The Unpopular Opinions Thread

[Burgey]

Unpopular opinion: Not sure how many would agree but Shoaib Akhtar at his peak looked more fearsome than Michael Holding at his peak.

I think that’s probably because he charged in whereas Holding loped. Also more/ better camera angles and footage helps. Both scary bowlers though

 

[SillyCowCorner1]

Liton Kumar Das is in my top ten of current batsmen.

 

[trundler]

Here's an opinion that's bound to be unpopular. Steyn despite being the best bowler I've seen had a tendency to go missing and choke when things went down to the wire. I recall Philander generally doing better in such instances. I suppose that's bit like saying Hammond was better on sticky wickets in that it still means he was vastly inferior to Braddles, although obviously not to that extent.

Also, Eoin Morgan is a legit ODI ATG imo.

 

[SillyCowCorner1]

If Eoin Morgan was an Indian...he would already be a god.

 

[vcs]

Here's an opinion that's bound to be unpopular. Steyn despite being the best bowler I've seen had a tendency to go missing and choke when things went down to the wire. I recall Philander generally doing better in such instances. I suppose that's bit like saying Hammond was better on sticky wickets in that it still means he was vastly inferior to Braddles, although obviously not to that extent.

Also, Eoin Morgan is a legit ODI ATG imo.

I think this comes from that one over in the WC 2015 semifinal.

 

[trundler]

I think this comes from that one over in the WC 2015 semifinal.

This happened in several close tests too. Like the Perera one, the test against England after which SA rose to #1, the Philander series in Australia. I'm just going by memory here. Steyn was unparalleled at singlehandedly giving his team the upper hand but I think Philander was better at regaining momentum, at least in favourable conditions.

 

[Adders]

If Eoin Morgan was an Indian...he would already be a god.

If Eoin Morgan was English....he would already be a god.

 

[SillyCowCorner1]

Touche

 

[TheJediBrah]

If Eoin Morgan was English....he would already be a god.

You're saying he's treated differently for being Irish?

 

[Starfighter]

Thought it would be worth reviving this thread for an apparently unpopular opinion, in light of Joel Wilson's bringing his form with bad decisions into the third umpires box.

A large proportion of the times when it is declared 'the player has their fingers underneath the ball', the catch has in fact been grassed.

 

[ataraxia]

I can get on board with that – however, to me it often feels like those catches should be legal, even if it touches the ground a bit. BTW, is the ground defined as blades of grass or dirt? Or is it not defined at all, because it feels like it should be?

 

[Fuller Pilch]

If Eoin Morgan was English....he would already be a god.

You're saying he's treated differently for being Irish?

Shouldn't be. Several of England's top footballers are Irish/have Irish roots/links

 

[GIMH]

Shouldn't be. Several of England's top footballers are Irish/have Irish roots/links

Obviously there’s a lot of folk with Irish DNA in Britain, for all sorts of reasons, but I’m not sure this is true about top footballers? It feels like it’s been more of an accurate statement the other way round?

 

[cnerd123]

I can get on board with that – however, to me it often feels like those catches should be legal, even if it touches the ground a bit. BTW, is the ground defined as blades of grass or dirt? Or is it not defined at all, because it feels like it should be?

Yea the issue is that you can both have fingers under the ball and also have the ball touch the grass, so we end up in this grey area.

Standard practice atm is to follow the on field single (usually out) unless there is an obvious bounces off the surface. Idm that as long as it is applied consistently. Wherever you draw the line it will be arbitrary, and before the tech existed these would be out anyways so why change that.

Not sure Pope had fingers under the ball today tho tbf

 

[thierry henry]

Thought it would be worth reviving this thread for an apparently unpopular opinion, in light of Joel Wilson's bringing his form with bad decisions into the third umpires box.

A large proportion of the times when it is declared 'the player has their fingers underneath the ball', the catch has in fact been grassed.

My unpopular opinion is that those contentious catches are basically always out (haven’t seen the latest contentious one though so not commenting on that).

I acknowledge though that it’s entirely possible that a player can catch the ball ‘cleanly’ i.e. with his fingers entirely under the ball and with full control of the ball, yet the ball might incidentally have brushed grass or even dirt between the fingers. I just don’t think this is actually relevant to the concept of catching a ball as we know it…I also know it’s probably impossible to draft a rule that covers this. I think the current “fingers are under the ball” interpretation is actually great and probably the best we can do.

 

[Fuller Pilch]

Obviously there’s a lot of folk with Irish DNA in Britain, for all sorts of reasons, but I’m not sure this is true about top footballers? It feels like it’s been more of an accurate statement the other way round?

Declan Rice, Jack Grealish, Kalvin Phillips Harry Maguire, and Harry Kane all boast significant ties to Ireland, with Rice and Grealish both representing Ireland earlier in their careers.

 

[GIMH]

Declan Rice, Jack Grealish, Kalvin Phillips Harry Maguire, and Harry Kane all boast significant ties to Ireland, with Rice and Grealish both representing Ireland earlier in their careers.

Yeah Grealish and Rice fair enough but the others are fairly tenuous.

 

[Coronis]

Yeah players shouldn’t be representing multiple countries in internationals.

edit: Except I think there was that bloke who represented SA pre apartheid and then Zimbabwe when they came in.

 

[Coronis]

Keepers shouldn’t get gloves. Will improve keeping skill and be easier to tell if they actually take their catches.

 

[TheJediBrah]

Keepers shouldn’t get gloves. Will improve keeping skill and be easier to tell if they actually take their catches.

Goodbye fingers