Lets talk about Jayawardene

[StinkyBoHoon]

Why is he so under-rated?

Even some sri lankans don't rate him that highly, the guy averages over 53 with the bat.

Now, I actually know why, and it's the old, not good enough away from home. Well, ok, he is not as good away from home, however, he's hardly garbage, he manages 43 away from home, 9 tons and only SA eluding the complete set (where he managed a 98 I believe), this is better than Hayden, Ganguly, greenidge and isn't boosted by lots of tests against bangladesh or anything (he averages 35 in bangladesh). The gap of 5 or so runs between him and slew of greats is worth counting but it is significantly less than the gap of 7 runs between pontings or lara's away average and tendulkars (or 10 away from Dravids), which hasn't stopped those two being so closely compared. So while I'm going to concede it's not brilliant, such harsh scrutiny doesn't seem fair as it's not being roundly applied.

Second, then there is his home average, of over 65. This makes him one of the most succesful home batsmen ever, and sri lanka is not some flat pitch haven, it's got a win/loss ration quite on par with most nations, I can't actually remember a bore draw happening there in years. The england series two were drawn purely because of rain, and the one against pakistan was down to a great saving knock from sangakkara. Also when you consider that Jayawardene started playing tests when Sri Lanka were still looking to establish themselves as a test nation, Jayawardene has been totally crucial in setting the foundations for that by being the backbone of their home performances.

Overall he is a shoe in to be the next batsman to 10000 runs, he is 8th on the all time list, having played 15 less games than any of the guys above him and having an average better than all but two of them (ponting and tendulkar) and he's still in his prime.

You would think this would at least lead him to be rated among the better batsmen that have played the game, but he finds himself derided and not really taken that seriously.

 

[pcfan123]

I love this guy, the most selfless cricketer there is, his decision to give up the captaincy is testimony to that.

 

[Robelinda]

Classy player, probably an all time great. Probably hasnt done much away from home in terms of big match winning innings. All the great players win over fans in lots of countries with dominant performances away, which is why guys like Kallis isnt highly rated by Aussies and Poms. I remember when WI toured here in 92 still the talk was about Lara, yeah he looked ok but had toured Aus before and made no huge impression the previous season, but once he made that 277 the whole country crapped itself.

 

[Max Peters]

Jaywardene has been the most under rated cricketer for Sri Lanka for a long time. When he would come into the middle order when Sri Lanka were in strife in One-dayers, I would always think that the match from then on was going to be boring. However, after that fabulous 110 not out, I've really gotten to like him. Keep it up Jayawardene.

 

[Mike23]

The only problem with mahela is that he cannot replicate his knocks at home away. I agree with Robelinda great players win over a lot fans overseas due to great performances away, if only he could be more dominant away. His one day average doesn't reflect on how good a player he is.

 

[drainpipe32]

Incredible to watch, class batsman. Muchly underrated, was a pretty good captain as well. That T20 hundred the other night shows how dangerous he can be, either settling in and playing a big one, or simply playing class strokes like he did the other night and scoringquickly. Some innings that stand out in my mind are his ton in Hobart, 2007 and possibly a 99 in the VB Series of 2005/06, can't remember if it happened or not :/ Also had a sparkling 2007 World Cup, after flunking in 2003.

 

[aussie1st]

As mentioned it comes down to performing in the opposition country. If you can't manage that then you will struggle to get noticed in countries other than your own. They will obviously know you but won't hold you in the same regard as some players. In saying that I definitely rate him the best SL batsmen maybe their best ever although I haven't really followed them closely. Sangakkara is just behind him but has the potential to overtake him if he keeps his form up.

 

[kirby]

Definitely one of Sri Lanka's best batsmen, who has sort of snuck up in becoming one of the best batsmen in the world.

 

[shirazu]

I think he is one of the best ever for Sri Lanka, but some way short of the elite batsmen of his time. For one he has not been very successful in limited overs formats.

For tests, the best statistic I can give is that SL have drawn 29 of the 110 tests he has played in. In these games he has averaged 79.10. While most batsmen tend to average more in drawn games for obvious reasons, this is a rather large gap and his average is likely inflated highly due to running up some massive scores on these type of flat tracks (on reputation alone nobody is better at this than him).

However he is still a very good player. Even in games where there has been a result, not against zim or bangladesh, he has averaged over 43. That is a very respectable figure.

 

[sifter132]

Part of it can be ODI cricket too. Jayawardene has way too much talent for the way he's performed in ODIs. I think he's hung around a while, but he's never had a great streak of a year or two where he's dominated or done really well. And even his overall record is a bit underwhelming.

