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Alastair Cook or Hashim Amla - Who is better?

Amla is much more attacking batsman and is very pleasing on the eye so for that reason ill pick Amla however both are gun players but I would pay to go and watch Amla not the same case with Cook.
 
bilawal666 said:
Cook wins the battle hands down for me
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Makes sense since Cook is far better, Cook averages 49 in tests, Amla 52. Last 2 years, Cook 59. Amla 64. Cook's odi average is 40, Amla 58. Against the two best bowling attacks Cook averages 40 against SA, 36 against Pakistan. Amla averages 50 against Pakistan and 52 against England
 
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vandokkum said:
Makes sense since Cook is far better, Cook averages 49 in tests, Amla 52. Last 2 years, Cook 59. Amla 64. Cook's odi average is 40, Amla 58. Against the two best bowling attacks Cook averages 40 against SA, 36 against Pakistan. Amla averages 50 against Pakistan and 52 against England
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Wow Amla has been in God Mode it seems.
 
Cook's legacy will be such that neither Amla nor Clarke will be remembered.
 
Amla is incomparable.cook is gritty batsman,he is more like sachin tendulkar in records and consistency.
 
Cook for me is better in tests and i think amla is better in one dayers
 
vandokkum said:
Makes sense since Cook is far better, Cook averages 49 in tests, Amla 52. Last 2 years, Cook 59. Amla 64. Cook's odi average is 40, Amla 58. Against the two best bowling attacks Cook averages 40 against SA, 36 against Pakistan. Amla averages 50 against Pakistan and 52 against England
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I agree that Amla is better.


But Amla against a Pakistan without any attack in SA apart from Ajmal who was neutered by SA pitches?

Think the Aussie lineup was a better bowling attack for your second example, which Amla did fine against if I recall.
 
I love Cookie but i am sorry Amla wins this one. What sets him apart is his ability and play a Cook esque innings that is bat for hours and hours and nullify an attack, but if the situation requires an aggressive approach then he is more than capable of playing a KP esque innings. Cook cant do the former. If he carriers on doing what he is doing (4-5 years) i will put him ahead of Ponting as a number 3. And perhaps the most complete player in the history of the game. He is a versatile player, can score a hundred in 220 balls and can score a hundred in a session. Very few players that can do that.
 
^Praise him if you want but sorry, that's one gross overstatement up there; when has Amla played a KP-esque innings in Tests?
 
Amla is in between Cook and KP in terms of aggresiveness, his only real blistering innings was the run a ball 190 against Australia.
 
KP is a certified destructive batsman who has scored many hundreds at 75+ SR. soso_killer's post was full of hyperbole as it is but that statement about KP was not even arguable; we all have our favourites but let's not be dishonest. Different kinds of players, that much is clear.
 
khalil1986 said:
Amla is much more attacking batsman and is very pleasing on the eye so for that reason ill pick Amla however both are gun players but I would pay to go and watch Amla not the same case with Cook.
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Thats a bit unfair. Cook is still a world class player. I would go and watch him. Test cricket is more than just strike rates. Look at Tendulkar against Steyn on his last tour here. It was attritional cricket. Cook is capable of gutsing it out in tough situations as well. Which is enough entertainment for me. I just love test cricket.
Cricfan4eva said:
Amla easily >>> Cook. Atm even Clarke >> Cook
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Clark better than Cook? Are you kidding me?
 
vandokkum said:
Amla is in between Cook and KP in terms of aggresiveness
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Agree with this. He made a 400 ball century in India and a 190 at 90 in Aus.

Neither Cook nor KP are capable of playing both those kinds of innings. That's why Amla is so good.
 
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KP has scored run-a-ball hundreds and slow exacting hundreds too.

Anyway this thread isn't about him but always good to balance the fanboyism a little.
 
