Best Batsman to Watch?

[Mr Mxyzptlk]

IMO Jayasuriya is more power hitting than classy strokeplay.

 

[Gotchya]

IMO Jayasuriya is more power hitting than classy strokeplay.

Yeah, exceptions are always there

lets put it this way, classy power hitting. But he's not comparable to lara or sachin.

 

[marc71178]

Classy strokeplay is what I look for in batsmen, Power hitting while spectacular, does not provide for the same thing.

Yet you put Jayasuriya in that list?

 

[Gotchya]

Yet you put Jayasuriya in that list?

Ponting isn't exactly an al timing player as well. Still though I like my share of power classy hitting. Happy now ?

 

[Eclipse]

Ponting isn't exactly an al timing player as well. Still though I like my share of power classy hitting. Happy now ?

Ponting is a mixture but more on the side of classy stroke play than a hitter. He probably hits the quick bowlers consistently harder than most players especialy on the pull were he has no equal.
IMO the faster you bowl at him the better he plays on the other hand unless he has had time to settle he can struggle against slow bowlers on slow pitches.

 

[R_Powell_fan]

Yay Davison - the Corky of Canada.

I knew there had to be a reason for me to like him!

Oh no......here we go again, now you've reawakened Luckyeddie's support for Cork :rolleyes:

Don't be surprised to see him saying Cork should have been in the English squad for the world Cup (Just kidding)

 

[luckyeddie]

Oh no......here we go again, now you've reawakened Luckyeddie's support for Cork :rolleyes:

Don't be surprised to see him saying Cork should have been in the English squad for the world Cup (Just kidding)

<quack> I think he's rubbish

You would

 

[R_Powell_fan]

Eddie: It seems to me your ulter ego or split personality self (Devil Ducky) totally oppposes you in personality and opinion.....

 

[full_length]

I think Jayasurya is not only power hitting. He plays genuine cricket shots. It so happens that he plays some shots like the cut with abnormal power and those are the ones that stick to memory.
Otherwise, he's just an excellent strokemaker. The reason he and Lanka were so succesfull in the mid nineties, is because Jayasurya got all those runs quickly, and while playing authentic cricket shots.

Brilliant batsman. Just wish he wouldnt always choose to be at his best against India

 

[Anil]

I think Jayasurya is not only power hitting. He plays genuine cricket shots. It so happens that he plays some shots like the cut with abnormal power and those are the ones that stick to memory.
Otherwise, he's just an excellent strokemaker. The reason he and Lanka were so succesfull in the mid nineties, is because Jayasurya got all those runs quickly, and while playing authentic cricket shots.

Brilliant batsman. Just wish he wouldnt always choose to be at his best against India

Brilliant one day batsman, to be precise. He hasn't shown half that ability at test level, really(oh, I know he has scored a triple against India, but that innings on that pitch against that attack has to be taken in the proper perspective).

 

[marc71178]

Brilliant one day batsman, to be precise.

He can be brilliant, but he can also be very mediocre indeed - and that happens more often than his brilliance.

 

[Anil]

He can be brilliant, but he can also be very mediocre indeed - and that happens more often than his brilliance.

True, but he has been a match winner too often for his one day abilities to be discounted completely. For example, you cannot realistically put him in the Afridi class of sloggers. He has shown himself to be way better than that. However, the same thing cannot be said of him as a test batsman and that is what I was pointing out.

 

[Rik]

True, but he has been a match winner too often for his one day abilities to be discounted completely. For example, you cannot realistically put him in the Afridi class of sloggers. He has shown himself to be way better than that. However, the same thing cannot be said of him as a test batsman and that is what I was pointing out.

What on earth? He's more well known for his OD innings purely because of the speed at which he scores his runs. He's a better Test batsman than people give him credit for. I mean since when has a batsman who averages over 40 in Test Cricket been called unimpressive?

Fine batsman, useful bowler, although a bit of a 6 or out OD batsman to sum him up

 

[full_length]

He's hardly a 6 or out batsman :rolleyes: He's probably a decade ahead of his times though, as is Adam Gilchrist but we're not talking about him.

He's more than capable as a test batsman though I think he is more suited to no. 4 than opening.

