Top Five Most Underrated Cricketers Ever.

[kiwiviktor81]

I agree with all these except Mahela.. overrated ODI player and slightly overrated Test player.

Perhaps replace him with Murali then.

 

[the big bambino]

@ WI in the 60s. They had Hall and Griffith as well as Sobers and Gibbs. It'd be the best attack in the world now, or close to it.

 

[viriya]

@ WI in the 60s. They had Hall and Griffith as well as Sobers and Gibbs. It'd be the best attack in the world now, or close to it.

Good point. But there's many ATGs that have relatively average records vs one or two sides of their time - that alone shouldn't take Barrington out of the conversation imo.

 

[kyear2]

Usually the overrated players play for the influential sides (England, India, Aussie) and the underrated ones play for the less influential sides (SA, SL, NZ).

I'd nominate:

Kumar Sangakkara
Shivnarine Chanderpaul
Mahela Jayawardene
Jacques Kallis
Shaun Pollock

I believe they are reasons why all of these players aren't rated as highly. Shiv and Kallis are seen as players who didn't always adapt their play to the requirements of the game. Mahela was a flat track bully and Pollock just pales in comparison to his illustrious ATG bowling partner.

Sangakkara I will give you.

 

[Flem274*]

Mahela was a flat track bully

lol

guess that makes Murali and all those Asian spinners pretty decent then.

 

[kyear2]

Good point. But there's many ATGs that have relatively average records vs one or two sides of their time - that alone shouldn't take Barrington out of the conversation imo.

Barrington was actually dropped once for scoring a hundred too slowly. Was seen as being a selfish player and I have read that he wasn't a player who was stuck with while out of form and so his stats didn't suffer from his slumps as others. Cannot verify that, but that combined with his slow strike rate may be why he seen to behind Compton for example.

 

[kiwiviktor81]

I believe they are reasons why all of these players aren't rated as highly. Shiv and Kallis are seen as players who didn't always adapt their play to the requirements of the game. Mahela was a flat track bully and Pollock just pales in comparison to his illustrious ATG bowling partner.

Sangakkara I will give you.

Pollock 421 wickets @ 23.11
Donald 330 wickets @ 22.25

Wouldn't say that Pollock paled in comparison to Donald. He may not have been quite as good with the ball but with a batting average above 32 he was an utter phenom.

I reckon the criticism of Shiv and Kallis's batting was more nitpicking than anything else.

 

[watson]

I believe they are reasons why all of these players aren't rated as highly. Shiv and Kallis are seen as players who didn't always adapt their play to the requirements of the game. Mahela was a flat track bully and Pollock just pales in comparison to his illustrious ATG bowling partner.

Sangakkara I will give you.

HOME
Sri Lanka: 81 Tests at 59

AWAY
Australia: 7 Tests at 31
England: 11 Tests at 38
NZ: 4 Tests at 28
South Africa: 8 Tests at 28
Wales: 1 Test at 10
West Indies: 4 Tests at 42

India: 6 Tests at 63
Pakistan : 4 Tests at 43
UAE: 8 Tests at 29
Zimbabwe: 5 Tests at 63


Mahela seems to have a preference for his own backyard, or near to it.

 

[flibbertyjibber]

Pollock 421 wickets @ 23.11
Donald 330 wickets @ 22.25

Wouldn't say that Pollock paled in comparison to Donald. He may not have been quite as good with the ball but with a batting average above 32 he was an utter phenom.

I reckon the criticism of Shiv and Kallis's batting was more nitpicking than anything else.

I think Pollock's problem (not that it really mattered) was that he wasn't as eyecatching as Donald and the guy he got compared to most was McGrath who was better than him so he just slipped under the radar slightly. Top player and always seemed a decent bloke and comes across that way now he is doing commentary.

I also think Ntini was underrated as well.

 

[NasserFan207]

Well, statistically Kallis is the greatest cricketer ever, so gotta be him.

 

[morgieb]

Would agree with the assertion that under-rated guys play for the less influential Test nations (South Africa, New Zealand, Sri Lanka) - though I would argue those who play for Bangladesh and Zimbabwe get over-rated to some extent (unless they were genuinely world-class).

Can't think of five right now, but some good ones anyway:

Pollock
Lohmann
Kallis
Younis
Sangakkara

 

[morgieb]

Pollock's problem was that he wasn't a strike bowler.

 

[andmark]

Considering how he isn't known by the general cricket public, and only by the the cricketing connoisseurs, Sydney Barnes could be said to be.

 

[viriya]

Barrington was actually dropped once for scoring a hundred too slowly. Was seen as being a selfish player and I have read that he wasn't a player who was stuck with while out of form and so his stats didn't suffer from his slumps as others. Cannot verify that, but that combined with his slow strike rate may be why he seen to behind Compton for example.

I've calculated his SR by minutes played ratios and it's only a tad below Dravid's.. I think it's unfair to say he was a grafter if his SR was ~42 in the 1960s..

 

[kyear2]

I've calculated his SR by minutes played ratios and it's only a tad below Dravid's.. I think it's unfair to say he was a grafter if his SR was ~42 in the 1960s..

But I also believe that David batted too slowly.

 

[viriya]

But I also believe that David batted too slowly.

Yes, but Barrington isn't even considered an ATG while Dravid is. Also, a 42 SR in the 1960s is not equivalent to Dravid's 42 SR in the 2000s.

 

[viriya]

Considering how he isn't known by the general cricket public, and only by the the cricketing connoisseurs, Sydney Barnes could be said to be.

I think if he's unknown he's underrated, but those who do know of him overrate him. I do think he's a top 10 all-time bowler but it's hard to just go by those stats over 27 tests.

 

[andmark]

He's said by many who faced him to have been incredible though. I mean he could bowl spin with pace

 

[Maximas]

I believe they are reasons why all of these players aren't rated as highly. Shiv and Kallis are seen as players who didn't always adapt their play to the requirements of the game. Mahela was a flat track bully and Pollock just pales in comparison to his illustrious ATG bowling partner.

Home track bully more like, played some stunning knocks on dustbowls under pressure

 

[cnerd123]

Yea was gonna post that, HTB != FTB.