Pressure Players

[tooextracool]

ooooh a tad harsh i think...but youu might be right.

But I dont think it is any coincidence that Gilchrist being in the test team was the time when really the Aussies turned it on and left the other teams behind.

he might not be the best keeper batsman in the world of all time, but he has changed the course of more games with his batting than any keeper in history..and when he is in form , there isnt one single batsman in the world who is more dangerous

watch how his form deteriorates when he plays in the sub continent or when he plays against a good quality spin attack

 

[Swervy]

watch how his form deteriorates when he plays in the sub continent or when he plays against a good quality spin attack

watch how many players form goes down on the sub-continent..thats cricket mate..doesnt make him a poor player in pressure situations

 

[tooextracool]

watch how many players form goes down on the sub-continent..thats cricket mate..doesnt make him a poor player in pressure situations

no im doubting his ability to play spin or on slow tracks

 

[Swervy]

no im doubting his ability to play spin or on slow tracks

but this thread is about how players handle pressure..i took it that when you said that about Gilchrist and the sub continent you were iplying it was coz of his lack of ability to handle pressure

 

[Swervy]

I would definitely disagree there!

ok...it is only my opinion, however I think there are a number of experts who may well agree with me on that one

 

[Anil]

when he is in form , there isnt one single batsman in the world who is more dangerous

Tendulkar and Lara might have something to say to that.......so would Laxman, Hayden, Ponting, Dravid, Gibbs, Fleming, Kallis.....on current form.

 

[Swervy]

Tendulkar and Lara might have something to say to that.......so would Laxman, Hayden, Ponting, Dravid, Gibbs, Fleming, Kallis.....on current form.

By dangerous i am meaning the ability to change the course of a test within a session. i agree about Lara,and to alesser extent sachin,Gibbs,hayden and ponting..the others are more like grafters you will get your team into a winning position over a longer period of time.

An example for Gilchrist was in the last Ashes series in England..the game where at the start of the day Australia were in deep problems at about 100 for 7. Within half an hour Gilchrist had changed the complexion of the match, within an hour he had given Australia an advantage in the game. Its the type of thing Botham was like, that explosiveness that could happen no matter what the situation of the match

Players like Gilchrist,Botham ,Lara dont let the match situation dictate how they play,and that is why quite quickly the way they play starts dictating the match situation, the opposition quickly lose control of the game...and that is a lot more dangerous to the opposition than taking control over a day

 

[harry674]

Gilchrist is definetely one hell of cricketer.

he can single handedly bring the entire oppostion team,,fans etc on their knees.

if i was making my XI team

gilcrhist and shewag (or hayden) will be openers.

 

[Mr Mxyzptlk]

the others are more like grafters you will get your team into a winning position over a longer period of time.

Well Kallis certainly hasn't been doing a whole lot of grafting lately. Still, I agree that he's not nearly as dangerous as Gilchrist in full flow.

 

[Jono]

Lara would contest that.

I knew this would be brought up. Obvious Lara's pressure is enormous, 2nd to Sachin in my opinion. But I think you underestimate Indian cricket fans, oh and remember there is 1 billion of them.

Personally from 96-2000 I have no idea how Sachin managed the pressure. If he went out it was basically believed that India were gone. Hell if anyone remembers the Sri Lanka vs. India WC 99 match where India scored something around 350 with Ganguly and Dravid scoring, Ganguly almost got 200. I distinctly remember the fans chanting "We want Sachin" Lol he was bowled by Jayasuriya for single figures later that day. At the current point he's obviously under less pressure than he used to have been because Indian fans have woken up and his team around them is much stronger than 4 years back.

 

[Jono]

Gilchrist is definetely one hell of cricketer.

he can single handedly bring the entire oppostion team,,fans etc on their knees.

if i was making my XI team

gilcrhist and shewag (or hayden) will be openers.

Personally Gilly and Sachin opening for me would be a dream.

 

[Eclipse]

I would definitely disagree there!

Very debatable point.

I would agree strongly that there is not and never has been a batsman who can take a test attack apart as easly and risk free as Gilly can do on a consistant basis Richard's is the only guy who compaird with him in that regard IMO.

But there are still plenty of players who can take an attack apart and probably better than Gilly can but not by a whole lot and no way nere as often.

 

[Eclipse]

Tendulkar and Lara might have something to say to that.......so would Laxman, Hayden, Ponting, Dravid, Gibbs, Fleming, Kallis.....on current form.

I am hoping Tendulkar will prove to me again that he can atcualy still play those dashing innings of a few years ago.

Apart from the WC match against Pakistan were IMO the bowling was not that good to him he has not showed the ability or the desire to take the attack on the way he used to.

ATM I dont think he is very likley to take an attack apart.

 

[Tim]

Kallis has struggled though now that he's up against some good bowling..but I still expect him to score plenty of runs in the test series. I don't think he'll lose that golden form from South Africa that quickly.

 

[Craig]

Very debatable point.

I would agree strongly that there is not and never has been a batsman who can take a test attack apart as easly and risk free as Gilly can do on a consistant basis Richard's is the only guy who compaird with him in that regard IMO.

But there are still plenty of players who can take an attack apart and probably better than Gilly can but not by a whole lot and no way nere as often.

Sir Isaac Viven Alexander Richards?

 

[Mr Mxyzptlk]

Kallis has struggled though now that he's up against some good bowling..but I still expect him to score plenty of runs in the test series. I don't think he'll lose that golden form from South Africa that quickly.

Kallis is surely tired by now, and I don't think he can come in and play as freely as he has been on New Zealand pitches. Not that NZ pitches are bad, but they do zip about a bit more than South African pitches.

 

[Mr Mxyzptlk]

Very debatable point.

I would agree strongly that there is not and never has been a batsman who can take a test attack apart as easly and risk free as Gilly can do on a consistant basis Richard's is the only guy who compaird with him in that regard IMO.

I would once again strongly disagree. There have been many many players to play the game and that's a very bold statement.

 

[Rik]

Lara would contest that.

Not with the pressure India's fans seem to generate. All you WIndians are just too chilled out to create that sort of pressure. Although I'll leave you to explain why :P

 

[Anil]

I would agree strongly that there is not and never has been a batsman who can take a test attack apart as easly and risk free as Gilly can do on a consistant basis Richard's is the only guy who compaird with him in that regard IMO.

I assume you are talking about Viv Richards here.....how can you even mention them in the same breath??!! :wow:

 

[Swervy]

I assume you are talking about Viv Richards here.....how can you even mention them in the same breath??!! :wow:

erm..because Gilchrist actually has a better test average than Richards....I think an average of almost 60 gives Gilchrist the right to be mentioned with the great destroying batsman of the last 30 years or so.

Richards had a great eye, he obviously picked the flight of the ball very early..i would suggest that the way Gilchrist hits the ball he too must have a very good eye.

Gilchrist is similar( in results, not in style) to Richards, in that Richards and Gilchrist both utterly demoralised the opponents..making good balls look pretty ordinary.

also, both hit the ball so hard, even if they did give chances, they were very often very hard chances (which kind of p**ses on the First chance averages thing, because credit must go to a batsman who utterly smashes a ball, so hard that catching becomes very difficult).

I personally havent seen a batsman as instinctivly good as Richards (although I have only seen highlights of when he was at his very peak in the mid to late 70's), but Gilchrist's batting has pretty much the same effect