CA's top 20 batting performances in Australia since 2000

[TheJediBrah]

If I had a penny for every time I yelled at the tv telling Brett Lee to "bowl at the ****ing stumps" to the tailenders

 

[vcs]

Was pretty accurate while bowling to Piers Morgan though

 

[Daemon]

**** that was dangerous. Piers was an idiot to get in there with him (and in general) but Lee bowling normal pace targeting the guys midriff and head repeatedly was quite uncomfortable to watch.

 

[vcs]

Yeah it was a ball-clenching watch.

 

[Burgey]

**** that was dangerous. Piers was an idiot to get in there with him (and in general) but Lee bowling normal pace targeting the guys midriff and head repeatedly was quite uncomfortable to watch.

Yeah Morgan is a complete **** but Lee was way out of line there. Shows what a 24 carat pissant he really is.

 

[Burgey]

Reckon Johnson had a much more significant period of actually being good than Lee tbh. Lee was a lot like bad Mitch in that he would take wickets, but you could give up all semblance of control of both the run rate and the bastmen and you would find it incredibly difficult to bowl in partnerships and build pressure. Except for Lee that was close to his entire career and no one seemed to actually care that his stock ball in England was the short wide half tracker to a generation of batsmen all brought up on the cut shot with short square boundaries.

And obviously Lee never came vaguely close to Johnson's 2013/14 heights, especially away.

The comparison between these two blokes is a great demo of how a bowler's action effects reaction times for batsmen. Lee was faster than Johnson more often than not, but the latter's slingy action just made it so hard to pick up the ball out of his hand when he was on-song. 2013-14 was the closest thing to peak Thommo I've seen. Was horrifyingly magnificent. Every now and again, when I'm feeling down, I just flick on the YouTube highlights and revel in it.

 

[stephen]

I reckon Thommo was probably mid 150s. The slingy action makes it seem ten kph quicker, which is probably where a lot of hiss reputation comes from. Not that 155 is slow! But it seems like it's physically very difficult for even the fastest quicks to repeatedly hit 155+.

 

[honestbharani]

Reckon Johnson had a much more significant period of actually being good than Lee tbh. Lee was a lot like bad Mitch in that he would take wickets, but you could give up all semblance of control of both the run rate and the bastmen and you would find it incredibly difficult to bowl in partnerships and build pressure. Except for Lee that was close to his entire career and no one seemed to actually care that his stock ball in England was the short wide half tracker to a generation of batsmen all brought up on the cut shot with short square boundaries.

And obviously Lee never came vaguely close to Johnson's 2013/14 heights, especially away.

Yeah, I think I tend to let Brett Lee's ODI exploits get in the way a little bit, although Lee was particularly fierce during the 2003 series in Australia against Lara and Co. I honestly think it was the Windies wickets and Lara's genius that thwarted a Mitch like series, at least in terms of hostile bowling if not exactly in wickets. The plus for Mitch is the fact that he seemed to get more swing on the ball naturally off his action than Lee. That way I suppose you can say Johnson > Lee at their best.

 

[Flem274*]

lee's odi average perplexes me, but it's probably because he loved a good meltdown bowling at the death and those always stick in the memory. a new rock and no pressure turned him into a demon, but if the oppo took the game deep he couldn't deal.

johnson, for all his many meme days, had a good 2 or so years at the beginning where he was bowling almost ugly but effective pace. i remember posters on here getting real mad at batsmen collapsing to 'half volley off cutters' and the conclusion someone came to (pews?) was 150kph off cutters must just be harder to play than fans give credit for, which i found endearingly funny.

for younger posters, early johnson was kinda like a faster early wagner before he began wagnerball. sucker balls for catches at slip and short cover and yorkers aplenty with the odd bouncer to keep the batsman honest.

it wasn't classical fast bowling but johnson was really effective and did a really underrated job for australia during that time.

i feel like lee benefited greatly from getting a bowl at 2008 nz as well (who somehow did better pound for pound than 2020 nz)

 

[GoodAreasShane]

Frankly I don't think Lee went hard enough at Piers Morgan myself.


**** that bloke

 

[TheJediBrah]

lee's odi average perplexes me, but it's probably because he loved a good meltdown bowling at the death and those always stick in the memory. a new rock and no pressure turned him into a demon, but if the oppo took the game deep he couldn't deal.

johnson, for all his many meme days, had a good 2 or so years at the beginning where he was bowling almost ugly but effective pace. i remember posters on here getting real mad at batsmen collapsing to 'half volley off cutters' and the conclusion someone came to (pews?) was 150kph off cutters must just be harder to play than fans give credit for, which i found endearingly funny.

for younger posters, early johnson was kinda like a faster early wagner before he began wagnerball. sucker balls for catches at slip and short cover and yorkers aplenty with the odd bouncer to keep the batsman honest.

it wasn't classical fast bowling but johnson was really effective and did a really underrated job for australia during that time.

i feel like lee benefited greatly from getting a bowl at 2008 nz as well (who somehow did better pound for pound than 2020 nz)

I've said this a few times, but Lee never should have been used at the death in ODIs. He was terrible. Even when he got it right and beat the batsman more often than not he would top edge it for 6, or snick it past the keeper for 4.

He should have either just bowled out with the new rock or had one early spell and 1 or 2 quick spells through the middle looking for wickets. I've still never seen a more unplayable bowler with the new white ball when at his best, except maybe Bond.

 

[stephen]

Bond was basically Brett Lee but good.

 

[trundler]

Bond was basically Brett Lee but good.

Haha Red Hill said Donald was everything Lee could've been but wasn't. So by that logic Donald was Bond with a full career.

 

[stephen]

I think Bond and Lee were much closer. Both got more swing than Donald whereas Donald used his bounce more.

 

[TheJediBrah]

About all Bond and Lee had in common was that they bowled at pace. And both were white guys.

Lee was side on, Bond was front(ish) on
Lee bowled outies, Bond bowled innies
Lee was blonde, Bond had darker hair
Lee was fit af, Bond was made of glass

 

[vcs]

They were both handsome blokes, though I'd sooner turn for Bond than Lee.

 

[stephen]

Lee and Bond bowled with a similar trajectory and pace.

 

[TheJediBrah]

They were both handsome blokes, though I'd sooner turn for Bond than Lee.

I'd say Lee was more classically handsome, but he has a bit of a weasely look that I don't find attractive in a man. Bond has more charisma and would probably smash it at your local nightclub with a low cut polo or unbuttoned dress shirt, especially with that fringe swept back and to the side.

Not that I've thought about it much

 

[honestbharani]

Bond is an ex-cop. He wins at everything against Lee just for that.

 

[trundler]

Personally I'm not much into pigs