• Welcome to the Cricket Web forums, one of the biggest forums in the world dedicated to cricket.

    You are currently viewing our boards as a guest which gives you limited access to view most discussions and access our other features. By joining our free community you will have access to post topics, respond to polls, upload content and access many other special features. Registration is fast, simple and absolutely free so please, join the Cricket Web community today!

    If you have any problems with the registration process or your account login, please contact us.

The ATG Teams General arguing/discussing thread

h_hurricane

International Vice-Captain
What were my exact words? You could be right but in my mind right now, I mainly rate Botham over Kapil for them having similar stats but Botham scoring way more centuries and a few more fivefers in way less tests.
Botham at least had the 5 point difference, and halfway though his career it was more like 12-15 points - we all know Botham stayed on too long

But yeah did Kapil ever have a point where he had a massive difference between batting and bowling average? 32-26 or something like that before falling away at the end? or did he always hover around 31/29

coz really Shane Watson with his batting average of 35 and bowling average of 33 looks just as useful to a team lineup on paper - but he's considered a test failure

so i guess it's just interesting to me how a long career can smooth over unimpressive averages, mainly when it comes to all-rounders
From the thread "http://www.cricketweb.net/forum/threads/what-made-the-mid-1980s-indian-odi-team-so-good.83139"
 

Fuller Pilch

Hall of Fame Member
Fourth XI from the last 50 years

Gooch (Gavaskar, Greenidge, Smith)
Langer (Sehwag, Hayden, Boycott)
Dravid (Viv Richards, Ponting, Sangakara)
G Chappell (Tendulkar, Lara, Kallis)
MJ Clarke (S Waugh, ABDV, Chanderpal)
Stokes (Imran, Botham, Kapil Dev) - all rounder
Marsh (Gilchrist, Knott, Healy) +
Holding (Marshall, Ambrose, Lillee)
Waqar (Akram, Steyn, Donald)
Roberts (Hadlee, McGrath, Garner)
Bedi (Warne, Murali, Kumble)
Javed Miandad was better than all the no 5s
 

GoodAreasShane

Cricketer Of The Year
yea nah, haddin's a coward. he gives a jesse ryder loose cannon type those send offs and he wakes up 6 months later in hospital from his well deserved coma.

say what you will about the sledging from the great australian rugby union side, they had to physically back up their verbals. following dismissed batsmen around sarcastically applauding them in your own national stadium while playing a non-contact sport epitomizes brad haddin as a man.
Yeah, because McCullum using his book to take cheap shots at Ross Taylor is the epitome of courage and bravery...
 

stephen

Cricket Web: All-Time Legend
Personally I think Tendulkar's longevity is a little overplayed. What's remarkable is that he was good enough to be a test batsman in the first 5 years of his career, rather than hope long he played at the other end.

The fact that he was Indian helped on both accounts. When he started India had crap batsmen which saw him debut earlier than he would have for a better nation. There were massive wraps on Ponting as a teenager too but he wasn't able to crack the test side until he was 21. At the other end, slower Indian pitches meant that declining ability versus pace was a lot less impactful on his career than it is for South African batsmen.

Personality I rate Smith so highly not because of his average but because of the conditions of those runs. He has batted on a different planet over the last 7 years. His last home series against South Africa isn't really talked about but he was immense in that series regardless of the quality of the attack or pitch conditions (Rabada/ Philander/Abbott in good bowling conditions).

Tendulkar was incredible and deserves all the plaudits he's gotten. I just happen to think that Smith has made tougher runs in more challenging conditions.
 

Pratters

Cricket, Lovely Cricket
Beyond a point, you have to look beyond the longevity really. Kapil took 434 wickets which is more than a Marshall or a Donald , say. Most would rate Marshall higher.

Lara v Tendulkar is also like that. Tendulkar had a longer career but they both had fairly long careers, so you look at how good the player was more than how long they played.

Smith plays a few more years, say 4-5 more years, we are going to look at whom you would rather have in the XI rather than pure stats.

Also, if some one picks Smith ahead of SRT even right now, there is no harm in that. Smith is ****ing awesome.
 

Daemon

Request Your Custom Title Now!
There’s no way Smith’s done enough to warrant being ahead of Tendulkar at this stage imo, but the idea that 120 tests of averaging 65 would put him just on par with Tendulkar doesn’t sit right.

Lara ‘only’ played 130 tests and averaged roughly the same as Tendulkar. Why are they then spoken about in the same breath? Shouldn’t he have averaged about 60 to be considered on par?
 

Pratters

Cricket, Lovely Cricket
Smith has a 26-29 conversion rate, scores big runs and wins you crucial series with series defining runs. It's not like he has just played a few tests or been around for 2-3 years. Made his debut 10 years back. Also, in the beginning, he was mainly selected as a bowler. Dude is best I have seen bar none. Maybe Lara and Smith but no one else in last 30 years in same breath.
 

Daemon

Request Your Custom Title Now!
Debuted 10 years ago, missed out on a lot of tests and came good 3-4 years after, was banned for a year and then corona.

He really hasn’t done it for long enough just yet.
 

Pratters

Cricket, Lovely Cricket
His come back after the ban in the Ashes was quite epic. This not done enough is what I don't buy. It's not like he has played 30 tests or over 4 consecutive years or some thing. If he was to retire in a year due to whatever reasons, you couldnt brush him aside like a Barry Richards. He has had a fairly substantial career already.
 

Daemon

Request Your Custom Title Now!
Nobody’s brushing him aside, he’s just not had a career that’s as good as Tendulkar’s yet
 

Top