(04-03-2018, 10:24 PM)McLovin Wrote:(04-03-2018, 04:46 PM)The One Wrote: LOL what's with the Sanga fan bois irrepressible need to claim he's the best at anything and feel victimized if others don't consider him the greatest at everything.
Seriously in what world is Sanga a better Test WK-bat than Flower?
I think he should not be considered at any other position than a pure No.3, he excelled there and that's where he should bat. I think he's good enough to bat at 3 in the 3rd or 4th XI. I think Headly should have been the No.3 on that second XI, and if not he would have been better utilized as No.3 on this 3rd XI. Since he's not there anymore, I think Sanga for me is the best NO.3 choice in this XI.
Nothing to do with being a Sanga fan boy how about you list why Flower is that much better even though he was both an inferior gloveman and batsman.
Naturally you would expect top players to improve over the years until they reach their ceiling. So quite ridiculous to judge a player’s skillset based on just the first few years and then compare it to another’s overall career. I mean Sanga kept wickets for over one and a half decades fgs as if the format matters in any way. A solid keeper is a solid keeper regardless. He is easily the better gloveman out of the two absolutely no doubt about it. Kept to world class spinners, mystery bowlers, slingers and so on for over 15 years.
With the bat both were quality batsmen. Again judging a player’s batting based on just their first few years and then comparing it to another’s overall career is a joke. Comparing apples with apples Flower averaged 40 odd with the bat in his first 7 years as well btw.
Sanga as w/k (2000-2006) - 3.1k runs @ 41 with 7 tons
Flower as w/k (1992-1998) - 1.9k runs @ 43 with 5 tons
Flower had a bit of a cushion as well batting in the lower middle order. Fast forward till the end of their careers and Sanga finished up as an ATG bat while Flower finished up a few notches below that. So overall not even a contest really.
You can't take what-if's to justify your selections.
Sanga averaged 40 odd as keeper, and Flower averaged 50+. And that's about it.
How do we know if he would have kept up his average? Maybe keeping would have taken a toll on him and his performance would have gone down, which is just as possible as him improving. So let's not go into hypothetical.
If we're using hypothetical scenarios, then we'd have to pick AB as the greatest WK ever. The guy averaged 57.41 as designated WK in 39 innings. By using your logic we can assume AB would have improved keeping over time, and with an average of that kind, let's pick him for our first XI.