***Official*** South Africa v West Indies

[Pratters]

Great of course to see a bit of appreciation from you for a triple century against a good attack..
To anyone interested in valuing your opinion, I'd just tell them to have a look at your MSN name at the moment, poor form, especially for a supposed "cricket fan"

Well batted CG, not that I saw a lot of the innings myself

Because you have not seen much of the inning, perhaps you cannot understand what I was getting at with my remarks.

And you call me a 'supposed' cricket fan.

South Africa bowled well, yes. But the pitch had nothing it it. Gayle just slogged every thing which was on the off side, smashing it for fours hitting across the line. Does Chris Gayle often play like that? Yes.

Does it mean he would be successful if he played in any way similar (across the line) on any other pitch? No. Agreed it took an effort to make the runs he did. But it was the least of efforts required.

Chris Gayle's runs were just a bit more credit worthy than the runs made by the South Africans who got poor balls as well as getting a placid pitch.

Was it a good inning by Gayle for reasons such as immense power of concentration, specially after the 150? Yes. Did he deserve to get the 300? Not at all. You may say who am I to decide if he deserved to get a 300 or not. Well Gayle is an average cricketer and the inning by Gayle almost took a lot of sheen off the innings by Lara (of 375 and 400).If Gayle had got a 400 (which a lot of cricket fans were worried about), it would make a mockery of cricket records. 300 is mockery enough I would say. Much more than a 380 by Hayden versus Zimbabwe ever was.

No, I didnt expect such a comment from you. But it is okay. I am a cricket fan and not a supposed one. Which is why I feel much more angered by the Gayle century than you will ever understand

EDIT : I made the comment on Gayle and had my msn id not as a derogatory remark directly on Chris Gayle. It was more of an annoyance over the situation of Gayle managing a triple century. I find it annoying that such an inning can even attempt to diminish the exclusivity of the 300 club. Some thing very prestigious in cricket. I will look to state clearly my position rather than express with mere feelings in the future as I see emotional out bursts, even though they reflect a genuine concern indirectly are not taken in that fashion to the extent that my being a cricket fan is questioned. Some thing I do not have to prove to any one.

Cheers.

 

[marc71178]

So let me get this straight, Gayle's 312 is a mockery because of the flat pitch, yet it's almost an identical strip to that Lara batted on for his 400 and that's not a problem?

 

[Deja moo]

So let me get this straight, Gayle's 312 is a mockery because of the flat pitch, yet it's almost an identical strip to that Lara batted on for his 400 and that's not a problem?

IMO, they're both innings that have left cricket poorer.

 

[wpdavid]

Andy Sandham - 325
Len Hutton - 364
Don Bradman - 334 & 304
Walter Hammond - 336 *
Bob Cowper - 307
Bob Simpson - 311
Jon Edrich - 311 *
Gary Sobers - 365 *
Graham Gooch - 333
Brian Lara - 375 & 400 *
Inzamam UL-Haq - 329
Matthew Hayden - 380
Mark Taylor - 334 *
Virender Sehwag - 309

looking at those previous records i would say thats a fair call mate

Quite possibly, but Gayle's not the first to make 300 in relatively easy circumstances. Was it really less admirable than Hayden's knock against Zim? Or even Edrich against a very moderate NZ attack or Gooch against an almost as moderate India attack on an absolute road? Come to think of it, wasn't Hammond's innings also against NZ, when they really were hopeless? How about Sobers against 1950's Pakistan IIRC?

Perhaps someone could evaluate the best test attack to have a triple taken off it.

 

[badgerhair]

Gayle - the worst player ever to make a Test triple century?

Andy Sandham - 325
Len Hutton - 364
Don Bradman - 334 & 304
Walter Hammond - 336 *
Bob Cowper - 307
Bob Simpson - 311
Jon Edrich - 311 *
Gary Sobers - 365 *
Graham Gooch - 333
Brian Lara - 375 & 400 *
Inzamam UL-Haq - 329
Matthew Hayden - 380
Mark Taylor - 334 *
Virender Sehwag - 309

looking at those previous records i would say thats a fair call mate

I see. What would your reasoning be for suggesting that Gayle is a worse player than Sandham?

