Which current batsman would have been good in the old days, without modern bats etc?

[TheJediBrah]

I think you could transplant Steve Smith 50 years ago with a plank of wood for a bat and he wouldn't lose much effectiveness.

David Warner would be rubbish.

Not talking about players growing up in that time and adapting etc etc but literally which current players would still be pretty good if you just took them and made them bat in the 70s with bigger grounds and smaller bats?

 

[Red]

Williamson and Root both have very orthodox techniques that would put them in good stead anywhere.

But tbh I think any modern player would be much the same if they were taken back to the 70s.

David Warner would be rubbish.

I literally have no idea why you'd think this tbh

 

[social]

Reckon Warner would be lucky to average 35 unless he changed his game

For example, he edges the ball over slips a lot and that must have something to do with the meatiness of the bat

 

[TheJediBrah]

Williamson and Root both have very orthodox techniques that would put them in good stead anywhere.

fair call

But tbh I think any modern player would be much the same if they were taken back to the 70s.

not a fair call

I literally have no idea why you'd think this tbh

really? IMO his technique and style of play is heavily influenced by bigger bats and flatter wickets.

 

[Bijed]

Cook would be fairly decent, I imagine

 

[social]

Today's commentators forget that someone like Greg Chappell was a front foot player who used a 3 pound bat

 

[social]

Cook would be fairly decent, I imagine

Cook is a bit of a contradiction in that he has a great record as an opener without being particularly good against pace

Most people would struggle against some of the 70s pace attacks and I dont think he'd be any different

 

[TheJediBrah]

Would Cook have a higher average if he batted in the middle order?

another 5 star thread idea

 

[Bijed]

Cook is a bit of a contradiction in that he has a great record as an opener without being particularly good against pace

Most people would struggle against some of the 70s pace attacks and I dont think he'd be any different

Fair point, though with regard purely to the effect on current players of using lighter/smaller bats and playing with longer boundaries, I think Cook's strengths would remain so and in general he'd be relatively unaffected by these 'restrictions' compared to some other modern players. Agree that he'd struggle against some pace attacks from past years.

 

[Kirkut]

Kane Williamson, Cook and Ajinkya Rahane.

 

[Blocky]

30 years ago with the pitches around the world, Smith would average 25.

 

[Zinzan]

Amla's the most obvious one for mine.

 

[Burgey]

Kane Williamson, Cook and Ajinkya Rahane.

Rahane is struggling with a. If cue as it is.

30 years ago with the pitches around the world, Smith would average 25.

Manifestly not true.

 

[Blocky]

Rahane is struggling with a. If cue as it is.



Manifestly not true.

Running across his stumps every delivery, trusting that the ball doesn't move or bounce unexpectedly - as we've seen when conditions are moving, his average drops significantly.

 

[watson]

I was about to write that Bradman had an unorthodox technique and using an old-style bat didn't seem to hurt him any.

However, Bradman was very orthodox from the point of view of having a dominant top-hand and a loose bottom-hand on the bat.

Bradman certainly didn't use the MCC-prescribed grip. Instead, as he wrote in The Art of Cricket, he gripped the bat in a manner that felt "comfortable and natural" to him, forming with the thumb and first finger of each hand two aligned Vs whose central line ran through the splice line of the bat. This meant that when he played a forward defensive, the back of his top hand faced him (and its palm faced the bowler). This neutral grip made it easier to hold the bat with a firm, controlling top hand and a loose bottom hand. As Bradman explained, "it curbs any tendency to follow through [with a strong bottom hand when playing the forward defensive]".

On the other hand | The Cricket Monthly | ESPN Cricinfo

So I think that any modern player whose top-hand dominates their strike play would go quite well with an old-style bat. And the 'two-handed 6 hitters' that flourish in T20 would probably have a tough time of it.

Using an old-style cricket bat reminds me of using the old-style wooden frame tennis racket because both require that they be used with absolute precision.

 

[watson]

AB de Villiers - all top-hand.

 

[Shri]

Amla, Abdv, Root, Kane, Kohli, Smith...


Manish Pandey

 

[flibbertyjibber]

Think Stokes would be fun whatever era he played in.

 

[fredfertang]

Anyone who's never played a List A or T20 game, so I think that's just Hameed

 

[Tec15]

Not any of the current Australian and Indian flat track bullies.