The Best Young Batsmen in the world?

[adharcric]

Hmm...

It is as though he can, though.

As with MSP, I'd really prefer neither were in the ODI side right now - not only because I don't think it suits their styles (Panesar "attacking" bowler; Cook "defensive" batsman) but because I've had just about enough of picking players for ODIs because "he's a good Test player".

And I don't think it'll do either any good to be in such an utterly useless side at this stage of their careers.

No chance they'll make it a competitive side?

 

[Richard]

Nope. None at all. Panesar's presence hasn't, and there's no reason at all to suggest Cook's would.

 

[Complicated]

And Rod Marsh called Chris Read one of the best wicketkeeper-batsmen in The World.

Yes, people were giving that sort of hype about Ponting from a very young age, but that's not especially uncommon - witness Lillee vis-a-vis Johnson.

For the first 5 years of his Test career Ponting was nothing more than a good Test batsman, with limited aspirations to go on to anything more.

And IMO it's not complete coincidence that his spectacular average rise (in common with Dravid and Kallis') happened at the exact time that bowling standards Worldwide plummeted.

I think Rod Marsh is quoted as saying Chris Read is the best wicketkeeper in England. I've never heard him credit Chris Read as being world's best wicket keeper / batsmen in the world, and given the likes of Gilchrist, Haddin, Sangakara and even Boucher it seems unlikely Marsh would say that. Could you provide a link of where he said it?

The last point in your post is an interesting one. Lots of people argue that bowling standards have plummeted, but there seems to be alot of inconsistency over when exatly it happened. It seems you're saying around 2002 - 2003 the slump occured. I've heard others say it started at the end of the 90's, or even as early as 1991, 1992. I wonder if there is a concensus on if and when bowling stocks hit the floor.

Btw was it Ponting who had a first class average near 60 before his debut?

 

[adharcric]

given the likes of Gilchrist, Haddin, Sangakara and even Boucher

 

[Richard]

I think Rod Marsh is quoted as saying Chris Read is the best wicketkeeper in England. I've never heard him credit Chris Read as being world's best wicket keeper / batsmen in the world, and given the likes of Gilchrist, Haddin, Sangakara and even Boucher it seems unlikely Marsh would say that. Could you provide a link of where he said it?

Read Nasser Hussain's book. He never said he was the best, just one of the best - which with Stewart, Gilchrist, Sangakkara, Boucher, Jacobs and Parore around at the time was hardly realistic. Not to mention, of course, Haddin, though he wasn't at the time as good as he is now. Nor was it an isolated case. Marsh has long been given to hyperbole about charges at his Academies. All you need to do to please him is show a good work-ethic.

The last point in your post is an interesting one. Lots of people argue that bowling standards have plummeted, but there seems to be alot of inconsistency over when exatly it happened. It seems you're saying around 2002 - 2003 the slump occured. I've heard others say it started at the end of the 90's, or even as early as 1991, 1992. I wonder if there is a concensus on if and when bowling stocks hit the floor.

Btw was it Ponting who had a first class average near 60 before his debut?

Dono, but for mine there's absolutely no disputing whatsoever when it happened - the year-or-so between September 2000 and June 2001. It wasn't gradual or anything, it was an explosion in run-getting and the pace of it.

Certainly anyone who said it happened in 1991 or 1992 had no clue what they were on about. That's round about the time when World bowling stocks started to climb towards the peak - arguably the all-time peak.

 

[pup11]

Clarke has seen it all in the 2 or 3 years he has played, he has gone through dizzying highs and frustrating lows, he has become a far better player than before. One thing that clarke is already better than ponting at or for that matter any aussie batsman(playing currently) is his ability to play good spin bowling on spinning tracks. This ability is really going to help him become a complete batsman quicker.

 

[Richard]

He's clearly become a good player but to suggest he's "seen it all" is rather a gross exaggeration.

 

[vic_orthdox]

I wouldn't disagree at all with the assessment that Read is the best wicketkeeper-batsman in the world. He's about the only one who has played international cricket recently.

 

[Richard]

Well... this guy played fairly recently I thought...

 

[pup11]

Can't really term boucher as world's best keeper because he has really never kept stumps to good spin bowlers.

 

[Richard]

No? Paul Adams and Nico Boje never bowled well?

And who, exactly, termed him the best?