Most overrated cricketer

[Bolo.]

Overrated,
Australia, Benaud, Morris,
England, Laker, Trueman, Flintoff,
NZ, G. Howarth, Nash,
South Africa, Rhodes, Klusener,
India, Shastri, Harbhajan Singh,
West Indies, Gayle, Ramadhin,
Pakistan, Shoaib Akhtar, Sarfraz,
Sri Lanka, Jayasuriya, Malinga

Only my opinion of course.

Oof. Starting a list with Benaud as overrated does not bode well for my level of agreement with you. Can't say I know if the amount of praise he got as a captain was deserved (not even sure if this is the case for almost all captains I have watched). And definitely gets too much respect for his post playing career, which shouldn't count. But as a bat/bowler, underrated. Possibly severely so.

Half the other players are essentially not thought of at all, at least in tests. I think you are blurring the line between formats a fair bit.

The only player I really agree with is Malinga, who carried his (deserved) T20 reputation into the longer forms (undeserved).

The English guys were probably previously overrated, but I think things have settled down.

Morris is not someone I know much about who is highly rated. No opinion.

 

[Bolo.]

I feel like Benaud the cricketer isn't overrated that much.

His captaincy and commentary made him known as the voice of cricket

But I don't hear people bigging up his batting all that often. His bowling gets a bit more cred, but I think due praise for a 27 averaging leg spinner. Nobody puts him in Warnes class

Haha. Could have saved myself some time, read the whole thread and just liked this post.

Edit. I probably did and forgot about it. Been drinking and had other things to do after reading the thread. I agree with this post, and did before you wrote it, but I was probably just parroting you in my Benaud comments. Echo chamber.

 

[BazBall21]

He might make it for me too though I have no idea how I'd go about compiling such a list. However, every time someone says he's as good as Tendulkar and Zaheer rolled into one or mentions him alongside Sobers, I wince in anguish.

Think visually striking guys such as Lee and Afridi are overrated by the general public whereas nerds overrate guys like Chanderpaul and Pollock.

Greg Chappell, Ken Barrington, and Peter May being overrated are my hot takes.

May does have a lot of hundreds in low-scoring games. Overrated because he didn't play long enough or that SA tour? I know your sentiments on the other two.

 

[trundler]

May does have a lot of hundreds in low-scoring games. Overrated because he didn't play long enough or that SA tour? I know your sentiments on the other two.

Yes to both. 3 good tons against Australia certainly but the runs against NZ back then are overvalued. His away record is really meh too. His Ashes record is good but not ATG. He's rated as an ATG which he isn't IMO.

 

[BazBall21]

May was elite at home to Aus/SA but didn't cash in enough in WI like Harvey did and was poor in SA even relative to conditions. Decent in Australia but not special. Has a nice iconic hundred there but he's no better there than a Cowdrey or a Dexter etc.

 

[ZK$]

He might make it for me too though I have no idea how I'd go about compiling such a list. However, every time someone says he's as good as Tendulkar and Zaheer rolled into one or mentions him alongside Sobers, I wince in anguish.

Think visually striking guys such as Lee and Afridi are overrated by the general public whereas nerds overrate guys like Chanderpaul and Pollock.

Greg Chappell, Ken Barrington, and Peter May being overrated are my hot takes.

I agree on Barrington and Pollock being overrated. Why do you think Chappell is overrated?

 

[trundler]

I agree on Barrington and Pollock being overrated. Why do you think Chappell is overrated?

12 year career, skipped tours. He's rated ahead of Border and Ponting which is unfair imo. I greatly respect his work against WI and consider him one of the best players of pace and bounce ever but I don't think he was better than Ponting '96 to '08.

 

[Lillian Thomson]

Looks like everyone is overrated except Archie Jackson.

 

[ZK$]

12 year career, skipped tours. He's rated ahead of Border and Ponting which is unfair imo. I greatly respect his work against WI and consider him one of the best players of pace and bounce ever but I don't think he was better than Ponting '96 to '08.

That’s fair. I usually factor in his WSC and ROW tests which makes it pretty close between him and Ponting for me. I do have him ahead of Border though.

 

[BazBall21]

Chappell's cold numbers are remarkably flawless so it's easy to get carried away with him. Distribution against opponents home and away and for what it's worth scored heavily in WSC/FC too. It's more that he wasn't tested enough. Personally think better than Ponting and Border, but clearly below Smith already.

 

[ZK$]

I actually think I’ve been slightly underrating Chanderpaul. Obviously he was a bit selfish, but he did have insane longevity and I think he was a very good player of pace bowling.

 

[trundler]

I don't put too much stock in WSC and ROW games based on how the Supertests and every other attempt at forging a world XI has worked out.

 

[Slifer]

I can't see how Ken Barrington is overrated when people constantly leave him out of an English all time XI for the likes of Pietersen, Compton etc.

 

[Slifer]

I actually think I’ve been slightly underrating Chanderpaul. Obviously he was a bit selfish, but he did have insane longevity and I think he was a very good player of pace bowling.

If ever there was an understatement.....

 

[BazBall21]

I like Bob Simpson and he's not overrated to the extent that Morris is but find myself surprised he's rated as highly as he is on here.

 

[trundler]

I can't see how Ken Barrington is overrated when people constantly leave him out of an English all time XI for the likes of Pietersen, Compton etc.

Exclusively a CW/nerd thing. Pietersen is supremely overrated outside CW. He came in ahead of Dravid on CW's list. Of course this is one of my more nitpicky hills.

 

[BazBall21]

Cook, KP, Broad, Anderson all overrated. Root isn't overrated at all though.

 

[ZK$]

Anderson is massively overrated outside of this forum, but I think he might be slightly underrated on here.

 

[BazBall21]

He definitely used to be. You'd think he was as condition-dependent as Chris Woakes the way some went on about him.

 

[ZK$]

I wouldn’t put him in the ATG tier, but I’d definitely have him at the same level as Shaun Pollock and maybe even slightly ahead of him.