Hazy on the early details (I was in primary school at the time) but he definitely had huge wraps on him well before the India tour in 1998. I even remember seeing news articles on tv about him playing Pakistan while he was a teenager.
Jones & Anwar would certainly be close.
Initially I thought it was an attempt at getting someone to say something against Sachin but then Stephen always says what he thinks, one thing I like about him.
I would say Lara was the best followed by Crowe. Tendulkar was only getting there. Jayasuriya and Aravinda are certainly not in the discussion. Their coming of age happened in WC 1996. Jones was past it around 1991 or so. Anwar was in and out of the team I reckon. I would say Azhar had a good shout to be in top 3 but then he was Azhar. Never knew what to expect from him even in pre match fixing days. Feast or famine player.
That's what I get for not reading the whole thread.
Probably no definitive answer. Jones averaged around 1 run less than Crowe but scored more runs. Top batsmen scored 3000 runs in the early 90s. Late 90s saw a dozen batsmen score more than that. There's more variance in the late 90s batsmen than early 90s where a heap of batsmen averaged around 40 striking between 70 and 80.
Ah, tie between those 2 then. Big fan of Crowe. Think he's massively underrated. Azhar's stats look great with a good SR.
From 1985 to mid 1991(end of Viv's career), Haynes averaged 47 with a strike rate of 67. Viv averaged 42 with a strike rate of 92. He scored some 800 runs less than Desmond in 13 less innings. Even in his declining years, Viv was a dominant force where as Haynes was only one of the best batsmen at that time.
Interesting, the only time Australia have played their best ODI batsman as an opener is right now where Warner is the best batsman in the side. Traditionally Australia's best ODI batsmen have come in further down the order. Boon at 3, Jones at 3/4, S Waugh at 5 and Border at 4/6, Bevan at 4/6, Ponting at 3, Smith at 4 etc...
This. Tendulkar was averaging sub 40 before 1996 world cup.
It would be between Martin Crowe and Dean Jones
To add to it, he had a very ordinary 1997 in ODIs. Was averaging 38 early 1998 and just about managed to keep it above 40 after the desert storm. It wasn't until May 1998 when it dropped below 40 for the last time. Lara had been averaging 46-47 all this while and it wasn't until early 2000s when Tendulkar's average crossed Lara's. He had pulled well ahead in the strike rate aspect though.
