Should Fleming open in Tests for NZ

[Darrin]

Should Fleming open in Tests for Nz

Absolute Rubbish Tim! Stephen Fleming IS a Number 3, his best scores have come at number 3 ( 174*, and 274*). I believe in getting ones best batsmen in early, then and only then can they influence the game in their favour.

Most sides have their best batsmen in early Sa, australia, india. Why are new zealand any different? Why should we be any different?

It wasn't until Hadlee put fleming into the opening position that he really started to see the best from him in ODI'S. I think he thrives with extra responsibilty.

 

[Mr. P]

is ANYONE with me on this one?

 

[Tim]

And so what did Fleming do in between those two big innings?
He has one of the worst conversion rates of 50's to 100's in test cricket.

Fleming made the decision himself to open because quite frankly nobody else is good enough in NZ to do it.

 

[gibbsnsmith]

Mr Mxyzptlk quote:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Originally posted by gibbsnsmith
1:dravid
2:das/gambhir
3:laxman
4:tendulkar
5:ganguly
6:sehwag[doing a gilchrist-esque job]
[7:agarkar]
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


There is no way that I would have Dravid opening the batting. He's a star at no.3 because he anchors the innings. Yes, an opener can do this too, but Dravid has had all his success doing it at 3.

Besides, Sehwag averages 41 in Tests. He has 3 hundreds and 4 fifties in 14 matches. His SR is 70. I see no problem with Sehwag opening. His average doesn't reflect much wrong doing.









i see no point in delaying the entrance of dravid, i mean because of the inconsistency of openers, hes practically one too. If you were aware of BCCI murmurs sehwag and bangar are just a short term fix, admittedly sehwags done a good jo but indi need a player to do a gilchrist like job down the order, with help from ajit agarkar of course

 

[Craig]

is ANYONE with me on this one?

And that is??

 

[Darrin]

Yes , quite true tim, but thats not the point. My point was he seems to like extra responsibility.

I also admit that his conversion rate has been one of the poorest around the world, which is sad. But, his performance ratio is poor at number 3 as well as number 4. One thing counts though he is perfoming now and we should enjoy that fact.

Its great getting some debate going about the game we love. Thanks for the discussion.

 

[Mr. P]

And that is??

that it wouldn't be too bad an idea to send Fleming out to face the new ball!!

 

[Craig]

Right Mr.Ponting.

Fleming has made 4 scores in the 90s, so if he had converted all of them, he would have 9 Test centuries.

I point the fact he went to Middlesex changed him.

 

[marc71178]

Re: err..

1:dravid
2:das/gambhir
3:laxman
4:tendulkar
5:ganguly
6:sehwag[doing a gilchrist-esque job]
[7:agarkar]

What about Bangar?

[7:agarkar]

The great one prefers number 8 - not good enough for 7 IMO.

 

[marc71178]

Re: Should Fleming open in Tests for Nz

Absolute Rubbish Tim! Stephen Fleming IS a Number 3, his best scores have come at number 3 ( 174*, and 274*).

And both innings were made in Sri Lanka (least pace-assistance around?) against very weak seam attacks.

 

[gibbsnsmith]

bangar, eh?

well, i m impressed by him and suprised VERY surprised but he is 31 and hes not that pacey so drop him for another 'quality' allrounder in AA. ofcourse if the great one has trouble batting at no:7 well swap him and patel.

 

[Mr Mxyzptlk]

Bangar hasn't had the most pleasant of times at International level since his induction.

His stats reflect that he's a good player at home but has fairly stuggled abroad.

 

[Rik]

Re: Re: err..

There is no way that I would have Dravid opening the batting. He's a star at no.3 because he anchors the innings. Yes, an opener can do this too, but Dravid has had all his success doing it at 3.

Besides, Sehwag averages 41 in Tests. He has 3 hundreds and 4 fifties in 14 matches. His SR is 70. I see no problem with Sehwag opening. His average doesn't reflect much wrong doing.

Dravid opened during the tour of SA and didn't have a great time.

Sehwag may average 41 in Tests but he averaged 50+ before he started opening...

 

[Mr. P]

but sehwag has only played a handful of tests compared to the other players in the indian team

 

[Mr Mxyzptlk]

Re: Re: Re: err..

Sehwag may average 41 in Tests but he averaged 50+ before he started opening...

He averaged 47.71 with 1 hundred and 2 fifties before opening. As an opener, he's averaged 38.42, which is just 2 points less than Trescothick and better than Gayle. His two highest scores have also come while opening.

I wouldn't say he's done that badly in the spot. Indeed if you scrap the 15 runs in 3 innings against NZ (on underprepared pitches), he would be averaging 47.54 when opening... not too bad.

 

[marc71178]

You can't discount performances just to prove a point Liam!

How would you feel if I discounted Laras 375 and 501 as the bowling was poor and the pitch easy?!

 

[Mr Mxyzptlk]

I proved my point without discounting performances. I just added in the last part for an interesting fact.