players Who You Thought WOULDN'T Make It.............

[Richard]

I think what happened to Lara was just a media mock-up! Good batsmen do not get troubled by short-deliveries - even at 160, a pace at which a normal club batsmen wouldn't even get the bat down (because they wouldn't see what they were trying to hit! haha).

I've seen batsmen at my own club play 100mph (160kph) balls (from a bowling-machine) - not with ease - but managing to do so.

 

[Richard]

just off the top of my head, I remember Dennis Lillee bowling some brilliant cutters which really the batsman didnt have much chance with

Not disputing you, but Lillee really should have done better in India than he did if he was so good at cutters.

 

[Swervy]

Not disputing you, but Lillee really should have done better in India than he did if he was so good at cutters.

did he ever play in India???

 

[luckyeddie]

did he ever play in India???

Nope - well, he never played test cricket in India anyway. Whether he played in any dirty filthy scummy toeraggy Packery series is another matter, of course.

 

[Mr Mxyzptlk]

I've seen batsmen at my own club play 100mph (160kph) balls (from a bowling-machine) - not with ease - but managing to do so.

And I've seen Adam Sanford bowl well. Your point?

 

[Mr Mxyzptlk]

I think it was acknowleged throughout the summer by one Richie Benaud that Lara isnt playing the short ball as well as he used to...and from what I have seen he isnt.(thats just my opinion though)

I had a post a while back as to my theory about this. Basically his eye is not as sharp as it once was, which is perfectly natural.

 

[luckyeddie]

I had a post a while back as to my theory about this. Basically his eye is not as sharp as it once was, which is perfectly natural.

A lot of it comes down to reaction times - and when you're in your fourth decade, they're on the wane.

I'm in my sixth - mine went long ago.

 

[Swervy]

I had a post a while back as to my theory about this. Basically his eye is not as sharp as it once was, which is perfectly natural.

yeah..its one of those things

 

[Swervy]

Nope - well, he never played test cricket in India anyway. Whether he played in any dirty filthy scummy toeraggy Packery series is another matter, of course.

yes Lillee should have done better in India then...he was so bad in India he didnt once even get the ball to pitch within 5000 miles of the wicket in Delhi

 

[marc71178]

And there's nothing else that should mean the ball moves early on - that's just an assumption that's never been true.

Oh really?

 

[marc71178]

No, he didn't lose sight of the Akhtar ball - he simply played it poorly. Even the best do that occasionally.

Here we go again.

So what's the excuse for the Flintoff ball now then? It seems to have changed.

Now had this been Vaas bowling it, I imagine it would've been marked as a superb ball by you.

 

[marc71178]

I think it was acknowleged throughout the summer by one Richie Benaud that Lara isnt playing the short ball as well as he used to...and from what I have seen he isnt.(thats just my opinion though)

But what would Benaud know about the game from his experience compared to someone who's never played any form of cricket with more than 3 men and a dog watching?

 

[luckyeddie]

But what would Benaud know about the game from his experience compared to someone who's never played any form of cricket with more than 3 men and a dog watching?

The dog's probably more reliable

 

[Neil Pickup]

And I've seen Adam Sanford bowl well. Your point?

Put it a-way.

 

[Richard]

did he ever play in India???

Well, I believe le that he didn't.
Definately saw some article saying "Dennis Lillee picked-up 4 wickets in his career on the soul-destroying wickets of the subcontinent". Maybe it was in Pakistan or Sri Lanka...

 

[Richard]

And I've seen Adam Sanford bowl well. Your point?

That managing to see a ball proves you can.
And that bowling consistently well proves you're a good bowler. Not bowling well once every... well, 8 years or so, in the case of AS.

 

[Richard]

Oh really?

Really.

 

[Richard]

Here we go again.

So what's the excuse for the Flintoff ball now then? It seems to have changed.

Now had this been Vaas bowling it, I imagine it would've been marked as a superb ball by you.

Nope.
I've acknowledged Chaminda's shortcomings - a stab-in-the-dark, see-once-and-make-your-mind-up-that-Mr.X-can-do-no-wrong\right, that you have countless times attempted to brand me, would not do so. Nor would he say that Flintoff has bowled the good balls I acknowledge he has.
It hasn't changed, at all, incidentally - Lara didn't pick the ball up. Where have I supposedly said otherwise?

 

[Richard]

But what would Benaud know about the game from his experience compared to someone who's never played any form of cricket with more than 3 men and a dog watching?

With his experience of watching however many games he worked-out he'd watched, he'd know quite a bit.
If all those games that were watched as a player were watched as a spectator that wouldn't make his skill as a sage any inferior.

 

[Jono]

Pardon me for going back to the topic, but I never rated Flintoff (evidently others are in the same boat) and he's proven me wrong as far as I'm concerned. I also never rated Vaughan and Zoysa (he hasn't lit the world on fire but he's done much better than I thought he would).