Mustard

[Perm]

Cos....for whatever reason (the odd grip had a lot to do with it, I'm sure) none of the shots he played ever looked quite right...he had an unusual swing of the bat and his shots had a strange "shape" to them as it were.......much like Mustard, I assume- I've only seen a little bit of him, but when I saw the high grip and the loose-limbed slashes at the ball, Gilchrist sprung to mind immediately.

Couldn't disagree more, but we'll keep it at that.

 

[dontcloseyoureyes]

Don't find Gilchrist particularily good to watch either.

 

[Days of Grace]

Who gives a fat rat's arse in the end how the batsman looks as long as he scores runs, which Gilly has done.

Of course, I would rather they looked like David Gower or Stephen Fleming when scoring runs, but it is not the be all and end all.

However, when you look ugly and hardly score any runs, that's when it's just laughable Get out of here you old hag!

 

[Perm]

Don't find Gilchrist particularily good to watch either.

Yeah, but you've said the same thing about Tendulkar, which is a crime against cricket. You're not entitled to an opinion on this subject

 

[NZTailender]

Yeah, but you've said the same thing about Tendulkar, which is a crime against cricket. You're not entitled to an opinion on this subject

Some people don't like watching Sachin bat, though. I personally never found Mark Waugh that pleasing to watch.

 

[Perm]

Some people don't like watching Sachin bat, though. I personally never found Mark Waugh that pleasing to watch.

It was a joke. Though I can't fathom how anyone wouldn't enjoy watching Tendulkar bat.

 

[dontcloseyoureyes]

It was a joke. Though I can't fathom how anyone wouldn't enjoy watching Tendulkar bat.

It's not to say I don't enjoy seeing him do well and making runs, I enjoy every moment I watch him bat because I know he won't be there much longer, and I appreciate what he's done in cricket. I just don't like watching him stylistically. This is especially so in ODI cricket, less so in tests. His legside play is excellent to watch and I enjoy seeing him use his wrists, but his offside play just doesn't do it for me. Maybe it's to do with his small stature and gigantic bat.

 

[Jono]

Yeah I and dontcloseyoureyes had a brief discussion of it on the boards a while back. His reasoning for his dislike of Sachin's offside play (bat size) was perfectly justified, just unusual.

Must ask though dcye, do you enjoy his shots through the V? For example, those two straight drives he played off Lee in the MCG ODI? I almost had to change my underwear when he played those on Sunday due to how gorgeous they were. And I was at the ground so it would have been difficult to get a spare pair.

 

[iamdavid]

Cos....for whatever reason (the odd grip had a lot to do with it, I'm sure) none of the shots he played ever looked quite right...he had an unusual swing of the bat and his shots had a strange "shape" to them as it were.......much like Mustard, I assume- I've only seen a little bit of him, but when I saw the high grip and the loose-limbed slashes at the ball, Gilchrist sprung to mind immediately.

Agree with pretty much all of that, the high-grip and stiff wrists gave Gilchrist an awkward look about him. Certainly very effective with the extra power it gave him and the regularity with which he took bowers on made him great to watch. But yeah Gilchrist certainly neve the most elegant.

 

[dontcloseyoureyes]

Must ask though dcye, do you enjoy his shots through the V? For example, those two straight drives he played off Lee in the MCG ODI? I almost had to change my underwear when he played those on Sunday due to how gorgeous they were. And I was at the ground so it would have been difficult to get a spare pair.

Haha, it's interesting. Both of the drives he played were played with pretty much no footwork, just saw it and swung through the ball. I enjoy them, surprisingly. My favourite Tendulkar shot is actually his on drive, so I enjoyed the second one more, despite it almost just being an extended block for 4.

 

[Richard]

I know it's a personal opinion, but how on earth do you come to that conclusion?

Cos....for whatever reason (the odd grip had a lot to do with it, I'm sure) none of the shots he played ever looked quite right...he had an unusual swing of the bat and his shots had a strange "shape" to them as it were.......much like Mustard, I assume- I've only seen a little bit of him, but when I saw the high grip and the loose-limbed slashes at the ball, Gilchrist sprung to mind immediately.

