Players whose reputation during their career was an inaccurate reflection of how good they really were

[number11]

Underrated:

Atherton

His ave of 37 is not reflective of how good he was. Opening in England, in an era that saw incredible bowling stocks globally.

Had he played later, he'd average 40+ quite easily. Also mentally very strong and one for the trenches.

 

[kyear2]

Underrated:

Atherton

His ave of 37 is not reflective of how good he was. Opening in England, in an era that saw incredible bowling stocks globally.

Had he played later, he'd average 40+ quite easily. Also mentally very strong and one for the trenches.

100% agree with this.

 

[Brook's side]

Future England Captain, that lad.

 

[BazBall21]

Underrated:

Atherton

His ave of 37 is not reflective of how good he was. Opening in England, in an era that saw incredible bowling stocks globally.

Had he played later, he'd average 40+ quite easily. Also mentally very strong and one for the trenches.

Probably faced stronger bowling across his career than any other test cricketer in history.

 

[capt_Luffy]

Probably faced stronger bowling across his career than any other test cricketer in history.

I think Atherton is rated fairly though. Most people take the bowling attacks and difficulties opening in England into account and he gets featured heavily as the best Sub 40 average player of the modern times. Imo Alec Stewart, who gets discussed less, was just much better as a pure opener and actually did pretty well even while he played as a keep.

 

[BazBall21]

I think Atherton is rated fairly though. Most people take the bowling attacks and difficulties opening in England into account and he gets featured heavily as the best Sub 40 average player of the modern times. Imo Alec Stewart, who gets discussed less, was just much better as a pure opener and actually did pretty well even while he played as a keep.

Yeah Stewart's story is frustrating. Definitely a level ahead of Atherton.

Atherton probably gets discussed more because he was in the spotlight more consistently as he always opened. Stewart definitely the better bat. Could make a case he was the best v pace out of the openers who batted throughout the 90s.

 

[kyear2]

Yeah Stewart's story is frustrating. Definitely a level ahead of Atherton.

Atherton probably gets discussed more because he was in the spotlight more consistently as he always opened. Stewart definitely the better bat. Could make a case he was the best v pace out of the openers who batted throughout the 90s.

Definely a talent that could be argued, was misused, especially with Russell around.

 

[number11]

Probably faced stronger bowling across his career than any other test cricketer in history.

This is (a) probably true and (b) a really interesting point. Who you score your runs against is the most important factor, alongside context of the game. I am sure this has been analyzed, but a weighted average should be provided which factors this stuff in.

Watching Atherton fight tooth and nail to save a test from a hopeless position in the 90s was the essense of the joy of test cricket. In my England team 1990 - now, he probably opens with Cook (who is a lock).

 

[number11]

Yeah Stewart's story is frustrating. Definitely a level ahead of Atherton.

Atherton probably gets discussed more because he was in the spotlight more consistently as he always opened. Stewart definitely the better bat. Could make a case he was the best v pace out of the openers who batted throughout the 90s.

Stewart was an excellent player. IIRC he scored more test runs in the 90s than any other player?

 

[BazBall21]

This is (a) probably true and (b) a really interesting point. Who you score your runs against is the most important factor, alongside context of the game. I am sure this has been analyzed, but a weighted average should be provided which factors this stuff in.

Watching Atherton fight tooth and nail to save a test from a hopeless position in the 90s was the essense of the joy of test cricket. In my England team 1990 - now, he probably opens with Cook (who is a lock).

Yeah adjusted average exercises tend to look more at match condition implications. Looking at strength of bowling faced instead is probably more specific even if you'd probably need to look at the conditions in which each attack tended to thrive in for better context. As the England bowling attack in the late 2010s for example were much better in some conditions than others.

 

[BazBall21]

Stewart was an excellent player. IIRC he scored more test runs in the 90s than any other player?

Yeah he did. Average of 44 batting top 3; average of 46 playing as a specialist batsman. Lots of classic knocks.

His story is one of the most frustrating cases for English cricket over the past 35 years while he still had a good career. Cases like Archer and Simon Jones are more deflating.

 

[Pant Kameez]

This is (a) probably true and (b) a really interesting point. Who you score your runs against is the most important factor, alongside context of the game. I am sure this has been analyzed, but a weighted average should be provided which factors this stuff in.

Watching Atherton fight tooth and nail to save a test from a hopeless position in the 90s was the essense of the joy of test cricket. In my England team 1990 - now, he probably opens with Cook (who is a lock).

You can consult @Prince EWS for that. Though I must say his method has a lot of problems.

 

[number11]

Yeah he did. Average of 44 batting top 3; average of 46 playing as a specialist batsman. Lots of classic knocks.

His story is one of the most frustrating cases for English cricket over the past 35 years while he still had a good career. Cases like Archer and Simon Jones are more deflating.

In that era those are special numbers. He was a fine bat against true pace, and the 90s had plenty of pace going around.

 

[Patience and Accuracy+Gut]

Sutcliffe and Garner the two names that immediately come to my mind. Sutcliffe would have been the best and at worst alongside Root the best English Batsman in decades. Garner on the other hand would have lot higher reputation. Guy would be arguably The Goat in T20s just like ODIs and may be a Top 5 Test quick ever.

 

[Pant Kameez]

may be a Top 5 Test quick ever.

Doubtful. He was worse than Holding in WSC.

 

[kyear2]

Doubtful. He was worse than Holding in WSC.

He got better as his career progresses and eventually got the new ball.

 

[Kirkut]

On contrary, I feel that Ponting is kind of underrated.

At his peak, his ODI batting was as good as that of Viv.

 

[jcas0167]

He's not my favourite player by any stretch of the imagination, but it's probably fair to say Kallis was underrated for most of his career.

True, his all-round stats over a 166 test career (batting ave ~55 and bowling ~32) are freakishly good. By way of comparison Stokes averages ~35 with the bat and ~32 with the ball.

 

[TheJediBrah]

On contrary, I feel that Ponting is kind of underrated.

At his peak, his ODI batting was as good as that of Viv.

His last 4-5 years of being kind of crap pulled him back. If he finished ~ 2008-09, or even as late as 2011, he'd be thought of very differently

Could probably say this about a lot of players though

 

[Coronis]

His last 4-5 years of being kind of crap pulled him back. If he finished ~ 2008-09, or even as late as 2011, he'd be thought of very differently

Could probably say this about a lot of players though

Not Sanga. What a goat