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Michael Clarke - all hype, no performance

Richard

Cricket Web Staff Member
aussie said:
nah you've got to be kidding...
Nope, I'm not. Clarke misfields are a relatively common thing, and while he's got about the most accurate arm going around at present and he's pretty athletic he's certainly not got good hands, and that's by quite a distance the most important part of fielding.
 

Richard

Cricket Web Staff Member
greg said:
I assume you think Gilchrist is rubbish because he gives A LOT of chances. Then again he knows that a large number of them will be dropped. It's called taking calculated risks.
Nope, no-one knows a lot of chances will be dropped.
And if you call guiding the ball straight to First-Slip or lobbing it straight to Extra-Cover "taking calculated risks" you're sadly mistaken - and that's what most Gilchrist drops tend to be from, not the stereotyped smash-to-Gully.
Oh, and another thing - no, I certainly don't think Gilchrist is "rubbish" - I do, though, think he's more than a little overrated, and given normal amounts of luck his Test-match average would be much closer to 40 than 50 and his ODI average closer to 30 than 35.
 

Top_Cat

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A chance ISN'T that complicated - most people can work-out what should and should not have been caught almost all the time. Of course there will be the odd thing where it's not easy to say whether or not it should have been caught. In those instances, the usual rule applies - benefit-of-doubt to batsman.
It over-simplifiies and introduces systematic quantitative bias into the equation. If you apply such simplistic criteria, of course the number of possible conclusions gets limited. It's logical but NOT correct or thorough.

am aware of that. We've done the whole subjective-vs-objective thing before, remember? That was precisely what I was trying to point-out when I mentioned the "fact" that we're all sitting here using a discussion forum - or is it just us all imagining it? Is that really the wall, or is it just everyone imagines it's there.
Don't give me that. You so don't take that approach. I've lost count of how many times have I read "X is correct and you'd be a fool to believe otherwise." from you. That's not stating an opinion at all but foistering yours upon others and rubbishing those who disagree. If what you're saying is true i.e. it's all opinion then you can't be as certain in your statements as you often say you are.

And as far as I'm concerned pretty much everything about cricket can't be and hasn't been "proven" in such a way as you talk about, so I see no reason why first-chance scores should be any different.
That's because most data-related things in cricket are descriptive stats. People judge a player on their average and rarely has there been further research into what the numbers mean because it's a sport, not an area of research.

My point remains - don't talk about first-chances like it's fact when it's opinion. It's that simple. And try not to act so surprised when people like me ask for proof or others just ignore it.

Oh, and another thing - no, I certainly don't think Gilchrist is "rubbish" - I do, though, think he's more than a little overrated, and given normal amounts of luck his Test-match average would be much closer to 40 than 50 and his ODI average closer to 30 than 35.
You do understand that the term 'normal amounts of of luck' is a contradiction in terms, right?
 

marc71178

Eyes not spreadsheets
Top_Cat said:
It over-simplifiies and introduces systematic quantitative bias into the equation.
As a case in pint as to what is a chance or not - I aske people what they think of the Pietersen-Tait one at the Oval...
 

Top_Cat

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As a case in pint as to what is a chance or not - I aske people what they think of the Pietersen-Tait one at the Oval...


You'll have to remind of what happened there.

And the irony of using the word 'pint' in relation to the Ashes win is just awesome. The Freudian slip of Freudian slips!
 

tooextracool

International Coach
Richard said:
Was it? We all know how much pace being down can be misinterpreted.
I'd be very interested to see some average-paces at the 4 Tests.
oh they very well can be, in fact almost everyone bar hoggard bowled below their normal pace in the 4th test. even simon jones was bowling in the low 80s, although i'd think that had to do with the fact that he was trying to make up for the lack of pace with a bit more accuracy and plenty of swing.
but i too would be interested in seeing the average paces, but from what i saw flintoff he looked to be bowling within himself
 

aussie

Hall of Fame Member
Richard said:
Nope, I'm not. Clarke misfields are a relatively common thing, and while he's got about the most accurate arm going around at present and he's pretty athletic he's certainly not got good hands, and that's by quite a distance the most important part of fielding.
Clarke has good hands mayn i cant remember him dropping too many sitters or misfielding many of recent other than the sehwag drop on sunday...
 
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Richard

Cricket Web Staff Member
Hmm, I wonder why that might be...
Clarke has definately dropped plenty and plenty of the things in the 2 years he's been established in the Australian team.
 

Richard

Cricket Web Staff Member
Top_Cat said:
It over-simplifiies and introduces systematic quantitative bias into the equation. If you apply such simplistic criteria, of course the number of possible conclusions gets limited. It's logical but NOT correct or thorough.
FCOL, and the system of pretending luck does not exist IS correct or thorough? Not if you ask me.
Don't give me that. You so don't take that approach. I've lost count of how many times have I read "X is correct and you'd be a fool to believe otherwise." from you. That's not stating an opinion at all but foistering yours upon others and rubbishing those who disagree. If what you're saying is true i.e. it's all opinion then you can't be as certain in your statements as you often say you are.
And of course you've never heard that from anyone else?
I may be "foistering my opinion on others" as you put it but I'm certainly not rubbishing anything. Whenever I write that or something along it's lines it's because I believe it implicitly and I do find it rather foolish to think otherwise.
And as I say - tec uses the exact same phraseology ATT, and how many times have you counted marc writing "England performed at 75% and South Africa were lucky not to lose more than 2-1" as if it were the most blatant fact in The World? If you haven't, I can assure you it's many!
That's because most data-related things in cricket are descriptive stats. People judge a player on their average and rarely has there been further research into what the numbers mean because it's a sport, not an area of research.

