ravigoteti
Club Cricketer
Several threads have been started on identical topics, so i thought why not start something where there is some material to chat about, something more interesting.
I hope the mods do not mind this.
Alright, the first one...
Every cricketing stroke has some aura about it, but the one's that stand out are very few and are mastered only by the masters. The straight-drive, the leaning on drive, classical cover drive, vicious hooks, paddle/traditional sweeps etc are some of the breathtaking strokes audience would want to see.
Lets have a look at the cover drive for now!
This article is from cricinfo and was written by S Rajesh.
link
So who's the best cover-driver in world cricket today? Go for an opinion poll, and the responses will be varied: many will opt for the elegance and effortlessness of Damien Martyn's version, played with minimal footwork but outstanding hand-eye co-ordination, timing, and placement. Others might prefer Michael Vaughan's flourish and grace. And what about Brian Lara's extravagant execution of the stroke, or Marvan Atapattu's classical, copybook variety?
A subjective analysis will reveal many opinions, but The Numbers Game decided to go in for objective parameters to judge the masters of each stroke. Unlike in a subjective debate, this analysis ignores the technical excellence, the panache and the sheer elegance with which a stroke is executed; it examines the effectiveness of the execution: the runs it fetches, and its risk-factor for a batsman - the number of times he's been dismissed playing that stroke. With the help of Cricinfo's ball-by-ball data-capture mechanism, which records each delivery in international cricket in 16 different ways, it becomes possible to record each stroke and its outcome. Over the next few weeks, this column will check out each stroke and the batsmen who play it the best.
And the winner of the cover-drive contest is Brian Lara. Since September 2001, when the ball-by-ball data-recording system came into being, Lara has played the stroke 358 times for 652 runs in Tests - that's a rate of 1.82 runs per shot. But even more impressively, he has only been dismissed once while playing the stroke, giving him a cover-drive average of 652. The next two entries are triumphs for the coaching manual - both Jacques Kallis and Rahul Dravid play the stroke almost exactly as defined in the book.
How about some of the other exponents who have us digging into the thesaurus for superlatives? Damien Martyn has 500 runs from the stroke off 312 balls (strike rate 160.26), but has been dismissed playing it three times, making his average 166.67. Atapattu's 493 runs off the stroke (strike rate 203) has been at the cost of five dismissals, giving him a cover-drive average of 98.60. And while Vaughan playing the cover-drive is among the most gorgeous sights in cricket, it can also be frustrating - it has cost him his wicket eight times, for an average of only 73.75. Among the top 20 cover-drivers (in terms of aggregate), Vaughan's average puts him in 19th place, just ahead of Sachin Tendulkar (383 runs in 283 balls, seven times dismissed, average 54.71). Five of Tendulkar's seven dismissals came before the Sydney Test of 2003-04, when he completely cut out that stroke en route to an unbeaten 241. Before Sydney, Tendulkar's cover-drive average had dipped to 48.2 (241 runs, five times out); since then, it has climbed to 71.
Top 10 cover-drivers
(in terms of average, min. runs 350) Cover-drive runs/ balls/ outs Strike rate Average
Brian Lara 652/ 358/ 1 182.12 652.00
Jacques Kallis 671/ 463/ 2 144.92 335.50
Rahul Dravid 613/ 376/ 2 163.03 306.50
Gary Kirsten 414/ 211/ 2 196.21 207.00
Marcus Trescothick 609/ 292/ 3 208.56 203
Herschelle Gibbs 723/ 341/ 4 212.02 180.75
Damien Martyn 500/ 312/ 3 160. 26 166.67
Matthew Hayden 479/ 278/ 4 172.30 119.75
Mark Butcher 469/ 268/ 4 175.00 117.25
Ramnaresh Sarwan 547/ 343/ 5 159.48 109.40
If people find these articles too long to read, i will post excerpts from now on. Anyway, i hope we all have productive and interesting discussion in this thread.
My opinion: I think Rahul Dravid, D. Martyn, Kallis and Lara are the best when it comes to this particular shot, especially in the tests. Sachin is another master of it, but has not played this shot often these days.
