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Kane Williamson not in league of other elite test batters

PlayerComparisons

International Vice-Captain
As Kohli's average only a run better than KP's and will probably decline to be at or below it by the end of his career, that leaves the fab4 as a tremendous2 now (Root, Smith).
Sadly I think Roots average will probably drop to the high 40s like Kohlis as well so it’s really just Smith who’s in a tier of his own
 

GIMH

Norwood's on Fire
Sadly I think Roots average will probably drop to the high 40s like Kohlis as well so it’s really just Smith who’s in a tier of his own
You always say this about Root but are yet to give any reason beyond ‘Bazball’ in spite of the fact his average is higher now than it was before the first Bazball test
 

GIMH

Norwood's on Fire
Yea it looks like Bazball has been great for his game
Look, if you think his average will go down, I don’t have a problem with that. It well might. It happens to many many batsmen who go onto their late 30s and I hope Root does indeed carry on for some time yet.

But when you say things along the lines of ‘I think his average will drop below 50 and therefore he isn’t as good as Smith’ you must see what you’re doing? I mean it’d be like me saying ‘I think Smith will get 300 ducks in a row and therefore Rory Burns is better’. Or something
 

PlayerComparisons

International Vice-Captain
Look, if you think his average will go down, I don’t have a problem with that. It well might. It happens to many many batsmen who go onto their late 30s and I hope Root does indeed carry on for some time yet.

But when you say things along the lines of ‘I think his average will drop below 50 and therefore he isn’t as good as Smith’ you must see what you’re doing? I mean it’d be like me saying ‘I think Smith will get 300 ducks in a row and therefore Rory Burns is better’. Or something
Yea I hope he goes into late 30s as well. Hopefully we have another 3-4 years of watching the fab 4.
 

Xix2565

International Regular
I mean Root is getting old right? We've seen that age takes a toll on everyone, Root does not seem like an exception, regardless of his current form. Seems weird to act like it's all "Bazball" related skepticism.
 

Johan

State Vice-Captain
Root's batting better than he ever has in last three years, and he should've another 4 or so years left so I don't think there is a reason to cast doubt on him, saying Root will average <X> or <Y> is impossible, especially since someone like Lara was average 50.1 at the same age, it's impossible to say where his average will end up, it's easier to predict how he'll do in the upcoming 2 series, anything beyond is futile to predict.
 

centurymaker

Cricketer Of The Year
Lara's last few years came in the highways era which allowed him to better his average. That was an exception. Don't see that happening in the future so you can almost bank on the Fab4 losing average points in the coming years. So its not impossible to predict that Root is going to finish below, unless he decides to retire early aged 35 or so.
 

Johan

State Vice-Captain
I mean, the personal inability to see something happening doesn't really mean it's based on factual data, there are many examples of cricketers going strong until their late 30s, Smith and Kohli have declined and were in decline when they were Root's age but Root if anything has gotten better, really no reason to assume he would end up with less or more, it's most likely just gonna be three more great years and one middling year where he retires, will he avarage 50+ or not? impossible to say/predict.
 

Majestic

U19 Captain
Smith is in a different league.

Root is comfortably two level below. Kohli is also behind Root.

Williamson is not in league of any of three. One of the biggest minnow basher ever. He is Kiwi Mahela Jayawardene.
 

centurymaker

Cricketer Of The Year
I mean, the personal inability to see something happening doesn't really mean it's based on factual data, there are many examples of cricketers going strong until their late 30s, Smith and Kohli have declined and were in decline when they were Root's age but Root if anything has gotten better, really no reason to assume he would end up with less or more, it's most likely just gonna be three more great years and one middling year where he retires, will he avarage 50+ or not? impossible to say/predict.
He is averaging 50.60, not 52.60 or 53.60. It literally takes just 3 single digit scores and his average comes down to 49.9x. He can do well for another 2-3 years and still quite easily finish on 49.xx with just one poor series.
 

Johan

State Vice-Captain
He is averaging 50.60, not 52.60 or 53.60. It literally takes just 3 single digit scores and his average comes down to 49.9x. He can do well for another 2-3 years and still quite easily finish on 49.xx with just one poor series.
I mean, a couple good series and it can go up as well, and he has been in amazing form for about 4 years now, see what I mean? it's pointless to guess where he'll end up batting average wise when there is equal probability of multiple outcomes.
 

Xix2565

International Regular
Root's batting better than he ever has in last three years, and he should've another 4 or so years left so I don't think there is a reason to cast doubt on him, saying Root will average <X> or <Y> is impossible, especially since someone like Lara was average 50.1 at the same age, it's impossible to say where his average will end up, it's easier to predict how he'll do in the upcoming 2 series, anything beyond is futile to predict.
That he did well in the recent past is still no guarantee of future success. I mean we've seen in series vs India in India or Australia in Australia that he's had the occasional big score before 'disappearing' and this isn't exactly the era where every pitch in the world is a highway, making batting easier. I understand being hopeful and wanting well, but it's silly to pretend people are wasting time by assuming a downturn in form towards the end of Root's career, when we've literally seen that with his contemporaries at points.
 

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