Is Bruce Mitchell the greatest clutch bat of all time?

[Coronis]

Fwiw (I don’t think average by 1/2/3/4 innings is a good metric at all - clutchness is very hard - perhaps impossible to quantify statistically imo) here are his 4th innings scores, alongside the match situations when he entered.

Opening:
Target 304 - 61* (match drawn 1/171)
Target 295 - 22 (match drawn 5/90)
Target 395 - 46 (match lost all out 225)
Target 148 - 53 (match won 2/150) - dismissed at 115
Target 340 - 58 (match drawn 5/194)
Target 271 - 48* (match drawn 2/169)
Target 324 - 48* (match drawn 1/108)
Target 227 - 4 (match drawn 1/166)
Target 451 - 189* (match drawn 7/423) - what a shame! (also made 120 in the first innings!)
Target 376 - 6 (match drawn 4/194)

Others

Target 317 - 74 (entered at 1/14, match drawn 7/280)
Target 229 - 20* (entered at 3/83, match drawn 4/142)

 

[honestbharani]

Is it wrong that I read the entire thread as AA showing up how bad saltshakerz's points are?

 

[Adorable Asshole]

Is it wrong that I read the entire thread as AA showing up how bad saltshakerz's points are?

I was just being provocative. I don't really believe Bruce Mitchell is the greatest clutch player. I partially made this thread to argue for Gavaskar being > Sachin.

 

[Adorable Asshole]

Bruce Mitchell only had 12 4th innings knocks. And of the 12 , 5 were not outs ..That's why I said you just looked at the average and made a post and if not I apologize. But come on brother there are cricketers out there with triple the amount of 4th innings knocks who have like 4 or 5 hundreds like chase master Younus Khan which should mean a whole lot more ..

If we are going that way then Gavaskar with 4 hundreds and an average of 58 is one of the greatest clutch player of all time. Especially since he played in the bowling friendly 70s and not the flat tracks of UAE in 2010s.

 

[OverratedSanity]

I just being provocative. I don't really believe Bruce Mitchell is the greatest clutch player. I partially made this thread to argue for Gavaskar being > Sachin.

Gavaskar was definitely a 4th innings legend. His final innings one of the greatest ever bad pitch knocks.

Not as good as Sachin though, he made some extremely soft overseas runs that aren't apparent until you dig into his record.

 

[Adorable Asshole]

Gavaskar was definitely a 4th innings legend. His final innings one of the greatest ever bad pitch knocks.

Not as good as Sachin though, he made some extremely soft overseas runs that aren't apparent until you dig into his record.

Still Sachin averages 37 in the 4th innings which no matter how you spin it is a big blot on his record.

 

[Jumno]

I've been watching cricket since the 90s

 

[Silver Silva]

Still Sachin averages 37 in the 4th innings which no matter how you spin it is a big blot on his record.

Also India didn't win a single Test away from home in the 90's in SA , West Indies , NZ , Australia , England and Zimbabwe which was his prime years , not Sachin's fault alone but he couldn't rally the troops to victory in any 4th innings chases unfortunately in most of the countries India toured

 

[Patience and Accuracy+Gut]

In all seriousness it has to be clearly Bradman.On top of my head that I can remember

Scored 230 odd in decider to win 1930 Ashes.2 double tons in last two matches in 1934 to win the Ashes.Cameback from 2-0 down scoring 270,240 odd and 170 to win the series.144 not out scoring slowest 100 to save the match in McCabe’s match and 102 in tough pitch to regain the Ashes.Also a 173 not out to save the winning streak chasing highest total in history.From what I can remember scored large chunk of team runs in 299 not out and 220 odd vs South Africa.

 

[Adorable Asshole]

In all seriousness it has to be clearly Bradman.On top of my head that I can remember

Scored 230 odd in decider to win 1930 Ashes.2 double tons in last two matches in 1934 to win the Ashes.Cameback from 2-0 down scoring 270,240 odd and 170 to win the series.144 not out scoring slowest 100 to save the match in McCabe’s match and 102 in tough pitch to regain the Ashes.Also a 173 not out to save the winning streak chasing highest total in history.From what I can remember scored large chunk of team runs in 299 not out and 220 odd vs South Africa.

Hobbs and Headley has better record on sticky wickets and I don't think there is anything tougher in cricket than batting on sticky wicket.

 

[Coronis]

Still Sachin averages 37 in the 4th innings which no matter how you spin it is a big blot on his record.

Not really. Lara averages 35 (clearly must not be clutch right?), Border averages 34, Waugh averages 25, Smith averages 28.

Conclusion: analysis by innings number is a horrible metric.

 

[trundler]

If we are going that way then Gavaskar with 4 hundreds and an average of 58 is one of the greatest clutch player of all time. Especially since he played in the bowling friendly 70s and not the flat tracks of UAE in 2010s.

"Tougher era" is way too broad a statement to apply to something specific like this. Batting in India in the 4th innings during Gavaskar's career wasn't really much of a challenge. He played on some really dead pitches that didn't break down much at home. The UAE pitches during YK's career most definitely did and to a much greater extent. By days 4 and 5 they offered quite a bit to the spinners. Gavaskar is still a legend for his double at The Oval and his daddy tons in his debut series but this was a really lazy criticism.

 

[Silver Silva]

Graeme Smith should also get a mention ..
Clutch century knock at Edgbaston 08 , 4th innings hundred in Perth chasing down 400 + in Australia..
Think SA never lost a test when he got a hundred

 

[Adorable Asshole]

Not really. Lara averages 35 (clearly must not be clutch right?), Border averages 34, Waugh averages 25, Smith averages 28.

Conclusion: analysis by innings number is a horrible metric.

No this just proves how good of a clutch player Kohli is compared to Smith. 2 centuries @47 vs 0 centuries @28.

 

[Shri]

Inzi second innings stats are epic

 

[Dendarii]

Think SA never lost a test when he got a hundred

They didn't. Smith made 27 centuries, all of which came in matches which South Africa won or drew.

Batting records | Test matches | Cricinfo Statsguru | ESPNcricinfo.com

stats.espncricinfo.com

 

[ashley bach]

You never heard about Bruce Mitchell? For shame. Go educate yourself on crickets great historical players and come back.

Was just about to give you some more stick like I did about 6 months ago when you freely admitted to being blind about the term Bazball (and more)
Couldn't possibly do that though once I saw your sincere apology. Kudos.

 

[ashley bach]

Graeme Smith should also get a mention ..
Clutch century knock at Edgbaston 08 , 4th innings hundred in Perth chasing down 400 + in Australia..
Think SA never lost a test when he got a hundred

Remember about 15 years ago when he came back to bat after breaking his hand to face the likes of Mitchell Johnson?
From memory they came up just a bit short, but yeah he was certainly a gutsy player. Similar to Elgar but just much more talented.

 

[Silver Silva]

Remember about 15 years ago when he came back to bat after breaking his hand to face the likes of Mitchell Johnson?
From memory they came up just a bit short, but yeah he was certainly a gutsy player. Similar to Elgar but just much more talented.

Superb player ..If you did not get him out in the first session you were in big trouble once he got his balance right , he scored quickly aswell ..My favorite knock of his was the double hundred at Lords on his captaincy series debut ..

 

[ashley bach]

Superb player ..If you did not get him out in the first session you were in big trouble once he got his balance right , he scored quickly aswell ..My favorite knock of his was the double hundred at Lords on his captaincy series debut ..

That series Smith was simply remarkable, scored over 700 runs at an average of about 80.
English fans must be sick and tired of great batsman with the name Smith.