Who is the second best opener of the last half century?

[Bolo.]

Much is made about Smith in the 4th innings but in the last 50 years these are the 4th innings averages:

Boycott 61.77!!
Greenidge 54.92!
Gavaskar 52.50
Smith 51.68
Hayden 49.50
Gooch 47.47

Interesting Sehwag (who often went nuts early in tests) 32.17

Think the noise about Smith in the 4th has been about it being matchwinning rather than the average. When he went big in the 4th, RSA always won, but it is a combo of RSA style of attrional cricket and being generally pretty strong in his era that enabled it.

Sehwag is interesting. i have heard him described on CW as possibly the best player pf spin ever (no idea tbh, only ever watched him against utterly janky rsa spinners). but that is a low 4th average considering thanks prause he gets

 

[sunilz]

Greenidge averages about 30 in Asia which is supposed to be the easiest place for openers ( And 80s being dark era for spinners)

Anyways 2 important Sehwag stats
1. Only opener to score 4 250+ score ( Bradman, Lara also have 4)

2. Had scored 13 consecutive 150+ score.

Sehwag should have worked hard on its game against moving ball or maybe his batting style was never going to be successful against swing.

 

[Himannv]

Richards for me. I guess people might not want to count him due to the number of Tests he played, but in terms of quality, he's the best opener.

 

[TheJediBrah]

Greenidge averages about 30 in Asia

no one cares

 

[sunilz]

Think the noise about Smith in the 4th has been about it being matchwinning rather than the average. When he went big in the 4th, RSA always won, but it is a combo of RSA style of attrional cricket and being generally pretty strong in his era that enabled it.

Sehwag is interesting. i have heard him described on CW as possibly the best player pf spin ever (no idea tbh, only ever watched him against utterly janky rsa spinners). but that is a low 4th average considering thanks prause he gets

Even Muralitharan rated Lara, Sehwag as 2 toughest batsman to bowl to.
Warne also rated Sehwag very highly. So , there is truth to the assertions of him being gold against spinners.

 

[sunilz]

no one cares

About you and your face.

 

[TheJediBrah]

About you and your face.

This hits too close to home

 

[Bolo.]

Even Muralitharan rated Lara, Sehwag as 2 toughest batsman to bowl to.
Warne also rated Sehwag very highly. So , there is truth to the assertions of him being gold against spinners.

Not that i care how a bowler or two ranks a bat, and not saying there is anything wrong with him being rated this highly against spinners, i just find his 4th average interesting.

 

[sunilz]

Not that i care how a bowler or two ranks a bat, and not saying there is anything wrong with him being rated this highly against spinners, i just find his 4th average interesting.

Even Tendulkar, Lara, Smith (steve) have low 4th innings average. Maybe players who have high 4th innings average are mentally very tough.

 

[Teja.]

Greenidge averages about 30 in Asia which is supposed to be the easiest place for openers ( And 80s being dark era for spinners)

1. Greenidge averages 36 in Asia which is very different from 30 and a fairly passable average in the era he played.
2. As I said before, Greenidge's career was nearly twice as long as most openers here and his best was before 1985 by which time he had played already for 12 years of test cricket. From 1974 to 1985, Greenidge averaged 47 in Asia. His lower average in Asia is purely a function of him carrying on a lesser 40 average batsman for such a long period post 1985, after already having a decade plus as an ATG 50 average opener in a tough era.

 

[sunilz]

1. Greenidge averages 36 in Asia which is very different from 30 and a fairly passable average in the era he played.
2. As I said before, Greenidge's career was nearly twice as long as most openers here and his best was before 1985 by which time he had played already for 12 years of test cricket. From 1974 to 1985, Greenidge averaged 47 in Asia. His lower average in Asia is purely a function of him carrying on a lesser 40 average batsman for such a long period post 1985, after already having a decade plus as an ATG 50 average opener in a tough era.

I have no problem with his overall record. I was just pointing out flaw in his record as people already know positive and negative aspects of Sehwag, Smith and Hayden.

 

[Teja.]

I have no problem with his overall record. I was just pointing out flaw in his record as people already know positive and negative aspects of Sehwag, Smith and Hayden.

Okay, but saying he averages about 30 in Asia when he averages 36.xx is is like saying Sehwag averages about 40 overall even though he averages 49.x.

 

[sunilz]

Okay, but saying he averages about 30 in Asia when he averages 36.xx is is like saying Sehwag averages about 40 overall even though he averages 49.x.

He averaged 30 in Australia too. Now don't tell we should ignore that also.

All I want to say that like Sehwag, Hayden and Smith he too has flaw in his records.

 

[OverratedSanity]

Would go for either Smith or Greenidge as number 1. Sehwag and Hayden a bit below them.

 

[Teja.]

Also would like to note that Anwar is underrated badly here. The guy averaged 47.xx as an opener which is only 2-3 runs off the burly 3 in a much tougher decade for opening the batting.

He was not as destructive as the other 3 but more consistent. As an opener, he averaged 52 in Asia, 46 away from home and 43 in SENA. He averaged 35 in SA over 4 tests but his only real failure were 2 tours of Zimbabwe.

The only reason why his career isn't considered elite is because he retired early after a 8 year career but considering the big 3 have also not played too much more cricket, I think he easily deserves to be in the same category as them.

 

[TheJediBrah]

I was just pointing out flaw in his record

If this just isn't Cricket Chat in a nutshell

 

[sunilz]

Also would like to note that Anwar is underrated badly here. The guy averaged 47.xx as an opener which is only 2-3 runs off the burly 3 in a much tougher decade for opening the batting.

He was not as destructive as the other 3 but a lot more consistent. As an opener, he averaged 52 in Asia, 46 away from home and 43 in SENA. He averaged 35 in SA over 4 tests but his only real failure were 2 tours of Zimbabwe.

The only reason why his career isn't considered elite is because he retired early after a 8 year career but considering the big 3 have also not played too much more cricket, I think he easily deserves to be in the same category as them.

You do know Anwar's overall average vs SA, WI is low 20s. And he has barely 4000 runs in aggregate as compared to 8000 for sehwag, Hayden and Smith.

So Anwar neither has perfection in record, nor he has longevity.

 

[vcs]

Gary Kirsten and Anwar are probably just below Sehwag, Hayden and Smith.

 

[Teja.]

You do know Anwar's overall average vs SA, WI is low 20s. And he has barely 4000 runs in aggregate as compared to 8000 for sehwag, Hayden and Smith.

So Anwar neither has perfection in record, nor he has longevity.

I mean he played for 8 years which is not very high but comparable to the other 3. It’s not his fault that Pakistan didn’t play many tests in the 90s.

Many batsmen have scored more runs in a decade than Sachin in the 90s because India only played 60-odd games. Were they better than him at the end of the 90s just because India didn’t play many games in the 90s?

 

[Flem274*]

did not know that (or much) about anwar tbh. i was conceptually aware he was a gun, but never saw him and never looked into him that hard. he sounds awesome.

I mean he played for 8 years which is not very high but comparable to the other 3. It’s not his fault that Pakistan didn’t play many tests in the 90s.

Many batsmen have scored more runs in a decade than Sachin in the 90s because India only played 60-odd games. Were they better than him at the end of the 90s just because India didn’t play many games in the 90s?

now you're getting it. come to the dark side.