James said:
^Praise him if you want but sorry, that's one gross overstatement up there; when has Amla played a KP-esque innings in Tests?
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Amla has played plenty of aggressive knocks unfortunately if you are following cricket through the media (OR the bias English media to be specific), you wont know that. He has played plenty of aggressive knocks. Even in India in 2010 he made an aggressive 114 at a strike rate of 70, unfortunately we lost that game because of a collapse. In Australia he did the same nearly scored a ton in a session and should have got there unfortunately that rubbish player called Clarke wasted time and the final over was not bowled and was stuck on 99, at Centurion on a green deck he made an aggressive 92 was unlucky not to get a deserved 100 scoring at 80+. He has done this plenty of times, the media unfortunately will have you believe he is not an aggressive player which is stupid. Even Dhoni in 2010 said what is deceiving about Amla is that because of his ability to bat for hours and occupy the crease, people tend to forget how quickly he scores those runs. Amla is between Cook and KP, he bats according to the situation.
 
vandokkum said:
Clarke has suffered a lot due to crap teammates and still produced the goods. Cook has KP, Trott, Prior. Amla has Kallis, AB, Smith.
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not only goods,he has played some special innings too
like one in south africa 150 odd..one of the best innings i saw in last 2-3 years!
and then he ruthlessly dominated south african attack unlike cook..

didn;t they score at 5 rpo in one match ? LOL

and then there are just sheer number of runs he has scored lately.

amla is 2nd cos of his consistency and he has scored runs everywhere now against every attack ,every type of bowler..and delivered brilliant innings when needed

cook has been almost as good as amla but he did not delivered vs south africa like i expected him too..average of 40 is good but u expect better form best in world at home ;)
also he some what failed vs ajmal .. i know its not fair but these leads of 3 average series..and honestly other two guys amla and clarke have been god like lol
 
soso_killer said:
Amla has played plenty of aggressive knocks unfortunately if you are following cricket through the media (OR the bias English media to be specific), you wont know that. He has played plenty of aggressive knocks. Even in India in 2010 he made an aggressive 114 at a strike rate of 70, unfortunately we lost that game because of a collapse. In Australia he did the same nearly scored a ton in a session and should have got there unfortunately that rubbish player called Clarke wasted time and the final over was not bowled and was stuck on 99, at Centurion on a green deck he made an aggressive 92 was unlucky not to get a deserved 100 scoring at 80+. He has done this plenty of times, the media unfortunately will have you believe he is not an aggressive player which is stupid. Even Dhoni in 2010 said what is deceiving about Amla is that because of his ability to bat for hours and occupy the crease, people tend to forget how quickly he scores those runs. Amla is between Cook and KP, he bats according to the situation.
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Cool rant bro - with the final sentence being the only important part, where you rescind your original, excited, hyperbolic statement to what everyone else was saying. KP has played dozens of the above knocks. So thankyou for seeing some sense.
 
James said:
KP has scored run-a-ball hundreds and slow exacting hundreds too.

Anyway this thread isn't about him but always good to balance the fanboyism a little.
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Amazingly, KP has only scored 1 hundred below a 60 SR. It was still a solid 51 SR.

That's pretty impressive actually. But I would never ever pick KP if I wanted to save the match in the 4th innings.
 
sosokiller lost me at the 4th line.... rubbish player called Clarke. lol
 
vandokkum said:
Clarke has suffered a lot due to crap teammates and still produced the goods. Cook has KP, Trott, Prior. Amla has Kallis, AB, Smith.
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that rubbish. Clarke has had plent of time to grow in international cricket. He had players like Langer, Hayden, Ponting, Martyn etc. grooming him. He averaged around 45 during that period and was inconsistent. So now is time for him to step up which he seems to be doing. But i will reserve my judgements on him until he does what he did in Australia abroad. At the moment Amla Cook and AB are ahead of him IMO.
 
Inziquicksingle said:
Amazingly, KP has only scored 1 hundred below a 60 SR. It was still a solid 51 SR.