I hope the mods do not mind this.
Alright, the first one...
Every cricketing stroke has some aura about it, but the one's that stand out are very few and are mastered only by the masters. The straight-drive, the leaning on drive, classical cover drive, vicious hooks, paddle/traditional sweeps etc are some of the breathtaking strokes audience would want to see.
Lets have a look at the cover drive for now!
This article is from cricinfo and was written by S Rajesh.
link
So who's the best cover-driver in world cricket today? Go for an opinion poll, and the responses will be varied: many will opt for the elegance and effortlessness of Damien Martyn's version, played with minimal footwork but outstanding hand-eye co-ordination, timing, and placement. Others might prefer Michael Vaughan's flourish and grace. And what about Brian Lara's extravagant execution of the stroke, or Marvan Atapattu's classical, copybook variety?
A subjective analysis will reveal many opinions, but The Numbers Game decided to go in for objective parameters to judge the masters of each stroke. Unlike in a subjective debate, this analysis ignores the technical excellence, the panache and the sheer elegance with which a stroke is executed; it examines the effectiveness of the execution: the runs it fetches, and its risk-factor for a batsman - the number of times he's been dismissed playing that stroke. With the help of Cricinfo's ball-by-ball data-capture mechanism, which records each delivery in international cricket in 16 different ways, it becomes possible to record each stroke and its outcome. Over the next few weeks, this column will check out each stroke and the batsmen who play it the best.
And the winner of the cover-drive contest is Brian Lara. Since September 2001, when the ball-by-ball data-recording system came into being, Lara has played the stroke 358 times for 652 runs in Tests - that's a rate of 1.82 runs per shot. But even more impressively, he has only been dismissed once while playing the stroke, giving him a cover-drive average of 652. The next two entries are triumphs for the coaching manual - both Jacques Kallis and Rahul Dravid play the stroke almost exactly as defined in the book.
How about some of the other exponents who have us digging into the thesaurus for superlatives? Damien Martyn has 500 runs from the stroke off 312 balls (strike rate 160.26), but has been dismissed playing it three times, making his average 166.67. Atapattu's 493 runs off the stroke (strike rate 203) has been at the cost of five dismissals, giving him a cover-drive average of 98.60. And while Vaughan playing the cover-drive is among the most gorgeous sights in cricket, it can also be frustrating - it has cost him his wicket eight times, for an average of only 73.75. Among the top 20 cover-drivers (in terms of aggregate), Vaughan's average puts him in 19th place, just ahead of Sachin Tendulkar (383 runs in 283 balls, seven times dismissed, average 54.71). Five of Tendulkar's seven dismissals came before the Sydney Test of 2003-04, when he completely cut out that stroke en route to an unbeaten 241. Before Sydney, Tendulkar's cover-drive average had dipped to 48.2 (241 runs, five times out); since then, it has climbed to 71.
Top 10 cover-drivers
(in terms of average, min. runs 350) Cover-drive runs/ balls/ outs Strike rate Average
Brian Lara 652/ 358/ 1 182.12 652.00
Jacques Kallis 671/ 463/ 2 144.92 335.50
Rahul Dravid 613/ 376/ 2 163.03 306.50
Gary Kirsten 414/ 211/ 2 196.21 207.00
Marcus Trescothick 609/ 292/ 3 208.56 203
Herschelle Gibbs 723/ 341/ 4 212.02 180.75
Damien Martyn 500/ 312/ 3 160. 26 166.67
Matthew Hayden 479/ 278/ 4 172.30 119.75
Mark Butcher 469/ 268/ 4 175.00 117.25
Ramnaresh Sarwan 547/ 343/ 5 159.48 109.40
If people find these articles too long to read, i will post excerpts from now on. Anyway, i hope we all have productive and interesting discussion in this thread.
My opinion: I think Rahul Dravid, D. Martyn, Kallis and Lara are the best when it comes to this particular shot, especially in the tests. Sachin is another master of it, but has not played this shot often these days.
