Why? He played all of his tests bar 8 in the post 2000 era. Why wouldn't that be his generation?I don't consider his generation exclusive to the last 6 years.
. . .KaZoH0lic said:To be honest, if Hayden plays another year or so he will overtake Sunil
Yeah, I know Archie.Bit of a tail, maybe Miller for Lillee or Marshall?
His 2001 tour wasn't all that grand either, was it?Matt79 said:But its all relative. People here argue that he was "found out" in England in 2005.
Andy Flower played spin better than any man I have ever seen. Ever. Not even close for me. Only time I wanted to kill myself while watching cricket was when Andy Flower was batting in INDIA vs our spinners, because I knew there is no way he was going to ever get out unless an umpire intervened or he felt sorry for us.No-one, ever, is denying that Hayden's a brilliant player of spin - I'd have little hesitation in saying he's probably the best player of spin in the last 10 years at the very least. Yes, better than Dravid, Lara, Tendulkar, Andrew Flower and anyone else you care to name. Incredibly strange, really, for someone who all his young life opened the batting in Queensland.
I was not dissapointed in the result, but was so dumbfounded on how someone could play spin so well. It seemed he could pick off the bowlers with one tied behind his back. Flower owned both.Hayden's India tour in 2000\01 wasn't exactly awful, either.
I refuse to believe you felt worse in said Flower incident (which you knew full well was never going to result in India losing) than in that Hayden-Gilchrist stand where Harbhajan got such a ferocious battering.
Hayden didn't exactly do poorly in his 1 tour of Sri Lanka, either.
Just my opinion obviously, but he averaged 117 in India and he looked like he averaged a lot more than that. He was that good.Fair noof, I suppose, Harbhajan and Kumble is somewhat different to Harbhajan and Sanghvi\Bahutule\Raju\Kulkarni.
I suppose you could make a case for Flower > Hayden but they're pretty well-matched IMO.
As well as Andy Flower plays spin, I still don't think he is a spot on Lara when it comes to playing spin. Lara has so much more options (inspite of the lack of reverse sweep) while Andy Flower, while he does have a number of options, to me always looked a little too "sweep happy". When it comes to being consistently dominant against spin and make spinners look like they have no clue where to bowl, Lara beats everyone I have seen, to be honest.Andy Flower played spin better than any man I have ever seen. Ever. Not even close for me. Only time I wanted to kill myself while watching cricket was when Andy Flower was batting in INDIA vs our spinners, because I knew there is no way he was going to ever get out unless an umpire intervened or he felt sorry for us.
He was so ridiculous. Playing spin in India with confident is something that I don't see very often. People make runs there against spin, obviously, but not like Flower.
In five matches, he had 4 fifties, 3 centuries and one double century (233*). Ganguly, not the one to give easy compliments to opponents, said that no one has ever come to India and played spin better.
Flower >> Lara > Sachin in the spin sweepstakes IMO.
Okay, well thought out, I am always tempted to choose Jack Iverson in my all time XIYeah, I know Archie.
That is why I included Miller as the 12th man, so that if necessary he would slot in in the place of one of the spinners - most likely Warnie, with Gilly dropping down to 7.
I chose 5 bowlers because Gilly gives enough batting at 6, and Bradman is almost equivalant to 2 batsmen anyways at 3. Also, in the unlikely event of this team being bowled out for a low score I think a bowling attack of Marshall, Lillee, Barnes, Murali, and Warne would winkle out almost any team for a low score - even if they are another best of.
As I said though, Miller is in as cover for any eventuality, but Miller at 12 is my preferred XI.
All quite true and I guess it just demonstrates that it's not easy at all to say for certain which of these fantastic players of spin is the best.As well as Andy Flower plays spin, I still don't think he is a spot on Lara when it comes to playing spin. Lara has so much more options (inspite of the lack of reverse sweep) while Andy Flower, while he does have a number of options, to me always looked a little too "sweep happy". When it comes to being consistently dominant against spin and make spinners look like they have no clue where to bowl, Lara beats everyone I have seen, to be honest.
Andy Flower ground us out well and looked more unlikely to get out, but as many experts and fans have mentioned worldwide, Lara is easily the toughest guy a spinner can bowl at. His play against Kumble in the Chennai ODI was the best exhibition of controlled aggression against a spinner of that calibre I have seen in a long long time. Andy Flower has his areas where he can score at, but Lara combines power, pluckiness, panache and a lot of skill against spin. AS I said, I have NOT seen a better player of spin in my time of watching cricket. And I did watch almost every ball of Andy Flower's knocks (and Jimmy Adams' for that matter) against us.
Lara >>> Flower, Sachin etc, for me. Hayden is very good too but he lacks the late cuts of Lara, which are an excellen option against finger spinners' quicker ones. And I have seen him being troubled for significant periods by both Kumble and Harbhajan.
And I dont know what Sachin has done wrong against spin to put him below Andy Flower. He looks just as much at ease as Flower does against them. It is not his fault that he is born in India and so he can't play against Kumbles and Harbhajans at the world stage.
The reason me (and a lot of others, including experts) put the trait to be dominant above most other things is that it is a trait that can win you games. By being able to score runs quickly, you give yourself more time to bowl ppl out. That is why I would always take Lara over someone like Adams (at his peak, BTW), simply because while Adams (like Andy Flower) never looked like getting out to a spinner, he wouldn't do enough for you to win a match. Lara, the way he plays spin, the ONLY way he would ever get out to a spinner is by making a mistake himself (and he very seldom does that too).All quite true and I guess it just demonstrates that it's not easy at all to say for certain which of these fantastic players of spin is the best.
I will say one thing, though - I'm always a bit wary of putting someone ahead of someone else because he is a dominant player. Undoubtedly, Lara has that facet against spin, but it doesn't automatically make him a better player of it than a more measured player like Flower - it just means he goes about the job differently.