Spark
Global Moderator
I think all of Smith's first innings were 150-200 deliveries in this series. Just scored so slowly that it didn't turn into the big scores you'd usually expect from batsmen at the crease so long.
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DoG's Top 100 Test Batsmen Countdown Thread
- Thread starter Days of Grace
- Start date
TheJediBrah
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his career strike-rate is still relatively high at 55 (actually higher than KW and about the same as Kohli), so balls per dismissal is ~113.5
compared to a few randoms:
Dravid: 123.05
Pujara: 105.98
Kohli: 95.09
Williamason: 99.79
Cook: 96.60
Ponting: 88.30
TheJediBrah
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CdG: 44.40
Maxwell: 43.84 (not a great stat as he hasn't played much Tests, and only in Asia)
Afridi: 41.98
Southee: 20.51
Boult: 26.76
McGrath: 18.03
Gillespie: 58.60
Anderson: 24.35
Migara
International Coach
The height of the stumps should be give away. Aravinda was about 2/3 of size of Hooper.
Days of Grace
International Captain
No.13
Herbert Sutcliffe (England) 852
Quality Points: 811
Career Points: 41
Career/Runs: 1924-1935, 4555 (rank 128)
Overall average/Runs per innings/Strike-rate: 56.51 (60.73) 50.46 (54.23) 39.99 (37.43) (rank 8)
50 Innings Peak Average/Runs per innings/Strike-rate (1924-1930): 62.43 56.19 39.76 (rank 38)
Non-Home Average/Runs per innings/Strike-rate: 54.94 51.97 38.97 (rank 6)
Quality Opposition Average/Runs per innings/Strike-rate: 65.39 58.28 38.85 (rank 2)
Herbert Sutcliffe was one half of England's most famous opening partnership. Jack Hobbs may have been the more illustrious figure but Sutcliffe was a run-scoring machine, a man for both a crisis and a bad wicket. His career was relatively short and he scored at a slower rate than almost any batsman in the top 100 (only Dravid, Boycott, Hanif Mohammad and Mitchell have lower adjusted strike-rates). These two factors ultimately cost Sutcliffe a place in the top 10. In addition, the two criticisms aimed at Sutcliffe's record are that he never faced any high quality fast bowlers and, as a noted user of his pads, he scored his runs before the changing of the LBW law in 1935 (the year of his last test). But his lowest adjusted average in any measure is 54.94. His unadjusted average also never dropped below 60.00 for the entirety of his career and after 40 matches (up to and including the first test of the Bodyline series) it stood at an incredible 69.80 (adjusted down to 64.58). And Sutcliffe also stood up in the Australia, his innings at the Oval in 1926 being pivotal to gaining back the Ashes for England. He is ranked 2nd in the quality opposition measure, bested only by the Don. These statistics speak for themselves. A decline towards the end of his career meant that we didn't see him opening with a young Len Hutton in test cricket. The international opening bowlers of the time must have breathed a sigh of relief.
This series looks very promising and is worth a look.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RC7vR-OSju4
The slowest scorers in the top 100 test batsmen by adjusted strike-rate (original strike-rate in parenthesis)
1 B Mitchell 34.69 (30.93)
2 Hanif Mohammad 39.05 (33.01)
3 G Boycott 39.33 (35.39)
4 R Dravid 39.49 (42.54)
5 H Sutcliffe 39.99 (37.43)
6 DC Boon 40.17 (40.97)
7 AR Border 40.25 (40.98)
8 S Chanderpaul 40.62 (43.32)
9 MA Taylor 40.71 (41.48)
10 Misbah-ul-Haq 40.82 (44.53)
Herbert Sutcliffe (England) 852
Quality Points: 811
Career Points: 41
Career/Runs: 1924-1935, 4555 (rank 128)
Overall average/Runs per innings/Strike-rate: 56.51 (60.73) 50.46 (54.23) 39.99 (37.43) (rank 8)
50 Innings Peak Average/Runs per innings/Strike-rate (1924-1930): 62.43 56.19 39.76 (rank 38)
Non-Home Average/Runs per innings/Strike-rate: 54.94 51.97 38.97 (rank 6)
Quality Opposition Average/Runs per innings/Strike-rate: 65.39 58.28 38.85 (rank 2)
Herbert Sutcliffe was one half of England's most famous opening partnership. Jack Hobbs may have been the more illustrious figure but Sutcliffe was a run-scoring machine, a man for both a crisis and a bad wicket. His career was relatively short and he scored at a slower rate than almost any batsman in the top 100 (only Dravid, Boycott, Hanif Mohammad and Mitchell have lower adjusted strike-rates). These two factors ultimately cost Sutcliffe a place in the top 10. In addition, the two criticisms aimed at Sutcliffe's record are that he never faced any high quality fast bowlers and, as a noted user of his pads, he scored his runs before the changing of the LBW law in 1935 (the year of his last test). But his lowest adjusted average in any measure is 54.94. His unadjusted average also never dropped below 60.00 for the entirety of his career and after 40 matches (up to and including the first test of the Bodyline series) it stood at an incredible 69.80 (adjusted down to 64.58). And Sutcliffe also stood up in the Australia, his innings at the Oval in 1926 being pivotal to gaining back the Ashes for England. He is ranked 2nd in the quality opposition measure, bested only by the Don. These statistics speak for themselves. A decline towards the end of his career meant that we didn't see him opening with a young Len Hutton in test cricket. The international opening bowlers of the time must have breathed a sigh of relief.
