Abused and disabused illusions

[Lefthanded]

When I was a teenager, a teenager slightly older than me scored a 37 ball hundred against SL. Many knew he wasn't actually a teenager. Personally, I was never really impressed with Afridi but that's another story.

However, for the next twenty years he's still had fans convinced that his pedestrian numbers disguise some greater talent and ability.

But this isn't a thread about whether Afridi is good or not, over or under-rated.

It's about players who threatened to be among the best, but they failed often enough that you had to let go of your illusions.

For some people that could be Afridi, Amla, or whomever.

Which player gave you an illusion of excellence that you eventually had to accept wasn't really that excellent?

 

[Usman Chadda]

Umar Akmal wins this thread by a country mile.

 

[Gubol123]

Mohammad Sami

 

[Pete Rose]

Mohammad Sami

 

[Markhor]

Good thread ! I saw article containing Alastair Cook's list of Test hundreds recently and every bowling attack he faced for those centuries.

I was shocked at how weak the majority of those attacks were given his reputation for being one of the great openers of our era.

 

[JaDed]

Most cricketers before 80s, you keep hearing about them and when finally watch their videos and read more about them realizing how unprofessional cricket was.

Among recent ones for.me it's Irfan Pathan.

 

[Gubol123]

Good thread ! I saw article containing Alastair Cook's list of Test hundreds recently and every bowling attack he faced for those centuries.

I was shocked at how weak the majority of those attacks were given his reputation for being one of the great openers of our era.

link please

 

[PakSarZameen]

Ahmad Shahzad
Umar Akmal
Muhammad Sami

 

[Lefthanded]

Umar Akmal is the obvious choice for me too, but the one that I've thought more often of is Ajantha Mendis. Made the best batsmen in the world look like walking wickets for a year or so, but then became unselectable.

I remember being stunned when he dismantled the best batting lineup I've ever seen. Only Sehwag in that lineup had the better of him.

 

[giri26]

India have a list of bowlers who will fit the bill:

Irfan Pathan
RP Ringh
L Balaji
Munaf Patel
S Sreesanth
Piyush Chawla

There are lots of others.

 

[CadPakFan]

Nasir Jamshed

 

[Suleiman]

Saeed Ajmal. I know you said "failed often enough", but this guy used to top rankings and when news came out about him being suspect tested (albeit during his declining where the action got worse) pretty much everyone went into denial esp when results were announced. Took a long while for people to come to terms with it and most have let go of the notion of him being a great, some still hold that idea still.

I also have to say, Shoaib Akhtar. Could've had it all but settled for a lot less.

 

[Varun]

Good thread ! I saw article containing Alastair Cook's list of Test hundreds recently and every bowling attack he faced for those centuries.

I was shocked at how weak the majority of those attacks were given his reputation for being one of the great openers of our era.

Even when he is supposedly in form, you never have the confidence that Cook is going to score big in any given innings. His technique is like the Big Ben - a whole bunch of moving parts. Even if one thing goes wrong, you have to get the whole scaffolding to get it fixed.

 

[Slog]

Good thread ! I saw article containing Alastair Cook's list of Test hundreds recently and every bowling attack he faced for those centuries.

I was shocked at how weak the majority of those attacks were given his reputation for being one of the great openers of our era.

its also a case that his run scoring destroyed the reputation of the supposedly weak bowling attacks... Some are weak in hindsight and were considered 'promising' at time of his run scoring

 

[Arham_PakFan]

Umar Akmal.

 

[Kaka4pope]

Interesting with the likes of Sami and Afridi - both very talented IMO - where do you put the responsibility of not living up to the hype, the player or the setup?

Sami was a very talented, very fast bowler - even in Oz 2010 he looked decent, never mind his exciting debut in England back in 2003 I think? Even in the last WT20 - his pace was incredible for a guy in his mid 30s..

Afridi, match-winning bowling all-rounder in LOI cricket and if groomed as a devastating bowling all rounder earlier, would've remained a good option in Tests, especially in the SC (as Woolmer nurtured).

 

[kingusama92]

Don Bradman.

Great batsman relative to his era but the game has moved on dramatically.