Long term bets..

[Daemon]

Amit Mishra will finish his career with an average below 30.

Definitely agree with this.

Looks pretty unlikely, but he's only 32 so you never know.

 

[Daemon]

Suresh Raina will maintain a 55+ average for the next few years and end up with 8000+ runs at 50+ overall.

 

[Daemon]

Thought I'd put this one out there while he's in the doldrums a bit so I might get a bite - $10 on Virat Kohli being ranked #1 in the ICC Test batting rankings at some stage during his career.

I'll take this.

Will claim my $10 in ~15 years time

Smith, Root and Williamson to keep Kohli at bay hopefully.

 

[Archie Jackson]

Jake Doran to play 50± Tests

 

[Jono]

Lol oh Teja, that's so horrendous. Not even in hindsight too.

 

[Jono]

Ayy

Dominated on the seam friendly conditions in Australia.

 

[Furball]

Bairstow will never average over 40 at any point during his test match career.

 

[Furball]

I'll offer this one up, Stuart Broad will not take Anderson's record of most Test wickets by an England bowler.

 

[Gob]

Smith, Root and Williamson to keep Kohli at bay hopefully.

Smitteh will keep everyone at bay imo

 

[flibbertyjibber]

I'll offer this one up, Stuart Broad will not take Anderson's record of most Test wickets by an England bowler.

All depends how long Anderson goes for. Jimmy suddenly retires this summer and it will be 2 years till Broad is past him, Jimmy goes on for 2 or 3 more years and the chances of Broad going long enough to pass him recede as quickly as Trott's hair did.

 

[Howe_zat]

I agree with Furball, a seam bowler getting 450+ wickets is such a rarity that you can't really expect it to be overtaken by the very next guy. Broad is more injury prone than Anderson too so I don't really expect him to play on all that longer.

 

[Furball]

All depends how long Anderson goes for. Jimmy suddenly retires this summer and it will be 2 years till Broad is past him, Jimmy goes on for 2 or 3 more years and the chances of Broad going long enough to pass him recede as quickly as Trott's hair did.

If Anderson were to suddenly retire today, Broad would need to take an additional 107 wickets to overhaul him. Broad's last 27 Tests going back to the start of the India series have netted him exactly 107 wickets. A further 27 Tests takes us until the middle of the India series in 2018, I don't think it's anywhere near guaranteed that Broad stays fit enough to do that given his injury history. And although you can never look at one player's injury record and extrapolate it to another, I don't think it's a coincidence that as he's now progressed into his mid 30s Anderson's started to suffer from injuries more regularly and Broad is now about to enter that phase himself.

 

[Daemon]

Plenty of doubt from where I stand. Obviously he's more talented than your average person, but I don't think he's any more talented than your average first grade club cricket batsman.

poos on McCullum

 

[mr_mister]

Within 2 years you will see Steve Smith picked in the first round of most drafts and will be in most people's All-time Australian XI

 

[Furball]

Within 2 years you will see Steve Smith picked in the first round of most drafts and will be in most people's All-time Australian XI

Both of those criteria are extremely objective anyway, and there's an insane amount of talent available for an all-time Australian XI. When a guy like Allan Border can be justifiably left out then Smith will need years of stellar performances before he can be picked in that side.

 

[Howe_zat]

Within 2 years you will see Steve Smith picked in the first round of most drafts and will be in most people's All-time Australian XI

Even if he were that good, people take a long, long time to adjust to the idea that current players are as good as those from a generation ago. Many never manage it

 

[mr_mister]

It's just how I feel, I reckon once he has 60+ tests under his belt and is still averaging around 60 (which is what I'm predicting) you'll see him elevated to a higher status IMO

 

[Furball]

It's just how I feel, I reckon once he has 60+ tests under his belt and is still averaging around 60 (which is what I'm predicting) you'll see him elevated to a higher status IMO

Oh if he keeps up a level of performance then he'll be in the discussion. But he'll need to be good for longer than a couple more years given the competition he's up against.

Ponting averaged 60 after 107 Tests after all.

 

[mr_mister]

Well I suppose I better predict an average closer to 65 then

 

[Gob]

Well I suppose I better predict an average closer to 65 then

Not if he bats like today