Steve Smith - The Most Over-rated Player in the World?

[6ry4nj]

In answer to the question implied by the thread title - no, he isn't
How could he possibly compete with Yusuf Pathan?

That was easy! Do we really need threads for these elementary yes-no questions?

 

[ferg512]

I think Smith just needs to be given time, same with Hughes I reckon they'll come good in a few years.

 

[sjdigitall]

In answer to the question implied by the thread title - no, he isn't
How could he possibly compete with Yusuf Pathan?

That was easy! Do we really need threads for these elementary yes-no questions?

At least Yusuf Pathan actually is talented at something. He can win you a game from nowhere. Steve Smith's bowling is complete rubbish and he doesnt have the greatest batting technique. His selection did baffle me as he was picked in every team (Test, ODI & T20) for so long without showing any kind of talent with bat and ball. I really hate how the channel 9 commentary team completely kiss his ass all the time he's on screen. His been with the Aussie team for some time now and hasnt shown anything deserving of the accolades he gets. Which sucks because Australia have a great talent in Steve O'Keefe who bats and bowls 10 times better then Smith.

 

[extremeslogger]

I think Australia were thinking tactically and wanted to try and strike fear into the English squad, media and fans by bigging him up and possibly inject some confidence into him. He does have potential...though I'm not sure how they'll nurture it.

 

[sifter132]

any aussies out there should tell me a little more about whats goin on domestically. i dont know too much about the domestic scene down under. for someone to average above 40 in first class cricket and to look so hapless at int'national level is seriously confusing.

I think one thing about Aussie domestic cricket is that spinners always struggle, so it's hard to judge the domestic spinners on their stats. Even the best international spinners coming to play Tests struggle. Warne's average for Victoria was in the mid 30s I think, MacGill's for NSW on a turning Sydney pitch was about 30, and those guys are some of the best spinners of recent times. As for tourists, Swann bowled tidily but hardly got great returns, Murali has been owned on his trips to Australia. The last spinner to average under 30 and take more than 10 wickets on a tour of Australia was Upul Chandana in that short 2 Test series in 2004, Anil Kumble managed to get JUST under 30 in 2003/04 and before that you start heading back into the 90s to guys like Saqlain and Mushtaq who did well in short series, but never on subsequent tours. Australia is really a spinners graveyard.

 

[aussie1st]

I think one thing about Aussie domestic cricket is that spinners always struggle, so it's hard to judge the domestic spinners on their stats. Even the best international spinners coming to play Tests struggle. Warne's average for Victoria was in the mid 30s I think, MacGill's for NSW on a turning Sydney pitch was about 30, and those guys are some of the best spinners of recent times. As for tourists, Swann bowled tidily but hardly got great returns, Murali has been owned on his trips to Australia. The last spinner to average under 30 and take more than 10 wickets on a tour of Australia was Upul Chandana in that short 2 Test series in 2004, Anil Kumble managed to get JUST under 30 in 2003/04 and before that you start heading back into the 90s to guys like Saqlain and Mushtaq who did well in short series, but never on subsequent tours. Australia is really a spinners graveyard.

I believe he is talking about his batting average.

On your post, certainly puts O'Keefe stats into perspective as the only spinner in the domestic scene to have his average not only under 30 but under 25. Some might say there is a small sample size but the other young spinners in Lyon and Boyce are no where near his stats.

 

[sifter132]

Ah I see Oh well... Smith's FC batting numbers look pretty good, but I'd really like to see him sustain a good set of scores for another season or 2 before I get too excited. It's the technique I think. He'll score well against loose bowling, but I can't see him succeeding a lot against sustained pressure. A bit like Phil Hughes in that way.

And yeah, O'Keefe's got some great numbers considering all that. I'd like to see them take him and Hauritz to SL in August and see how he stacks up in the nets and the warmups. If he can outbowl Hauritz and show he can threaten good batsmen then all power to him - give him the Test spot. Or alternatively, those 2 guys are pretty good with bat too, so if Australia wants to be aggressive then play 5 bowlers with 3 fast, O'Keefe and Hauritz.

 

[War]

Ha - cant believe Hauritz is still being spoken about as a test match option.

Also on O'Keefe although his FC stats & the lack of any of the other dud spinners proving not to be test standard recently - means by default you have to take him to SRI as one of your two spinners (although i dont necessarily see him as getting a starting place). I'm not too optimistic about him long term - based on watching him bowl a fair few times in international cricket. I see no difference between him & Doherty - which a a dub non-turning left-arm spinner (although O'Keefe looks to flight it more), which is generally makes spinners struggle throughout test history unless they have something extra special (Hedley Verity, Vettori, Tayfield, Wilfred Rhodes, Underwood, Lock), which O'Keefe certainly doesn't. So when i look @ his FC stats in his short 14 games, im more inclined to wonder what the hell AUS domestic batsmen where doing to give him such good stats.

For Sri Lanka i'd have Krejza & O'Keefe as the two spinners. Before anyone questions Krejza based on his world-cup performance, i'd remind you i was one of the few that always said he was not ODI quality given his style of bowling standard regardless of what he did in the bigbash this year & I was always against him going to world-cup regardless of the fact that injuries to Hauritz & Doherty made the selectors pick him. So his failures in the cup should have absolutely no bearing on how he may go in tests again - it should just be seen as another selectional blunder by Hilditch & forgotten.

But the search for a test standard spinner will go on - since although i support Krejza he is not the answer.