Most overrated cricketer

[Prince EWS]

So a dude's got to account for 20 wickets on his own to be considered any good these days? Good to know.

Less silly than demanding Boycott do it.

 

[shortpitched713]

Less silly than demanding Boycott do it.

To be fair, his grandmother could've done it with a stick 'o rhubarb, so not really sure what his excuse is.

 

[AndrewB]

Which would have nothing to do with him, given that he was a bowler, and a hard hitting batsman, so really it's more down to the teammates surrounding him in that case.

I was joking of course when I called KD a tedious plodder, but I don’t think a bowler’s drawing percentage has nothing to do with them… surely someone who on average took 3-70 in 45 overs would draw more often than someone who took 3-70 in 15 overs.

 

[Ashes81]

Kapil Dev was a very good all rounder.

He's the only player to score 4,000 runs and take 400 wkts in tests - that's some effort.

To put it in perspective, he was as good a bowler as Ntini, Southee or Vaas.

And he was as good a batsmen as the likes of Mark Boucher or Alan Knott

That's one heck of a cricketer

 

[Athlai]

Boucthee

 

[Xix2565]

Boucthee

Sounds like a great English player.

 

[Coronis]

Which would have nothing to do with him, given that he was a bowler, and a hard hitting batsman, so really it's more down to the teammates surrounding him in that case.

But we can put all the blame on Boycott. Cool.

 

[Victor Ian]

Haha. My morning eyes just made me see edible Gilbert.

 

[the big bambino]

That'd be Gilbert Grape.

 

[peterhrt]

Given that his reputation is precisely the opposite, and even that he was selfish, no I don't think we can just assume he had many innings where he ramped up the aggression just to make a match winning contribution.

Normally I assume that cricketers are doing their best to help the team, but in the case when their contemporaries are stating otherwise, I have to make an exception.

Another one. Second innings. Admittedly supporting Cowdrey.

WI vs ENG Cricket Scorecard, 4th Test at Port of Spain, March 14 - 19, 1968

Get cricket scorecard of 4th Test, WI vs ENG, England tour of West Indies 1967/68 at Queen's Park Oval, Port of Spain, Trinidad dated March 14 - 19, 1968.

www.espncricinfo.com

 

[Gob]

With no odis and t20s, what did they even do between those tests?

First class cricket was as followed as tests in those days?

Jobs to earn

 

[peterhrt]

First class cricket was as followed as tests in those days?

More so in many cases. Basically the further you go back in time, the closer first-class cricket gets to Tests. At some point first-class cricket becomes more important.

The average daily attendance at Old Trafford for Lancashire v Yorkshire in 1926 was 27,000. At the same ground in 1974, less than four thousand came through the gate each day to watch the England v India Test match.

 

[shortpitched713]

He could have quite easily ended up with a record 2nd only to The Don so I'd be interested to know why you think he's overrated

Graeme Pollock's FC batting average was significantly lower than his Test average of over 60, which is his only claim to the "best since Don" status. And there's no reason to think that Apartheid SA FC cricket was better than Test cricket, so a reasonable conclusion would be that given a longer career Pollock would have regressed to a level closer to that FC level of performance, just like many other great Test batsmen who get off to a hot start, but end up averaging in the 50s instead of over 60.

 

[Coronis]

Only two players have ever averaged 60 in both Tests and FC. The Black Bradman and the White Headley.

 

[Ashes81]

Graeme Pollock's FC batting average was significantly lower than his Test average of over 60, which is his only claim to the "best since Don" status. And there's no reason to think that Apartheid SA FC cricket was better than Test cricket, so a reasonable conclusion would be that given a longer career Pollock would have regressed to a level closer to that FC level of performance, just like many other great Test batsmen who get off to a hot start, but end up averaging in the 50s instead of over 60.

You may be right but there's also reason to say that without the prospect of test cricket, Pollock lacked motivation in the more mundane FC SA game.

 

[shortpitched713]

You may be right but there's also reason to say that without the prospect of test cricket, Pollock lacked motivation in the more mundane FC SA game.

Could be true, but it's more speculative than the documented decline of the vast majority of player's stats from FC to Test.

 

[peterhrt]

You may be right but there's also reason to say that without the prospect of test cricket, Pollock lacked motivation in the more mundane FC SA game.

He received several offers from English counties, but opted to play a few club matches in Surrey with his brother. May have felt he had nothing to prove.

 

[CricAddict]

Yeah it's why it's clear Kapil is nowhere near as good a bowler as he is heralded to be

Kapil had almost nil support on bowling and not a great batting line-up apart from Gavaskar too compared to other strong teams of that time. Unfair to penalize him for the team record.

 

[Coronis]

Kapil had almost nil support on bowling and not a great batting line-up apart from Gavaskar too compared to other strong teams of that time. Unfair to penalize him for the team record.

What an awful narrative. He has all four members of the spin quartet, Kumble and Doshi.

 

[Socerer 01]

What an awful narrative. He has all four members of the spin quartet, Kumble and Doshi.

Kumble played 17 matches with Kapil towards the end of Kapil’s career. seems generous to call that support