Australians beware, Sehwag is on fire

Justin, It's not me who is trying to reduce Bradman's average, although realistically, he batted in a batting dominant decade. Or make that twin decades (20s & 30s). Note his contemporaries McCabe(Aus), Ryder(Aus), Ponsford(Aus), Hammond(Eng), Sutcliffe(Eng), Hobbs(Eng), Paynter(Eng), Hutton(Eng), Mitchell(SA), Nourse(SA), Dempster(NZ), Headley(WI). All high 50s averages bar McCabe & Mitchell (both 48s). There are millions upon millions of Indians who are trying ever so hard to find ways to have Tendulkar at least sit alongside Bradman..... (Tendulkar is good, but he's not THAT good).

Where are their superstar bowlers?

Wow, he belted 200 on a flat track. Congrats.

Its not about comparing batsmen of yesterday with today. Its about comparing the batsmen of yesterday with the other batsmen of that time to see how much better or worse someone like Bradman or Pollock was. If the next 10 best in Bradmans era were averaging 50+ then it just points out how much better he was. If you want to take 25% of Bradman then you may well have to do the same to the other batsmen of his era and look at what their records would be...

Kersi ,Tilkarante Dilshan the Sri Lankan has an amazing record, he can not be over looked as one of the star modern day batsman of the last 10 years.

Sheek that is why to me Viv Richards is the ultimate batsman and at least in my regular fan cricket knowledge having never played the game or coached the game at any elite level, or zero coaching, just fan based level knowledge he is the best batsmen i have seen. Viv Richards born in 1952. He came on the scene at test level I will say for arguments sake round it up to 1975. And played test cricket 1975-91. SOme forms of helmets were coming in in the 70's maybe tony griegs bike helmet went to far, . But by 1980's some forms of protectible cricket gear , most improtantly the helmet, box , better pads, and gloves were coming in we will say 1982. ANd then after say 1985 deifnalty .Viv richards had all these new technologies and still in 1991 at the age of 39 he and rich richardson resisted the helmets makes it remarkable. And also longer boundaries to back then, however mind you Viv played a lot of cricket on small west indies grounds comparable to today,a nd england grounds have never been massive, but the aussie grounds where viv had success eg all the aussie grounds except gabba and maybe SCG were massive (MCG,Adelaide oval long boundaries, WACA big big ground too). And same with Alan border who i rate so highly to, as he faced great attacks , as well with not super advanced technology like today, and made big runs. Form memory rich richardson was starting to wear helmets by 96 world cup but not int he 95 Aussie tour of the windies. So for me Viv Richards to play like he did throughout the development and advancement of cricket technology and thrive as a batsmen, is the most accurate example of truly one of the top 1-10 test batsman of all time. And Graham Pollock to was amazing circketer but he was born in 1944. Viv what a man and cricketer.

An excellent summing up, Sheek. I agree with you. One factor you have not mentioned is: shorter boundaries nowadays. Many of today's sixes would be catches in the past.

Your welcome Jeznez my pleasure anytime, so many roarers on here bring good memories on sports the mind boggles when we all reminded of sports highlights, life goes fast as these things seem to be only yesterday bit also so long ago too. I am jeznez going to make an effort one of these days to actually find Joel Garner's 6 at the SCG somewhere in cyberland hopefully youtube and I will sot it up here on the cricket section of the ROAR. More amazing was it was 1 handed makes the shot even more remarkable , but big bird Joel garner was a massive man 6'8 and also big boned would of been a handy basketball power forwad.