That's pretty impressive actually. But I would never ever pick KP if I wanted to save the match in the 4th innings.
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He is very good. For the bold, I suggest you rewind to a little innings he played in 2005...it was the 3rd innings sure, but a mucky 5th day pitch and two of the best bowlers to have lived were looking to snatch the Ashes. He was all that stood in their way and he triumphed. Put aside the stats for just a moment - these are the moments which make a player truly special
 
That was a stupendous innings James, not doubt he is a special player. He lacks the 1st and second gears tho, bit like Sehwag.
 
At the moment I'd go for Amla > Cook > Clarke, the best players at the moment and it's close between them.

KP is good too but he's a bit difficult to classify lol. Sort of out on his own, not in a better than everyone else way, just in a weird and wonderful way. Tends to score 100 or 1.
 
soso_killer said:
that rubbish. Clarke has had plent of time to grow in international cricket. He had players like Langer, Hayden, Ponting, Martyn etc. grooming him. He averaged around 45 during that period and was inconsistent. So now is time for him to step up which he seems to be doing. But i will reserve my judgements on him until he does what he did in Australia abroad. At the moment Amla Cook and AB are ahead of him IMO.
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Calling a player averaging 52 rubbish is a joke :sachin
 
James said:
Cool rant bro - with the final sentence being the only important part, where you rescind your original, excited, hyperbolic statement to what everyone else was saying. KP has played dozens of the above knocks. So thankyou for seeing some sense.
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the only person who got excited here was you. In my original statement i said Amla can play a Cook esque innings and also a KP esque. He can do what KP does if the situation requires, he does not throw his wicket away should the going get tough, which is a major diff between them by the way. What are you mouthing off about?
 
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I'll settle for Number one Thank you. Cook is still under cooked in ODI's, whereas Amla is simply a beast!
 
Too close to call in Tests both will become ATGs
 
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amla is better than cook in both formats....in odi's MUCH better...in tests its damn close...but he is ahead imo
 
vandokkum said:
Calling a player averaging 52 rubbish is a joke :sachin
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nope, i was refering to your statement that he is better than Cook or Amla. He is a decent player, and i said i will reserve my comments on him. He is not better than Cook, i want to make that clear. The guy is hidding at number 5, i invite him to step up and lead from the front and bat at 3. Take a look at what Cook, Amla and AB average away from home to Clarke. Sorry mate i cant properly judge a player who has been batting on an airstrip over the last year or so.
 
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James said:
At the moment I'd go for Amla > Cook > Clarke, the best players at the moment and it's close between them.

KP is good too but he's a bit difficult to classify lol. Sort of out on his own, not in a better than everyone else way, just in a weird and wonderful way. Tends to score 100 or 1.
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kp is guy who will qualify for best innings of the year..
he will play innings which will turn everything out of no where no matter who is opponent ..thats where he is so dangerous
but to be considered the best he has to do it more consistently ..
in the end cook and co score much more runs then him and with much more consistency and its not like he are not playing good innings,amla played quality knock at perth
great counter attacking knock which took match away.

kp has ability to play out of world innings on his day he is best but over a year others are better :p
 
James said:
^Praise him if you want but sorry, that's one gross overstatement up there; when has Amla played a KP-esque innings in Tests?
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amla can actually play both kinds of innings...he may not absolutely demolish attacks like kp but he comes close to him with some aggressive stroke play when required/when situation is favourable

he scored a hundred in india in 2010 at around 70

he again scored a hundred against india in sa at around 70 same year

scored a 190 odd recently in aus at around 90

above all scored a match winning 100 in 4th innings against aus in sa at around 83(2011)

a few more 100's at around 60 or more....and he has plenty of fifties at 70+
 
bill_123 said:
amla can actually play both kinds of innings...he may not absolutely demolish attacks like kp but he comes close to him with some aggressive stroke play when required/when situation is favourable

