'Class is forever-Form is Temporary' Are there any exceptions?

[Smudge]

When did Atherton have any class to start with? Well, when he was scoring runs against pretty much all the bowlers he's faced, as he did between 1990 and 2000.
Of course, we wouldn't really expect you to notice that.

Ooo, Richard's come back to Cricket Web with an 'edge'...

 

[Richard]

Hardly, I can't think I've ever had a good word to say about that fool.

 

[Langeveldt]

Cricket Player - Peaked too early one feels...

 

[Richard]

Peaking in one's own mind does not count.

 

[steds]

 

[Richard]

He's develoved a sense of humour too

No, my contempt for cricket player has merely intensified.
Anyway - ask Gerard - I always had one.

 

[Smudge]

Could someone please remove the image of Richard and cricket player "peaking" together from my head?

 

[Richard]

No.
Once it's there it'll stay there.
Anyway - you don't want it removed.

 

[Jungle Jumbo]

The fact is there are loads and loads of these players.
Some are noted widely, some not (Botham for instance).
Most players' careers go through phases - some can be divided into 3 parts - terrible, excellent, terrible (Mushtaq Ahmed and Gatting the two most obvious examples).
Some start well and fade away, most players start poorly and end poorly, some take ages to find their feet (Stephen Waugh, Tendulkar, the like), but there are loads and loads of examples.
'Tis why overall career averages aren't really too meaningful - especially if someone's had a lengthy career - and why engines like StatsGuru are such wonderful tools.

He was only 16 when he made his debut, and he didn't do too badly, just not as good as he became

Tendulkar's Test Career, Innings-by-Innings

 

[Richard]

Oh, quite, it was stupid to pick a 16-year-old.
Fact is, though, his career started poorly, because at 16 he was ill-equipped for the task. As pretty much everyone would be.

 

[Scaly piscine]

Vaughan only performed like a top quality batsman for little more than a year.

That's still a year longer than Atherton.