Jayasuriya v Ponting in odi as cricketers

[honestbharani]

My post was in response to someone who said no-one was on his level. I would say that Symonds, for instance, was as good in the covers, had a fantastic arm from the outfield, better at hitting the stumps and a better catch. Not saying that Jonty was not a superb cover fieldsman on the ground but shouldn't he be judged by all areas of his fielding? Herschelle might not have been quite up to his standard in the covers but a much superior catch.

NOpe.. Jonty was EASILY better than them.. What made him stand out what his anticipation.. He scored over both these guys in that area... His diving around and his ability to get up so quickly after a dive were unmatched too, but it was the times when he was able to dive THAT split second earlier than ANY other fielder would do that made him stand out... It is not for nothing that just about everyone rates him so high.. And it is not like he did not take blinders. In fact, I do not see ANY reason why Symonds or Ponting or Gibbs should be labelled better catchers than Jonty, not just because they were made to field in different fielding positions... It is like saying Bevan is a better ODI batsman than Sachin because he has batted 4 to 7 and Sachin has only batted 1 or 2 mostly...

 

[smash84]

NOpe.. Jonty was EASILY better than them.. What made him stand out what his anticipation.. He scored over both these guys in that area... His diving around and his ability to get up so quickly after a dive were unmatched too, but it was the times when he was able to dive THAT split second earlier than ANY other fielder would do that made him stand out... It is not for nothing that just about everyone rates him so high

THIS

and although the quality is a little bad here but i think this captures the essence of what you mean

YouTube - Jonty Rhodes Amazing Catches Video Free Videos Online Video Clips, Video Movies, Live TV More at In com

 

[benchmark00]

There's no doubt Jonty was brilliant, but so was Symonds, and to be honest I think trying to separate them is just splitting hairs. And this is coming from an unabashed Symonds hater.

 

[vcs]

I don't know if anybody remembers this, but the best catch I've seen Jonty take was off Sachin in an ODI tournament final in SA around '96 or so. It was a full-blooded square cut and he flung himself football goalkeeper-style to pluck it out of the air.

 

[honestbharani]

There's no doubt Jonty was brilliant, but so was Symonds, and to be honest I think trying to separate them is just splitting hairs. And this is coming from an unabashed Symonds hater.

nah.. Symonds' greatness was his allround-ability as a fielder and he was able to recover from a dive "almost" as quickly as Jonty but the anticipation of Jonty was just at another level...

 

[tooextracool]

Think the best way to summarize the difference between Jonty and everybody else is that while most players get to balls that are within their 'diving arc', Jonty could cover the entire stretch of land between Gully and cover by fielding at Point. As HB has said, this is because his anticipation and speed across the field was remarkable.

Symonds does come close, in the sense that Rhodes wasn't as good in certain other fielding positions like the slips, but Rhodes was so far ahead of everyone else in the covers that it doesnt make a difference IMO. He was comfortably saving 10-15 runs a game even if he wasnt taking a catch. Think people need to look at Rhodes pre 1999 too to really gauge how good he was, he lost a yard or two after that.

Gibbs on the other hand is far from being a great fielder IMO. He was very good perhaps, but there is daylight between him and Ponting/Symonds