the world's best batsman

[Ken Gargett]

one for the cricket lovers, obviously.

always lots of talk about the top bat in the world at any time. smith's innings in the first test was such a brilliant knock that i'd find it hard for anyone to top that. virat kohli is brilliant, but has ups and downs and i think he can be put off as he is such an angry ant. pujara we see less of but he stacks up the runs. root has been superb for some years but problems exist for his conversion rate. williamson - aside from the fact that the laws of nature decree that a kiwi may not hold such a rank, he is obviously a contender.

the ICC rankings - silly system - are below. if kohli is no better than 5th then i am opening for the Aussies in perth.

smith averages over 61 with 21 tons and 21 fifties.

pujara is 53 with 14/16

williamson is 50 with 17/25.

root is 53 with 13/33.

kohli is almost 52 with 19/14, the best conversion rate of all.

and to be the top team in the world, you really need two batsmen in this top five list. hence why india is the top team.

that conversion rate is so important and shows that root does have an issue. a stat - since Jan 2016, Root has made 17 fifties, the same as Kohli, Smith and Williamson combined. He has just five hundreds, compared to 21 for Kohli + Smith + Williamson. that says a lot.

 

ICC Player Rankings
Rank	Name	Country	Rating
1	S.P.D. Smith	AUS	941
2	C.A. Pujara	IND	888
3	J.E. Root	ENG	881
4	K.S. Williamson	NZ	880
5	V. Kohli	IND	877
6	D.A. Warner	AUS	826
7	H.M. Amla	SA	795
8	Azhar Ali	PAK	755
9	K.L. Rahul	IND	735
10	D. Elgar	SA	732

interesting when one looks at the bowling ranking, jimmy anderson is 1. starc, hazelwood and lyon are all in the bottom half of the top ten.

[Guest Nekhyludov]

Clearly, Christian Bale was the best. 

Oh, wait ... you said best BATSman. 

Nevermind 

[JohnS]

I think the ICC Rankings will be updated in a day or two and Kohli will go to number two after his 243 and 50 against Sri Lanka in the third test just played in India. I think Kohli's ranking slipped in 2017 because apart from 2 centuries against Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, he had a lean patch in his 11 other innings prior to this current 3-test series against Sri Lanka. In fact, I don't even think he hit 50 runs for the series against Australia, which was one of the reasons why Australia were competitive to the last test.

[Webbo]

I think it is fair to say that the rankings are a pretty good reflection of the top 5 right now. Smith is clearly in a golden patch where his recent dismissal for only 40 odd was seen as a positive result for England.

I’m biased in that I was Root’s first captain in senior cricket and batted with him on quite a few occasions when he was a youngster and it was always clear he had some magic about him. With his first ball in senior cricket he took out the middle stump of some great oik who had given him some lip when I ask Joe to bowl. It gave me immense pleasure to escort said buffoon back to the pavilion with a few choice Yorkshire phrases I hope he still remembers. 

Part of the problem for Rooty is the same reason Anderson is so high in the bowling rankings. The pitches and conditions in the UK are so bowler friendly that not many batsmen can score big often, particularly in the second innings. Last year the Windies knocked off odd 300 odd at Leeds but that was a compete fluke. Normally in tests these days in the UK 200 is the max to chase in the last innings. It seems that Rootys conversion rate in the second innings is really poor but I think this is part of the problem. It’s also no coincidence that Kholi is not half the player in England he is when in the sub continent, that’s not to say he’s not a sublime player, he is for sure.

This problem of playing in seaming bowler friendly conditions in the UK is for me the main reason why we will/are get thumped by the Aussies this series. The minute the ball stops moving off the pitch or in the air we are buggered. 

 

 

 

[MIKA27]

8 hours ago, Nekhyludov said:

Clearly, Christian Bale was the best. 

Oh, wait ... you said best BATSman. 

Nevermind 

Damn it...you beat me to it!!

 

BTW.... Ben Affleck is the best BATman   BUT Bales Batman was the best Batman trilogy by way of story and direction IMO. 

Sorry @Ken Gargett had to be done. 

[Goose]

This may be controversial but

Steve Smith hits meaningful centuries - the batsmen around him combined, are no where near the class of batsmen surrounding Kohli. Hence Kohli goes in with a hunger for runs, and if he doesnt convert at times, he knows the others will most of the time. Smith plays knowing if he's gone, the chances of success are lessened by a greater degree. 

I'd take Smith over Kohli in my fantasy team any day, but that doesnt take away from how good it is to watch Kohli when on song. 

