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Post by byased on Aug 18, 2024 17:03:18 GMT
Dave linked a post on left handers to the sad death of Graham Thorpe. It made me realise most of my favourite batters/batsmen over the years are left handers. I have produced a top ten, but doubt it will agree with others. My main cricket watching was from 1963 to the early 80s.Mainly on TV, but some live visits. No helmets or much other protection in those days, but for me that made much better viewing and much better skills.
1 Gary Sobers, probably no great argument there, as good to watch his bowling as his batting. Met him twice, once in Barbados, once at Dudley Town Hall!
2 Graeme Pollock, Trent Bridge 1965, and saw him play for the Rest of the World in 1970.Bit like my following of Stranraer, I like the spelling of his name. May have broken many records but for the apartheid ban.
3 Brain Close, not as elegant as most of the others, but he made up for it in other ways.
4 Bill Lawry, another well spelt name, typical Aussie, lean and angular, dogged, but played a good hook shot. Legendary commentator.
5 Darren Lehmann, even though helmeted. He did everything different, and stood out. I had a Yorkshire membership for two or three seasons, with my brother , dad and son. Some great days, often on a Sunday. Lehmann was the star. .
6 Clive Lloyd, white floppy sun hat, used a very heavy bat, very distinctive style , great to watch.
7 David Gower, early type of helmet, where you could still see his face. Sat with my dad at Edgbaston when he made his test debut and hit first ball for four.
8 Adam Lyth, the only modern player who I really like watching, despite the helmet, he has a style of his own and so you never have to work out who is batting
9 David Lloyd, saw him make 200 in a test at Edgbaston. Faced Lillee and Thomson, and had his box turned inside out by one of them. Cricketer, captain, coach, umpire, commentator, speaker, comedian. talented bloke.
10 Ajit Wadekar helped India become competitive, great moustache.
Hayden and Gilchrist are the two more recent left handers who were close to making my list.. Favourite right handers are fewer, Dexter, Barrington, Sharpe, Greenidge, Richards perhaps my top five.
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Post by davemorton on Aug 19, 2024 7:38:51 GMT
The left-hander which I omitted to mention was Brian Lara. He could bat a bit, probably up there with Sobers and Sangakkara. Border, Chanderpaul and Graeme Smith were others who ground out Test hundreds, Border rather more attractively than the other two. Then there was Jayasuriya and his captain Arjuna Ranatunga, who helped put SL cricket on the face of the map.
Yorkshire: Willie Watson, Vic Wilson and Brian Close when I started watching them, with Bryan Stott sometime later. Johnny Wardle should also get a mention for his batting, which was absolutely something else, in those days.
I am struggling to think of any, apart from Kevin Sharp, in the days when I watched little County cricket, 1970s and 80s.
Into the 90s, and we had David Byas, assisted by overseas stars such as Michael Bevan, and later came Lehmann, Phil Jaques, Elliot (briefly), Fleming, Yuvraj Singh and Jacques Rudolph. Also son of Lehmann and recently Karunaratne. David Miller?
Adam Lyth has been a joy for almost twenty years, along with his apprentices Lees and Bean; Joe Sayers and Gary Ballance, of course, and Noah Kelly is the most recent.
I bet I've missed a few!
Top 10 favourites, internationally, would have to include Sobers, Lara, Clive Lloyd, Sangakkara and Border; Close, Trescothick, Gower, Thorpe and Stokes of the English ones.
Plenty of England openers: Jack Ikin, Peter Richardson, Bob Barber, Nick Knight, Bumble, Ward, Benson....Cook & Strauss, via Lyth, Lees, Stoneman, Jennings and Burns, to Duckett, missing lots out along the way, I'm sure.
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Post by tykemania on Aug 19, 2024 7:51:57 GMT
A couple of names not mentioned; Chris Broad, who I remember being very successful on Gatting's tour down under in 1987 - one of my first memories of the game. He became crabby in his last seasons, but at his peak was a superb player - you could certainly see where his son got his flowing drives from. Also one Christopher Gayle; yes, he was a slogger par excellance, but he was also a supreme timer of the ball who put decent attacks to the sword. As I typed that, VVS Laxman also sprang to mind.
Of course, right handers do not have a monopoly on drudgery. I would defy anyone to think of a less attractive batsman t watch that the Kiwi opener Mark Richardson!
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Post by newby on Aug 19, 2024 8:00:18 GMT
I might be unusual but I hardly notice whether a player is left or right handed when I'm watching a game. Perhaps it's because I only actually played cricket at a very basic level so I never try to imagine myself bowling at them.
Would David Gower have made it looks so languid and elegant had he been right handed, I think maybe it was in his nature and he probably would.
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Post by davemorton on Aug 19, 2024 10:02:12 GMT
I forgot Geoff Pullar and Raman Subba Row, two lefties who always seemed to make runs against Yorkshire. Good players! And I never thought FST was too happy bowling to left-handers. I also forgot Michael Carberry, of the recent ones.
I had a left-handed teammate, who used to distinguish between left-handed left handers (like himself, a left-arm spinner) and right-handed left-handers, who tended to be the beautiful drivers, the top-handed players: Close, Gower, Thorpe, Lyth, Stokes, etc.
I think the way round a person bats is determined by eye dominance? A term I had never heard of until I tried archery. The guy running the session had me check before we started. I was right-eye dominant, so I held the bow with my left, and drew back the arrow (towards that eye) with my right.
