Those who proved you wrong

[Zinzan]

Okay, so the title sounds a tad egotistical, like it's all about us...

Thought of this whilst watching Wagner steaming in. Someone I completely wrote-off a couple of years back who of course has turned out to be pretty damn good.

Those cricketers you had wrongly written-off, who turned out to be decent or in some cases, very good.

Top 5 for me;

Neil Wagner - That he wasn't anywhere near Test standard.
Andrew Flintoff - The '05 Ashes, that he'd even go close to succeeding against that Australian side.
Grant Elliott (WC squad) - Enough said.
Steve Smith - That he'd be merely a decent Test batsman.
Hashim Amla - Thought he'd be adequate at best.

Yours?

 

[mr_mister]

thought KW as a total geek when I first saw him bat definitely didn't think he'd reach the heights he has


Also predicted Phil Hughes to blitz every batting record and end up with a Bradmanesque average after his initial SA series

 

[NZTailender]

Didn't think Amla was much chop, tbh. Dave Warner too.

 

[fredfertang]

I thought Simon Kerrigan would go on to be one of the great English spinners - shows how little I know

 

[Gnske]

Rohrer

 

[African Monkey]

Didn't think BJ Watling would last long at all in test cricket but is now a very reliable player.

Nathan Lyon, although he's no world beater, has done very well for himself in the test game. Thought he'd play 3 tests max before Australia would move on as they loved to do a few years back.

All I can think of at this stage.

 

[grecian]

I think Smith is going to be on a lot of peoples lists, mibe included. TBH I think there are probably too many too remember depressingly. At present, I think I'm wrong about Stoakes and Woakes, but that could change.

 

[NZTailender]

Thought the same about Lyon, but not because of his abilities but because Australia's spin pool has generally been mediocre.

 

[Zinzan]

I thought Simon Kerrigan would go on to be one of the great English spinners - shows how little I know

That's Umar Akmal for me. I thought he'd be the next 'great batsman' following his 129 & 75 on debut in a low scoring Test against NZ in '09, an attack including Bond, Martin, O'Brien & Vettori in NZ conditions.


Also Tim Southee's test batting. Smashes 77 off about 40 balls on debut, only to never get close to that score since.

 

[honestbharani]

Ashwin as a test bowler..

 

[91Jmay]

I was calling for Joe Root to be dropped for a while ( I think from the ODI team but it may have been from all forms), thought he was overrated. I'm glad I'm not a selector.

 

[Lillian Thomson]

One of each. John Crawley I thought was going to be a high quality Test batsman. Swann I didn't think was going to be a Test bowler at all,

 

[TheJediBrah]

I thought Glenn Maxwell would hit god mode after the 2015 World Cup, but he's turned to ****. Couldn't even score runs in the IPL.

I underestimated Hazlewood. Thought he was by far the worst out of him, Pattinson, Starc and Cummins. Also thought Starc was meh, and that Pattinson was the real deal.

 

[Black_Warrior]

Smith
Ashwin
Woakes (maybe too early)
Herath
Misbah (I always liked him but I thought he was finished in 2010 when he was dropped)
AB De Villiers (didn't think there was anything special when he started)
Ishant (in the sense that I can't believe someone who bowls like him has played 70 tests and will most likely play more)

 

[Daemon]

I thought Glenn Maxwell would hit god mode after the 2015 World Cup, but he's turned to ****. Couldn't even score runs in the IPL.

I underestimated Hazlewood. Thought he was by far the worst out of him, Pattinson, Starc and Cummins. Also thought Starc was meh, and that Pattinson was the real deal.

Yeah same here with Maxwell. Shame.

I thought Pujara by now would be on KW levels of awesomeness. Still has it in him.

Was very wrong about Kohli. Thought he'd be poo after he played in the 2011 Windies series.

 

[91Jmay]

Maxwell dropped from ODI squad today wasn't he? He isn't getting any younger, really needs to make the improvements in the next 12 months or could be curtains for him.

 

[morgieb]

Thought Raina was the next big thing in Indian batting. Oh dear.....

 

[anil1405]

Umar Akmal and Darren Bravo.

Two wasted talents who could have achieved much more than they have.

 

[vcs]

Never thought Chanderpaul would go on to accumulate as many runs as he did over his career when I saw him tormenting us around the early 2000s. Always saw Sarwan and Hooper as more dangerous. The old "style-over-substance" fallacy I guess..

 

[OverratedSanity]

Thought Amla , KW, Root, Smith would be terrible or at best average. I also had Sreesanth pegged as a lock for the best Indian pacer since Kapil.