Harsh Thakor
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After the thread on Miandad's ranking in his era was posted I felt like creating a discussion on who was the better batsmen between Javed Miandad and Greg Chappell or who would you rather select for a test xi.
Both were all-time greats ,arguably at one stage the best test batsmen in the world.Both had phenomenal statistical records with Greg morally ahead adding scores in WSC Packer cricket and against rest of the world.Greg was far more elegant or artistic but Miandad too posessed a genius of his own kind.Technically Greg was more correct but Javed was greater improviser.Greg was the better match-winner but Javed more the man for a crisis.Greg was the more talented,Javed the more determined or resilient..Adding unofficial stats Greg averages above 55,almost 2 runs above Javed.In the late 1980's Javed reached the stature Greg reached as a batsmen in the late 1970's.Both batsmen played major roles in their teams gaining unofficial test world champion status.
Where Greg overshadowed Javed was against the best team of his day West Indies .Morally Greg in the 1970's in a single series performed best against Clive Lloyd's all conquering side scoring 621 run sat an average of 60 with 3 centuries in West Indies in WSC Supertests in 1979.He also topped the aggregate in WSC with 1416 run s,averaging 56.14 and scored the highest score of 246 in the tournament.Greg also had a distinction of scoring a double hundred in Pakistan in 1980 when he averaged above 76.Significantly Javed was hardly consistent in Australia scoring only 2 centuries.Greg averaged considerably more than Javed in wins in test matches.In New Zealand it was virtually touch and go between them.
However it is hard envisaging Greg dominate spinners with such consistency and mastery as Miandad on flat tracks.On bad wickets Javed in my book would always overshadow Greg with his uncanny knack of improvising.In arun chase in an ODI I would never imagine Greg matching Javed's feat in Sharjah in the Australasia cup final which he virtually won of his own bat.
In a test xi on a genuine wicket my choice of Greg would be unanimous.However on a turning track or bad wicket I would prefer Javed.In an ODI XI Miandad would be a certainty .Overall combining class and consistency I would choose Greg by a very slender margin above Javed.At his best Miandad has not equalled the batting of Greg in an innings or test series or revealed equal level of domination.Greg also had a much more successful reign as a skipper than Javed leading his team to win the Ashes and a series against West Indies.
STATISTICS COMPILED FROM S.RAJESH IN CRICINFO.
Despite playing during a period when there were several high-quality bowlers around, Chappell finished with an average of almost 54. During the 15 years he played, only one batsman - Pakistan's Javed Miandad - scored more than 4000 runs at a higher average. How tough batting was in that era can be gleaned from the fact that only five batsmen scored more than 4000 runs at an average of more than 50.
Best batsmen in Tests between Jan 1970 and Dec 1984 (Qual: 4000 runs) Batsman Tests Runs Average 100s/ 50s
Javed Miandad 65 4906 56.39 13/ 26
Greg Chappell 87 7110 53.86 24/ 31
Viv Richards 73 5579 53.64 18/ 23
Sunil Gavaskar 104 8625 51.33 30/ 37
As a No. 4 batsman, though, his stats were outstanding, as he scored more than 4300 runs at an average of almost 60. In the entire history of Test cricket only two batsmen - Jacques Kallis and Mahela Jayawardene - have scored 4000-plus runs at a higher average. Among Australian No. 4 batsmen, Greg clearly has the best stats: Mark Waugh has scored more runs but at an average of less than 43, while Allan Border's eight hundreds in 88 innings compare poorly with Greg's 15 in 86.
Highest Test averages at No. 4 (Qual: 4000 runs) Batsman Innings Runs Average 100s/ 50s
Jacques Kallis 139 7506 63.61 28/ 33
Mahela Jayawardene 140 7689 59.60 25/ 27
Greg Chappell 86 4316 59.12 15/ 19
Sachin Tendulkar 232 12,060 58.26 43/ 49
Javed Miandad 140 6925 54.10 19/ 31
Of the 87 Tests he played, Australia won 38, and in those games Chappell's contributions were immense: he scored more than 3500 runs at an average exceeding 70. Like in his overall Test career, his first and last innings in wins were also centuries. As the table below shows, his numbers in wins are among the best in the game.
Highest averages in Test wins (Qual: 3000 runs) Batsman Tests Runs Average 100s/ 50s
Don Bradman 30 4813 130.08 23/ 4
Inzamam-ul-Haq 49 4690 78.16 17/ 20
Garry Sobers 31 3097 77.42 12/ 11
Kumar Sangakkara 42 4282 76.46 15/ 15
Greg Chappell 38 3595 70.49 14/ 16
Steve Waugh 86 6460 69.46 25/ 25
Chappell's battles against the West Indies pace attack extended beyond the Test scene; he tackled them in the Supertests in World Series Cricket as well, and performed superbly. In 14 matches he averaged more than 56, which was significantly more than any other Australian batsman.
