personally, i'd go with ponting. I've always felt jayasuriya's odi batting to be a bit over-rated - a league or two behind ponting in this area imo. I can see why people disagree here though, and it's not ridiculous to vote for jayasuriya if you do given the added benefit of his bowling. Some of the reasoning in this thread either way is horrendous though.

awta

 

[Teja.]

I reckon people are underestimating just how good a fielder Ponting was and is atm, While Azhar and Jr. might have been slightly better catchers, I don't think there is a case for them to be as good an overall fielder as Ponting. It's pretty incredible just how many direct hits Ponting has effected.

What a man.

 

[Prince EWS]

I reckon people are underestimating just how good a fielder Ponting was and is atm, While Azhar and Jr. might have been slightly better catchers, I don't think there is a case for them to be as good an overall fielder as Ponting. It's pretty incredible just how many direct hits Ponting has effected.

What a man.

Yeah, Mark Waugh was the better Test fielder IMO; Ponting was comfortably the better ODI fielder though. I don't think I've seen people distinguish between formats for fielding on CricketWeb before (other than me) but I really do think it's warranted as the value of different things is so different in each format. In Test cricket, it's 95% about catching for me - If you drop a catch it's a massive, massive let off, and players who don't do that, particularly those who field in slips, and invaluable. Saving a couple of runs has a very negligible impact in Tests and run-outs are far rarer, so anything beyond catching is really just a bonus. In ODIs, saving runs builds a lot more pressure and is intrinsically more valuable with the limited overs; not to mention the fact that batsmen take more risks with their running so run outs are always on if you can do something special. I'd put ground fielding up to 40 or even 50% in weighting.

 

[abmk]

I really really REALLY do not think Ponting took catches that NO ONE else could.. EVER. I have only thought that way about one fielder, esp. in tests, Mark Waugh..

jonty ?

I would rephrase no one else could to very very few could

regarding ponting, how about a freak catch like this ?

YouTube - Ricky Ponting's Amazing Catch of Sachin Tendulkar

how about these ?

YouTube - Ricky Ponting Catch

YouTube - Ponting catch