[Webbo]

Speaking of batsman what happened to Renshaw? (Actually he is another player from my club here in Yorkshire, he and Root played together as kids). He looked to me a natural test opener and a good fit alongside Warner at the top of the innings. If he was registered for England, as he could have been, I'm sure he would have been capable to do a job perhaps in the Cook role.

[Ken Gargett]

8 minutes ago, Webbo said:

Speaking of batsman what happened to Renshaw? (Actually he is another player from my club here in Yorkshire, he and Root played together as kids). He looked to me a natural test opener and a good fit alongside Warner at the top of the innings. If he was registered for England, as he could have been, I'm sure he would have been capable to do a job perhaps in the Cook role.

tragedy that the selectors dumped him. could have opened for us for a decade. a born test player.

[JohnS]

I agree that Matt Renshaw needs a prolonged run in the team to gain experience as I believe he has the temperament to be a quality opener for Australia.

The rankings updated late this week and Kohli moved up to No.2...

ICC Player Rankings
Rank	Name	Country	Rating
1	S.P.D. Smith	AUS	938
2	V. Kohli	IND	893
3	J.E. Root	ENG	879
4	C.A. Pujara	IND	873
5	K.S. Williamson	NZ	865
6	D.A. Warner	AUS	815
7	H.M. Amla	SA	795
8	Azhar Ali	PAK	755
9	L.D. Chandimal	SL	743
10	D. Elgar	SA	732

[Ken Gargett]

3 minutes ago, JohnS said:

I agree that Matt Renshaw needs a prolonged run in the team to gain experience as I believe he has the temperament to be a quality opener for Australia.

The rankings updated late this week and Kohli moved up to No.2...

ICC Player Rankings
Rank	Name	Country	Rating
1	S.P.D. Smith	AUS	938
2	V. Kohli	IND	893
3	J.E. Root	ENG	879
4	C.A. Pujara	IND	873
5	K.S. Williamson	NZ	865
6	D.A. Warner	AUS	815
7	H.M. Amla	SA	795
8	Azhar Ali	PAK	755
9	L.D. Chandimal	SL	743
10	D. Elgar	SA	732

no argument with kohli moving up - there is a terrific article on him and tendulkar in the guardian today that is worth reading.

but explain something to me. pujara plays three tests v sri lanka averaging almost 60 with a top score of 140 odd. joe root plays two tests in the Ashes series averaging 35 with a top score of 60. so how the hell does root move up above pujara? makes these rankings farcical.

[JohnS]

The rankings system looks at form over a time longer than the current series being played. Each innings is weighted so that past failures/successes don't matter as much as recent scores. The other important thing to consider is the ranking of the opposition bowlers. Australia have 3 bowlers in the current Top 10, whereas Sri Lanka only have one, Herath and I think he didn't play the last test. Joe Root hit 67 in the 4th innings in Adelaide so because it was the 2nd highest-score in the match against 3 Top 10 bowlers, this innings carries more 'weight'.

ICC Player Rankings
Rank	Name	Country	Rating
1	J.M. Anderson	ENG	894
2	K. Rabada	SA	876
3	R.A. Jadeja	IND	870
4	R. Ashwin	IND	829
5	H.M.R.K.B. Herath	SL	799
6	J.R. Hazlewood	AUS	786
7	N. Wagner	NZ	785
8	M.A. Starc	AUS	775
9	N.M. Lyon	AUS	774
10	D.W. Steyn	SA	748

[Ken Gargett]

1 minute ago, JohnS said:

The rankings system looks at form over a time longer than the current series being played. Each innings is weighted so that past failures/successes don't matter as much as recent scores. The other important thing to consider is the ranking of the opposition bowlers. Australia have 3 bowlers in the current Top 10, whereas Sri Lanka only have one, Herath and I think he didn't play the last test. Joe Root hit 67 in the 4th innings in Adelaide so because it was the 2nd highest-score in the match against 3 Top 10 bowlers, this innings carries more 'weight'.

ICC Player Rankings
Rank	Name	Country	Rating
1	J.M. Anderson	ENG	894
2	K. Rabada	SA	876
3	R.A. Jadeja	IND	870
4	R. Ashwin	IND	829
5	H.M.R.K.B. Herath	SL	799
6	J.R. Hazlewood	AUS	786
7	N. Wagner	NZ	785
8	M.A. Starc	AUS	775
9	N.M. Lyon	AUS	774
10	D.W. Steyn	SA	748

john, none of what you say in any way alleviates my fears that this is an absurd system. i think root was 5 before this and i do not care who you play, if you are trundling along at 35, you do not get bumped up above a bloke pushing 60. makes no sense, no matter who is bowling. the test before last, he knocked off 143.

i could swallow this is pujara had been facing mitch marsh. if the bowling was that poor, then i could understand it.