The Steven Smith Question

[Spikey]

where was that article?

I'd very much like to read it again

idk but here's our discussion of his recall in live time (but please don't read my terrible posts). I remember they being a lot of people just assuming his spin must have been a factor in being picked

 

[TheJediBrah]

I think what Steve Smith shows us is that batting how you feel fit with hunger to learn, adapt and score runs > batting in a way that is 'correct'

To insist new generations try to bat like Smith would be to miss the point entirely.

Also nothing to do with what I said

 

[Spikey]

honestly I thought the Steve Smith question was gonna be: 'is he gonna go past 945 ranking points?'

i should make a poll

 

[Spark]

some quality in that thread, including "dave hussey would pose as much threat as a spinner as nathan lyon"

 

[Spikey]

god it sucked when Hussey retired and we were seeing "hey let's pick Dave Hussey!" no offence to dave

 

[Spark]

i think i posted a variation of that "no no no no" post every time someone advocated dave hussey's selection

 

[Spikey]

it's insane how different Australian cricket would be if Usman and Watson did their homework

 

[Woodster]

It's a myth that he's ugly to watch. His Perth knock was a joy to watch. Granted the pitch was a good one for attractive strokeplay, but he was on a different level to everyone else. He can play like that, and grind runs out with the best of them as well, like at Brisbane.

No, it really isn't a myth! I'm not doubting what he's done in the slightest, or potentially what he can go on and achieve, but there will never be an innings of Steve Smith's that's anything other than a tough watch, and that's not just from an England as the opponents persepective. I'm sure he doesn't care how he looks as long as he keeps piling up the runs!

 

[GuyFromLancs]

I think what Steve Smith shows us is that batting how you feel fit with hunger to learn, adapt and score runs > batting in a way that is 'correct'

To insist new generations try to bat like Smith would be to miss the point entirely.

Very good point.

Subjective style is the new objective style.

 

[GuyFromLancs]

Englishman accusing Steve Smith of ruining cricket.

Amazing.

It was actually an Irishman who said it.

 

[Tannhauser]

Smith's got a stronger case than most tho.


I'm just happy Smith's craziness is channeled into scoring runs rather than world domination tbh.

I'm not saying for a minute there's anything sinister about him. More that, well, I could see him going back to his hotel room after knocking off another 150 and engaging in ferociously competitive play with He-Man figures, or something.

 

[Gob]

No, it really isn't a myth! I'm not doubting what he's done in the slightest, or potentially what he can go on and achieve, but there will never be an innings of Steve Smith's that's anything other than a tough watch, and that's not just from an England as the opponents persepective. I'm sure he doesn't care how he looks as long as he keeps piling up the runs!

Lol, Its all very subjective

 

[Victor Ian]

I just can not fathom how people say his play is ugly. It is different, sure, but it is also beautiful in the way he does it. I have been watching youtube to see him clobber bouncers back to the ground for the last half hour. It seriously is a shot to mesmerise.

 

[OverratedSanity]

It's definitely ugly but it's also fun to watch

 

[Spark]

No, it really isn't a myth! I'm not doubting what he's done in the slightest, or potentially what he can go on and achieve, but there will never be an innings of Steve Smith's that's anything other than a tough watch, and that's not just from an England as the opponents persepective. I'm sure he doesn't care how he looks as long as he keeps piling up the runs!

I'm sure useless 40s are so much more watchable than hundreds on raging turners.

 

[fredfertang]

Smith's biggest problem is the boring name - just doesn't have the same ring as 'Don Bradman'

Rescues it slightly by having three initials - would probably do better if he used Devereux rather than boring old Steve

 

[TheJediBrah]

No, it really isn't a myth! I'm not doubting what he's done in the slightest, or potentially what he can go on and achieve, but there will never be an innings of Steve Smith's that's anything other than a tough watch, and that's not just from an England as the opponents persepective. I'm sure he doesn't care how he looks as long as he keeps piling up the runs!

"I think it's ugly therefore everyone has to"

 

[Woodster]

Lol, Its all very subjective

I just can not fathom how people say his play is ugly. It is different, sure, but it is also beautiful in the way he does it. I have been watching youtube to see him clobber bouncers back to the ground for the last half hour. It seriously is a shot to mesmerise.

"I think it's ugly therefore everyone has to"

Quite right it is subjective, but suggesting it's a myth is much the same as my statement.

Each to their own, he just really isn't my type of batsman to watch, as a neutral. Not in terms of how good he is or how many runs he scores, just his style of batting (have to justify this as you Aussies are clearly very sensitive over any Smith criticism).

 

[TheJediBrah]

Quite right it is subjective, but suggesting it's a myth is much the same as my statement.

Each to their own, he just really isn't my type of batsman to watch, as a neutral. Not in terms of how good he is or how many runs he scores, just his style of batting (have to justify this as you Aussies are clearly very sensitive over any Smith criticism).

Good that you've realised this

 

[vcs]

You've basically got to ignore the trigger movement **** and the other tics. He's really well-balanced while actually playing the shot.

For a batsman to be boring, he's got to have an ugly-ish technique, limited in their shot options, and be inherently defensive in their approach. So only people like Chanderpaul and Cook really fit the bill. Dravid and Kallis (in the early part of his career) were defensive but not ugly. Plenty of batsmen were ugly to watch in their strokeplay but scored fast (Hayden, Graeme Smith etc.). Steve Smith strikes at nearly 60, he's fine.