Placing our bets on "Test Cricket's Young Fab Four"

[NUFAN]

A question for the people who don't rate Smith's technique - Do you not rate him against spin too or is just against the quicks?

 

[Hurricane]

A question for the people who don't rate Smith's technique - Do you not rate him against spin too or is just against the quicks?

Quicks - and his back foot play in particular.

What I will grudgingly admit to Dan is that he knows how to build an innings,

 

[OverratedSanity]

Pretty surprised with the Root votes, too. Short memories , etc. I think he's really good but in terms of potential I hardly think he's up there with Williamson, Kohli, Bravo, Rahane, Pujara, Smith.

 

[OverratedSanity]

Quicks - and his back foot play in particular.

Handled Morkel fine.

 

[harsh.ag]

Morkel's line though. Sometimes I feel like he is cheating himself with the way he bowls.

 

[OverratedSanity]

Yeah, only mentioned him because Hurricane talked about back foot play to the quicks. Morkel's short pitched stuff was great that series, it's just that he didn't get that follow up sucker ball on a driving length right.

 

[Howsie]

Well if Mathews is there then why not AB, he is only a few years older than Mathews......

Haha yeah. Threads like these are always good value but they do your head in at times. 27 isn't old but most cricketers of decent repute have usually settled into the team by then and found their game. The difference between a 22-23 year old and 26-27 year old is massive, not just in cricket but most sports.

As for the question I've gone for Williamson. As much as I believe he's a shoe in to smash every New Zealand batting record their is I've generally seen someone like Kohli always a step ahead of him. His improvement though, over the last 18 months or so is just incredible. He's gotten rid of a couple of deficiencies in his game and just really kicked on. The fact that he's done all this at number three doesn't hurt either.

I'd probably still go with Kohli next, even after that horrendous tour. Steve Smith third. Like Williamson his improvement over the last year or so has been incredible, maybe even more so. Still, I question his ability to be the 'man' of a batting line up.

 

[ImpatientLime]

Pretty surprised with the Root votes, too. Short memories , etc. I think he's really good but in terms of potential I hardly think he's up there with Williamson, Kohli, Bravo, Rahane, Pujara, Smith.

Bizarre comment, he's comfortably up there with those guys. Has shown it again this summer. Yes he needs to do it away from home, but the whole point is that these are all very talented young men with very incomplete records.

Root having an awesome home record shouldn't be something that is held against him.

 

[Maximas]

Root having an awesome home record shouldn't be something that is held against him.

Correct, having a poor away record should though

 

[NUFAN]

One thing in Root's favour is that he's already got 3 scores above 150. Williamson has just scored his first 150+ score and it wouldn't surprise me to see him get several in the years to come, but at this stage Root is easily the winner of making it count, when set.

 

[Adders]

Correct, having a poor away record should though

One test in India where he did well on debut, 3 tests against a very very good NZ attack and then 5 against a ****ing ridiculously rampant Mitchell Johnson........if we're judging his away record on that I think it's a bit harsh tbf.

 

[Maximas]

Indeed, but it has to improve before I'm convinced, the rest have prospered away from home and played some good knocks against good attacks away from home

 

[Adders]

None of the others have played more than half their away tests against God Johnson and Harris. Johnson in "that" series was way better than anything the others have encountered.

 

[harsh.ag]

I don't know, there was a fella named Dale something in Jo'burg....

 

[NUFAN]

Indeed, but it has to improve before I'm convinced, the rest have prospered away from home and played some good knocks against good attacks away from home

So are you more convinced with Kohli who averages in the 30s over Root who averages in the 50s?

I voted for Williamson on the assumption that if I were a Test match manager and had to pick someone who I thought would be the most successful batsman to play a Test Series in a randomly selected condition in the world tomorrow, he'd be the player I would be most confident to do well.

 

[harsh.ag]

But the question isn't about tomorrow, it is about the tomorrow after 5 or more years, Nuf.

 

[NUFAN]

Oh ****. Mods can we change the thread title please so my answer is the best and everyone else is talking jibberish?

 

[NUFAN]

Just joking, but I do find it hard to place a bet on working out which of the young fabbies will end up being the best if I don't know what odds they are paying.

I want the answer to be Smith, Kohli has shown the most quite clearly in ODIs that you'd think he has the most talent, while Williamson is the most experienced of the 4 and it shows in his temperament.

 

[Maximas]

So are you more convinced with Kohli who averages in the 30s over Root who averages in the 50s?

Very clever, made the most of the 11 runs separating them on average

But given this whole thing is about potential to be the world's best or whatever Root has the away record and vs top quality attacks stuff to improve upon when he next gets the opportunity, but full points to him for cashing in when it was easier (180 at Lords vs Aus comes to mind) and going big, the rest of the guys have shown they can do it anywhere, but haven't been as prolific as Root. Personally those who've shown the potential to do it all but haven't quite got the consistency down have a little more potential than those who have largely capatilised massively (and impressively) when in the more favourable conditions IMO. Just feels to me like at this stage Root has a little more to prove while for the others it's more about getting their act together and doing the big stuff more often. Not counting him out or anything though, it's difficult to work with the sample sizes we've got and I'm not making too many assumptions just yet

 

[Top_Cat]

Hitching my wagon to Kohli of these four but, yeah, Pujara.