Ross dropped his fair share.Ross Taylor: am I joke to you?
Kane at gully, taken some absolute screamers. Although I imagine there was a push for Jacob 'was a soccer goalkeeper' Oram
Ross dropped his fair share.Ross Taylor: am I joke to you?
I mean the Hayden you just described was Warner 10 years ago, no?I guess I don't mean machismo so much in terms of slapping the bowling around...moreso that it was an admired spot to bat in. If you did that spot well, whether you were Hayden or Sunny Gavaskar, you were as as big a dog as it got on the international stage. You crafted your game mainly around being good at that job (and maybe you changed it a bit for ODIs). You played more 4-day first class cricket, too.
Is the bowling harder now? Yeah, potentially it is. That's got to explain some of it.
But to me, it's the fact that the Haydens, the Sehwags, the Gilchrists, anyone else who successfully wacked it - they set their games up technically coming through the grades. They built a power game upon good technique in age group, then domestic FC cricket. England are a prime example of trying to build a power game without the necessary technique to have it translate into Test cricket. Roy, Buttler, Morgan etc just can't cut it because their technical base is sub-par - and unless England address that throughout their whole system, they may as well say to hell with anything involving a red ball at Test level.
What I'm trying to say is that the quality of Test match opening batting in particular I think will continue to fall, because you don't get the cream of the crop. If Matt Hayden was 18 now, he'd be wacking **** out of it, chewing gum and walking down at Big Bash bowlers trying to pick up an IPL contract - not amassing thousands of Sheffield Shield runs. The top echelon of quality coming through now will most likely want to bat 4-5 in Tests and play all 3 forms + beloved by IPL teams, ala AB de Villiers.
Ross is probably my favorite slipper ever but I’ve seen him drop a few. Fleming had buckets for hands.Ross Taylor: am I joke to you?
I mean sure, Tayor has dropped a few but has taken some screamers as well. Statistically he's pretty safe. Fleming is streets ahead of most people, stats wise.Ross is probably my favorite slipper ever but I’ve seen him drop a few. Fleming had buckets for hands.
Bit different in that sense, Warner played for Australia in T20 and ODIs before he'd played a first class game. Hayden had 2-3 years of FC cricket before he played ODI cricket, then didn't play any at all from 1995-2000. Hence played a **** ton of FC games that weren't Tests (192) while Warner has only played 31 non Test FC games. Warner deserves a lot of credit for transforming his game into success as a Test player, he's definitely rare in that sense.I mean the Hayden you just described was Warner 10 years ago, no?
I understand Richard Hadlee was also pretty good at gully and a good goalkeeper. In the slips I'd throw in Nathan Astle's name, always seemed to have a very safe pair of hands and just a great all-round fielder.Ross dropped his fair share.
Kane at gully, taken some absolute screamers. Although I imagine there was a push for Jacob 'was a soccer goalkeeper' Oram
Another downside of Heinrich Malan heading off to coach Ireland. Jamieson had credited him with his improvement after he left Canterbury.Jamieson’s looked pretty trash so far this season. Not really swinging it, dropping short routinely and down on pace. Should be left out of the LO cricket completely and sent back to Auckland to tighten up until the SA tests.
Astle was great - always sticks out him dropping a goober of Graham Thorpe on 4 when he went on to score 200 in Christchurch. Although he pretty well made it up when he batted in the next innings...I understand Richard Hadlee was also pretty good at gully and a good goalkeeper. In the slips I'd throw in Nathan Astle's name, always seemed to have a very safe pair of hands and just a great all-round fielder.
**** only 10 posts to go for youThis is the sort of humiliation NZ fans should be happy to see their team responding with after last test. Good signs they’re destroying these second eaters now their mental approach is right.