Steve Smith

[Fro]

Taylor has "people problems".

Williamson doesn't appear to ruffle any feathers and is unlikely to fall victim to the cult of Mcullum (which isn't a criticism) and just concentrate on scoring runs.

Taylor is a very good bat, Williamson is simply the best they have over the dutch and could be very very special.

its a lot easier to come in and shine in an excellent team, ala Ponting and Clarke, a lot harder to be expected to carry a team from early like Williamson.

 

[Fluffy]

Certainly has improved a lot over the last couple of years. Has surprised me with the run of big scores

Still has the most punchable face in world sport though lol

I imagine Smith v Williamson v Root v Kohli will be what the next 10 years of batting will be about

As good a time as any to bring up this thread for a good laugh. Got the top 4 bats right even if Dudley is in a lean patch. I would say Williamson is a better bat than his numbers due to less quality around to support him (although you could argue the same with Smith and Root as well recently).

I think you are wrong on Smith having the most punchable face though, Dudley has taken that over.

 

[Chip and Chase]

Kohli is easily the most punchable in that quartet.

Smith has come a long way since this thread started. Tossed in the bowling and concentrated on the batting and is now currently mining a very rich vein of runs. Looks like cornering the market in "fastest after or second to Bradman" stats.

I do wonder though if attacks worldwide are down on quality. He hasn't played many games against Saffers nor Sri Lankans who maybe have the best current bowlers. Still you can only hit what gets dished up to you, and he is making that look easy.

 

[Kiwi Eagle]

No face could ever be more punchable than Smiths haha

****, nearly 7 years he has been around now. Best thing that Smith has going for him, is that he scores his runs wherever he goes. Playing half his matches on the current Aussie roads helps the average a lot, but when the conditions get a bit tougher he finds a way to do it as well which shows his class, unlike say a David Warner who can struggle when things aren't in his favour

Kohli scoring the runs he has the past couple of years on those pitches that have been spinning from day 1 has been very impressive, and 5 or 6 double tons in the last year and a half is amazing

Root is quality, rough spell at the moment and the runs in australia factor will motivate him for the next 4 years

Williamson currently in what for him is a lean spell but sure that will change extremely quickly. Shame he won't be able to get the runs he deserves beside his name at the end of career with the next test program that's been released, we play the least test matches of any nation over the next 5 years

 

[Kiwi Eagle]

I do wonder though if attacks worldwide are down on quality. He hasn't played many games against Saffers nor Sri Lankans who maybe have the best current bowlers. Still you can only hit what gets dished up to you, and he is making that look easy.

100% they are, quality of bowlers is down and pitches worldwide don't offer them a lot

Grew up watching the West Indies in Australia what seemed like every second year, and when the likes of Steve Waugh was hitting his tons, they were bloody hard work with Ambrose, Walsh and co on decks offering pace, bounce and movement. Who could forget those WACA decks with huge cracks, can still clearly see Blewett getting bowled by a ball that almost rolled, or Dean Jones telling Ambrose to remove his wristband which led to a spell of 7/1

 

[Chip and Chase]

Jones and Ambrose was in a one day game - white sweatband and white ball, I think he still went on to tear us a new one in that game once Deano had fired him up. The 7-1 spell was in a Test at the WACA same summer - imagine facing Curtly on an old style WACA deck, they'd be whizzing past your ears from just short of a length.

 

[Chip and Chase]

LOL. Was thinking about this last night and did a bit of googling today when bored.

Found a couple of good articles on the incident - first one is a funny one by Deano

http://www.smh.com.au/sport/cricket...ries-against-the-windies-20151223-gltxlo.html

http://www.couriermail.com.au/sport...a/news-story/6a2d6841a47aed06d58ce43b3f591e04

Didn't realise Curtly had been knighted

 

[manlyfan76]

LOL. Was thinking about this last night and did a bit of googling today when bored.

Found a couple of good articles on the incident - first one is a funny one by Deano

http://www.smh.com.au/sport/cricket...ries-against-the-windies-20151223-gltxlo.html

http://www.couriermail.com.au/sport...a/news-story/6a2d6841a47aed06d58ce43b3f591e04

Didn't realise Curtly had been knighted

I was at the odi with curt and Deano. I learnt a bit about sport that day.

 

[Kiwi Eagle]

Cheers for the correction fellas, Curtly would be one of my favourite cricketers of all time easily

This next article loosely ties into the discussion we were having about the top batters currently and where they rate, obviously written from a NZ perspective and highlighting how the lack of test cricket we play can impact on a players legacy compared to their contempories

https://i.stuff.co.nz/sport/cricket...reat-given-alastair-cook-and-englands-chances

 

[cherry_poppins]

Steve Smith is on track to being the worst Australian captains of all time

He's so negative in his field placements and plays favorites more than any captain in history above a club level

I know he's arguably the greatest batsman of all time but **** him for letting Wade lose us games for so long then randomly hating Maxwell whose been the best batsman domestically this year

 

[Kiwi Eagle]

Can't disagree at all there, he scores his runs but it would be very interesting to see how he handled a situation where his bowling attack is slightly depleted and under pressure . At the moment the pace men can hide any faults as they blast through teams

 

[Kiwi Eagle]

Great knock from Kohli last night, looks like a great test over there

 

[Clint]

Not such a great review though. Hahaha. Serves them right. How could you even appeal for that but then to review it..... goose..