AWTA (extraordinarily enough). Gilchrist's the very anthesis of stylish for mine, good as he was. Hundreds of batsmen I'd rather watch.

 

[Jono]

I don't think anyone who enjoyed Gilchrist would ever suggest he's stylish though.

I love watching stylish batsman bat, but I too enjoy a Gilchrist or Gayle innings too.

Variety is always great

 

[dontcloseyoureyes]

If you could pay Sangakkara and Watto to bat together all day I'd die a happy man.

 

[Richard]

I don't think anyone who enjoyed Gilchrist would ever suggest he's stylish though.

I love watching stylish batsman bat, but I too enjoy a Gilchrist or Gayle innings too.

Variety is always great

Meh, variety may be great, but I never particularly enjoy watching batsmen because of the pace they score at, especially if that pace comes at the expense of style.

Style over speed in terms of aesthetics for me, every single time.

And substance over speed in terms of results, too, of course.

 

[Jono]

If you could pay Sangakkara and Watto to bat together all day I'd die a happy man.

I do love watching both of those bat. Unfortunately I'm not a fan of Watto the person, but I remember one innings he played vs. NZ during the Chappell-Hadlee series there in 06/07. He opened, and played some absolutely gorgeous drives.

If I were to have a batting order of current players who I love watching bat it'd be something like this:

Tendulkar
Gibbs (loose technique, but I always love watching him)
Vaughan
Sangakkara
Kallis
Laxman
Yuvraj

I do enjoy watching Pietersen, Watson and Sarwan too. So whilst there's a bit of a similar style, there is an obvious difference between a Yuvraj, a Laxman and a Vaughan.

Overall though, a Sanga and Tendulkar partnership would be my ideal viewing.

 

[Jono]

Meh, variety may be great, but I never particularly enjoy watching batsmen because of the pace they score at, especially if that pace comes at the expense of style.

Style over speed in terms of aesthetics for me, every single time.

And substance over speed in terms of results, too, of course.

Its not about pace, its about a different way of scoring runs.

I don't enjoy a Gayle back away and cut as much as a Tendulkar on-drive or Sangakkara cover drive, but I still enjoy it.

Gayle doesn't score THAT quickly in ODIs anyway.

 

[Richard]

I do love watching both of those bat. Unfortunately I'm not a fan of Watto the person, but I remember one innings he played vs. NZ during the Chappell-Hadlee series there in 06/07. He opened, and played some absolutely gorgeous drives.

If I were to have a batting order of current players who I love watching bat it'd be something like this:

Tendulkar
Gibbs
Vaughan
Sangakkara
Kallis
Laxman
Yuvraj

I do enjoy watching Pietersen, Watson and Sarwan too.

Overall though, a Sanga and Tendulkar partnership would be my ideal viewing.

Pietersen? He's good from the novelty POV I suppose, in that his style is almost un-aped, but I've rarely seen a more "manufactured" sort of batsman. Nothing looks natural at all.

Would agree with most of your list BTW, except Yuvraj Singh. Bit out of place, for mine.

 

[Jono]

Haha, I love that you used the term 'out of place' to describe Yuvraj, because that's exactly the point really.

Its all subjective of course, but I love seeing all those batsmen, and they're fairly different. Not to the extent of a Dravid vs. Gilchrist comparison, but as I stated above, I enjoy different styles.

A Pietersen straight drive (a few he played vs. NZ) are awesome to watch IMO, and Yuvraj's back foot punches are sweet too.

 

[Langeveldt]

Yeah I find Gilchrist a horrible batsman to watch, in fact one of the worst.. But that makes no difference when you look at the scorecard, unfortunatly..

 

[NUFAN]

Yeah I find Gilchrist a horrible batsman to watch, in fact one of the worst.. But that makes no difference when you look at the scorecard, unfortunatly..

They should make batting like Diving or Gymnastics where you give out scores.

Get each batsmen to face 30 balls and score the best 10 shots on technique, timing etc, that'd be gun.

The downside (for me) is Australia wouldn't win.