[quote author=dillinger10 link=topic=101724.msg668162#msg668162 date=1449684533]
For me, nothing Smith does on the field would ever tarnish his career or legacy. He is arguably one of the five greatest openers in Test history.
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In getting the chance to sit down and think about this some more, Smith wouldn't make my top 5 but he would be in my top 10. My top 10, in no order, includes:
Gavaskar, Richards, Greenidge, Hobbs, Fredericks, Sutcliffe, Hutton, Cook, Simpson and Smith
Smith averaged 54.86 in 52 overseas Test matches. The only opener to score a minimum of 2000 Test runs and post a higher average in overseas Tests is Jack Hobbs. I know it is hard to compare different eras and batting is much easier today than in years gone by, but that is an impressive feat nonetheless. Haynes, for example, averaged just 33.50 in overseas Tests.
that would be Barry Richards the Saffie...Herbert Sutcliffe, english who opened with Hobbs... and Bobby Simpson, the Ozzie who opened with Bill Lawry.
I hear tell great stories of Barry Richards......but my favourite opener apart from Roy Fredericks was Majid Jehangir Khan..who stood up mano to west indian pace and hit back
I guess current Cook will count for something..if not now ,in time
While there's no doubt what Smith as achieved in the game, for a lot of people he IS in the top ten best openers but I still think a return could tarnish that legacy.
[quote author=mapoui link=topic=101724.msg668875#msg668875 date=1449898109]
that would be Barry Richards the Saffie...Herbert Sutcliffe, english who opened with Hobbs... and Bobby Simpson, the Ozzie who opened with Bill Lawry.
I hear tell great stories of Barry Richards......but my favourite opener apart from Roy Fredericks was Majid Jehangir Khan..who stood up mano to west indian pace and hit back
I guess current Cook will count for something..if not now ,in time
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Barry Richards and Gordon Greenidge opening the batting for Hampshire in 1977 were the greatest pair I have seen. Richards made batting look so effortless and his cover drive is still the best I have seen.
Hampshire have been blessed with a veritable list of who's who of international players to don their whites through the years - Roy Marshall, Gordon Greenidge, Malcolm Marshall, Andy Roberts, Larry Worrell and Shane Warne, among others, but Richards, was for me, the greatest of them all.
Speaking of Bill Lawry, he, Morris and Ponsford are also probably in the running for a top 10 birth.
How would you rate Majid Khan compared to Hanif Mohammad?
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