Michael Clarke - all hype, no performance

[Zinzan]

Michael Clarke's not the first classy batsmen to be undone in NZ conditions and he won't be the last.

Zaheer Abbas, Viv Richards, Sehwag to name a few...

personally i think Clarke is an incredibly talented batsmen who might stick around long enough to score well over 10,000 test runs.

 

[SJS]

Michael Clarke's not the first classy batsmen to be undone in NZ conditions and he won't be the last.

Zaheer Abbas, Viv Richards, Sehwag to name a few...

personally i think Clarke is an incredibly talented batsmen who might stick around long enough to score well over 10,000 test runs.

I too felt, even before he played in tests that he was spomething special. It was not just his batting skills but the way he went about the job as if he had been at it for a decade.

 

[Jnr.]

I actually disagree. I think he's been going out too hard as soon as he came to the crease, when he is clearly vulnerable early in his innings in the same way Ponting is. When he tried to get himself set (under the advice of Ponting, I believe) in the third test he looked good, until of course he was unfortunately run out, through no real fault of his own.

He didn't look good - Fleming dropped a sitter off him at slip a few balls before he was run out. Through no real fault of his own? Gillespie played the ball into the covers, called "Wait!" three times, but Clarke just kept on coming until it was too late. Clarke had no one else to blame but himself for that one.

I don't know what it is, but he has looked a very different player since the start of the Pakistan series, he has been very fidgety at the crease. He looked woeful in NZ, IMO.

I hope he gets his form back soon, because he's fantastic to watch when running hot.

 

[Zinzan]

He didn't look good - Fleming dropped a sitter off him at slip a few balls before he was run out. Through no real fault of his own? Gillespie played the ball into the covers, called "Wait!" three times, but Clarke just kept on coming until it was too late. Clarke had no one else to blame but himself for that one.

I don't know what it is, but he has looked a very different player since the start of the Pakistan series, he has been very fidgety at the crease. He looked woeful in NZ, IMO.

I hope he gets his form back soon, because he's fantastic to watch when running hot.

As I said earlier, he's not the first excellent batsmen to stuggle in NZ conditions. Most overseas batsmen seem to do better on their 2nd tour of New Zealand because they are more aware of what to expect. Clarke seems a very strong backfoot player which means he would naturally struggle in New Zealand conditions and did. I sure he will be back and when he does come back to NZ, he'd have learn't to play foward where ever possible.

 

[FaaipDeOiad]

He didn't look good - Fleming dropped a sitter off him at slip a few balls before he was run out. Through no real fault of his own? Gillespie played the ball into the covers, called "Wait!" three times, but Clarke just kept on coming until it was too late. Clarke had no one else to blame but himself for that one.

I don't know what it is, but he has looked a very different player since the start of the Pakistan series, he has been very fidgety at the crease. He looked woeful in NZ, IMO.

I hope he gets his form back soon, because he's fantastic to watch when running hot.

He was dropped the next morning, I was referring to the previous evening when he spent a while at the crease and got set. And as far as the run out is concerned, I meant that it was not his own fault with regard to his batting. Whether he was run out because of his own error or someone elses is really irrelevant, being run out always means you haven't been dismissed by a bowler.

 

[aussie]

aussie

Exactly. Which is exactly why people such as myself were saying on here he was picked too early. Yes he started with a bang but in my view (no different to what it was months ago), it was only a matter of time before he got found out. He's been found out outside off-stump and it's now up to him to fix it. Only problem is, he'll have to fix it at Test level because he likely won't play interstate cricket for a while. This will make it FAR tougher for him.

Now for another prediction; his 'not-getting-right-to-the-pitch-of-the-ball' fault now exposed, how long before Clarke becomes hesitant agianst the short ones? It's all too easy to belt bowlers around when the pressure isn't on you to score runs and confidence is at 100000% but with his confidence waning a bit after recent failures, well we'll see right?

thats right top cat, thats my view has well pup was picked too early, but he has emmence talent an ya never know what the future holds for him, if i am corect mark waugh started with a bang and had a few failures e.g (in sri lanka in 1993) but the selectors persisted with him and well we all know what a great carrer he had

 

[Mister Wright]

thats right top cat, thats my view has well pup was picked too early, but he has emmence talent an ya never know what the future holds for him, if i am corect mark waugh started with a bang and had a few failures e.g (in sri lanka in 1993) but the selectors persisted with him and well we all know what a great carrer he had

Mark Waugh was 25 when he made his debut, he had plenty of first class experience under his belt before he started. IIRC he was dropped early in his career, and came back.

 

[Son Of Coco]

It's not that he had a poor series, it's the way he got out, edging to 1st slip. Now if you're slashing & get caught @ 2nd or 3rd, or if you get a jaffer & caught by the keeper - fair enough, but to be continually caught at first slip is a technical floor.

Well, we've got a technical floor at our house, and everyone seems to quite like it!

I think if you're continually doing any of the above apart from getting a good ball then you have a technical flaw.

 

[Son Of Coco]

Yeah, but the thing is SJS, he is all hype over here without the performance. He has struggled at first class level, barely getting his average near 40. He has been talked up as the next big thing, and people are saying things like he should not be discouraged by getting out playing attacking shots, when the situation hasn't called for it. The media just love him, and gave him the attention to get into the International side, I just hope they apply the same scrutiny to his failures.

