Best young Batsman in World Cricket today

[JASON]

Hamish Marshall

 

[chaminda_00]

At 20 years old, Alastair Cook is definitely up there. By the time he is 25 he will be in the test team and doing very nicely thank you very much.

How close is he to the ODI side, i thought he would be very close after his performances in Sri Lanka for the A team. Also how did he go this season?

 

[superkingdave]

How close is he to the ODI side, i thought he would be very close after his performances in Sri Lanka for the A team. Also how did he go this season?

doesn't really play OD domestic cricket, although he did get a couple of games at the end of the season. Nevertheless, i wouldn't put it past the selectors to select him of ODI's.

 

[chaminda_00]

doesn't really play OD domestic cricket, although he did get a couple of games at the end of the season. Nevertheless, i wouldn't put it past the selectors to select him of ODI's.

Was he injured or out of favour, i noticed he scored over 1,000 runs @ 50odd runs, so he was probably out of favour?

 

[superkingdave]

Was he injured or out of favour, i noticed he scored over 1,000 runs @ 50odd runs, so he was probably out of favour?

Essex had a pretty stellar National League season, they only lost one match out of 16, so there wasn't the opportunities to break in to the side given his poor record.Before the last 2 innings of the season he'd yet to score a 50 in 17 innings but then scored 2 in the last two matches of the year. I'd expect to see him have a regular place next year

 

[open365]

Clarke needs to tighten his technique up a lot if he's going to be world class.

 

[Tom Halsey]

Essex had a pretty stellar National League season, they only lost one match out of 16, so there wasn't the opportunities to break in to the side given his poor record.Before the last 2 innings of the season he'd yet to score a 50 in 17 innings but then scored 2 in the last two matches of the year. I'd expect to see him have a regular place next year

Love hearing that.

 

[matty1818]

Lord Nasser of Hussain, fat Bob and the Ramps master general, no doubt, no doubt in my mind!

 

[Richard]

Clarke is talented. As you mentioned, playes a lot of strokes - so comfortably/with such ease.

Scoring a lot of runs has more to do with application of talent, honing skills, maturity than just talent itself.

Scoring runs has to do with talent and it's application.
Clarke is IMO nowhere near as talented as most make-out, and certainly lacks plenty in application.

 

[aussie]

Scoring runs has to do with talent and it's application.
Clarke is IMO nowhere near as talented as most make-out, and certainly lacks plenty in application.

hmm i disagree all the accolades Pup gets about his ability has been fair to date IMO, while i see nothing wrong with his application only problem he has was with his techinique, once thats sorted out he'll be fine.

 

[Richard]

Nothing wrong with defensive technique, it's all shot-selection.
Drives too much, and hits the ball in the air far too much.
I see with interest that he scored 398 for once out at one point in the Pura Cup...

 

[adharcric]

What about Yuvraj now? He's turning into a mature batsman now, blistering form of late.

 

[Butterteeth]

Pup's a goodun

Nothing wrong with defensive technique, it's all shot-selection.
Drives too much, and hits the ball in the air far too much.
I see with interest that he scored 398 for once out at one point in the Pura Cup...

I think that almost hits the nail on the head with Clarke.
His youthful exuberance often gets the better of him.
When he was dropped from the test team, he went back to Pura Cup and collected a double ton. He may just be learning.

I think he suffered a bit from the 'second season curse'.
Scored 150 on debut in India and followed that up with another ton against NZ is his first home test and suddenly he was the wunderkind with lots of media focus and attention. Dare I say he got a bit carried away with himself?
He will definitely be back - and he has the talent to back it up.
Don't be suprised if he's back in the test team before the end of the coming tour of South Africa.

 

[danish]

Kamran Akmal and Salman Butt are huge prospects for the Pakistan team, although Salman Butt's technique is suspect against good quality swing bowling, as Irfan Pathan showed. Kamran Akmal however, could go a long way as a keeper/batsman as he can get Pakistan off to quick start at the top of the order, and can bat lower down the order in test matches when his team is struggling. He's no Gilchrist, but he can become one of the top keeper/batsmen in the future as long as Pakistan uses him properly. He may face competition by Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who can decimate opposition bowling attacks. He has the highest score ever by a wicketkeeper and has an excellent strike rate of 107. He's reasonably sharp behind the stumps as well. India has a number of hot batting prospects such as Yuvraj Singh, who has performed brilliantly against Pakistan in the current series. He has excellent technique and a very healthy strike rate. India also has Irfan Pathan, who can develop into one the the world's top allrounders, but has a weakness against short bowling, which was exploited by Pakistan.

 

[Butterteeth]

Clarke also refers to himself in the third person too often...

"Michael Clarke will be fine"
(or words to that effect after he got dropped from the test team)

He's gotta stop doing that.

Really he does...

 

[Richard]

I think that almost hits the nail on the head with Clarke.
His youthful exuberance often gets the better of him.
When he was dropped from the test team, he went back to Pura Cup and collected a double ton. He may just be learning.

I think he suffered a bit from the 'second season curse'.
Scored 150 on debut in India and followed that up with another ton against NZ is his first home test and suddenly he was the wunderkind with lots of media focus and attention. Dare I say he got a bit carried away with himself?
He will definitely be back - and he has the talent to back it up.
Don't be suprised if he's back in the test team before the end of the coming tour of South Africa.

I won't be.
However - "youthful exuberance" is IMO a poor excuse. 1) it's not like Clarke hasn't been playing for, what, 4 or 5 seasons now? 2) just because you're young, you don't have to be exuberant - most players are exuberant at the current time.
I don't think it can be called "second-season-syndrome" either - Clarke played 5 Tests within just over a month, averaging 67.62. Since then he's averaged 25.28 in 22 innings, and that'd be even lower if Pietersen had caught the Lord's-second-innings catch.
His "honeymoon" didn't last a season, it lasted from early October to mid November.

 

[Jono]

For players that have only recently emerged and are now making a name for themselves, rather than players who have been around for 2-3+ years now but are still young (Eg. Yuvraj, Clarke, Marshall) I'd say that Akmal tops the list. His batting in the 3rd test was absolutely phenomenal, and he has the technique and shot selection to go a long way in both forms of the game. I too am also a big fan of Salman Butt and obviously Dhoni cannot go without a mention with his ODI form been magnificent.

 

[howardj]

Clarke also refers to himself in the third person too often...

"Michael Clarke will be fine"
(or words to that effect after he got dropped from the test team)

He's gotta stop doing that.

Really he does...

You know a person has a huge ego when they refer to themselves in the 3rd person.

 

[howardj]

(Seymour) Butt is the best young player around, I reckon.

Potentially a great player.

 

[howardj]

Nothing wrong with defensive technique, it's all shot-selection.
...

I strongly disagree with that. Look at his modes of dismissal in Test matches. So often he gets caught on the crease - neither forward or back - and gets LBW or caught behind. I don't think it does him any good to have people around him (his Manager; his NSW coach) just write his demise off to poor shot selection. In my view, he must work on not getting caught on the crease as often as he does. Otherwise, a fine talent with enormous potential.