My point remains - don't talk about first-chances like it's fact when it's opinion. It's that simple. And try not to act so surprised when people like me ask for proof or others just ignore it.
Then why talk about anything statistical-related like? The idea that an overall scorebook average is a worthwhile way of judging someone is equally an opinion, and if you ask me it's a flawed one.
Until someone can give me a good reason why first-chance scores aren't a fairly straightforward thing that needs no statistical "proving" I see no reason why I should not use them as as much "fact" as anything in the game ever is.
You do understand that the term 'normal amounts of of luck' is a contradiction in terms, right?
No, enlighten me?
 
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Richard

Cricket Web Staff Member
marc71178 said:
As a case in pint as to what is a chance or not - I aske people what they think of the Pietersen-Tait one at the Oval...
So does anyone really think he could have caught that?
I certainly don't.
You, obviously, will, just to try and muddy the waters, so don't even bother with that one.
 

age_master

Hall of Fame Member
Richard said:
Nope, I'm not. Clarke misfields are a relatively common thing, and while he's got about the most accurate arm going around at present and he's pretty athletic he's certainly not got good hands, and that's by quite a distance the most important part of fielding.

alot of Clarke's misfields most fielders wouldn't have got near
 

age_master

Hall of Fame Member
Richard said:
So does anyone really think he could have caught that?
I certainly don't.
You, obviously, will, just to try and muddy the waters, so don't even bother with that one.

well harder chances have been taken, it was certainly a chance.
 

age_master

Hall of Fame Member
Richard said:
In other words "I can't think of an answer to that one".

no more like, you have no idea.

personally, i put great pride into my fielding - its certainly much better than any other part of my game ;) - but anyways, i know that i know much more about fielding than most, and from what you have said particularly than you but you wont change your mind so i cant be bothered
 

age_master

Hall of Fame Member
Mister Wright said:
Clarke's coming up on 12 months without a test hundred and in the 13 tests since then he has only made 2 50s. His calendar year average is 31. It is time for him to perform consistently.

well i think that will be broken pretty soon - was always going to be tough touring NZ and England - than again he did better than most in England
 

Mister Wright

Cricket Web: All-Time Legend
age_master said:
well i think that will be broken pretty soon - was always going to be tough touring NZ and England - than again he did better than most in England
It also includes two tests against New Zealand and three tests against Pakistan at home.
 

Top_Cat

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Clarke has definately dropped plenty and plenty of the things in the 2 years he's been established in the Australian team.
Clarke has only been in the team for a year. IN fact, he completed his first Test a year ago yesterday.

http://aus.cricinfo.com/db/ARCHIVE/2004-05/AUS_IN_IND/SCORECARDS/AUS_IND_T1_06-10OCT2004.html

FCOL, and the system of pretending luck does not exist IS correct or thorough? Not if you ask me.
Who said it doesn't exist? No-one, that's who. I certainly did. It's the proportion of stuff you attribute to luck or attempt to explain away with the term which is the problem.

And as I say - tec uses the exact same phraseology ATT, and how many times have you counted marc writing "England performed at 75% and South Africa were lucky not to lose more than 2-1" as if it were the most blatant fact in The World? If you haven't, I can assure you it's many!
Yeah of course I've noticed them say that and in TEC's case (mostly in the official threads so that would explain why you haven't seen it), I've said something and in Marc's case, it's pretty clear he's speaking his mind. At least neither of them state their opinion and point to some idea like first-chances (I don't tlike everyone calling it a 'theory'; theories require proof and lots of it), as if to confer greater legitimacy to their opinions or something.

Then why talk about anything statistical-related like? The idea that an overall scorebook average is a worthwhile way of judging someone is equally an opinion, and if you ask me it's a flawed one.
When used in isolation, of course. At least their objective fact (descriptive stats of a player I mean) so that automatically makes them >>>>> than first-chance average.

Until someone can give me a good reason why first-chance scores aren't a fairly straightforward thing that needs no statistical "proving" I see no reason why I should not use them as as much "fact" as anything in the game ever is.
Even without actually analysing it numerically, a few posters have done exactly that in the other thread.

No, enlighten me?
There is no 'normal' amount of luck. 'Normal' infers being able to quantify (i.e. 'normal' amount of rain for the year) and luck one cannot quantify as it's random and subjective. Not without applying very strict and highly subjective criteria to it.
 
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greg

International Debutant
Richard said:
So does anyone really think he could have caught that?
I certainly don't.
You, obviously, will, just to try and muddy the waters, so don't even bother with that one.
I think a number of fielders in the Australian team would have caught it (or at least got into a position where it could be classed as a 'chance' under the chance theories). Again we're back to luck being about more than whether a batsman is dropped or not.

Tait fielding at fineleg = Pietersen wasn't lucky.
Ponting fielding at fineleg and dropping it = Pietersen being lucky.

Seeing as Pietersen would have played the shot regardless of who was fielding there, we have a logical fallacy and the only conclusion can be that Pietersen was 'lucky'.
 

social

Cricket Web: All-Time Legend
Richard said:
No, he doesn't. That's clearly the view of someone who's seen an extremely limited amount of him.
Pietersen usually gets into good positions and has much, much better hands than Clarke.
You're kidding, right?

KP couldnt catch a cold nor stop a bus.

Clarke is brilliant but inconsistent.

At present, KP is just plain useless.
 
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