he scored a hundred in india in 2010 at around 70

he again scored a hundred against india in sa at around 70 same year

scored a 190 odd recently in aus at around 90

above all scored a match winning 100 in 4th innings against aus in sa at around 83(2011)

a few more 100's at around 60 or more....and he has plenty of fifties at 70+
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its not just strike rate
kp has literally played some blinders..just counter attack at time when everything is gone and to win match or atleast change game's momentum
only time england were on top of south africa was when kp fired..
it doesn otm atter if its dale steyn,shane warne or mcgrath when he is in form he is batting on different planet..its total domination

with amla he has played some quick knocks but they are not same thing imo
but thing is with his sheer consistency in every damn conditions amla is better batsman ..
on his day kp can be better then anyone tbh but over all he is not close to these 3 guys who are almost competing with bradman lately lol
 
amlafan79 said:
its not just strike rate
kp has literally played some blinders..just counter attack at time when everything is gone and to win match or atleast change game's momentum
only time england were on top of south africa was when kp fired..
it doesn otm atter if its dale steyn,shane warne or mcgrath when he is in form he is batting on different planet..its total domination

with amla he has played some quick knocks but they are not same thing imo
but thing is with his sheer consistency in every damn conditions amla is better batsman ..
on his day kp can be better then anyone tbh but over all he is not close to these 3 guys who are almost competing with bradman lately lol
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kp IS ARGUABLY THE MOST GIFTED BATSMAN IN THE WORLD TODAY....iam only taking natural gifts here not the implementation...

and yes when on song kp produces some rare masterpieces

but lets not be harsh on amla here....who imo can play innings which can absolutely take your breath away....amla himself when on song and in attack mode can dominate any attack in most conditions....and he has shown quite a few examples of dis....but i do agree KP on his day can absolutely demolish any attack like no 1 can today....
 
bill_123 said:
amla can actually play both kinds of innings...he may not absolutely demolish attacks like kp but he comes close to him with some aggressive stroke play when required/when situation is favourable

he scored a hundred in india in 2010 at around 70

he again scored a hundred against india in sa at around 70 same year

scored a 190 odd recently in aus at around 90

above all scored a match winning 100 in 4th innings against aus in sa at around 83(2011)

a few more 100's at around 60 or more....and he has plenty of fifties at 70+
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actually he is more than capable of demolishing attacks like KP. Unfortunately alot of fanboys will always try and argue about something.

KP just won an innings of the year which was an utter joke. Can someone explain to me why? Ahead of Amla 196 no less.

Amla scored 99 runs in a session in Australia got his hundred of 86 balls. Made a total of 196 at a strike rate of 88.6 on a tougher pitch than KP (186) and at a higher strike rate to KP's 79.82 (yes a higher strike rate fanboys). Only one other batsman made a hundred on that pitch proving how tough it was (i.e. AB and none from the opposition team). Two different batsman scored tons in Mumbai i.e. Cook and Pujara. Only 30 wickets were taken in Mumbai and 40 were taken in Australia. Amla scored more runs, higher strike rate, against a better attack and on a difficult pitch. Can the KP fanboys please explain.
 
bill_123 said:
kp IS ARGUABLY THE MOST GIFTED BATSMAN IN THE WORLD TODAY....iam only taking natural gifts here not the implementation...

and yes when on song kp produces some rare masterpieces

but lets not be harsh on amla here....who imo can play innings which can absolutely take your breath away....amla himself when on song and in attack mode can dominate any attack in most conditions....and he has shown quite a few examples of dis....but i do agree KP on his day can absolutely demolish any attack like no 1 can today....
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yep..amla is still better batsman over all but kp like u said can play those out of this world innings once while..
amla tbh is different kind of batsman..he oozes class and his timing and wrist remind me of laxman some times.. i know technique is different but thats type of guy i will compare him with not kp..
 
it's really close, but the way Amla dominated the much vaunted English attack in their home conditions does it for me. Amla better at the moment, but I feel Cook will break all the records including Tendulkers. Amla will get close to Kallis in terms of hundreds.
 
