ESPN's Legends of Cricket?

[Amit89]

Pontings second half of his career he has averaged 72....thats better form than Tendulkar has ever been in....and your arguement of the lack of world class bowlers helping Ponting isnt really consistant because of the fact Tendulkar has not had a similar increase to his average...

players like Rahul Dravid, Virender Sehwag, Saurav Ganguly? they are world class batsmen and hardly the make of a lone hand candidate

Cricket God is talking about Sachin in the 90s, that time India was a poor team, terrible overseas, you should look at Sachins 99/00 tour of Australia to give you a clue what Sachin had to cope with in most of the 90s, and yes Dravid, Ganguly and Laxman was playing then.

Tell me one innings were Ponting as produced a knock like Sachin's 134 in Chennai 99 were Sachin was facing Saqlain at his best, Wasim and Waqur was on dangerous form, he carried the team through and almost gave India a memrable victory, from 82-5, chasing 270 odd, but India in the end fell short of 16 runs. Tell me a innings were Ponting as produced a innings like Lara's 153 not out and 213 agaisnt Australia 99 when the West Indian team was going down the barrle, but due to Lara's brilliance Australia was denied a series victory in the West Indies.

 

[Gunner786]

in the 90's india also had an influx of matches against kenya and zimbabwe

not saying that takes anything away from tendulkar but in the 90's he must have scored like 3000 runs against zimbabwe and kenya.

i have taken away his matches vs kenya and zimbabwe and his average is something like 41 with only around 12000 runs to his name

 

[adthomp]

its true things are easier for Ponting and such these days think about it

Richards, Bradman hobbs they leave him for dead

uncovered wickets, helmets equipment, it was advarange for the bowlers before to bowl bouncers without helmets, ropes now shorter boundries and thick bats where top edges go for 6

Take away so and so's innings and his average goes way down... What do you expect if you take away peoples highest scores :

Afridi hasn't influenced the Odi game at all, it was Sri Lanka who changed the way Odi cricket was played by opening with pinch hitters and introducing a certain Sanath to the fray. Afridi may well go down as a Pakistani legend, but a legend of the game, not a chance. The reason people point out his average is because it shows he blows hot and cold. The same thing can be said about Lara the difference is he still averages 50 odd in test cricket, and has played some of the best knocks in the history of the game, in pressure situations.

You'll be hard pressed to find many fans of the game who aren't Pakistani who think Afridi is a legend. And considering it is the fans and pundits alike that create legends that is why he won't be.

And Pal, yep at the moment India is Pontings one blip. However a big tour there when Australia are next in India will set it right.

actulyl pinch hitters were around long before Sri Lanka tryed it.. note Mark Greatbatch of New Zealand

 

[aussie_ben91]

its true things are easier for Ponting and such these days think about it

Richards, Bradman hobbs they leave him for dead

uncovered wickets, helmets equipment, it was advarange for the bowlers before to bowl bouncers without helmets, ropes now shorter boundries and thick bats where top edges go for 6

Yeah but that's a joke. On a wet wicket you won't need a helmet because it'll hardly bounce at all.

You can't rule out someone just because the competition they faced wasn't as good. I'm sure if Ponting faced great bowling in his prime then it'd probably push him to even higher success.

I find it funny that several players before the 70s had FC averages of around the mid 60s and these days Ponting's the only player who averages over 60 and that's only just and yet players get the full potential out of themselves from coaching & training camps, etc. To me, I kinda think cricket over the last 80 years has gone from club quality cricket to actual International standard.

Tell me one innings were Ponting as produced a knock like Sachin's 134 in Chennai 99 were Sachin was facing Saqlain at his best, Wasim and Waqur was on dangerous form, he carried the team through and almost gave India a memrable victory, from 82-5, chasing 270 odd, but India in the end fell short of 16 runs. Tell me a innings were Ponting as produced a innings like Lara's 153 not out and 213 agaisnt Australia 99 when the West Indian team was going down the barrle, but due to Lara's brilliance Australia was denied a series victory in the West Indies.

How about Ponting's 156 at Old Trafford and having to battle against reverse swing all day on a day 5 pitch?
It's one thing to try and single handedly save a known struggling team and be the hero for a month but to step up around a pack of great players playing around him when the team's struggling and you're expected to win and perform like Ponting did in that innings is just something more admireable.