Cheers,

Mike

 

[wpdavid]

Gayle - the worst player ever to make a Test triple century?


I see. What would your reasoning be for suggesting that Gayle is a worse player than Sandham?

Cheers,

Mike

A very good question. Looking at the WI attack that day, I think we can safely add it to my previous list of relatiovely easy triples.

 

[Jono]

Quite possibly, but Gayle's not the first to make 300 in relatively easy circumstances. Was it really less admirable than Hayden's knock against Zim? Or even Edrich against a very moderate NZ attack or Gooch against an almost as moderate India attack on an absolute road? Come to think of it, wasn't Hammond's innings also against NZ, when they really were hopeless? How about Sobers against 1950's Pakistan IIRC?

Perhaps someone could evaluate the best test attack to have a triple taken off it.

Exactly. People just have this immediate thought that because a 300 was scoreds say pre-1990s, or even pre-2000s, it was 'much more deserved' than one scored in recent times. Yet, as you've pointed out, there have been instances in the past where the opposition's bowling were hardly impressive. I stress Gooch's knock especially.

People just seem to think if its old history, its a 'good knock', but if its recent times, its 'undeserved'.

 

[Neil Pickup]

Here's your data:

BC Lara 400* v England, St John's, April 2004
Hoggard, Harmison, Flintoff, Jones, Batty, Vaughan, Trescothick
Match aggregate - 1458 for 20

ML Hayden 380 v Zimbabwe, WACA, October 2003
Streak, Blignaut, Ervine, Price, Gripper
Aggregate 1295 for 26

BC Lara 375 v England, St John's, April 1994
Fraser, Caddick, Tufnell, Lewis, Hick
Aggregate 1229 for 15

GS Sobers 365* v Pakistan, Kingston, March 1958
Fazal Mahmood, Khan Mohammad, Nasim ul-Ghani, Kardar, Mathia, Alimuddin, Hanif Mohammad, Saeed Ahmed
Aggregate 1406 for 21

L Hutton 364 v Australia, The Oval, August 1938
Waite, McCabe, O'Reilly, Fleetwood-Smith, Barnes, Hassett, Bradman
Aggregate 1227 for 23

ST Jayasuriya 340 v India, Colombo RPS, August 1997
Prasad, Kuruvilla, Chauhan, Kumble, Kulkarni, Ganguly, Tendulkar, Dravid
Aggregate 1489 for 14

Hanif Mohammad 337* v West Indies, Bridgetown, January 1958
Gilchrist, ES Atkinson, Smith, Valentine, DS Atkinson, Sobers, Walcott
Aggregate 1362 for 27

WR Hammond 336* v New Zealand, Auckland, April 1933
Badcock, Dunning, Freeman, Newman, Page, Weir
Aggregate 722 for 17

MA Taylor 334* v Pakistan, Peshawar, October 1998
Shoaib Akhtar, Mohammad Zahid, Mushtaq Ahmed, Azhar Mahmood, Aamer Sohail, Saleem Malik
Aggregate 1468 for 18

DG Bradman 334 v England, Headingley, July 1930
Larwood, Tate, Geary, Tyldesley, Hammond, Leyland
Aggregate 1052 for 23

GA Gooch 333 v India, Lord's, July 1990
Kapil Dev, Prabhakar, Sharma, Shastri, Hirwani
Aggregate 1603 for 28

Inzamam-ul-Haq 329 v New Zealand, Lahore, May 2002
Tuffey, Martin, Vettori, Walker, Harris, McMillan
Aggregate 962 for 30

A Sandham 325 v West Indies, Kingston, April 1930
Griffith, Da Costa, Gladstone, Scott, Martin, Headley, Roach, Passailaigue
Aggregate 1815 for 35

CH Gayle 317 v South Africa, St John's, May 2005
Pollock, Ntini, Zondeki, Kallis, Boje, Smith, de Villiers, Prince
Aggregate... ?