This series looks very promising and is worth a look.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RC7vR-OSju4
The slowest scorers in the top 100 test batsmen by adjusted strike-rate (original strike-rate in parenthesis)
1 B Mitchell 34.69 (30.93)
2 Hanif Mohammad 39.05 (33.01)
3 G Boycott 39.33 (35.39)
4 R Dravid 39.49 (42.54)
5 H Sutcliffe 39.99 (37.43)
6 DC Boon 40.17 (40.97)
7 AR Border 40.25 (40.98)
8 S Chanderpaul 40.62 (43.32)
9 MA Taylor 40.71 (41.48)
10 Misbah-ul-Haq 40.82 (44.53)
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honestbharani
Whatever it takes!!!
Heard and read so many wonderful stories about him. Amazed he came up this high though. Biggest surprise so far me, given how much more Hobbs is usually rated.
kyear2
International Coach
Think this is about right. Nothing to add, DoG quite a accurate and good write up.No.13
Herbert Sutcliffe (England) 852
Quality Points: 811
Career Points: 41
Career/Runs: 1924-1935, 4555 (rank 128)
Overall average/Runs per innings/Strike-rate: 56.51 (60.73) 50.46 (54.23) 39.99 (37.43) (rank 8)
50 Innings Peak Average/Runs per innings/Strike-rate (1924-1930): 62.43 56.19 39.76 (rank 38)
Non-Home Average/Runs per innings/Strike-rate: 54.94 51.97 38.97 (rank 6)
Quality Opposition Average/Runs per innings/Strike-rate: 65.39 58.28 38.85 (rank 2)
Herbert Sutcliffe was one half of England's most famous opening partnership. Jack Hobbs may have been the more illustrious figure but Sutcliffe was a run-scoring machine, a man for both a crisis and a bad wicket. His career was shorter than most of the higher ranked batsmen on this list and he scored at a slower rate than almost all of them. This ultimately costs Sutcliffe a place in the top 10. In addition, the two criticisms aimed at Sutcliffe's record are that he never faced any real faster bowlers and, as a noted user of his pads, he scored his runs before the changing of the LBW law in 1935 (the year of his last test). But his lowest adjusted average in any measure is 54.94. His unadjusted average also never dipped below 60 for the entirety of his career and after 40 matches (up to and including the first test of the Bodyline series) it stood at an incredible 69.80 (adjusted down to 64.58). These statistics speak for themselves. A decline towards the end of his career meant that we didn't see him opening with a young Len Hutton in test cricket. The international opening bowlers of the time must have breathed a sigh of relief.
This series looks very promising and is worth a look
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RC7vR-OSju4
Coronis
International Coach
Wish he’d been able to crack the top 10, but I knew his strike rate and short career (relatively) would hold him back. A great batsman, particularly on sticky wickets, and when England was in a poor position. Who could forget his 161 at the Oval in 1926 to return the Ashes to England for the first time after the war. Or his 135 at Melbourne in 1928-29 on what Bradman later described as the worst sticky he ever saw. His consistency throughout his career was amazing, with his average remaining above 60 the whole time. The highest average by any Ashes batsman bar Bradman, he truly stepped up against quality opposition, averaging above 60 against Australia both at home and away. Only place he suffers really here is the peak rating, because his whole career was so consistent! One of my all time favourite players.