He has performed ok so far apart from the last series or so...but then I'm not sure what you class as 'performing'. His performance against NZ at home was fine. His performance against India was obviously fine. As other's have said, it's a bit early to be pointing the finger. If he continues in the same vein as NZ for another series then I'd be getting a little worried.

 

[Jnr.]

And as far as the run out is concerned, I meant that it was not his own fault with regard to his batting. Whether he was run out because of his own error or someone elses is really irrelevant, being run out always means you haven't been dismissed by a bowler.

To me, the misjudgement of that run out, and his ignoring of Gillespie's call spoke volumes about his state of mind - very nervous.

 

[Mister Wright]

Well, we've got a technical floor at our house, and everyone seems to quite like it!

I think if you're continually doing any of the above apart from getting a good ball then you have a technical flaw.

Damn! I need to proof-read.

 

[Mister Wright]

He has performed ok so far apart from the last series or so...but then I'm not sure what you class as 'performing'. His performance against NZ at home was fine. His performance against India was obviously fine. As other's have said, it's a bit early to be pointing the finger. If he continues in the same vein as NZ for another series then I'd be getting a little worried.

Just look at his first class career. He has never been a consistent performer and his mediocre average proves it.

 

[Richard]

hahahahahahahahaha...so when you hit the stumps and the guy is out this is not a good thing?

No, it's a good thing, but it doesn't matter much, because for every run-out there's maybe 9 or 10 catches... and that's in ODIs. In Test-matches it's probably nearer 30.

I think you'll find part of what leads up to a run out is the ball being 'picked up cleanly'.

Obviously, but he's not always done that.

Having seen Clarke field out here this summer I think he goes alright.

And having seen Clarke field for more than this winter I think he goes poorly.

 

[Richard]

what if you're wrong...

Just because an idea is original doesn't make it a good one. I don't ask anyone else what they think when forming my opinons on cricketers etc either Richard, but having played for a while I find quite a bit of what you say very strange. As I said in another thread, it's all about getting the basics first - then improvise...like cricket really.

Yes, but sometimes those basics are wrong, and you need to disregard them before you can get going.
And if I get something wrong... I change my ideas. Or if something changes... I change my ideas.
For instance: Symonds was completely rubbish in ODIs before WC2003, and I said so many times. However, between WC2003 and the game against us in ICCCT2004, he was exceptional. So I said so. Since then he's been very poor again.
I don't like seeing people who play like Symonds succeeding. But that doesn't mean I deny he played well between 02\03 and 09\04. Equally, that he did play well doesn't mean I was wrong to say he was totally rubbish before 02\03.

 

[Richard]

not to mention ME Waugh

Mark Waugh, and to a lesser extent Hooper, were simply extraordinarily classy in some areas, but faulty in others. Nonetheless, they were still Test-class players for most of their careers
Hick, on the other hand, was Test-class only for a small part of his Test-career (1994-1996). And there's a good reason for that.
Clarke looks good almost always but so far, in First-Class cricket at Test and domestic level, hasn't really done much to write home about.

 

[Richard]

For a short career that Clarke has had, he has done pretty well. To shine in a team as strong as Australia is not so easy as to be achieved by plain hype.

Thing is, Clarke hasn't done pretty well, or shone (through anything except age and good looks).
He's done just well enough to be retained, and no more.

 

[Richard]

Because I've seen every one of his test innings and it's clear to me that he is a very good player? His debut century was simply spectacular

You have a problem where you define class by whether someone looks good when they score runs.
It doesn't matter.
Until Clarke starts scoring runs more consistently he's nothing more than a reasonable domestic batsman, and probably not Test-class.

 

[Richard]

you cant be talented in one form and not the other, your talented or your not. different skills might be more suited to diferent forms but talent is still there

No, there are different talents\skills (the two words mean the same thing) required for the different games. It's perfectly possible to be talented at one form and not at the other; there are countless players who have been.

 

[Richard]

Michael Clarke's not the first classy batsmen to be undone in NZ conditions and he won't be the last.

Zaheer Abbas, Viv Richards, Sehwag to name a few...

personally i think Clarke is an incredibly talented batsmen who might stick around long enough to score well over 10,000 test runs.

Maybe your comment would be better rephrased to classy-looking batsmen.
Sehwag the opener looks good - still very overrated, even if his performances have been better recently.
As for Zaheer and Viv... Zaheer simply wasn't good enough to succeed in NZ, however good he was elsewhere. Viv played 4 innings in NZ in his career, hardly enough to be undone comprehensively

 

[Richard]

He has performed ok so far apart from the last series or so...but then I'm not sure what you class as 'performing'. His performance against NZ at home was fine. His performance against India was obviously fine. As other's have said, it's a bit early to be pointing the finger. If he continues in the same vein as NZ for another series then I'd be getting a little worried.

His performance in his first 5 matches was exceptional. His performance in his last 7 has been execrable.
If things carry on this way for much longer, serious questions will be asked and quite rightly... nothing I'd love more than to see him dropped midway through The Ashes after scoring 0, 3, 9, 17, 4, 8 or something...