In Tests, yeah its the away average. But I think people write him off way too easily because of that. As you pointed out Stinky - there are plenty of guys who haven't done as well away from home. Kevin Pietersen is one that's coming to mind right now. Mike Hussey's another. Desmond Haynes was much worse than Greenidge and it wasn't until his last tour of Aus that Haynes finally made a century there.

Classy player, probably an all time great. Probably hasnt done much away from home in terms of big match winning innings. All the great players win over fans in lots of countries with dominant performances away, which is why guys like Kallis isnt highly rated by Aussies and Poms. I remember when WI toured here in 92 still the talk was about Lara, yeah he looked ok but had toured Aus before and made no huge impression the previous season, but once he made that 277 the whole country crapped itself.

Yep this is the typical Aussie outlook. 'Until you perform against US, you're a nobody'. And I don't mean the outlook from fans, I mean from the team.

 

[Robelinda]

Its not just Australia he has to impress, look at his average record in NZ, SA and Aus. If he went to SA and ripped em apart then it changes. But he has looked all at sea in SA and even NZ. Cant be coincidence that his record is poor in countries that bounce above knee high.

Robelinda added 6 Minutes and 21 Seconds later...

Desmond Haynes was much worse than Greenidge and it wasn't until his last tour of Aus that Haynes finally made a century there.

Haynes made that ton in 88/89, he toured again in 92/93 too.

Greendige and Haynes really werent that great as seperate players, but as a partnership they were great. Both had average tours to Australia all through the 80's. Haynes looked hopeless in 84/85, so did Viv too, it was only our poor batting that cost us. WI strength has always been their bowlers, their batting was always a bit fragile with only Viv averaging well above 45.

 

[StinkyBoHoon]

I'm a fool, I totally forgot to mention what Gazza pointed out, he's an absolute joy to watch, he is pure footwork against spinners in the mood, (watch the highlights of him hitting that 374 against south africa and once he's in he's impossible to bowl at, he was stepping out and hitting balls on the legside over the covers)

I can see what you mean by opposition teams needing to see the evidence on their own turf though, not in the manner of judging his record but simply to win them over as fans. Tendulkar had the world on his side from the off hitting impressive tons in england and australia, the two most important nations with regards to cricket journalism, before he was even out his teens and I think that's been a large contributor to his status.


Regarding his form against australia, well, I would concede it was poor. The last tour was a bit of a disaster for jayawardene and sri lanka, some their own fault some not, he chose to bowl in brisbane which, if I remember, seemed reasonable at the time but backfired miserably. they lost the toss the next test and spent the rest of it on the back foot. sri lanka had also lost sanga for the first test who was in amazing form (As he then showed when he returned), and with samaraweera out of touch they needed him. Then to cap it in the 2nd test, he followed a great ton, which held sri lanka together, by getting a duck when coming in to partner a very well set sangakkara. That was a bit of a disaster, as you expect him and sanga to deal in big partnerships, and while a win was out of the question making australia sweat by taking them to 300/2 would have earned some respect.

He's a classy guy, and he steps up when needed a lot of the time, his ton in the world cup semi's, his match saver in england, even yesterday he's been the guy that's taken his IPL franchise by the scruff of the neck, but he does seem to pick the less showy moments to step up. his ton against england would have been much more impressive in a match winner, he played the necessary innings against aus in the 1st, Sanga played the flashy all-is-lost-anyway one (though I still rate that as one of the best innings i've ever watched) even for punjab, the franchise needed turning around, but for what when they are already out?

Hope he gets his momment, I think in 2011-2012 SL travel to England and south africa and host australiain between, that's when you want to have a run of form, those are all massive series' for sri lanka.

 

[drainpipe32]

I'm a fool, I totally forgot to mention what Gazza pointed out, he's an absolute joy to watch, he is pure footwork against spinners in the mood, (watch the highlights of him hitting that 374 against south africa and once he's in he's impossible to bowl at, he was stepping out and hitting balls on the legside over the covers)

Is this sarcasm? :confused:

 

[Bublu Bhuyan]

Mahela Jayawardena is the 'mother' of all flat track bullies. This guy defines what an FTB is.

Before any one bashes me, have a look at his Test average outside Asia (minus Zimbabwe) - 36.06


Link: Batting records | Test matches | Cricinfo Statsguru | Cricinfo.com

 

[angryangy]

He's definitively not a bully, though. He could score 200 without being the centre of attention. Number 4s rarely face the worst of it anyway. As has been said, he's made hundreds all over the place; I think part of the problem is that the good Sri Lankans get a bit of a raw deal with tours. Obviously, if you're not so good, you might not play a lot of matches, but the team as a whole misses out on playing big, dare I say, meaningful, tours. They've only played one 3 match tour in the last three years. So most of the time, they just have to show up and perform and be on their way, even against teams they are expected to beat. I definitely don't think we've seen the best of Sri Lanka here in Australia and I'm sure it's true in other places.