Imagine the hype if Flintoff produced the kind of knock Afridi just did.

[deeps]

Anyone who's prepared even to list bowling-averages doesn't really know much about ODI cricket (as you yourself even admitted in the Larsen case - exactly the same applies to Dharmasena).

Well, someone keeps saying that afridi's batting average of 22 is appauling and so he's crap. Again, averages don't show the worth of players in ODI's... The only reason I came up with that list, is because really, looking at it objectively, that's the only way to go about it. I can sit here saying "afridi's stats may be worse than Ponting, but Afridi is the better batsman"

Statistics is the only way (not saying it's accurate, but it's all we have) of comparing players.

Steve Waugh for example, only averages 32 as a batsman in ODI's, and only has 2 centuries to his name. Statistically, that's not very special at all, but we all know he was far better than that.

Afridi, though he only averages 22, is a real match winner due to his striking abilities. He has won countless matches for Pakistan with this lusty hitting, and it's something most teams would love to have. For example, Australia are currently persisting with Cameron White, who really is a late over hitter, who can sorta bowl 2 or 3 overs a game.

Compare that to Afridi, who can actually bowl out 10 overs consistently, and is also a very good striker, and it shows that if someone like Afridi was available to Australia, he would get games. Strikers like Afridi are very rare, and ones that can bowl as well as he can are even more so rare. The price you pay for a hitter like him, is the lack of consistency. Teams are prepared to sacrifice a wicket, for the chance of him coming of. Believe me, White is not in the Australian side for his batting consistency. If he was a ball nudger, he wouldn't be playing for Australia.

You obviously have a thing against his style of batting, but it's been damn succesful. It has its' risks, he understands that, and so does the PCB , the captain etc. In an ODI, it's worth the risk, because when he comes off, he will win you games.

The fact that you list Alistair Campbell as an OPENING batsman shows how much you know about that. Campbell was a middle-order batsman who sometimes opened. And he was actually very far from the wost ODI batsman you'll ever see, plenty and plenty better than Afridi could ever dream of being, and the fact that he doesn't bowl doesn't come close to reducing the deficit.
[/quuote]

Really? he opened the batting 77 times for Zimbabwe, which is more than he batted at any other position. in total, he batted in the middle order more, but it was never in one cemented position, 35 innings at 3, 24 at 4, 32 at 5, 13 at 6 and 2 at 7. If you look at most zimbabwe batsman, they have been shuffled all over the shop as well.

I've seen Campbell play on countless occasions, and he's a good bat..no doubt about it. His batting was not as destructive as Afridi's, he couldn't bowl, and his fielding wasn't up to Afridi standards.

in an ODI, 22@ a strike rate of 105, with a bowling average of 35 is just as good, if not better than a batting average of 30.50 at 66.19

Sure there are other factors, but they're all subjective aren't they.

Robin Singh mightn't have been the best all-rounder the game's ever seen, but again he was a damn sight better than Afridi simply because he wasn't someone who was expected to bat anywhere, he was always a lower-order biffer. He was probably a better bowler than Afridi, too.

Again, you're being subjective. Just because he batted with more composure than Afridi, and he batted with a more traditional style, you say he's a better player? India is a country that has been crying out for a quality all rounder, and yet Robin Singh could only manage that many games? Pakistan on the other hand, are a country PACKED with all rounders, and yet Afridi manages 230+ despite being so mediocre? give me a break.

Afridi prefers batting at 7, it's been said countless times, it's not his fault the captains try move him up to open the innings and all over the place. Robin Singh's hitting, was not a patch on Afridi's. Singh could hit 6's and all but he never destroyed an attack like afridi. His bowling was nothing special at all, and there's no way you could say it was better than afridi. You my friend are biased.

Mahanama, Gurasinha, Mahmood and Prasad were all far from top-class ODI players. But nor could they be said not to have been (with the exception of Mahmood) important cogs in their sides. There isn't too much between Afridi and Mahmood, though I've occasionally wondered what Mahmood might have done had he ever got the chances up the order that Razzaq did.

Afridi is a very important cog in the Pakistani One dayer side, and Bob Woolmer the coach has said it many times. Unless you know more than him, you are evidently wrong.

At the end of the day, cricket is about winning. Afridi has won many many games with the bat, and ball for Pakistan. His fielding is better than most players listed as well. So to say that he's the worst player to play 100 ODI's is a joke.

It's obvious you are just so biased against him you can't see past it.

 

[vic_orthdox]

Believe me, White is not in the Australian side for his batting consistency. If he was a ball nudger, he wouldn't be playing for Australia.

Yet it was only once he started making consistent runs for Victoria that he got a game. Funny that.

 

[deeps]

Yet it was only once he started making consistent runs for Victoria that he got a game. Funny that.

Was he the most consistent player in state cricket?no he wasn't, he wasn't even close.

Sure you have to be somewhat consistent... a decent score every few games is obviously a pre-requisite, and afridi generally does that.

And no, it's not one in 15 matches

 

[vic_orthdox]

White.
Ford Ranger: 7 innings. 314 runs @ 52.33 (SR 82.84), 2x50, 1x100. 8 wickets @ 32 (4.94 RPO)
Pura Cup: 8 innings. 341 runs @ 48.71, 2x50, 1x100

Over a short period of time, that's pretty consistent. Especially considering the, for want of a better word, explosiveness of his batting.

 

[deeps]

I'll admit, those stats are good, but it's only over a course of about 3 or 4 pura cup matches, and 7 one dayers.

Again, if he was a nudger of the ball, and took singles etc. and had those stats, he wouldn't have made it imo.

 

[Prince EWS]

Sure you have to be somewhat consistent... a decent score every few games is obviously a pre-requisite, and afridi generally does that.

Why does he only average 22 then?

He's not as bad as Richard makes him out to be and I'd certainly pick him in Pakistan's ODI team, but people carry on about him as if he is something special despite the fact that, other than his gimmicky big-hitting-at-all-costs attitude, he isn't. He can give you quick runs at times and his bowling is quite decent, but he's not the world-beating phenomenon (which I probably spelt wrong) which some delusional fans make him out to be.

 

[Arjun]

Ah, stuff it, I'll say it:

QUESTION: If it isn't asked before, where is that store? And how did you get that picture?

 

[Richard]

Ask Gelman. He was the one who founds the pics.

My guess would Japan, though...?

 

[PhoenixFire]

Which user is Zac Gelman?

 

[Richard]

pasag.