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Jacques Kallis vs Ricky Ponting

Who is the greater test batsman?


  • Total voters
    41

subshakerz

Hall of Fame Member
Once we remove Bangladesh and Zimbabwe stat padding from Kallis' record (since Ponting barely played them) and account for the fact that Ponting artificially extended his retirement by 2-3 lame years years as his team needed it, Ponting just on raw numbers should be ahead.

Add to the fact that Ponting was one of the most dominant bats of any era and scored runs @15 runs faster while batting at no.3, plus is ahead of peer rating too as a bat, and he should easily be ahead.
 

capt_Luffy

Cricketer Of The Year
Once we remove Bangladesh and Zimbabwe stat padding from Kallis' record (since Ponting barely played them) and account for the fact that Ponting artificially extended his retirement by 2-3 lame years years as his team needed it, Ponting just on raw numbers should be ahead.

Add to the fact that Ponting was one of the most dominant bats of any era and scored runs @15 runs faster while batting at no.3, plus is ahead of peer rating too as a bat, and he should easily be ahead.
Once we add the bowling load Kallis has and add to that the disparity in home conditions and that he himself had a bad last few years; the difference in their averages is quite reflective of the gap between them.
 

kyear2

International Coach
Once we add the bowling load Kallis has and add to that the disparity in home conditions and that he himself had a bad last few years; the difference in their averages is quite reflective of the gap between them.
You had me up until that sentence.
 

subshakerz

Hall of Fame Member
Once we add the bowling load Kallis has and add to that the disparity in home conditions and that he himself had a bad last few years; the difference in their averages is quite reflective of the gap between them.
The bowling load is irrelevant. I can't believe you would even give that point.

Kallis' home conditions sure is a feather in his cap though a somewhat overstated point on CW.
 

subshakerz

Hall of Fame Member
WTAF is "artificially extending one's retirement"??
Ponting admitted that he would have retired 3 or 4 years earlier but the team was too young and there weren't decent bats to replace him yet.

I am willing to discount then him for having a longer than normal dip towards the end. Same as I also account for the impact on record for a player who debuts exceptionally young.

 

kyear2

International Coach
The bowling load is irrelevant. I can't believe you would even give that point.

Kallis' home conditions sure is a feather in his cap though a somewhat overstated point on CW.
Think bowling is actually a valid point. For Kallis less than Sobers, but still must have been a bit of an additional burden to over come.
 

subshakerz

Hall of Fame Member
Think bowling is actually a valid point. For Kallis less than Sobers, but still must have been a bit of an additional burden to over come.
I am not giving extra batting points to Kallis for that. That is a basic expectation as an all-rounder to manage dual roles. Besides, we are talking an overage of 10 overs an innings.
 

Coronis

International Coach
Ponting admitted that he would have retired 3 or 4 years earlier but the team was too young and there weren't decent bats to replace him yet.

I am willing to discount then him for having a longer than normal dip towards the end. Same as I also account for the impact on record for a player who debuts exceptionally young.

So he would have retired at 34 like AB and KP and Cook? Wouldn’t be criticised for that either.
 

Bolo.

International Captain
Kallis' home conditions sure is a feather in his cap though a somewhat overstated point on CW.
Do you think this is true in relation to Ponting? I don't think conditions were that different between AUS and RSA at the start of their careers, but they diverged pretty heavily.

Look at the 3 highest averaging bats from each team from the 2000s, who have counterparts with comparable batting positions and overall records.

Hayden, Clarke and Hussey averaged about 41 away and 60 home.
Smith, Amla and AB averaged about 45 home and 52 away.

Obviously, these six are a wonky sample, and runs in RSA were not worth ~70% more. But they were worth a lot more. More than a feather in the cap for Kallis. Unless you are a big believer in away records being >>> home records. Which I do kinda agree with. But which still reflects extremely well on Kallis.
 

Johan

State Vice-Captain
It's not really a one to one comparison tbf because in SA , Kallis isn't facing his own pace bowlers who exploited those conditions better than anyone else. But yeah, definitely tougher conditions to bat in overall in that era than Australia.
this is actually true, upon taking a closer look it reveals that South Africa in South Africa have the average of 36 while Australia is Australia is 45 tho take this with a grain of salt because 2000s Australia was a monster side, RSA definitely seems tougher tho.
 

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