Best current test batting lineup

[Slifer]

And the fab 4 still remain distinct from the rest as the only ones having 50+ average. Hats off to Crowe.

Damn , Wi dont have a single player with a 40+ average. My how far the mighty have fallen smh.

 

[SillyCowCorner1]

This was what West Indies found out against SL. They prepared seam bowling paradises and it brought Lankan seamers right in to the game.

Pretty enthralling series that was; thoroughly enjoyed, except for SL's antics and crybabyishness in the 2nd test...

 

[SillyCowCorner1]

I predict Mominul's average will regressed to 35 in the next 20 tests he's lucky to play. Shakib's was 40 during the Windies series

 

[GoodAreasShane]

Damn , Wi dont have a single player with a 40+ average. My how far the mighty have fallen smh.

Darren Bravo averages over 40 right? I know has been on the outer for a while but surely he hasn't completely given up on a test return?

 

[Fuller Pilch]

Darren Bravo averages EXACTLY 40 right? I know has been on the outer for a while but surely he hasn't completely given up on a test return?

Edited that for you. Hopefully he won't get a 39 in his next test innings (if he plays again)

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http://www.espncricinfo.com/westindies/content/player/277472.html

 

[Starfighter]

Nice to see a member of the Bill Edrich club.

 

[Daemon]

Damn , Wi dont have a single player with a 40+ average. My how far the mighty have fallen smh.

They would if they recall Chanderpaul.

Dude was playing in the LMS world champs a month ago for USA and his filthy legbreaks got smashed by a friend of mine playing for Singapore. Did score a nice looking 50 though.

 

[the big bambino]

Ultimately, making conditions super bowler friendly does the home team no favours a lot of the time, if you lose the wrong toss you can find yourself batting against a weak attack that is lifted up by a shocking pitch (SL seamers in NZ 2014 for example) and their batsmen are often able to do just enough to pull off a win. Better batting wickets are more likely to expose the touring team if the home side can exploit the subtle demons in the pitch and their batsmen are good enough to negate them.

That iks what SL has been doing throughout Murali's career. We produced pitches that only best of the spinners like Murali, Warne or Saqlain can extract. Heck, even Kumble and Harbhajan got walloped. Few guys like Vettori and Arshan Khan also excelled in SL.

Things have changed since then. Now the pitches are less flat than Murali's days.

Yet it seems SL have been very successful recently producing pitches that have been super friendly to the home team.

 

[srbhkshk]

Yet it seems SL have been very successful recently producing pitches that have been super friendly to the home team.

Only against teams that are incapable against spin. Got smashed hard when they did that against India. But it's a beneficial strategy in general given no team bar India and possibly Pakistan (but they always **** their pants against Herath) can play spin and can't dish it back in equal measure.

 

[the big bambino]

Yes and no. They got smashed but looking at the 5 scorecards I can see from 2015, India won 4 times, SL 1. In two of those games the attacks were biased towards pace and seamers took the majority of wickets. India won both. Another Indian win was in a match of heavy scoring. So 3 pitches seemed to favour seam and batsmen. All went against SL. The remaining 2 games appeared to be on spinning decks and they were evenly split. Perhaps India's reputation causes SL confusion as to what sort of pitches to prepare but it seems the best chance they had was to prepare the sort of spinning wickets that have been successful against other countries.

Note I'm probably missing a match from 2017 as I searched under Herath's profile and he probably missed a game. I'm guessing that without him they didn't prepare a Bunsen.

 

[srbhkshk]

From what I remember India were in a winning position for most of that first match in 2015 - Chandimal got a lifeline due to some wrong decision or India not taking the drs (can't remember exactly) and then India choked hard in the fourth innings.

 

[the big bambino]

Yeah Herath took a bag I think. I haven't got the scorecards up anymore but from memory batting first correlated quite strongly with winning.

 

[TheJediBrah]

Intuitively you'd think dustbowls would probably still help SL against India, not because India have any relative weakness with spin (they don't) but just because the more helpful the pitch the more luck becomes involved and it bridges the gap in quality between the 2 teams. India are a comfortably better side, and anything that increases the element of luck in to the game will suit SL.

Similar to Aus v NZ in a Test. NZ will have a much better chance of beating Aus on a greentop than on a more standard wicket, where they would have almost no chance.

 

[Bolo]

Intuitively you'd think dustbowls would probably still help SL against India, not because India have any relative weakness with spin (they don't) but just because the more helpful the pitch the more luck becomes involved and it bridges the gap in quality between the 2 teams. India are a comfortably better side, and anything that increases the element of luck in to the game will suit SL.

Similar to Aus v NZ in a Test. NZ will have a much better chance of beating Aus on a greentop than on a more standard wicket, where they would have almost no chance.

I'm not sure this works. I think the Lankan pitches are all grassy. You can ramp up the spin, but there are limits. Home advantage disappears at some point, and it just turns into Ashwin and Jadeja tear apart another team. India are pretty good at winning that game, and you can't get the pitch to total lottery. Herath really knows how to bowl at home is where they want to sit. But I'm not sure there really is home advantage

 

[R!TTER]

Yeah Herath took a bag I think. I haven't got the scorecards up anymore but from memory batting first correlated quite strongly with winning.

SL got 3 or 4 reprieves in the 3rd innings, there was no DRS, otherwise we'd have won that game easily.

 

[TheJediBrah]

I'm not sure this works. I think the Lankan pitches are all grassy. You can ramp up the spin, but there are limits. Home advantage disappears at some point, and it just turns into Ashwin and Jadeja tear apart another team. India are pretty good at winning that game, and you can't get the pitch to total lottery. Herath really knows how to bowl at home is where they want to sit. But I'm not sure there really is home advantage

I'm not exactly sure what you're saying or how it relates to what I said

 

[the big bambino]

SL got 3 or 4 reprieves in the 3rd innings, there was no DRS, otherwise we'd have won that game easily.

Why wasn't DRS used?

 

[TheJediBrah]

Why wasn't DRS used?

India refused it

 

[GoodAreasShane]

Edited that for you. Hopefully he won't get a 39 in his next test innings (if he plays again)

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Darren Bravo | West Indies Cricket | Cricket Players and Officials | ESPNcricinfo

Ahh indeed he does. Can't be too many players who finish their career (obviously I hope Bravo isn't finished, but it's a real possibility) with such an exact average

 

[Starfighter]

Ahh indeed he does. Can't be too many players who finish their career (obviously I hope Bravo isn't finished, but it's a real possibility) with such an exact average

Bill Edrich.