Unpopular Cricket Opinions

[Park cricketer]

Probably a bit harsh. He still averages 42 as an opener in run chases - that’s pretty bloody good.
He is undoubtedly someone who thrives more under the freedom of batting first though.

Not harsh at all.

Check his world cup record. Has largely failed to deliver whenever he plays in the world cup. Has zero tons against non minnows, cashed in with 2 tons against Ireland and Netherlands. Averages just around 30 when you remove the minnows.

He has never shown any sign that he can handle the pressure of a world cup match throughout his career and even in bilaterals, I've seen him crack under pressure quite a few times especially during chasing. Generally most South African players play well in the world cup but choke inexplicably when the knockout matches come. Amla is a special case in that he fails even in the group matches of a world cup. I know he has a great average in ODI cricket but I'll take a lot of guys who averaged less than him but shown more mettle in world cups in the past before choosing him in my XI.

His world cup record is an anomaly and one that's been widely discussed in many cricket forums. We waited to see if he did anything different in the '15 WC but he failed then too. If he doesn't do anything to change opinions this world cup, his ODI career will be known for having amassed a lot of fastest to 6k, 7k and 8k records but all of them being soft runs, probably opposite to his test career where he has scored plenty of tough runs. I hope succeeds this WC though because he's quite a likeable character.

 

[Park cricketer]

Amla is a great player to play the anchor role (which is becoming obsolete in modern ODI cricket nowadays) when the likes of AB, Miller, Albie Morkel, etc., could tee off after him to build a mammoth total.

But without the likes of AB, Morkel, Morris and with Miller playing less amount of deliveries, he will become a liability in the South African line up. In short, he can play a very good supporting role to AB, Faf, etc., building a solid base for them to attack from but he is not the best player to play the lead batsman role if you don't have those dynamic players coming after him because he lacks the gears to take the attack to the opposition.

 

[Damon_3388]

Amla is a great player to play the anchor role (which is becoming obsolete in modern ODI cricket nowadays) when the likes of AB, Miller, Albie Morkel, etc., could tee off after him to build a mammoth total.

But without the likes of AB, Morkel, Morris and with Miller playing less amount of deliveries, he will become a liability in the South African line up. In short, he can play a very good supporting role to AB, Faf, etc., building a solid base for them to attack from but he is not the best player to play the lead batsman role if you don't have those dynamic players coming after him because he lacks the gears to take the attack to the opposition.

Amla has a strike rate of 89.31 in ODI cricket. Not the fastest scorer, but perfectly adequate given that he's not a power hitter, and higher than Faf (88.58) too.

 

[PhatBoy]

Amla is a great player to play the anchor role (which is becoming obsolete in modern ODI cricket nowadays) when the likes of AB, Miller, Albie Morkel, etc., could tee off after him to build a mammoth total.

But without the likes of AB, Morkel, Morris and with Miller playing less amount of deliveries, he will become a liability in the South African line up. In short, he can play a very good supporting role to AB, Faf, etc., building a solid base for them to attack from but he is not the best player to play the lead batsman role if you don't have those dynamic players coming after him because he lacks the gears to take the attack to the opposition.

Merit in the sentiment. It’s hard to ignore the fact that his career strike rate is 90 - that’s sensational by any measure. But he does lack the extra gear that others do when it comes to the final 10 overs. He’s almost got a higher third and fourth gear than a lot of other players but no fifth.

 

[Richard Pryor]

Out of interest here are Amla's stats v Australia, Bangladesh, England, India, New Zealand, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and West Indies in ODIs.

And for WC games v those teams

From a stat-hack perspective I would say criticism of Amla as a downhill skier in World Cups is fair, but not for his output in ODI's as a whole. A bit representative of South Africa as a whole in that respect.

 

[Damon_3388]

Merit in the sentiment. It’s hard to ignore the fact that his career strike rate is 90 - that’s sensational by any measure. But he does lack the extra gear that others do when it comes to the final 10 overs. He’s almost got a higher third and fourth gear than a lot of other players but no fifth.

How often does he actually play the "finisher" role, though? Even with his high average and propensity to ton up, he's usually out by the 40th over, or ends up still being out there with a hitter.

I thought Reeza Hendricks' performance and strike rate were a lot more questionable in the game being discussed, too. I hate to jump on the "only getting a game because of quotas" bandwagon, but he's a really mediocre batsman at international level.

 

[Damon_3388]

Might be a bit taboo to question or assume they're lying, but why do Afghanistan (and Pakistan before them) insist on these "questionable" ages for some of their players? They're playing senior cricket anyway, so it's like they're doing it for a purpose to win U/19 tournaments or something (like Nigeria used to do with youth football tournaments in the '80s and '90s). Just don't see the point or what it proves. Rashid Khan is now only just 20 years old? Mujeeb Ur Rahman is just 17 years old? Give me a spell...

