Alastair Cook vs Graham Gooch?

[Indusriver]

Seriously who is better?

 

[Jacknife]

Tell you when Cook's career is finished.

 

[Indusriver]

^ cook already has 19 centuries, one short of Gooch lol

 

[smash84]

to quote one former English player "Do you think Graham Gooch was being served pies by Malcolm Marshall"

Will have to take Gooch for now. So far Cook faced only faced one really tough test and he failed.

 

[fredfertang]

Can't see Cook ever playing an innings as crucial as Gooch's 154* at Headingley in '91 so, despite that appalling taste in facial hair, 'tis Goochy for me

 

[centurymaker]

as they say avg of 55 is the new 50. (batting avgs have gone up by 10-12%)

which basically means cook's adjusted average is around 45, so he's slightly ahead of Gooch Atm.

 

[Jacknife]

^ cook already has 19 centuries, one short of Gooch lol

 

[zaremba]

Can't see Cook ever playing an innings as crucial as Gooch's 154* at Headingley in '91 so, despite that appalling taste in facial hair, 'tis Goochy for me

He's played some pretty important innings tbf - not least his 235no at the Gabbatoir last winter.

But I vote Gooch as he did better than just about anyone against the world's best bowlers at a time when the world's best bowlers were pretty damn good.

 

[fredfertang]

He's played some pretty important innings tbf - not least his 235no at the Gabbatoir last winter.

pop gun attack though

 

[zaremba]

pop gun attack though

Not nearly as one-dimensional as the horribly over-hyped West Indian attack at Headingley in '91. Ambrose, Patterson, Marshall, Walsh: all bowlers of the same type (RF) and of broadly equivalent quality. Where's the variety? Where's the versatility? In particular, when they're faced with a flat pitch, where's the X-Do to winkle batsman out with cunning and guile? Where's the reliable left-arm wizard a la Mitch Johnson? Where's the fast-medium sultan of swing in the Hilfenhaus mould? Where's the medium-paced magician to rival Shane Watson?

 

[robelinda]

Graham Gooch 154* vs West Indies 1991 - YouTube

Anyone who saw this live would never question Gooch's innings. Obviously in this video you see the 4's, but what you don't see is how utterly mystified his batting partners were, and how Gooch handled the spiteful deliveries with such class. One of the true masterclasses of batting.

 

[zaremba]

ftr, I wasn't being serious.

 

[fredfertang]

ftr, I wasn't being serious.

Performed a great service in getting robelinda to post that link though

 

[robelinda]

Oh i wasn't replying to your post Zaremba! My sarcasm detector is in fine working order.....obviously as a Pom you would never slag off the mighty GOOCH!

 

[zaremba]

Yep, just watched it myself, bloody awesome. The man could play fast bowling, he really could.

One of the YouTube comments was that that fast bowling attack was "assembled by Satan, trained in hell and dispatched to planet earth for wreaking havoc". Which pretty much sums it up. Except that, as I've already demonstrated, they were one dimensional, predictable and limited

 

[MW1304]

Not nearly as one-dimensional as the horribly over-hyped West Indian attack at Headingley in '91. Ambrose, Patterson, Marshall, Walsh: all bowlers of the same type (RF) and of broadly equivalent quality. Where's the variety? Where's the versatility? In particular, when they're faced with a flat pitch, where's the X-Do to winkle batsman out with cunning and guile? Where's the reliable left-arm wizard a la Mitch Johnson? Where's the fast-medium sultan of swing in the Hilfenhaus mould? Where's the medium-paced magician to rival Shane Watson?

Oh AWTA completely. I mean, as some Indian fan said a while back, variety is the key to a bowling attack. It's what makes Paul Harris' left arm variety so much more dangerous than Graeme Swann's (BAW-RING) right arm twirly nothings.

 

[Howe_zat]

Yep, just watched it myself, bloody awesome. The man could play fast bowling, he really could.

One of the YouTube comments was that that fast bowling attack was "assembled by Satan, trained in hell and dispatched to planet earth for wreaking havoc". Which pretty much sums it up. Except that, as I've already demonstrated, they were one dimensional, predictable and limited

Out of interest, how would those that were there rate Gooch and the other best batsmen of the 80s and early 90s against spin bowling? As I've heard that there was rather a dearth at the time, until Warne, Murali and Kumble came along.

 

[marc71178]

Can't see Cook ever playing an innings as crucial as Gooch's 154* at Headingley in '91 so, despite that appalling taste in facial hair, 'tis Goochy for me

Has any batsmen in history?

 

[fredfertang]

Has any batsmen in history?

Not in my book but I know from past experience that there are folk on here who don't agree with me

 

[Jacknife]

Oh i wasn't replying to your post Zaremba! My sarcasm detector is in fine working order.....obviously as a Pom you would never slag off the mighty GOOCH!

Sacrilege