WTF sort of nonsense is this?

From crocinfo . . .

Cricket, like most sports, often thrusts greatness upon the merely good. Sometimes the highest aggregate in batting or bowling, for example, or the record for the highest individual score, is held by a player - however briefly - who doesn't belong at the high table. When Matthew Hayden, for instance, made 380 to top the list of highest individual scores, the passionate prayed that either Brian Lara or Tendulkar would soon relieve him of the record and restore the natural order of things. Lara obliged. Likewise when Courtney Walsh, with 519 wickets, headed the bowlers' tally, the prayer was for a Muralitharan or a Shane Warne to take over. Murali did so, three years ago, and now he is, quite properly, reclaiming the record that belongs to him by virtue of his skill, his longevity, his impact, his record as the finest bowler of this or any other age. God's in his heaven, we might say, and all's right with the world.

Suresh Menon is a writer based in Bangalore

I understand the Hayden thing kind of as he scored them against the Zimbots, but how farkin rude is that to Walsh!!!!?

The writer needs to get a clue. Courtney fully deserved it for bowling so well for so long.

Typical subi dribble . . . he actually sounds a bit like a few of the loons who post on this forum.

Guessed it was a subi before reading the name.

I think he posts under mirchy here.

Mirchy doesn't post rubbish like that. His posts are usually top quality.

Lara Lara Laughs wrote:Mirchy doesn't post rubbish like that. His posts are usually top quality.

Nice irony.

Lara Lara Laughs wrote:Mirchy doesn't post rubbish like that. His posts are usually top quality.

I guess from that comment you rate the article as top quality as well.

Cut him a bit of slack there's not much else to get excited about in Bangalore.

eowyn wrote:Cut him a bit of slack there's not much else to get excited about in Bangalore.

LLL is in Bangalore?

I dunno. Looks like a pretty funky palace -



Home to the rulers of Mysore apparently.

taipan wrote:

eowyn wrote:Cut him a bit of slack there's not much else to get excited about in Bangalore.

LLL is in Bangalore?

He wishes there were bangs galore......

Totally agree re Walsh but I'm not as happy as some to let the Hayden slight go either.

If you want to argue that the Hayden innings was less legendary than it looked because of the standard of the opposition, fine. I don't have any great truck with that argument but it can be made. Menon doesn't make it. His whinge is that Hayden wasn't and isn't good enough, by definition, to hold such a record, not even for the five minutes Brian let him borrow it. It's cobblers.

When Lara took the record from Sobers, he had scored one ton in his Test career to that point - which was one more than Sobers had scored when he took Hutton's record, which he set up in HIS first series. All three of those greats could have turned out to be flashes in the pan, and it's only hindsight that informs us they weren't. But Hayden was already a known non-FITP. At the time of the 380, he was the most prolific batsman in the world. The 380 was Hayden's 14th Test century, and 10th in 24 months.

Not that I agree with the article but he does have a half point. Hayden isn't of the same class say as Viv Richards, Barry Richards, Bradman, Sobers, Ponting, Lara or Tenducker.

Similarly it always was Ambrose and Walsh and we all knew that Ambrose was better. Courtney was a great player no question but not the best of his generation. What he gave the Windies was a long long career with high consistency. He deserves his achievements but when he held the world record it was more a reflection of stamina than the highest tier of quality.

If you ignore for a moment the fact that some people think he chucks, Murali is better and greater than Walsh any day.

THICKEDGE wrote:Not that I agree with the article but he does have a half point. Hayden isn't of the same class say as Viv Richards, Barry Richards, Bradman, Sobers, Ponting, Lara or Tenducker.

Similarly it always was Ambrose and Walsh and we all knew that Ambrose was better. Courtney was a great player no question but not the best of his generation. What he gave the Windies was a long long career with high consistency. He deserves his achievements but when he held the world record it was more a reflection of stamina than the highest tier of quality.

Just because Ambrose was a better bowler doesn't mean that Walsh didn't deserve the record. FST was bloody tired after his three hundred, imagine how Walsh must have felt. He may not have been as deadly on his day as Ambrose or Wasim or Donald, but he played for nigh-on twenty years bowling as well as he could for his team day-in, day-out. It's this hard work that deserves the record, merely being talented counts for nothing in the long run. Look as Shoaib. He could have been a great near the top of that wickets table, but isn't because he doesn't have half the guts or commitment or dedication Walsh had.

Likewise Hayden's 380: those kinds of things are not accidents, or flukes, and they deserve recognition, not people complaining because it's not their favourite players who hold the records.

The article is a piece of carp. End of. Best ignored.

crocinfo pandering to its known contituency and ignoring any pretence of objectivity. As usual.

And ... as usual.