I mean, how many of these "teenage" prodigies (thinking moreso with Pakistan here, as the Afghanis haven't been around long enough for it to play out) have really improved above and beyond (like most players would from their late teens) where they started out at when they burst onto the scene? Guys like Shahid Afridi and Mohammed Amir (fair enough, he had years out of the game, and still has time on his side) somehow never really improved that much as cricketers from the (alleged) ages of 16-17 onwards. Were they just closer to their ceiling at a young age, or were they never as young as claimed to begin with?

 

[PhatBoy]

Might be a bit taboo to question or assume they're lying, but why do Afghanistan (and Pakistan before them) insist on these "questionable" ages for some of their players? They're playing senior cricket anyway, so it's like they're doing it for a purpose to win U/19 tournaments or something (like Nigeria used to do with youth football tournaments in the '80s and '90s). Just don't see the point or what it proves. Rashid Khan is now only just 20 years old? Mujeeb Ur Rahman is just 17 years old? Give me a spell...

I mean, how many of these "teenage" prodigies (thinking moreso with Pakistan here, as the Afghanis haven't been around long enough for it to play out) have really improved above and beyond (like most players would from their late teens) where they started out at when they burst onto the scene? Guys like Shahid Afridi and Mohammed Amir (fair enough, he had years out of the game, and still has time on his side) somehow never really improved that much as cricketers from the (alleged) ages of 16-17 onwards. Were they just closer to their ceiling at a young age, or were they never as young as claimed to begin with?

With a lot of them there is literally no concrete verification of when they were born so it’s pribably not actually fabricated by the boards themselves, it’s just the info they’ve got to go off.

 

[frenchcutforsix]

God bless David Warner for knocking root out. That single act of beautiful aggression endeared that little ocker bastard to me forever. Root is an arrogant flog imho

Inane post. Warner was lucky to ever play cricket for Australia again. Didn't learn his lesson and is still out of the team. Look at the tale of he and Jesse Ryder/Kevin pietersen for why teams tend to have strict no Di*ckhead policies these days

 

[Topkent]

I think cricket would be more enjoyable if you couldn't use the DRS on LBW. It's very anti climatic now

 

[Topkent]

Inane post. Warner was lucky to ever play cricket for Australia again. Didn't learn his lesson and is still out of the team. Look at the tale of he and Jesse Ryder/Kevin pietersen for why teams tend to have strict no Di*ckhead policies these days

So you don't think Ponting or Pietersen should have represented their countries? What the actual *

 

[frenchcutforsix]

So you don't think Ponting or Pietersen should have represented their countries? What the actual ****

Do I project extreme hunger to you? Why are you putting words in my mouth constantly? Never even mentioned ponting wtf...wtf you don't agree with an opinion maybe just don't look at it??? I didn't know there was a rule here where every post has to be approved by you first? Are you the post master are ya?

 

[Topkent]

Do I project extreme hunger to you? Why are you putting words in my mouth constantly? Never even mentioned ponting wtf...wtf you don't agree with an opinion maybe just don't look at it??? I didn't know there was a rule here where every post has to be approved by you first? Are you the post master are ya?

Well you mention dick head behaviour should have spelt the end of warners career, May be you aren't old enough to remember Ponting as a young bloke

 

[frenchcutforsix]

Well you mention dick head behaviour should have spelt the end of warners career, May be you aren't old enough to remember Ponting as a young bloke

If you go back and read my post slowly I said that's why teams tend to have no d*ckhead policies THESE DAYS. And I already answered your other post by saying that you can't judge player behaviour in different generations as there are different social norms. But feel free to keep digging that hole for yourself. Warner can help you dig it, he's got all the time in the world at the mo

 

[Topkent]

If you go back and read my post slowly I said that's why teams tend to have no d*ckhead policies THESE DAYS. And I already answered your other post by saying that you can't judge player behaviour in different generations as there are different social norms. But feel free to keep digging that hole for yourself. Warner can help you dig it, he's got all the time in the world at the mo

So by different social norms you mean the people like you who log onto social media and smash anyone an everyone who isn't perfect despite almost certainly having made mistakes as well in your past

 

[frenchcutforsix]

So by different social norms you mean the people like you who log onto social media and smash anyone an everyone who isn't perfect despite almost certainly having made mistakes as well in your past

Oh dear.... The postmaster forgot to take his pill today.

 

[PhatBoy]

So you don't think Ponting or Pietersen should have represented their countries? What the actual ****

For starters, Pietersen didn’t really start carrying in like a proper dickhead until he’d played 8 years of test cricket. Ponting got in strife when he was still a pup. Warner has been carrying on like a dickhead for the best part of a decade.