RB Simpson 311 v England, Old Trafford, July 1964
Rumsey, Price, Cartwright, Titmus, Dexter, Mortimore, Boycott
Aggregate 1271 for 18

JH Edrich 310* v New Zealand at Headingley, July 1965
Motz, Taylor, Collinge, Yuile, Morgan, Pollard, Congdon
Aggregate 905 for 24

V Sehwag 309 v Pakistan at Multan, March 2004
Shoaib Akhtar, Mohammad Sami, Shabbir Ahmed, Saqlain Mushtaq, Abdul Razzaq, Imran Farhat
Aggregate 1298 for 25

RM Cowper 307 v England, MCG, February 1966
Brown, Jones, Knight, Titmus, Barber
Aggregate 1097 for 20

DG Bradman 304 v England, Headingley, July 1934
Bowes, Hammond, Mitchell, Verity, Hopwood, Leyland
Aggregate 1013 for 26

LG Rowe 302 v England, Bridgetown, March 1974
Arnold, Willis, Greig, Old, Pocock
Aggregate 1268 for 25

Now someone with more knowledge of the game's previous decades can analyse it further...

 

[a massive zebra]

Gayle - the worst player ever to make a Test triple century?


I see. What would your reasoning be for suggesting that Gayle is a worse player than Sandham?

Cheers,

Mike

Far from suggesting Gayle was was the worst player ever to score a Test triple century, I was simply asking the question.

Yes you could say Gayle has had a much longer and more successful Test career than Sandham, but one should not forget that the Surrey man did not get much of a chance to really prove himself at the highest level as the legendary Hobbs & Sutcliffe made the English opening slots their own, and in doing so formed statistically the greatest opening partnership of all time. If Gayle was faced with such a predicament, he too would not have had the opportunity to really prove himself and of course Sandham enjoyed a highly distinguished career with Surrey.

 

[a massive zebra]

Bob Cowper also deserves a mention in this discussion.

 

[Link]

it was a bit harsh to ask the question in the first place, only because you knew gayle wouold be the likely candidate.
But the mear fact that he scored a triple ton, puts him in that elite group. therefore he is quite high in the higherachy of skill level, no?

 

[a massive zebra]

On his day yes, the only problem being that those days are few and far between.

 

[Adamc]

This probably gets the prize for triple-century under the toughest circumstances, though not necessarily against the best bowlers.

 

[Link]

better than the zim bowlers....

sorry haydos

 

[Magrat Garlick]

This probably gets the prize for triple-century under the toughest circumstances, though not necessarily against the best bowlers.

Oi! Don't knock that little pal of mine!

 

[FaaipDeOiad]

This probably gets the prize for triple-century under the toughest circumstances, though not necessarily against the best bowlers.

Pretty damn good bowlers if you ask me! Gilchrist and Atkinson opening the bowling, Valentine as the spinner, and I hear that Sobers fellow wasn't a mug either. Amazing innings, and under the toughest match circumstances of them all, I should say.

Best triple century would probably have to be Bradmans 334. Facing some teriffic bowlers, with the series tied at 1-1 and as a 21 year old, hitting 300 by stumps on day one is simply astonishing.

 

[Adamc]

Pretty damn good bowlers if you ask me! Gilchrist and Atkinson opening the bowling, Valentine as the spinner, and I hear that Sobers fellow wasn't a mug either.

Yes, I agree - I just said 'not necessarily the best' as a disclaimer, since I can't be bothered to make a comparison against all the other bowling linueps than Neil posted.

 

[Adamc]

Chanderpaul gets the 7th century of the match... record beckoning.

 

[Magrat Garlick]

Chanderpaul gets the 7th century of the match... record beckoning.

Can't quite see how, though. If Bravo gets out to a stupid shot as he's wont to do, I can't see anyone who's good enough to make a ton - unless of course WI get bowled out and Smith make a quickfire century.

 

[Link]

i wouldnt bet against browne getting a ton on this pitch