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Cook Vs the WI quartet of the 80s

Shady Slim

International Coach
All good, nah I want Cook to do well, which is why I specifically mentioned that him being so overrated was through "no fault of his own"


To get another 8000 runs and 27 tons (more than double what he already has) he's going to have to play a long time. Not sure how much "sooner" he can do it. He'll have to go to the very end.
i'm thinking that ideally he would rather say, try to get the majority now and leave the rest for the latter half of his career than get a few now and have to get the majority in the latter half
 

Red

The normal awards that everyone else has
if he is going to do it though i feel he'd like to get it sooner rather than later just in case late career injuries affect his propensity to get the record
Yes this is true if he's going to do he has to do it before he can't do it.
 

G.I.Joe

International Coach
lol Cook. Best bowler in the world is the one who whinges about not being able to sledge opposition players any more.
 

flibbertyjibber

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Hahaha. I'm okay with that because he said "in my eyes". That's clear "captain pumping up his players" talk imo
Exactly, and in any case he is the best in Cook's lifetime so it isn't such a bad statement given he hasn't seen Trueman, Larwood, Botham, Willis, Snow etc... with his own eyes.
 

Lillian Thomson

Hall of Fame Member
Very surprised to see weldone with "Banned" under his name. Previously when I've been reading this forum he seemed to be a rather dull statsmonger (which many might say would be reason enough to ban him).
 

Migara

International Coach
Cook may be right about the pace, but WI quickies were unbelievably skillful and read the batsmen. Less protection would have helped to put some intimidation in, but I don't think WI quicks will make the players like SRT, Waugh, Sanga, KP, De Silva, Inzy or Ponting to **** in their pants. They may get these batesmen out cheaply, but not via intimidation, but via skill.These players hit the crap out of fastest bowlers in the cricket history, so they must be real good against that sort of lines.
 
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vic_orthdox

Global Moderator
At the Academy, they used to put everyone in the nets facing fast bouncers on the ball machine, and Punter was the best at it - wearing a cap.

This was in his first trip, still under 18.
 

sambha

Cricket Spectator
I agree with what cook said about today's players better than past but there is no way he would have survived the pace quartet of 80's.
maybe some of the other batsman of this era might but definitely not cook
 

Cabinet96

Hall of Fame Member
Yeah, his struggles are hardly sheer pace and short deliveries. Pretty sure Johnson at Adelaide is the only time I've seen him genuinely bounced out.
 

OverratedSanity

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why not?

despite his horrendous form he's actually pretty good on the back shoe.
Yeah, his struggles are hardly sheer pace and short deliveries. Pretty sure Johnson at Adelaide is the only time I've seen him genuinely bounced out.
Yeah but the quartet were more than just bouncers through. It's a weapon they used well, but they've had this false label thumped on them that they were just brutal bouncer machines. Garner and Holding were accurate as **** and could work batsmen out, and Marshall could do literally everything.
 

Top_Cat

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Yeah, his struggles are hardly sheer pace and short deliveries. Pretty sure Johnson at Adelaide is the only time I've seen him genuinely bounced out.
Yeah, Cook always has time. Would argue he was mainly bounced out by the pressure of the series.

Cook would have done OK because he doesn't play a million different shots.
Yep. The guys who did well against the WI of the 80's weren't at all technically perfect nor were they nick-and-nudge guys (Vengsarkar and Lamb, for example) but damn if they didn't absolutely nail their money shots because they knew they wouldn't get many opportunities. Generally you had to play the pull well but being able to cut well was more crucial I think.
 

Migara

International Coach
There weren't much players who were murderous on short bowling during WI dominance, other than from WI or as in rebel tours from SAF. I cannot recall any one hooking 95mph bouncers as well as Ponting / Inzy / Aravinda (of course Viv, but he rarely faced his own battery) or intimidating fastest of bowlers not to bowl short. Wasim, Waqar, Akthar, Lee, Donald, Ambrose and Walsh were all quick (former few I think are easily quicker than most WI bowlers), but never were daring enough to bounce Aravinda. Same would apply for Ponting and Inzy. Players who are good at pull / hook / cut would have better chance of playing good pace bowling rather than players who are good on their front foot.
 

Red

The normal awards that everyone else has
Would love to see Ponting in his pomp facing Holding and Roberts in theirs.
 

marc71178

Eyes not spreadsheets
There weren't much players who were murderous on short bowling during WI dominance, other than from WI or as in rebel tours from SAF. I cannot recall any one hooking 95mph bouncers as well as Ponting / Inzy / Aravinda (of course Viv, but he rarely faced his own battery) or intimidating fastest of bowlers not to bowl short. Wasim, Waqar, Akthar, Lee, Donald, Ambrose and Walsh were all quick (former few I think are easily quicker than most WI bowlers), but never were daring enough to bounce Aravinda. Same would apply for Ponting and Inzy. Players who are good at pull / hook / cut would have better chance of playing good pace bowling rather than players who are good on their front foot.

I'd love to see footage of these tons of 95mph bowlers that seem to have suddenly appeared into that period of cricket.
 

Migara

International Coach
I'd love to see footage of these tons of 95mph bowlers that seem to have suddenly appeared into that period of cricket.
Don't need to go far. 1994, on green SSC track against Waqar and Wasim in full cry, 120 in a SR of 80 on the first day of a test. Unfortunately cannot find footage of it, but Wasim and Waqar looked shell shocked by the treatment they got. Ponting has fair few centuries playing Akthar, definitely a yard quicker than quickest of the WI bolwers.You can check those footages as well.
 

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