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One of the top contenders for second greatest batsman of the pre-War era.
I am surprised Kohli came ahead of Gavaskar and Chappell among the best against quality opposition(so far) in the last 50 years.
P. S : Not going to consider Pollock. Played just 23 Tests which is too less
Days of Grace
International Captain
No.12
Jacques Kallis 853
Quality Points: 753
Career Points: 100
Career/Runs: 1995-2013, 13206 (rank 2)
Overall average/Runs per innings/Strike-rate: 51.56 (55.25) 44.32 (47.50) 42.88 (45.98) (rank 20)
50 Innings Peak Average/Runs per innings/Strike-rate (2001-2004): 72.69 53.79 43.66 (rank 12)
Non-Home Average/Runs per innings/Strike-rate: 48.67 41.46 41.12 (rank 41)
Quality Opposition Average/Runs per innings/Strike-rate: 48.71 43.95 44.40 (rank 37)
A selector and a captain's dream, Jacques Kallis provided 18 years of service to South African cricket, scoring 13206 runs and taking 291 wickets. The sheer weight of runs and wickets means that Kallis would arguably make any test side in history. But his main suite was his batting at no.3 or no.4 in which he was consistency personified. He started relatively slowly, averaging an adjusted 39.62 up to the end of 1999. The 21st century, for South African cricket at least, became Kallisball as he averaged 54.32 (58.54) from 133 matches and unlike his great contemporaries Ricky Ponting and Sachin Tendulkar he displayed no prolonged dip in form, averaging 51.04 in his last 50 innings. He misses out on the top 10 because of his low strike-rate and he was often criticized for batting "in a bubble" when his team needed quick runs. Whether consciously or not, he rectified this in his later career, scoring at a rate of 49.54 runs per 100 balls (53.53) from late 2009 onwards. Kallis was worth his weight in gold if he had other attacking batsmen around him in the middle order to make the running. He was at his best when he was left alone to play Kallisball.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ys21qb9L2bU
Jacques Kallis 853
Quality Points: 753
Career Points: 100
Career/Runs: 1995-2013, 13206 (rank 2)
Overall average/Runs per innings/Strike-rate: 51.56 (55.25) 44.32 (47.50) 42.88 (45.98) (rank 20)
50 Innings Peak Average/Runs per innings/Strike-rate (2001-2004): 72.69 53.79 43.66 (rank 12)
Non-Home Average/Runs per innings/Strike-rate: 48.67 41.46 41.12 (rank 41)
Quality Opposition Average/Runs per innings/Strike-rate: 48.71 43.95 44.40 (rank 37)
A selector and a captain's dream, Jacques Kallis provided 18 years of service to South African cricket, scoring 13206 runs and taking 291 wickets. The sheer weight of runs and wickets means that Kallis would arguably make any test side in history. But his main suite was his batting at no.3 or no.4 in which he was consistency personified. He started relatively slowly, averaging an adjusted 39.62 up to the end of 1999. The 21st century, for South African cricket at least, became Kallisball as he averaged 54.32 (58.54) from 133 matches and unlike his great contemporaries Ricky Ponting and Sachin Tendulkar he displayed no prolonged dip in form, averaging 51.04 in his last 50 innings. He misses out on the top 10 because of his low strike-rate and he was often criticized for batting "in a bubble" when his team needed quick runs. Whether consciously or not, he rectified this in his later career, scoring at a rate of 49.54 runs per 100 balls (53.53) from late 2009 onwards. Kallis was worth his weight in gold if he had other attacking batsmen around him in the middle order to make the running. He was at his best when he was left alone to play Kallisball.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ys21qb9L2bU
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sunilz
International Regular
The main reason India could never dominate SA at home. Also was the main reason SA didn't lose the series to IND in 2010/11. Only after the retirement of Kallis, India has finally managed to dominate SA at home in 2015 and 19. The best player of Anil Kumble in IND.
OverratedSanity
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Pretty much singlehandedly prevented India from winning that series in 2011. Completely spooked dhoni and bhajji when he started reverse sweeping out of the rough.