[How to check for eye dominance. With both eyes open, hold a finger at arm's length so it aligns with something vertical. Then shut the left eye. If you're right-eye dominant, your finger will still be aligned. Shut the right eye, and the finger will appear to move to the right of the vertical line. So, when both eyes are open, it's the right eye which dominates. And obviously vice versa for left-eye dominance.]
It is said that Lord Hawke was naturally left-handed, but was made to bat right-handed at school because 'gentlemen' did not do that. Even more recently than that, children were punished if they wrote left handed, which was seen as 'sinister' or evil. It also used to smudge the page with the old pen-and-ink and writing left-to-right as we do...but other cultures don't.
Isn't it odd that with musical instruments, it's the right hand that plucks the strings or holds the bow, but the left which does the trickier bit to play the tune?
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Post by davemorton on Aug 19, 2024 10:13:08 GMT
A couple of names not mentioned; Chris Broad, who I remember being very successful on Gatting's tour down under in 1987 - one of my first memories of the game. He became crabby in his last seasons, but at his peak was a superb player - you could certainly see where his son got his flowing drives from. Also one Christopher Gayle; yes, he was a slogger par excellance, but he was also a supreme timer of the ball who put decent attacks to the sword. As I typed that, VVS Laxman also sprang to mind. Of course, right handers do not have a monopoly on drudgery. I would defy anyone to think of a less attractive batsman t watch that the Kiwi opener Mark Richardson! VVS was right handed and, yes, a beautiful striker of a cricket ball. Ganguly was the leftie in that team. Mark Richardson! The Aussies also had one, 'Slasher' MacKay - the nickname was ironical; he couldn't hit it off the square. Actually, facing Laker, he couldn't hit it at all. Subba Row, mentioned above, was definitely one to get bums off seats. And Rory Burns. I think Graeme Smith was the least attractive of all, and worse than Richardson because he batted a lot longer. Chanderpaul had his dull moments, too...but he scored as many runs as Lara.
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Post by tykemania on Aug 19, 2024 11:12:03 GMT
Burns and Sibley batting in unison, now there was a sight to make sore eyes!
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Post by davemorton on Aug 19, 2024 12:31:43 GMT
Burns and Sibley batting in unison, now there was a sight to make sore eyes! Bumble tells the story of his double century at Edgbaston (v India 1973), when he raised his bat to acknowledge the applause. One lone voice: "How much more?" Bumble was a terrific, three-dimensional cricketer, but as a batsman he would be described as 'thoughtful' or 'organised' or 'pragmatic'. He was not a dasher, nor a lovely stylist like Barry Wood, his Lancashire partner.
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Post by slowleftarmer on Aug 30, 2024 8:24:08 GMT
The left hander I recall from my early cricket watching days in the mid 70s was the West Indian Roy Fredericks who liked to give the ball a good tonk, notably in the first World cup final but he then trod on his stumps having just hooked Lillee for 6!
None of the Aussie left handers, Taylor, Hayden, Langer etc every really stood out as enjoyable or graceful to watch. Warner was entertaining but hard to like and I suppose its the ones we had who gave most pleasure, notably Lehmann and Bevan.
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Post by davemorton on Sept 3, 2024 7:46:54 GMT
I have 'selected' an England Left Handers XI (all bat left handed). Hell of a team!
Openers: Trescothick & Cook (alternatives include J Edrich, C Broad, Strauss)
Middle: Leyland, Thorpe, Gower (Woolley and Paynter were strong alternatives; Leyland offers spin)
All-rounder: Stokes
W-keeper: Russell
Spin: Wardle (or Panesar - most left-arm spinners have ben right-handed with the bat)
Pace: S Broad, Anderson, Statham (also Higgs and R Sidebottom)
The team seems strangely skewed towards our modern era, which is partly my shaky grasp on the past, but reflects more the strange increase of left-handedness in our time.
I will have overlooked a few, inevitably
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Post by slowleftarmer on Sept 3, 2024 8:45:43 GMT
no room for Closey then?
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Post by davemorton on Sept 3, 2024 11:48:32 GMT
He would make a great team manager! And we haven't got an off-spinner, so yes, he's on the plane.
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Post by slowleftarmer on Sept 3, 2024 12:12:33 GMT
I think Jack Leach is left handed at bowling and batting too. Ahead of Panesar?
I also think you should try and get all the bowlers to be left armers too - like Ryan Sidebottom. It might limit the selection somewhat of course! Sam Curran would be eligible as a double-lefty, as too would David Willey and Luke Wood. I struggle to think of too many older double lefties, other than overseas greats like Sobers and Wasim Akram
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Post by byased on Sept 3, 2024 14:54:21 GMT
yes, it should be a full left handed team, none of these half and half chaps. Close would have to miss out as I think he bowled right arm? He could be manager though. Bowling gets tough, Sidebottom yes, Fred Rumsey? perhaps not. Norman Gifford and Don Wilson fit the bill, but maybe not quite test quality. Curran, Willey and Wood all qualify. Not many to choose from when it comes down to it
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Post by davemorton on Sept 3, 2024 22:02:49 GMT
New boy Josh Hull bats left, apparently, and perhaps Frank Woolley could take on the 6 all-rounder slot, so the attack could be Sidebottom and Hull, plus Curran, Wardle and Woolley, which might be a couple of notches down from the original!
Fred Rumsey batted right, apparently. You could pick Mike Cowan, on the principle that, the way he batted, it would have made no difference which way round he stood.
Globally, Sobers, Gilchrist, Akram, Davidson, Jayasuriya, Vaas and Border would make a good core!
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