Retirements That Hurt

[Moss]

jesse ryder or whatever his cricket status is for the kiwis, retired or not it was such a waste of talent

all those drinking controversies basically gave him a one-way ticket to palookaville

he could have had class, he could have been a contender, he could have been somebody instead of a bum which is what he is lets face it

Get the feeling he is/was happier being a bum and playing FC cricket/random T20 tournaments, than turning out for the national side under continuous scrutiny over his off-field habits.

But yeah, most naturally talented NZ player of his time and great to watch, such a waste.

 

[SteveNZ]

Shane Bond. Never enjoyed someone bowling as much as I did him, live and on TV. Feel a bit robbed we didn't get more of him, especially in Tests.

 

[aussie tragic]

I remember when Australia lost Chappell, Marsh and Lillee in the same match at the SCG in 1984 and CA said that can never happen again as it hurt the team so much...

...and then Langer, Warne and McGrath retired same match 23 years later at SCG in 2007

 

[stephen]

Well they weren't going to drop any of those three to stagger their retirements. In fact with Hayden, Ponting, Gilchrist all playing on and MacGill as backup for Warne and both Jacques and Rogers waiting in the wings for an opening spot the only player who didn't have a ready made replacement was McGrath. But Stuart Clark looked like he'd be able to fulfill McGrath's role for a few years.

It actually looked like the planning was going to work but these problems happened:

MacGill was crocked and couldn't do the job he could have done five years earlier.

Hayden and Ponting both fell out of form to varying degrees in the next couple of years. This wasn't unexpected for Hayden who was getting to his late 30s when he started his decline, but Ponting was 33 when his eye started to go.

Hayden's opening partner was Katich inexplicably. Katich did well but wasn't a pick for the future.

Stuart Clark didn't last as long as anyone had hoped either. In the years that followed Australia's pace attack was decent but wildly inconsistent with the emergence of Siddle and Johnson who were both physically great fast bowlers but were prone to bowling the wrong lines (Johnson) or lengths (Siddle).

 

[TheJediBrah]

I reckon Aus' bowling attack was pretty ordinary for a few years before Harris and the young guns came along. Bollinger, Hilfenhaus and Siddle were nothing special, and pretty ordinary for a country used to having the best pace attack in the world.

 

[GoodAreasShane]

I think Doug the Rug was a touch underrated as a Test bowler, but he was certainly a bit hot and cold, his record is good it was probably in hindsight fair enough to move on.


I still maintain Mark Cameron could have been an absolute superstar had he been able to stay on the park

 

[TheJediBrah]

I'm not saying likes of Dougeh, Sids and big Hilf were terrible. But when you sandwiched between groups of McGrath, Gillespie, Clark, Warne on one side and Starc, Haze, Pattinson, Cummins on the other it's a big drop

 

[GoodAreasShane]

I'm not saying likes of Dougeh, Sids and big Hilf were terrible. But when you sandwiched between groups of McGrath, Gillespie, Clark, Warne on one side and Starc, Haze, Pattinson, Cummins on the other it's a big drop

Yeah I agree with that, absolutely

Which makes it all the more a shame Cameron never got the chance

 

[morgieb]

I'm not saying likes of Dougeh, Sids and big Hilf were terrible. But when you sandwiched between groups of McGrath, Gillespie, Clark, Warne on one side and Starc, Haze, Pattinson, Cummins on the other it's a big drop

I think Gillespie and Clark played like one Test together, despite their age they're not really contemporaries of each other.

 

[morgieb]

I mean on paper that attack wasn't great but other than the 10/11 Ashes they always bowled pretty well as a combo.

 

[TheJediBrah]

I think Gillespie and Clark played like one Test together, despite their age they're not really contemporaries of each other.

They both played in the years before the "lull", I wasn't saying that they played together

 

[trundler]

Was a big fan of Katich for some reason. He was gun

 

[TheJediBrah]

Was a big fan of Katich for some reason. He was gun

No need to qualify that. He was a very good cricketer and would have been a lot better known playing in a different decade, or for a different country. Borderline ATVG tbh.

 

[trundler]

No need to qualify that. He was a very good cricketer and would have been a lot better known playing in a different decade, or for a different country. Borderline ATVG tbh.

He was really fun to watch with a charming back and across technique. Probably better than most openers that have played since bar Cook tbh.

 

[TheJediBrah]

Katich was pretty close to a left-handed Steve Smith, technique-wise. I have wondered if he was a bit of an influence. of course Smith took it a step or 2 further

 

[Beamer]

Shane Bond. Never enjoyed someone bowling as much as I did him, live and on TV. Feel a bit robbed we didn't get more of him, especially in Tests.

Yes this, I loved watching him bowl.

Personally, Shiv's forced international retirement was upsetting. He was so close to 12,000 runs and to be robbed like he was and not given the send off he truly deserved was really sad. Our board has a history of forcing players to retire without giving them their due. The only one I can really think of that got a proper send off in front of an adoring crowd was Courtney Walsh.

 

[Moss]

Ridley Jacobs, have said before on the forum he was my favourite West Indian player from the Lara/Adams/Hooper captaincy eras. Career spanned just 6 years (1998-2004), and started out very late, was 31 by the time he made his debut. But Shiv and maybe Sarwan aside, he was one of the very few constantly dependable players from that time-frame.

Was carrying an injury during the England tour of 2004, bagged a pair in what turned out to be his last test and left the tour midway. Courtney Browne proceeded to play a matchwinning unbeaten knock in the Champions Trophy final which followed, and was suddenly celebrated and elevated to first-choice keeper and Jacobs was almost completely forgotten. But I think most West Indian supporters would agree the team hasn't had a keeper-bat as good since, I would pick him over Ramdin any day, though Dowrich has done pretty well so far.

 

[Beamer]

Ridley Jacobs, have said before on the forum he was my favourite West Indian player from the Lara/Adams/Hooper captaincy eras. Career spanned just 6 years (1998-2004), and started out very late, was 31 by the time he made his debut. But Shiv and maybe Sarwan aside, he was one of the very few constantly dependable players from that time-frame.

Was carrying an injury during the England tour of 2004, bagged a pair in what turned out to be his last test and left the tour midway. Courtney Browne proceeded to play a matchwinning unbeaten knock in the Champions Trophy final which followed, and was suddenly celebrated and elevated to first-choice keeper and Jacobs was almost completely forgotten. But I think most West Indian supporters would agree the team hasn't had a keeper-bat as good since, I would pick him over Ramdin any day, though Dowrich has done pretty well so far.

Yeah I'd agree with that. Ridley was an very decent keeper batsman. He looked a bit ungainly at times which affected peoples perception of him but he was in fact a really solid keeper. He was waaay better than Browne, Murray and others in his generation.

IMHO Ramdin is a better keeper than Ridley but I would chose Ridley with the bat every time. Dowrich is comfortably a better batsman (averaging 30 in tests) but his keeping is nowhere near as good as Ridleys was.

 

[Flem274*]

man i remember when we hoped ramdin had turned a corner, but then he faded away like most of the mid 10s side.

 

[Beamer]

man i remember when we hoped ramdin had turned a corner, but then he faded away like most of the mid 10s side.

Basically he performed to his potential for about 18 months in his whole career. Very disappointing as he definitely had the goods. I will forever have memories of his determination to get out sweeping.