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Batsmen who always looked good

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The Breen Machine

The Breen Machine

Striker
..and you liked to watch but perhaps never fulfilled their talent?.

I'll start with Carl Hooper, always thought he was a beautifully elegant player and could make batting look so effortless, but ended up only averaging 36 in tests which whilst not poor, was an under-achievement for someone of his quality.
 

mikemanc said:
Michael Vaughan
Marcus Trescothick

Closer to home Nick Peng
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Trescothick finished his test match career with an average of 45 so can't say he didn't fulfill his potential. Vaughan must have got nearly 20 test match tons, including 4 against one of the greatest attacks of all time and was a fantastic captain. I think going along the lines of Ramprakash and Hick is better!

Could be argued that Andrew Flintoff never quite reached his potential with the bat as well
 
Pattisoni off here.

Has all the shots in the book. Forward defensive, hooks, pulls, cover drives.

Shame he only ever plays the first one. Makes Boycott look like Pietersen!
 
Aberdeen Angus said:
Trescothick finished his test match career with an average of 45 so can't say he didn't fulfill his potential. Vaughan must have got nearly 20 test match tons, including 4 against one of the greatest attacks of all time and was a fantastic captain. I think going along the lines of Ramprakash and Hick is better!

Could be argued that Andrew Flintoff never quite reached his potential with the bat as well
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Trescothick should still be opening for England, maybe not reaching his potential is a bit out here.

I agree with what you say about Vaughan but he averaged less than 42 in tests and never nailed down a place in the one day side but I used to love watching him, he was a really elegant player. That series in Australia showed what he could do, never got near that level again, albeit that could have been largely due to his knee. Watching the way he played he should have been held in the same esteem as Ponting and Tendulkar.

Flintoff never seemed to take it seriously enough. He just needed to time it but was determined to smash it. Mind he didn't have a clue what spinners were doing, don't think he had the batting talent of the other players mentioned (apart from Luke Wright).
 
Domestically, i'd go for Matt Maynard. Always thought he should be better than he was.

Overseas players ... Cullinan and Law for me.
 
3.142 said:
Domestically, i'd go for Matt Maynard. Always thought he should be better than he was.

Overseas players ... Cullinan and Law for me.
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Cullinan's a good shout, although Warney might not agree :lol:

Brad Hodge has always looked good whenever I've seen him, just born a few years too early/late
 
I think it would be interesting (although completely hypothetical) to see how batsmen such as Hussain, Atherton and Hick would do in Test match cricket now. I reckon you could add about 7 onto their averages.

The attacks they faced compared to attacks at the moment:

Windies - Walsh and Ambrose
South Africa - Donald and Pollock
Australia - Warne and McGrath
Pakistan - Wasim and Waqar
Sri Lanka - Murali and Vaas

Not many easy attacks there.
 
Aberdeen Angus said:
I think it would be interesting (although completely hypothetical) to see how batsmen such as Hussain, Atherton and Hick would do in Test match cricket now. I reckon you could add about 7 onto their averages.

The attacks they faced compared to attacks at the moment:

Windies - Walsh and Ambrose
South Africa - Donald and Pollock
Australia - Warne and McGrath
Pakistan - Wasim and Waqar
Sri Lanka - Murali and Vaas

Not many easy attacks there.
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Gooch and Boycott for example managed against world class attacks and would both average mid 40s plus in todays game. Hick was equally as talented but lacked mental strength at the highest level imo.
 
Aberdeen Angus said:
I think it would be interesting (although completely hypothetical) to see how batsmen such as Hussain, Atherton and Hick would do in Test match cricket now. I reckon you could add about 7 onto their averages.

The attacks they faced compared to attacks at the moment:

Windies - Walsh and Ambrose
South Africa - Donald and Pollock
Australia - Warne and McGrath
Pakistan - Wasim and Waqar
Sri Lanka - Murali and Vaas

Not many easy attacks there.
Click to expand...

Or to put it another way, how many less would the likes of Bell and Morgan have averaged if they were batting 10 years ago.
 
mikemanc said:
Michael Vaughan
Marcus Trescothick

Closer to home Nick Peng
Click to expand...

Nicky Peng is an absolutely superb shout, at 19 he looked top drawer and Graham Gooch of all people wanted him picked for the winter tours in 01/02. By 25 he was out of the professional game completely.

I knew Hick and Ramprakash would crop up prominently in this thread. For the record Hick always looked a bit mechanical to me, never looked genuine class just a powerful batsman who could dominate on his day. Ramprakash on the other hand had an excellent technique but not the temperment to succeed at the highest level.

I remember watching Lou Vincent on test debut for the Kiwi's about 10 years ago, scored a hundred and a half century against the Aussies in Brisbane I think. Looked like a class act but never kicked on at all.
 
Michael Bevan (at least in Tests). He was a magnificent ODI player but never really stepped up at Test level.

For England, how about someone like John Crawley? Had talent and that hundred v Sri Lanka at the Oval in 1998 put him on the Ashes tour that winter but he never did much more.
 
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Wise Man Says said:
Michael Bevan (at least in Tests). He was a magnificent ODI player but never really stepped up at Test level.

For England, how about someone like John Crawley? Had talent and that hundred v Sri Lanka at the Oval in 1998 put him on the Ashes tour that winter but he never did much more.
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Good Shout.

Anyone remember Somersets Mark Lathwell? Touted as the next big thing at one stage.
 
3.142 said:
Or to put it another way, how many less would the likes of Bell and Morgan have averaged if they were batting 10 years ago.
Click to expand...
There is a difference between their averages now to be fair. Bell would have done well, Morgan technically not good enough.
Ramprakash looked good when making nought. Gower was the most natural English player I have seen
 
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