I loved watching him bat, was such a good player in Australia, just hated watch him carry on in the field and try and bully and intimidate the opposition then play victim when it was returned to him.
David Warner
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Gethelred
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From around 2014ish on, he ceased being a young tearaway and became a professional cricketer. He made runs because he was employed to make runs; he was there early and left late; he did the preparation required from him to perform at the level he expected from himself. It's as though he was told at some point to knuckle down and do the work and respect would come.
Mark Waugh had a little chirp at him during the ODI's because he did some research around their quicks he was unfamiliar with. He takes the job seriously, which is ****ing rare in an Australian sporting landscape.
Half right. He remained absolutely shit away from home throughout his career. His record at home (except for the last few years) was amazing, he was just terrible away from home against good/decent sides.
Gethelred
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I don't disagree with you at all, but I maintain that he wasn't a perfectionist the way your Smiths or Kohli's of the world were. He's not going - for example - to hire a gym during the off season and get thousands of balls at his ribs the way Amla did when he wasn't hitting the short ball well; he's going to work. He's going to prepare as best he can and back his method, the method that works at home.
Also, just because he wasn't successful overseas in test cricket doesn't mean he wasn't successful overseas, either. He's been a very successful IPL and international short form cricketer with his method.
As much as I hate to admit it I tend to agree. Especially when you compare him to Mark Waugh, I don't reckon he watches much cricket, Warner seems a real nuffie and has some real insight about the technical aspects of batting.
- May 5, 2016
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Waugh doesn’t watch any.
Hes the stereotypical type that will see a player do something on a tour to Australia and the 3-4 years of cricket that has taken place for that player in between that tour and their next will be irrelevant when Waugh discusses them the next time they appear.
‘Oh well we all know how good this bloke is, he’s world class and such a great player.’ *player x has been in and out of the team for two years and averaging 25
‘This guy struggled big time when they were here previously, I’m a bit surprised to see that they’ve persisted with him but I suppose we will find out how he is going.’
*player X has his 12 centuries in 3 years and averaged 50
That's 100% me I reckon ha ha, maybe I could be a commentator (they asked Waugh and not me for some reason)
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lol yeah but he’s paid handsomely to do it.
Darren Lehmann after that Joe Root comment the other day literally got Ric Findlay the ABC statistician to do his dirty work for him to try and back up his comment which I found pretty ridiculous for an ex international coach
What I don't understand with Mark Waugh is there's nothing appealing about him at all. He has no great insights about cricket, his voice is boring to listen to, he's not funny or charismatic or anything. He wasn't even a great player (good yes, but a fair way south of Warne, McGrath, his brother, etc). Why does he still get hired?
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Because there needs to be someone who suggests Sean Abbott as a selection option at every opportunity
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Ex players I genuinely enjoy listening to:
- Warner: would never have ever thought it but I do. He is making the effort. And there isn’t any boys club about him yet.
- Stuart Clark on the ABC. Really good analysis, no hint of dross and back in my day garbage and in the same way that he was Glenn McGrath if McGrath was a fraction worse as a bowler, he is McGrath if he was a bit better as a commentator.
- Blewett. He’s not a f**kwit and is self aware and reads the game well.
- Ponting if he sticks to analysis. You can tell he’s itching to stick it to other teams when the Aussies struggle but he does manage to rein it in to his credit and he reads the game exceptionally well.
I used to like Gilchrist and he seems a lovely bloke but he’s so far up Mark Howard’s arseh*le he may as well get paid for proctology as much as his commentary.
I know for a fact that Copeland is a genuinely lovely dude but they seem to have forced him into a role for some reason that I’m not sure he was cut out for.
I make no secret of how much I detest Kerry. He is Satan.
- Warner: would never have ever thought it but I do. He is making the effort. And there isn’t any boys club about him yet.
- Stuart Clark on the ABC. Really good analysis, no hint of dross and back in my day garbage and in the same way that he was Glenn McGrath if McGrath was a fraction worse as a bowler, he is McGrath if he was a bit better as a commentator.
- Blewett. He’s not a f**kwit and is self aware and reads the game well.
- Ponting if he sticks to analysis. You can tell he’s itching to stick it to other teams when the Aussies struggle but he does manage to rein it in to his credit and he reads the game exceptionally well.
I used to like Gilchrist and he seems a lovely bloke but he’s so far up Mark Howard’s arseh*le he may as well get paid for proctology as much as his commentary.
I know for a fact that Copeland is a genuinely lovely dude but they seem to have forced him into a role for some reason that I’m not sure he was cut out for.
I make no secret of how much I detest Kerry. He is Satan.
Around the Wicket
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Warner is a natural in the comms box, if you say otherwise you just don't like him.
Go listen to Clarke when he first joined the 9 team, was horrible.
Go listen to Clarke when he first joined the 9 team, was horrible.
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Maybe I haven't been listening enough but the few times I've heard him, he wasn't particularly insightful. I remember him saying how Marsh wouldn't block to the break, he'd just play his natural style, then watched him block to the break.
Or I just don't like him (and I don't).
Or I just don't like him (and I don't).
Black Diamond
Sleight of Hand
Small total v India on a challenging deck.
This scenario is exactly why we miss Warner so much. He could punch a hole in the total in quick time with limited risk.
This scenario is exactly why we miss Warner so much. He could punch a hole in the total in quick time with limited risk.
Bucking Beads
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Warner was right about Marnus hitting it to Gully.
Zach Package
Prespakis2Tsatas
How low does Kohli's test batting average have to get before the retrospective 'fab 4' of that generation is Smith, Williamson, Root and Warner?
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Forever, possibly.
Alistair Cook had a better average and aggregate in that period, Angelo Matthews may well finish with both if he can make another 1000 runs.
Black Diamond
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I think Zach was just having a laugh.
It is a mistake to judge players harshly when clearly in the twilight.
It is a mistake to judge players harshly when clearly in the twilight.
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Agree but every player has the chance to pick when they bow out: it’s not like Kohli is the first player to reach a stage where he has to make a decision about his declining skills so there are plenty of other players with better records than his who could have had even better records again if they had gone at a different time.
On a side note, since 2010 there are as many Bangladeshi batsmen in the top 30 run scorers, who average 40+, as there are Indian ones.
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I think the cricketing obsession with averages is a little odd tbh. Doesn't really translate to other sports. Nobody else is judging Pendlebury more harshly because his last few years haven't been as good as his peak - he's still contributing and if anything that longevity gets him more respect. If we transfer that to cricket people seem to more obsess on this one metric (average) to the exclusion of lots of other factors.
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There's still an expectation of performance though. Pendlebury is still contributing (although one of 18 players) whereas Kohli is not contributing what is expected of a top four bat. When discussing his average, most people refer to his average over the last four years, which is about 30, which is not worthy of a place in the team. There's more room for passengers if they are doing enough in AFL than there is in cricket.
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Yes of course - but I don't really think that should change the overall view of Kohli. If we consider someone like Smith - he's still averaging 40-45 over the last few years which is much better than any replacement would do - but has also dragged his overall average down significantly. I don't think that should take away from his standing just because he's played on for more years - still contributing but not as much as in his prime.
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Agreed. I can say it's past time for him to go while saying he was a legend of the game in his prime.
It’s one metric that measures their one job (score runs). I think cricket people can look beyond it though.
Viv doesn’t have a great average compared to how highly he is regarded in the game. Compare that to say Ken Barrington, great average hardly but hardly in “best after Bradman” discussions.
Ponting and Greg Chappell, not great averages considering they are considered all time great Australians.