Performance of top batsmen in World Series Cricket Batsman Team Matches Innings Runs 100s 50s Average
Barry Richards World XI 5 8 554 2 2 79.14
Greg Chappell Australia 14 26 1415 5 4 56.60
Vivian Richards West Indies and World XI 14 25 1281 4 4 55.69
David Hookes Australia 12 22 769 1 7 38.45
Both were all-time greats ,arguably at one stage the best test batsmen in the world.Both had phenomenal statistical records with Greg morally ahead adding scores in WSC Packer cricket and against rest of the world.Greg was far more elegant or artistic but Miandad too posessed a genius of his own kind.Technically Greg was more correct but Javed was greater improviser.Greg was the better match-winner but Javed more the man for a crisis.Greg was the more talented,Javed the more determined or resilient..Adding unofficial stats Greg averages above 55,almost 2 runs above Javed.In the late 1980's Javed reached the stature Greg reached as a batsmen in the late 1970's.Both batsmen played major roles in their teams gaining unofficial test world champion status.
Where Greg overshadowed Javed was against the best team of his day West Indies .Morally Greg in the 1970's in a single series performed best against Clive Lloyd's all conquering side scoring 621 run sat an average of 60 with 3 centuries in West Indies in WSC Supertests in 1979.He also topped the aggregate in WSC with 1416 run s,averaging 56.14 and scored the highest score of 246 in the tournament.Greg also had a distinction of scoring a double hundred in Pakistan in 1980 when he averaged above 76.Significantly Javed was hardly consistent in Australia scoring only 2 centuries.Greg averaged considerably more than Javed in wins in test matches.In New Zealand it was virtually touch and go between them.
However it is hard envisaging Greg dominate spinners with such consistency and mastery as Miandad on flat tracks.On bad wickets Javed in my book would always overshadow Greg with his uncanny knack of improvising.In arun chase in an ODI I would never imagine Greg matching Javed's feat in Sharjah in the Australasia cup final which he virtually won of his own bat.
In a test xi on a genuine wicket my choice of Greg would be unanimous.However on a turning track or bad wicket I would prefer Javed.In an ODI XI Miandad would be a certainty .Overall combining class and consistency I would choose Greg by a very slender margin above Javed.At his best Miandad has not equalled the batting of Greg in an innings or test series or revealed equal level of domination.Greg also had a much more successful reign as a skipper than Javed leading his team to win the Ashes and a series against West Indies.
STATISTICS COMPILED FROM S.RAJESH IN CRICINFO.
Despite playing during a period when there were several high-quality bowlers around, Chappell finished with an average of almost 54. During the 15 years he played, only one batsman - Pakistan's Javed Miandad - scored more than 4000 runs at a higher average. How tough batting was in that era can be gleaned from the fact that only five batsmen scored more than 4000 runs at an average of more than 50.
Best batsmen in Tests between Jan 1970 and Dec 1984 (Qual: 4000 runs) Batsman Tests Runs Average 100s/ 50s
Javed Miandad 65 4906 56.39 13/ 26
Greg Chappell 87 7110 53.86 24/ 31
Viv Richards 73 5579 53.64 18/ 23
Sunil Gavaskar 104 8625 51.33 30/ 37
As a No. 4 batsman, though, his stats were outstanding, as he scored more than 4300 runs at an average of almost 60. In the entire history of Test cricket only two batsmen - Jacques Kallis and Mahela Jayawardene - have scored 4000-plus runs at a higher average. Among Australian No. 4 batsmen, Greg clearly has the best stats: Mark Waugh has scored more runs but at an average of less than 43, while Allan Border's eight hundreds in 88 innings compare poorly with Greg's 15 in 86.
Highest Test averages at No. 4 (Qual: 4000 runs) Batsman Innings Runs Average 100s/ 50s
Jacques Kallis 139 7506 63.61 28/ 33
Mahela Jayawardene 140 7689 59.60 25/ 27
Greg Chappell 86 4316 59.12 15/ 19
Sachin Tendulkar 232 12,060 58.26 43/ 49
Javed Miandad 140 6925 54.10 19/ 31
Of the 87 Tests he played, Australia won 38, and in those games Chappell's contributions were immense: he scored more than 3500 runs at an average exceeding 70. Like in his overall Test career, his first and last innings in wins were also centuries. As the table below shows, his numbers in wins are among the best in the game.
Highest averages in Test wins (Qual: 3000 runs) Batsman Tests Runs Average 100s/ 50s
Don Bradman 30 4813 130.08 23/ 4
Inzamam-ul-Haq 49 4690 78.16 17/ 20
Garry Sobers 31 3097 77.42 12/ 11
Kumar Sangakkara 42 4282 76.46 15/ 15
Greg Chappell 38 3595 70.49 14/ 16
Steve Waugh 86 6460 69.46 25/ 25
Chappell's battles against the West Indies pace attack extended beyond the Test scene; he tackled them in the Supertests in World Series Cricket as well, and performed superbly. In 14 matches he averaged more than 56, which was significantly more than any other Australian batsman.
Performance of top batsmen in World Series Cricket Batsman Team Matches Innings Runs 100s 50s Average
Barry Richards World XI 5 8 554 2 2 79.14
Greg Chappell Australia 14 26 1415 5 4 56.60
Vivian Richards West Indies and World XI 14 25 1281 4 4 55.69
David Hookes Australia 12 22 769 1 7 38.45