For me VVS Laxman is better than Tendulkare and many Indians think so too. VVS makes the big runs when truly needed, and has better stats too in the big matches, when the seires is on the line type innings. Tendulkar is a flat trak bully, and bats well in medium tense situations but not when the pressure is really on. Give me Micheal Vaughan or VVS Laxman or Kevin Peterson any day of the week over Tendulkar. Micheal Vuaghan's ASHES series vs the aussies in there peak 2002-3 in Australia an attack (Lee,Gillespie,Mcgrath, Warne) , with no batting support in Australia , mind you wells as too me almost Bradmanesque. I have never seen Tendulakr bat as well with as little support, and in a really truly big series like Micheal Vaughan did. And vaughan made his runs at the start of the summer too when the series is on the line fighting hard, where everything went wrong for England on that tour(simon jones shocking knee injury GABBA 1st test). Vaughan was a man amongst man on that tour, as was kevin peterson on the 2006 ASHES tour a lone ranger too. Tendulkar has never played like those men against such quality attacks in big series. Wasim Akram who has bowled to all of these players rates Martin Crowe as the best batter he bowled too, interesting as he bowled to Viv richards too, and would of bowled to Miandad plenty of times in the nets too. But Martin Crowe certainly was a talent , he made big runs in make matches when they count eg ODI WORLD CUP Semi final Eden Park 92, and always vs the aussies. He tried a comeback recently at 48 in NZ grade cricket lol, to get some runs milestone but got injured the story of his career sadly injuries.

Johnno - my memory (which is a bit hazy as I was fairly young) was that the Big Bird Joel Garner tonked it and hit the roof or clock on the members stand. No matter what it hit, it was a massive shot and something that always comes to my mind whenever a big hit is mentioned. It was done one handed as well - the bottom hand came off and he just went straight through with it. Thanks for bringing back a good - if hazy - memory.

Kersi, Because the discussion has gone off-topic slightly, I thought I would offer the following. At our lunch the other week with Bayman, I offered the view that many, if not most batting averages in the 2000s (especially those of 45 plus) were over-valued by several percentage points (anything from 2-5 varying from individual to individual). Before anyone else starts hyper-ventilating & accuses me of heresy, let me say there have been some wonderful batsmen in the 2000s, but we must also acknowledge the tremendous advantages enjoyed by today's batsmen compared to their counterparts of the past. But firstly, let's look at the 10 best batsmen from the 2000s, who at least played half of this decade. 1. Trott - 57.79 (23 tests). 2. Sangakkara - 56.94 (103). 3. Kallis - 56.90 (147). 4. Tendulkar - 56.03 (184). 5. Dravid - 53.23 (160). 6. Lara - 52.89 (131). 7. Ponting - 52.65 (158). 8. Samaraweera - 52.62 (68). 9. Mohammed Yousef - 52.29 (90). 10. Sehwag - 52.16 (92). I think the 3 of us agreed that Trott, who has only played 23 tests thus far, will be unable to sustain this high average, & it will eventually fall below 55 (just as Hussey did). Now let's look at the 10 best batsmen from the rest of cricket history. 1. Bradman - 99.94 (52 tests). 2. Pollock - 60.97 (23). 3. Headley - 60.83 (22). 4. Sutcliffe - 60.73 (54). 5. Paynter - 59.23 (20). 6. Barrington - 58.67 (82). 7. Weekes - 58.62 (48). 8. Hammond - 58.46 (85). 9. Sobers - 57.78 (93). 10. Hobbs - 56.95 (61). As a point of comparison, I've sometimes argued, for the sake of persepctive, that Bradman's average might be over-valued by up to 25%. Why? Because apart from Larwood in one (particular) series, he didn't really come across too many great fast bowlers. Furthermore on Larwood, apart from Jardine, Larwood was poorly used by the English establishment & other captains. As a case in point (of fastmen faced by Bradman), the best & fastest pacemen in the 1930s, apart from Larwood, were NZ's Cowie & the Indian pair of Nissar & Amar Singh. Bradman never played tests against these 3. Yet even with a revised batting average of around 75, Bradman is still far superior to everyone else. So what are the numerous advantages enjoyed by today's batsmen that has helped inflate their batting averages? 1. Helmets. Let's not pretend here how much the introduction of helmets has helped the batsman. The "fear" factor is significantly reduced. The helmets cover the head & critical temple area, while the grill protects the face. So much easier to take on the fast men. 2. Batting technology. Apparently the best bats today have a 'sweet spot' covering more than 80% of the face of the bat. A batsman can hit a ball on the edge of the face, high or low, & it will speed away true & fast. 3. Other protection. Gloves, pads, elbow protectors, torso protectors, thigh protectors & even the ubiquitous box, are all of the finest material technology can provide today, compared to 100 years ago. Once again, the fear factor is minimised. 4. Pitch preparation. Curating knowledge is now so much more advanced, or at least you would think so. Outfields are beautifully manicured. These days, if a ball penetrates the fielding ring, it will run true to the boundary. 100 years ago, balls would slow up in unevenly cut & pock-marked outfields. 5. Pitch protection. Pitches today are covered at the first hint of rain & overnight, meaning that it will hopefully play much the same as the previous day, allowing only for natural attrition of the pitch. 100 years ago, pitches were left uncovered in a passing storm. The team batting on what was commonly referred to as a "sticky" would be compelled to face successive deliveries that behaved in entirely different fashion from each other. It was a batting form of Russian roulette. 6. Light variations. These days the light only has to suggest it is slightly darker, & the umpires will offer the batsmen the safety of the dressing room. Despite their helmets, copious padding, sweet-spot bats & the rest. I remember watching test matches in the past when it was almost dark, & the batsmen didn't have the benefit of helmets, or it was just short of a deluge before umpires & players hared off to the sheds. 7. More tests. Today's batsmen play so many more tests during their peak years, meaning they can "cash in" while the going's good. Bradman played his 52 tests over 21 seasons. Compare this to Tendulkar, who has played 184 tests over roughly the same period of time. That's 3.5 more tests for the same time-frame. 8. Bowling quality. This final point is perhaps the most contentious, relying most on perception. But take out the great bowlers - Warne, Muralitharan, McGrath, Pollock, etc, & the overall stock is thin on depth. England have come good after being ordinary for over a decade. The Windies have been weak for over a decade, especially since Walsh & Ambrose departed. NZ the same minus Vettori, Cairns & Bond (due regular injury) to a lesser extent. Pakistan have been more ordinary than good. Zimbabwe & Bangladesh aren't worth talking about. This is why cricket stats are so fascinating & bewitching, or is that deceiving, all at the same time. They tell us so much, certainly more than other sports. But they also throw so many 'exceptions to the rule', that you have to thread your way carefully through the stats. Almost like threading your way through a minefield, but much less dangerous. Physically, anyway!