Safar55 said:
it's really close, but the way Amla dominated the much vaunted English attack in their home conditions does it for me. Amla better at the moment, but I feel Cook will break all the records including Tendulkers. Amla will get close to Kallis in terms of hundreds.
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erm no. To surpass tendu, cook has to surpass bradman 1st. But he still is only next to bradman.... :(
 
Amla is the best batsman in the world right now and has been up there for the past three or four years. Cook has also been immense along with Clarke but neither of them are as good as Amla.
 
Cook or Amla - who is better?

amlafan79 said:
right now i have no question in my mind
its clarke >amla > cook
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Cook is an opener, has to face the opponents best bowlers when they are fresh but it's not the same with Amla and Clarke and still he holds as good a record as the other two.

If Cook has KP, Trott, Bell (combined 45+ hund's)to fall back as someone said then what about Amla who has Smith, Kallis, AB (80+ hund's)to bail out SA.

Clarke had the best batting lineup in the history to back him for most of his career. It's in the last two years he's been doing great (100+ hund's atleast).
 
One thing to remember about Amla is that he doesn't have to face his own bowlers.
 
Amla, Cook and Clarke are all good in their own ways. I wouldn't be surprised if the #1 ranking keeps changing between the 3 of them over the next few years.

AB might be up there too, but he needs to play more knocks that matter. The one against Pakistan was a good start.
 
rooster said:
Cook is an opener, has to face the opponents best bowlers when they are fresh but it's not the same with Amla and Clarke and still he holds as good a record as the other two.

If Cook has KP, Trott, Bell (combined 45+ hund's)to fall back as someone said then what about Amla who has Smith, Kallis, AB (80+ hund's)to bail out SA.

Clarke had the best batting lineup in the history to back him for most of his career. It's in the last two years he's been doing great (100+ hund's atleast).
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Amla plays at the most important position in a batting line-up which is the one-down position, this slot had also been South Africa's achilles heel in batting terms before Amla made that spot his own. Amla's records fo the past few years are also much better than Cook's despite having played less games.

Falling back on better batsmen doesn't work with Cook and Amla since their respective team's good batsmen play lower down the order and those other batsmen actually benefit from having Amla play at #3 as mentioned before. In Clarke's case, he was a passenger during the glory days of Australia but nowadays he wages a lone battle most of the time.

A valid point would be that Amla doesn't have to face the best pacer in the world today.
 
Robert said:
One thing to remember about Amla is that he doesn't have to face his own bowlers.
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lol, i love statements like this. I am sure Cook has faced Jimmy and co. plenty of times hey? The same attack that won 3 matches in the Ashes by an innings, the same attack that destroyed India 4-0. I remember him negating the best spinner in the world in Swann. Yep, you make perfect sense.
 
Jo_Don said:
Amla, Cook and Clarke are all good in their own ways. I wouldn't be surprised if the #1 ranking keeps changing between the 3 of them over the next few years.

AB might be up there too, but he needs to play more knocks that matter. The one against Pakistan was a good start.
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you mean his hundred in the 414 game did not matter? What about his 30 of 230 balls? Yeah that makes sense. I cant believe how hard South Africans have to work their bottoms of to get even the slightest recognition. Clarke has done absolutely nothing of worth away from home and he is better than AB? The was a thread recently comparing Clarke to Lara please mind you that the guy averages 42 in Asia to AB 60. What a joke these forums can be sometimes an absolute fuss!!
 
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Cook or Amla - who is better?

Bilal7 said:
Amla plays at the most important position in a batting line-up which is the one-down position, this slot had also been South Africa's achilles heel in batting terms before Amla made that spot his own. Amla's records fo the past few years are also much better than Cook's despite having played less games.

