why bowlers to batsman, not the other way around?

[sifter132]

What about Sir Garfield Sobers. He was a batsman first and then started to bowl as far as I know?

As Zorax mentioned, Sobers started as a left arm orthodox spinner. Batted down at #9 I think in his first few Tests.


Cameron White is another guy who, well I guess he was always classed as an all-rounder as a junior, but there was definitely more emphasis on his bowling. Now playing him as a bowler would be ridiculous - except if you're Andrew Hilditch and you're picking the Australian team for India in 2008...

 

[Lassana Dias]

As Zorax mentioned, Sobers started as a left arm orthodox spinner. Batted down at #9 I think in his first few Tests.


Cameron White is another guy who, well I guess he was always classed as an all-rounder as a junior, but there was definitely more emphasis on his bowling. Now playing him as a bowler would be ridiculous - except if you're Andrew Hilditch and you're picking the Australian team for India in 2008...

thats a good one there . looks like on one knows one guy who started as a batsman and became a bowler whe bat done the order wow an Xfile

 

[sifter132]

Well I read an Imran Khan biography not long ago - and he started out as a batsman as a kid, then became a bowler who could add some handy runs, and then later in his career when he was carrying his injuries, turned back into more of a batsman again. So he had a few twists and turns

 

[sami ullah khan]

The world cricket is so devoid of allrounders of the Great Khan's caliber these days. In fact I don not see any quality all rounder apart from Kallis in test Cricket. Watson is good but his bowling only shines in good bowling conditions. Imran had competition from the likes of Botham, Hadlee and Kapil.

 

[6ry4nj]

In the first Test series I remember (Pakistan's 1976/77 tour of Aus), Imran was I think first-change bowler. (He is third in my memorized list of their pacemen, after Sarfraz and Salim Altaf). He was not regarded (by the admittedly Australian commentary team and media more generally) as an all-rounder. He probably batted ahead of the keeper at seven - I don't remember. Pakistan did have two spinners who were treated as all-rounders, in Javed Miandad and Mushtaq Muhammad.

 

[sifter132]

I think for most of the 70s Imran was a #8, sometimes a #7 depending on who else played. From the 80s onwards though he only batted #8 on a few occasions, spending most of his time at #7 or #6 to reflect the improvement in his batting.

 

[Left_Hander]

Brad Hogg. Started his career as a number 6 batsman for WA and didn't bowl at all in his first few games.

Beat me to it. It took a while for me to think of that but I got there eventually.

 

[Howsie]

Surprised none of the New Zealand boys mentioned Todd Astle. He's only 24 but he started his first class career for Canterbury as an opening batsmen, not very successfully however as he only averaged 20 odd. He reappeared for Canterbury halfway through last season and since then has picked up 55 wickets @ 27 with his leg spin and probably isn't too far away from playing for New Zealand in test cricket.

A very quick transformation one must say.

 

[Chewie]

I always thought he had been an all-rounder? I knew he opened the batting but thought he still bowled pretty regularly then.

 

[Howsie]

I always thought he had been an all-rounder? I knew he opened the batting but thought he still bowled pretty regularly then.

He bowled occasionally but he wasn't an all-rounder, it was generally just an over here an over there type of stuff.

 

[ferg512]

Surprised none of the New Zealand boys mentioned Todd Astle. He's only 24 but he started his first class career for Canterbury as an opening batsmen, not very successfully however as he only averaged 20 odd. He reappeared for Canterbury halfway through last season and since then has picked up 55 wickets @ 27 with his leg spin and probably isn't too far away from playing for New Zealand in test cricket.

A very quick transformation one must say.

You reckon?? Although, I suppose after Vettori theres not much else in the way of spinners. I certainly wouldn't go back to Patel the horrible form he was in domsetically this season.

 

[Shoaib87]

Why do you think, players who start out as bowlers become world class batsman who hardly bowl ?

Examples ? Sanath, Ravi rathnayaka, Thilan samaraweera, shohib malik (and many more)

But batsman never become specialist bowlers who bats down the order


what do you think?

Imran Khan is the best example of a great bowler who started as a batsman.

 

[darthlewis1]

I think stuart broad was an opening batsmen until he grew about a foot in his late teens and became a bowler.

 

[sami ullah khan]

^Maybe the sex change operation had something to do with the transformation.

 

[angryangy]

I think stuart broad was an opening batsmen until he grew about a foot in his late teens and became a bowler.

Although Greg Chappell's preferred style in professional cricket was swing bowling, he bowled a lot of leg spin in his youth. He was said to have been a smaller kid, but a similar growth spurt turned him into quite a large teenager. The added size helped him to dominate less developed juniors, but he felt the leg breaks never came out as good again.