 

[puddleduck]

actulyl pinch hitters were around long before Sri Lanka tryed it.. note Mark Greatbatch of New Zealand

But none of them reset the bar as to what was expected as a par score until Sri Lanka I'm sure there were opening partnerships before Sanath and Kaluwitherana (almost certainly spelt wrong ) that hit big and quickly, I was more making the point to Gambino that Afridi hasn't influenced the game in the way he was trying to make out

 

[Cricket_god]

Pontings second half of his career he has averaged 72....thats better form than Tendulkar has ever been in....and your arguement of the lack of world class bowlers helping Ponting isnt really consistant because of the fact Tendulkar has not had a similar increase to his average...

players like Rahul Dravid, Virender Sehwag, Saurav Ganguly? they are world class batsmen and hardly the make of a lone hand candidate

First of all Sachin did not have such high quality openers like australia have had so basically he comes at 10-2 or atmost 40-2 where as ponting comes at
100 or 150 which allows him to dominate same about rahul dravid people say he is defensive at no 3 but he has to because the whole team is dependent on them

 

[aussie_ben91]

First of all Sachin did not have such high quality openers like australia have had so basically he comes at 10-2 or atmost 40-2 where as ponting comes at
100 or 150 which allows him to dominate same about rahul dravid people say he is defensive at no 3 but he has to because the whole team is dependent on them

Not lately. Out of Ponting's last 10 odd centuries, his come in after a wicket has fallen relatively early.

 

[satishmania]

does anyone remember Neil Johnson of zimbabwe? to me he was a good all rounder and i wish he had played for longer.

 

[stereotype]

Pontings record when he finishes will be far more impressive than Tendulkar....156 at Old Trafford has been said...what about the century in the World Cup Final...he stepped up when it mattered and thats what he does, he steps up when the rest fall...what about the 196 in the first test in Brisbane this summer in Australia and the 142 in Adelaide when he was under pressure for his team to perform against England....How about his record equalling two double hundreds in a row a few years back....... yes Australia have also got Hayden, Langer, Clarke, Martyn, both Waughs, Lehmann, Katich, Gilchrist etc who made it easier for Ponting but having a lesser team is a poor reason for being better...

If anything Pontings record is greater because he scores at an average of 60 despite the fact he probably doesnt have too because he has such a great team around him...he could have an average of 45 and still be in a dominant team.

 

[aussie_ben91]

Look how we perform without Punter. We're losing to New Zealand FFS!

 

[jordox]

what?

hes already a legend just for the way he bats the the entertainment he gives

and by the time his career is over

his 6's record will be unbeatable

WARNING!

The above post is stupid.

:P

But seriously mate, afridi is crap. Pure dog crap. Wow he can slog a ball!

He aint no legend champ.

 

[adthomp]

Look how we perform without Punter. We're losing to New Zealand FFS!

I know im going to see posts like we *are missing Clarke, Symonds Ponting etc* the bottom line is Aust still scored 336 and couldnt defend it with 4 World Cup players only Lee was missing from that attack.

The first game was was a tough wicket to bat on first

batting isn't Australia's problem right now its the bowling its starting to become a major issue, and the persistence and obsession the selectors have for Shane Watson.

thats off topic

but I was just thinking right now wicketkeepers Im surprised no one has mentioned Gilchrist I believe guys like Healy and Marsh were much better wicketkeepers then Gilly but he is a much more Superior batsman do you chose a keeper in a team for a legend based on there keeping abilities or batting?? the only keeper I seen was Alan Knott. in the full 50

 

[Amit89]

Look how we perform without Punter. We're losing to New Zealand FFS!

You should have looked how India performed without Tendulkar in the 90s, India could rarely win without him, the Indian team was almost like Bangladesh. Tendulkar had enormous pressure on his shoulders from his own players and fans. nealrly evreytime he walked to his crease, Tendulkar had pressure evreytime with the team at 30-2. Tendulakr as had to face the most pressure then any other cricketer alive, during hsi team he had to face great bowlers, Warne, Wasim, Waqur, Donald and co.

Australia have got that many good players that they can even win without Ponting.

in the 90's india also had an influx of matches against kenya and zimbabwe

not saying that takes anything away from tendulkar but in the 90's he must have scored like 3000 runs against zimbabwe and kenya.

i have taken away his matches vs kenya and zimbabwe and his average is something like 41 with only around 12000 runs to his name

Yes and why dont you dig up some stats on how Tendulkar as performed agasint the best side in the world, who are Australia, a average over 50 in tests, and he still average's 46 in odis even during his recent slump of form.

 

[m_vaughan]

I dont think its Ponting fault that India were poor without Sachin. Infact it makes it even harder for the former to stand out since his team has so many quality players. Its a simple logic.

Ponting has been on the top far greater than anyone else I can remember. And more importantly I think usually when he delivers Australia win (or prevent defeats).

 

[aussie_ben91]

Tendulkar's pressure is overrated methinks; it's just hype. It's only a game. Real pressure is when you aren't performing and you're about to be dropped which never seems to happen for Tendulkar.

The only reason Tendulkars average stays as 44 is because his gotten out over 300 times! It's almost impossible for him to get it down any lower unless he makes about 10 ducks in a row.