I agree that the 340 is to be discounted. That track was ridiculous. The series was played at a time when Sri Lanka was looking to not lose test matches rather than winning them. I dare say it was very good tactics from a long term perspective (Sri Lankan perspective ofcourse). They'd been dominating the ODI scene, and were trying to make sure they draw test matches instead of losing them.
Sachin and Azhar could easily have helped themselves to 300s in that match. However, they'd never have been forgiven for doing that! They started hitting out to try and post a good total to try and win the match, and got out, the total ending up 500+.
Mahanama and Jayasurya simply ground us down for two whole days.

Our attack was not penetrative in unfavourable conditions in period at all. I dare say Pakistan would have broken the partnership with relentless fast bowling, but Lanka would have still plenty of runs..

Anyhow, Jayasurya is technically sound- more so than people give him credit for.
Like I said, he's ten years ahead of his time. I have noticed that all a player has to do is score runs abnormally quickly, and he becomes a slogger. People like Jayasurya and Gilchrist have proved that wrong. I'm sure that several years from now, people will look back and call Sanath one of Lanka's best ever batsmen, in both forms of the game, along with Mendis, deSilva, Ranatunga..

 

[Anil]

What on earth? He's more well known for his OD innings purely because of the speed at which he scores his runs. He's a better Test batsman than people give him credit for. I mean since when has a batsman who averages over 40 in Test Cricket been called unimpressive?

Fine batsman, useful bowler, although a bit of a 6 or out OD batsman to sum him up

He has 34 man-of-the-match awards and 8 man-of-the-series awards in one dayers. That makes him a teeny weeny bit better and more valuable than a "6 or out batsman" in my book and as you said, he is a more than useful bowler.

I didn't realise that his average in tests has crept to over 40. That is an impressive jump. He still isn't a top test batsman IMO as these his averages against different countries tells me:
Australia 29.87
Bangladesh 106.33
England 36.71
India 67.00
New Zealand 22.63
Pakistan 46.95
South Africa 29.25
West Indies 43.00
Zimbabwe 35.00

Against three of the better attacks in test cricket, he averages < 30. His jump over 40 is largely due to his record against India & Bangladesh, not the greatest of test bowling sides. However, his record against Pakistan looks impressive with 2 centuries and 6 50s in 13 tests.

 

[full_length]

I'd look at him as a batsman good enough to average 35 in tests.

His average has been boosted by home series rather than by opponents.

Lanka didnt get enough opportunities against Australia anyway. Jayasurya did make a nice century against Australia in the single match he's played in Australia, opening the innings.
He's played only 3 matches or so against BD, so does that average make much of a difference to his overall average?
He's played ten against us (out of 67) so that is definitely a boost there. Note that home or away he's playing in familiar territory when he's playing India. However, he's not done much in India at all.

 

[Anil]

I'd look at him as a batsman good enough to average 35 in tests.

Agreed, and as such is not a top quality test batsman IMO....

 

[Rik]

Yes but he doesn't average 35, he averages 40-41 which far outshines his OD average of 31...

As for him being a bit of a 6 or out player, I said "a bit of a", not that he WAS one. He will just get into a mode where he tries to hit most balls as far as he can and gets caught. If he wasn't so occasionally "reckless" then he would probably be averaging more but wouldn't be so famous because it's his rate of scoring and style that attracts attention.

 

[Gotchya]

Without all the riff raff he qualifies for the purpose of this thread ?

 

[Anil]

Yes but he doesn't average 35, he averages 40-41 which far outshines his OD average of 31...

As for him being a bit of a 6 or out player, I said "a bit of a", not that he WAS one. He will just get into a mode where he tries to hit most balls as far as he can and gets caught. If he wasn't so occasionally "reckless" then he would probably be averaging more but wouldn't be so famous because it's his rate of scoring and style that attracts attention.

In the first place, don't compare his test and ODI average. They are two very different forms of cricket.

He averages 32+ in ODIs, but more than that, it's his match winning abilities with both bat and ball that make him such a valuable asset to the Lankans.

In tests, I just listed out his averages against various countries and explained the reasons why i don't consider him a top quality batsman in that format.....