Falling back on better batsmen doesn't work with Cook and Amla since their respective team's good batsmen play lower down the order and those other batsmen actually benefit from having Amla play at #3 as mentioned before. In Clarke's case, he was a passenger during the glory days of Australia but nowadays he wages a lone battle most of the time.

A valid point would be that Amla doesn't have to face the best pacer in the world today.
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So you are saying coming in at no.3 is harder than opening the inns? For gods sake we're talking about test cricket here not LOIs. An opener's job is as important as any top 5 in a test XI, if not the most.

Amla usually has a very good opening stand most of the time before he comes to crease. Amla is sandwiched between two South African greats Smith and Kallis, just for your info.
 
Cook or Amla - who is better?

soso_killer said:
you mean his hundred in the 414 game did not matter? What about his 30 of 230 balls? Yeah that makes sense. I cant believe how hard South Africans have to work their bottoms of to get even the slightest recognition. Clarke has done absolutely nothing of worth away from home and he is better than AB? The was a thread recently comparing Clarke to Lara please mind you that the guy averages 42 in Asia to AB 60. What a joke these forums can be sometimes an absolute fuss!!
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That's two knocks dude. Nobody is denying his class, we all know it, now he needs to show it by playing those sorts of innings more consistently. But right now in a backs-to-the-wall scenario, I feel more comfortable having Smith or Amla at the crease.

As for Clarke, it would be unfair to dismiss him. Very often he's come in at 40-odd for 3, and scored a century while carrying the batting virtually on his own. I don't like the guy, but I can't deny him his due.
 
Pathetic from Amla today and in this Test. The guy is simply unreliable to the core when the situation demands. Cook is ten times the fighter than this guy ever was or will be.
 
Cook. I rate Cook as the best test opener alongside Azhar Ali. It's unfair on Amla though as he's been an opener, #3, #4. I know he's a senior but to compare, he must open as well. He's at #3 atm. SA must get rid of one of their openers and allow Faf in the side.
 
Its still Amla IMO. He has performed everywhere and has a big knock in most of the countries while Cook hasn't done anything substantial in South Africa.

Both were poor in their last tours to Australia and India while Cook was also poor in his previous tour to SA.

Still rate Amla and KP over Cook in the test format.
 
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Cook has mostly come good when needed while Amla is the perfect opposite. Not an ATG in my book. Should call it a day and retire. However, I'm not sure if there's a single colored player good enough to replace his mediocrity.
 
Amla has contributed to the game of cricket in an overwhelmingly positive way. He is a very good batsman and a lovely bloke. But I view him more as having an awesome extended purple patch with the bat from 2010-2013, rather than being an ATG of the game who has consistently been up there throughout his career.

When Amla first got picked he struggled with short-pitched bowling a lot and never instinctively "looked" like a great player - not like Tendulkar, Dravid or Lara had always done since their teenage years.

Cook is probably not an ATG either because his numbers are not strong enough, however his rock solid innings on a square turner yesterday/today proved his pedigree.

And one thing that's never been in doubt throughout Cook's career is his incredible mental strength. Even in the harshest playing conditions and/or when the game looks done, he fights it out until he can no longer stand guard. Conversely there is limited but real evidence that Amla does not have such an undying spirit on the field, his disastrous unravelling of his own captaincy an instance where he sadly caved into the pressure.

Thing is, Cook does not seem to have lost the knack at all of batting to a world-class standard when the situation demands him to; but maybe, just a smidgen, Amla has lost that capacity in the last few years.
 
Amla's peak was better and he is a better player to watch. But for me I'll take Cook over Amla. [MENTION=1842]James[/MENTION] also makes a good point about Cook's mental strength and Amla's lack of mental strength.

Cook is the better test player.
 
Bump!

Who is better? Amla or Cook- Amla clearly.

Who is better in tests? Amla again.
 
Amla is obviously better in Limited Overs, but Cook is the better Test batsman.
 
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