Greatest test opener?

[FRAZ]

Hmm , for me the best opener of all time was Herb Sutcliffe , Hutton , Hobbs , Gavaskar , Boycott , Brown , Morris , Woodful all not far behind.

From todays batch I reckon Gary Kirsten , except he dosent open any more.
All the other contenders have great records yet dont quite come up to the mark of Kirsten IMO.
Smith - Technically flawed outside his off stump , yet to play against good bowling or in trying conditions.
Hayden - Can be a little over attacking to the point of arrogance , there is still a question mark over his ability when the ball is swinging through the air.
Vaughan - Technically almost perfect & a great temperament , but his patience has been tested lately.
Gibbs - The technique has improved out of sight since his test debut , but he still has problems with his feet being glued to the crease when the ball moves late.
Lacks patience.
Atapattu - Technically perfect , flawless game against both the spinners & quick bowlers , a decent range of shots which are superb to watch , the patience to bat for long periods against the best bowlers.
Only problem is that he's a very nervous starter , and while the footwork is superb when he gets set , its often pretty ordinary early on.
Thus why he averages around 40 rather than 50.
Richardson - Technically very sound , apart from the gate he leaves when he tries to drive at balls from over the wicket , Ive seen him get bowled like that a few to many times for my likeing , its almost as though he's trying to get outside the line of the ball rather than hit straight through it.
He's the most patient batsman in the world though.
Sehwag - Has the most prodigious hand/eye coordination & can hit the ball a mile , but he still has the back foot flaw (McGrath just wasnt there to expose it this summer ) & basically no foot movement at all.
He's been bloody lucky for a major part of his carear & he lacks the patience to do well against the best bowlers.

Hmm , ATM I'd pick Hayden & Atapattu as my opening combo.
But Id replace Hayden with Kirsten if he was still opening.

Good one

 

[Prince EWS]

If theres one thing RIchardson isnt, its a flat track bully!

 

[Sudeep]

Past - Sunil Gavaskar

Present - Matthew Hayden

Future - Greame Smith

 

[marc71178]

From todays batch I reckon Gary Kirsten , except he dosent open any more.

More accurately, he doesn't play any more.

Vaughan - Technically almost perfect & a great temperament , but his patience has been tested lately.

It wasn't tested in that knock in SL 2 Tests ago.

 

[Prince EWS]

I didnt know that Kirsten had retired! He played in the last test agaisnt West Indies......

I know he has retired from one day cricket, but I didnt think he had retired from test cricket yet. Are you positive?

 

[Neil Pickup]

Not sure. He was aiming for 100 Tests, 20 Centuries and 7,000 Runs.

He now has 98, 20 and 7,039.

It was supposed to fit perfectly to the end of the WI series but he missed the 3rd Test v England and 1st v WI.

 

[Craig]

Best ATM I'd say Richardson is a vastly overrated flat-track bully (contrary to seemingly-logical assumptions based on generalisations, the wickets he has played mostly on have offered very little to the seamers)

You didnt see the pitches for NZ v India in 02/03 did you?

 

[marc71178]

AFAIK he retired after the Windies series.

 

[Richard]

Richardson a flat track bully and Smith the best? Riiight...

Notice the difference in averages.
Yes, Smith is a flat-track bully too, but he's sure as hell a better one than Richardson.

 

[Richard]

AFAIK he retired after the Windies series.

They were definately still saying during The Last Test that they hoped to see him against us next summer.
Whether he said otherwise I don't know, but I'm sure we'd have heard if he had said for certain.
AFAIK it's still in the balance.

 

[Richard]

You didnt see the pitches for NZ v India in 02/03 did you?

Didn't see them, but I did hear about them.
Only other time I am aware he's played on those type of wickets was against us the previous season and Caddick and Hoggard exposed him ruthlessly. He was rather lucky in both innings' in which he scored half-centuries.

 

[Richard]

If theres one thing RIchardson isnt, its a flat track bully!

Let's see you show that by describing the pitches on which his Test batting has been done on, then.

 

[marc71178]

Yes, Smith is a flat-track bully too, but he's sure as hell a better one than Richardson.

Does Richardson have any major weaknesses? I wouldn't know, but I doubt it's as big as Smiths.

 

[Richard]

Not as pronounced, but I'm confident there are bowlers at my club who could exploit it.
Like many left-handers, swing the ball into him and he's cannon-fodder.

 

[Mr Mxyzptlk]

AFAIK he retired after the Windies series.

On the contrary. As Richard said, it's undecided. He really wants to play at least 100 Test, so he'll go for at least two more. Also, after his superb run of form in 2003, he made statements suggesting that he was reconsidering his retirement completely, thinking that he could (and he could) play for a few years yet.

I've also heard rumour that he was considering returning to ODIs also.

 

[marc71178]

Like many left-handers, swing the ball into him and he's cannon-fodder.

In that case Smith has 2 major weaknesses then :P

 

[Craig]

On the contrary. As Richard said, it's undecided. He really wants to play at least 100 Test, so he'll go for at least two more. Also, after his superb run of form in 2003, he made statements suggesting that he was reconsidering his retirement completely, thinking that he could (and he could) play for a few years yet.

I've also heard rumour that he was considering returning to ODIs also.

He should do that barring injury in the second Test against New Zealand.

And I should have the pleasure of watching him doing so. The luxeries of cable TV

 

[cbuts]

Let's see you show that by describing the pitches on which his Test batting has been done on, then.

rrichie has batted in just about every nation in the wrold - SA, Zim, WI, Pak, Ind, SL, Aus and most of his test have been in nz. his stats from the test series against indi show his true class, in the first test nz needed just 283 across their two innings, of which he got 103, and was only dismissed once. second test wasnt the greatest, but he still scored 40 runs, which was 1/5 of the nz total in the match.

richardson is certinally no flat track bully, very poor call. as i posted earlier, all time richardson has the lowest percentage of fails - fails being less than 15 - and to me thats wat a true test opener should be doing.

vaughn
TESTS
(including 18/12/2003)
M I NO Runs HS Ave SR 100 50
Batting 40 71 4 3118 197 46.53 50.79 10 8


richie
TESTS
(including 26/12/2003)
M I NO Runs HS Ave SR 100 50
Batting 28 48 3 2206 145 49.02 38.23 3 17

 

[marc71178]

all time richardson has the lowest percentage of fails - fails being less than 15 - and to me thats wat a true test opener should be doing.

I don't think that can be the main criteria though - a batsman who scores 16 every innings would have a 0% fail rate!!!

 

[michael_vaughan]

HI

Michael Vaughan The best opener

jane