Phew, well done Brett (eventually). Living in Canberra, I was disturbed the pollies' fence sitting habit might be rubbing off on you.....lol. This is no margin call - as good as Slater was Sehwag is simply unbelievable!

In my list of modern greats, I forgot to include Javed Miandad, Kapil Dev, Muralitharan, Jayasuriya, Sangakkara, Gilchrist, Healy and Lee. And going a bit further in the past Greg and Ian Chappell, Border, Walters, Lillee, Thomson and R Marsh. It is endless, the search for excellence. I don't even try to compare players from the same generation, forget of different generations. To describe anyone from these lists as over-hyped is blasphemy.

Yes, Johnno, Inzy was a talented batsman. I enjoyed watching him bat.

Kersi did you think Inzamam ul haq was a talented batsmen. The young Inzamam played a great innings in a Imran Khan partnership to beat New Zealand in the one day World cup semi final at Eden Park Auckland New Zealand.

Alex, Sachin overhyped?? He has scored most runs and centuries in Test cricket and ODIs. He is thousands of runs and almost tens of centuries ahead of the next batsman. He is a treat to watch with beautiful shots all round. And a modest person to boot. He has hit winning runs against most countries including South Africa. Everyone has a bad season and he had against England in 2011 and in World Cup 2003 and 2007 (perhaps because he was carrying an injury). So please think for yourself, Alex. We are so lucky to watch greats like Warne, Lara, Ponting, McGrath, VVS, Dravid, Steyn, Kallis, Steyn, Kumble, Sehwag, Crowe, M.Taylor, S and M Waugh, Hayden, Gower, Botham, Imran, Hadlee, Clarke, Flintoff, Pietersen and Tendulkar perform in the last two decades. Celebrate their achievements. If Indians heroworship Tendulkar it's not his fault. To keep one's head amid all the adulation and added pressure is not easy.

Warner? Don't get me started Bearfax!!!

Brett Lee and Stuart Clark also. And even Johnson.

McDermott was decent for a year or so in the late 80s, then he turned into Bruce Reid at the crease!

Shahid Afridi and in more recent times, Kieron Pollard.