Who's the greatest opening batsman of alltime?

[Howe_zat]

Did you read the post?

Ah.

It seems no, I did not.

 

[Howe_zat]

Jishnu, you seem pretty keen on your ideas, why don't you give reasons rather than just posting an ordered list? That way it'll invite some more discussion.

 

[kyear2]

To suggest Hayden is as good as the Athertons and Slaters is bad enough for me; to suggest he's on a plane with the Boycotts and Gavaskars is awful; to put him even remotely close to the Huttons, Sutcliffes, Hobbses et al is borderline an insult to humanity.

+1
lollllllllllllllllll
Sad but True.

 

[Cruxdude]

Hayden >> Atherton and Slater for me.

 

[hang on]

hayden is not necessarily better than smith or sehwag, forget about H, H, G.

 

[Furball]

I remember Bhupinder's controversy, good times

Yeah, not enough racist trolls around here IMO.

 

[CricAddict]

wil u b happy , if i swap don-sunny positions?
i knw , don was most dominant , but wht about sticky wickets ? no: of opponents ? lack of professionalism, quality of 80s bowlers .. may b i am wrong , but i believe sunny as d best with my limited cricket knowledge..

raises an eyebrow

 

[centurymaker]

it seems like all the trolls have read vijay-sharama's posts...

 

[kyear2]

I honestly cannot believe that 16 pages on a thread entitled the "Greatest Opening Batsman of All Time" was dedicated to Matthew Hayden, I think that says volumes about the poster.
Anyway for the purpose of the question posed there can only be 3 serious candidates, Jack Hobbs, Len Hutton and Sunil Gavaskar. From those three I have to go with Hutton, his technique was flawless and this was a man who faced O'reilly, Lindwall and Miller and Ramadin and Valentine all at their respective peaks. During the war he fell and practically destroyed one of his arms and after the war his left arm was inches shorter that his right. At 22 he broke Bradmans record with the great man fielding at cover the entire innings watching him and the great O'Reilly bowling at him.
Of the other two greats Hobbs level of competition can be questioned and Gavaskars record againts the W.I is sometimes a bit over stated as most of his runs were either before the famous quartet or while they were away during WSC.
The men who would form the nest level would be in my opinion Barry Richards, who just didnt play enough test crucket, Herbert Sutcliffe, who was over shadowed by Hobbs, Gordon Greenidge, who though was haunted by his early baptism by fire by Lillee and Thompson and Victor Trumper.

 

[Outswinger@Pace]

I honestly cannot believe that 16 pages on a thread entitled the "Greatest Opening Batsman of All Time" was dedicated to Matthew Hayden, I think that says volumes about the poster.
Anyway for the purpose of the question posed there can only be 3 serious candidates, Jack Hobbs, Len Hutton and Sunil Gavaskar. From those three I have to go with Hutton, his technique was flawless and this was a man who faced O'reilly, Lindwall and Miller and Ramadin and Valentine all at their respective peaks. During the war he fell and practically destroyed one of his arms and after the war his left arm was inches shorter that his right. At 22 he broke Bradmans record with the great man fielding at cover the entire innings watching him and the great O'Reilly bowling at him.
Of the other two greats Hobbs level of competition can be questioned and Gavaskars record againts the W.I is sometimes a bit over stated as most of his runs were either before the famous quartet or while they were away during WSC.
The men who would form the nest level would be in my opinion Barry Richards, who just didnt play enough test crucket, Herbert Sutcliffe, who was over shadowed by Hobbs, Gordon Greenidge, who though was haunted by his early baptism by fire by Lillee and Thompson and Victor Trumper.

Good post. I'd mention Bob Simpson, Geoff Boycott and Vijay Merchant as possible candidates in the level next to the three great men, apart from Sutcliffe et. al. that you mention. Bill Lawry, Conrad Hunte, Bill Ponsford and Graham Gooch, IMHO are very fine players as well and there isn't much that separates them from the three I mentioned before.

 

[kyear2]

Not so sure about Lawry and especially Hunte, who I though was a bit of a minnow bully, but the others are right there.

 

[Teja.]

I won't comment on WG as I don't consider myself fit to comment on his era without possessing a great deal of knowledge on the other great bats and cricket in general during his time.

Post 1920, The four serious candidates, IMO, are Hobbs, Sutcliffe, Gavaskar and Hutton and I rate them in that order.

 

[Burgey]

Why is Gavaskar seemingly regarded as universally better than Boycott?

 

[bagapath]

Hutton deserves a lot more respect, IMO.

 

[robelinda]

Hutton deserves a lot more respect, IMO.

Today is Hutton day

*RARE* Sir Len Hutton 156* vs Australia 4th test 1950/51 - YouTube

*RARE* Sir Len Hutton - the famous 62* vs Australia 1st test 1950/51 - YouTube

*RARE* Sir Len Hutton 79 vs Australia 5th test 1950/51 - YouTube

*RARE* Sir Len Hutton 60* vs Australia 5th test 1950/51 - YouTube

 

[Sanz]

Why is Gavaskar seemingly regarded as universally better than Boycott?

Hey Boycott isn't even in the poll.

 

[Burgey]

Hey Boycott isn't even in the poll.

Haha, well that'd be a good reason!

But I'd have thought he'd be in the discussion, generally speaking.

 

[nsniks]

But I'd have thought he'd be in the discussion, generally speaking.

Same here

 

[Howe_zat]

Today is Hutton day

*RARE* Sir Len Hutton 156* vs Australia 4th test 1950/51 - YouTube

*RARE* Sir Len Hutton - the famous 62* vs Australia 1st test 1950/51 - YouTube

*RARE* Sir Len Hutton 79 vs Australia 5th test 1950/51 - YouTube

*RARE* Sir Len Hutton 60* vs Australia 5th test 1950/51 - YouTube

Bloody hero.

 

[Spikey]

Jeez i cant even see the ball boringggggggggggggggggggggggg