The Young Guns

[Kiwi Eagle]

I know Clarke gets a lot of hype as the best newcomer on the International batting scene,is this really the case ?

The 3 with the best records that are relatively new to the scene IMO are Clarke,Marshall and Strauss.

Their respective records are

Tests
Clarke-669@41,81
[email protected]
Marshall-511@73

ODI
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]

So who is the better player out of those 3 ?. To be honest for me at the moment the man that gets all the hype rates at the bottom of these 3.

 

[Volley]

It's obviously very tough to decide. All 3 are class acts.

Looking at those Stats, Clarke would be Number 3. But remember stats like that often don't show the whole story, Mark Waugh had an average of around 41, and we all know how class he was.

To be honest I haven't seen enough of Marshall and Strauss, but what I have seen they are both top notch. It'll be interesting to see what the future holds.

How's that for sitting on the fence.

 

[Fluffy]

Strauss is a bit older unfortunatly. He has it hands down in tests at this stage more game winning knocks.

Clarke if far ahead in ODI's, especially when you consider when he comes in.

Clarke can bowl and is definatly the best fielder of the 3.

Marshal looks promising but not as classy as clarke. clarke will settle into a great player. strauss is there already in the long form and will ride it for a few years until he finishes his appearances.

 

[Fro]

Clarke isnt the best fielder of the 3 Fluff.

Clarke is a gun fielder but Marshal is the best fielder in the world At the moment, bar none.

 

[willstyles]

Exactly, while Strauss is a newcomer, this is only because he didn't qualify for England for several years. Fact of the matter is that he is already 28 years old (a year and a bit younger than Katich).

Whereas Marshall is 26, and Clarke only 24.

I think Clarke is the most talented of the three, he has pulled out some sensational innings in his short career (in both ODIs and Tests) and combined with his fielding (which is world-class) and his part time bowling (Hauritz hahaha) he will go the furthest of the three.

Marshall has looked very good as well, and his fielding is also magnificent (as is his brother's!).

When Clarke moves up the order as people retire and he settles into number 4 or 5, we will see his true potential. He batted at 5 in NZ I think, and he has to get used to summing up the state of the game better because he is a naturally aggressive player and this can be his undoing.

I don't really care about the ODIs, but Clarke is far ahead in that respect - but watch out for the other Saffie turned Pommy in this field, Pieterson looked unstoppable in South Africa!

 

[Magic_Menzies]

I'm stunned you didn't say Brendon McCullum. Sure he doesn't have the stats like those 3 do, and he had an awful series against Australia but wow that kid is a talent.

 

[Kiwi Eagle]

He bats a bit low,and still has some technical areas to improve on but is a classy enough player that will only get better.

 

[willstyles]

3 years on, who do we reckon did the best?

Strauss is a great bat, but Clarke will finish his career the best of these three. Booyah!

(Sorry for bring up dead threads, but I'm looking for something else and I'm coming across heaps of interesting old debates...)

 

[SilentBob]

Clarke the winner obviously.

 

[Fro]

Why is Clarke the winner "Obviously"??

I agree we can forget Marshall but the other 2 are both still fairly successful.

Clarke
35 Tests 2212 @ 47.06
137 ODI 4037 @ 43.40 (SR 80.48)

Strauss
49 Tests 3763 @ 42.28
78 ODI 2239 @ 31.98 (SR 75.82)

And Strauss has also captained his country in Both Tests and ODI, Clarke has had 2 token one dayers at the end of a Windies tour.

I am not saying one is better than the other, Strauss bats in a far more difficult position, and Clarke is arguably more dashing.

And Clarke has the advantage of not having to play against Australia at internationals.

Clarke is better one day player, but as far as real cricket goes I dont think either of them has played anything like a full career yet.

     

 

[SilentBob]

Strauss is good, he was awesome when he first came in, but he hasn't played an ODI since the World Cup, he only got his Test spot back this English summer after getting dropped and taking a self enforced break. He had a few games as captain when Vaughan and Flintoff weren't available. His average has gone backwards in both forms.

Clarke is an automatic selection in both forms, his averages have improved, he's a brilliant fieldsman and becoming a more than handy bowler. He's the full time vice captain, less of a token gesture than Strauss' experiences as captain.

As far as careers go, Strauss should be at his peak right now, being 31 he isn't going to get much better, Clarke is 3-4 years away.

In ten years we will probably be reflecting on Clarke's long reign as captain, Strauss will be the other South African who played for England with the great Kevin Peitersen, he has trivia question written all over him.

 

[Fro]

so Steve Waugh was a lesser player because he didnt play both forms of the game?

So Matt Hayden didnt get better after 31?

Take the green and gold goggles off.

 

[willstyles]

so Steve Waugh was a lesser player because he didnt play both forms of the game?

??? Waugh was a f*cking hero in the one dayers. And he played 325 of them!

 

[Fro]

Read it all Will, Bob was saying Strauss should be considered a lesser player because he hadn't played one dayers since the world cup.

Waugh was a test specialist toward the end of his career was the point I was making, didnt make him any less off a player.

 

[SilentBob]

You brought up peripheral points like captaincy, so I took it further and Clarke is ahead in every department. One guy is trying to kick start his career at 31, the other has already fought his way back and is rising quickly at 27, I know which one I would rather have in my side.

Strauss is a good batsman who has been in horrible form for at least 18 months, he hadn't scored a century for almost 2 years until the most recent NZ series, a mediocre NZ side isn't much of a test, we will see how he stands up against SA, he has a good record against them so he should go well.

 

[Kiwi Eagle]

LOL, nice pull up. Marshall turned into a dud very quickly

All 3 of the blokes haven't really kicked onto be as successful as the early hype has suggested they will be, but Clarke and Strauss have had pretty good careers, without being outstanding so far

Interesting someone mentioned McCullum, he has the potential, that damn word again, to be the most destrcutive bat in world cricket imo, is still relatively young too

As a kiwi, the man i am putting my hopes on is Ross Taylor, 1 or 2 areas to sort out, but he has class written all over him

 

[Fluffy]

if i was a kiwi i too would hold high hopes for him

from what i have seen he certainly looks to have it but just cant seem to get his head around it completely yet.

i see pup as a genuine number 4 but he has no hope when a genuine number 3 Mr Cricket is playing in the number 4 position.

 

[Matabele]

Are the Sarfies playing the Boxing Day Test?  I guess they are a chance of winning a series over here this year.  Though the Aussies won't be as poor on home soil as they were against the curry munchers.

 

[SilentBob]

I'm a little worried about South Africa this summer in both forms, they always seem to disappoint though, hopefully it's a tight series with some results.

 

[Kiwi Eagle]

I am really looking forward to Dale Steyn bowling in Australia. He is very high quality imo