 

[Mitchell54]

WBBL is better than BBL

 

[Richard Pryor]

With a lot of them there is literally no concrete verification of when they were born so it’s pribably not actually fabricated by the boards themselves, it’s just the info they’ve got to go off.

Yeah, I looked it up once and Afghanistan didn't have birth certificates at all until 2008. Using your actual age would mean competing against people two to five years older which would destroy a junior career so it's understandable that the countries cricket has that issue. Should presumably clear up within a few decades with birth certificates becoming the norm.

 

[Ishikawa]

For starters, Pietersen didn’t really start carrying in like a proper dickhead until he’d played 8 years of test cricket. Ponting got in strife when he was still a pup. Warner has been carrying on like a dickhead for the best part of a decade.

Pietersen started off at Nottinghamshire and at some point had a bust up with his captain Jason Gallian. Don't know the details but one of them ended up throwing the others kit off the balcony at Trent Bridge. Interesting that Pietersen ended up at Hampshire with Warney seeing as IIRC Warne & Gallian were mates too.

 

[Park cricketer]

Might be a bit taboo to question or assume they're lying, but why do Afghanistan (and Pakistan before them) insist on these "questionable" ages for some of their players? They're playing senior cricket anyway, so it's like they're doing it for a purpose to win U/19 tournaments or something (like Nigeria used to do with youth football tournaments in the '80s and '90s). Just don't see the point or what it proves. Rashid Khan is now only just 20 years old? Mujeeb Ur Rahman is just 17 years old? Give me a spell...

I mean, how many of these "teenage" prodigies (thinking moreso with Pakistan here, as the Afghanis haven't been around long enough for it to play out) have really improved above and beyond (like most players would from their late teens) where they started out at when they burst onto the scene? Guys like Shahid Afridi and Mohammed Amir (fair enough, he had years out of the game, and still has time on his side) somehow never really improved that much as cricketers from the (alleged) ages of 16-17 onwards. Were they just closer to their ceiling at a young age, or were they never as young as claimed to begin with?

Well age fudging has always been a constant presence in Pakistan. It was in India too long ago but it stopped after the domestic body became far more professional.

The Pashtuns generally tend to look older than people of other ethnicity of the same age and they're a prominent community in the Western parts of Pakistan and throughout Afghanistan. But even taking that into account, you look at some of them and you're left shaking your head after seeing their ages.

For example, the bloke below is 18 years old according to the official data and plays for the Afghan U19 team.



http://m.espncricinfo.com/afghanistan/content/player/935553.html

 

[Damon_3388]

For starters, Pietersen didn’t really start carrying in like a proper dickhead until he’d played 8 years of test cricket. Ponting got in strife when he was still a pup. Warner has been carrying on like a dickhead for the best part of a decade.

Wasn't he always seen as a brash, mouthy dickhead, at least on-field, for most of his international career?

 

[PhatBoy]

Wasn't he always seen as a brash, mouthy dickhead, at least on-field, for most of his international career?

Arrogant and self-confident. Not a dick head in the sense of courting deliberate controversy most of the time.

 

[Adelaide Hawk]

Might be a bit taboo to question or assume they're lying, but why do Afghanistan (and Pakistan before them) insist on these "questionable" ages for some of their players? They're playing senior cricket anyway, so it's like they're doing it for a purpose to win U/19 tournaments or something (like Nigeria used to do with youth football tournaments in the '80s and '90s). Just don't see the point or what it proves. Rashid Khan is now only just 20 years old? Mujeeb Ur Rahman is just 17 years old? Give me a spell...

I mean, how many of these "teenage" prodigies (thinking moreso with Pakistan here, as the Afghanis haven't been around long enough for it to play out) have really improved above and beyond (like most players would from their late teens) where they started out at when they burst onto the scene? Guys like Shahid Afridi and Mohammed Amir (fair enough, he had years out of the game, and still has time on his side) somehow never really improved that much as cricketers from the (alleged) ages of 16-17 onwards. Were they just closer to their ceiling at a young age, or were they never as young as claimed to begin with?

Remember Aaqib Javed who toured here in 1989-90? They said he was 17, looked awfully 23, played for 8 years and finished his long Test career at 25

 

[PhatBoy]

Remember Aaqib Javed who toured here in 1989-90? They said he was 17, looked awfully 23, played for 8 years and finished his long Test career at 25

I think players like Hasan Raza were a lot more questionable than someone like Aaqib. He was a decent enough bowler but his absence from international cricket owed as much to his mediocrity as anything else. He played first class cricket until he was ‘31’ with reasonable success.