Harsh Thakor
First Class Star
- Joined
- Oct 1, 2012
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In this list I am ranking in tentative order of merit the best batsmen against genuine pace in the decade of the 1980's.It does not ***** overall merit.
1.Graham Gooch
2.Mohinder Amarnath
3.Viv Richards
4.Martin Crowe
5.Alan Border/David Gower
7.Dilip Vengsarkar
8.Sunil Gavaskar
9.Alan Lamb
10.Javed Miandad
11.Mohsin Khan
12.Gordon Greenidge
Graham Gooch had a phenomenal record in the West Indies in 1981 averaging over 57 with 2 centuries and averaged over 45 in home series versus the Calypsos in 1988 .Arguably no opening batsmen combated the fiery Carribean pace attack with the venom with which Gooch did..His 153 at Kingston in 1981 revealed combat against great pace bowling at it's highest zenith.
In 1982-83 in Pakistan and in 1983 in West Indies Mohinder Amarnath tackled pace bolwing arguably beter than any batsmen ever.He aggregated 584 runs at an average of 73.6 in Pakistan facing Imran while in 1983 in West Indies he aggregated 598 runs at an average of 66.8.He blended the courage of a soldier with the technical organization of an architect hooking and driving the great paceman with consistency of skill never witnessed against the best pace attack ever.Sadly he lost his form in the home series in 1983-84 in India v West Indies.Mohinder resembled a boulder unflinchingly resisting the fiercest of thunderstorms taking technicalo skil agisnt express pace to it's highest
crescendo.
Viv massacred the likes of Willis.Imran and Lille etc but never had to face his own great quickies.He also dominated relatively mediocre English and Australian pace attacks in the 1980's with the retirement of Lillee in 1984 and Willis by 84.I feel Viv did not posess the reflexes of the 1970's after 1981.
Martin Crowe was revelation on a series of tours in Australia and when scoring 188 at Kingston in 1985 against the great quickies.Few batsmen ever played great pace with such remorseless ease and fluency .
I have ranked Alan Border and David Gower together who in many ways were an anti-thesis of each other.Border was an epitome of grit and defiance while Gower was elegance and grace personified.Border amassed runs at an average of over 74 in the Carribean in 1984 and averaged over 67 against West Indies at home in 1981-82.His unbeaten 98 and unbeaten 10 in the 2nd test at Trinidad was arguably test cricket's best innings to ressurect a team from the grave against a genuine pace attack.Border in Malcolm Marshal's view was the ultimate batsmen to bat for your life.Gower treated great pace with the ease of putting a child to sleep and would send the quickest of deliveries to the fence with the touches of a painter's brush.Gower was prolific against top paceman like Geoff Lawson and Jeff Thomson in 1982-83 in Australia averaging over 44 and also in 1985 in a home Ashes series took Craig Mcdermott and Geoff Lawson to the sword aggregating 732 runs.Few batsmen have played genuinely fast men on bouncy Australian tracks with the ease of Gower.Gower also scored an unbeaten 154 against the Fiery Calypso pace attack at Kingston in 1981.
Dilip Vengsarkar for some time was arguably the best batsmen in the world from 1986-88. No batsmen scored as many centuries in the decade against the great Calypso pace attack or had such a high batting average against them.Vengsarkar averaged over 53 in 1983-84 including a 159 at Delhi and 102 at Mumbai and averaged 100 in 1987-88 including centuries in Delhi and Kolkata and a match saving heroic 50 in Mumbai which saved India from the brink of defeat.Few batsmen posessed the flourish of his drives and he was master of the flicked on drive.Rated lower down because all his centuries v West Indies were at home.
Sunil Gavaskar was giant of a batsmen but to me was overall inconsistent against the great Carribean pace quartet in 1983-84.No doubt he had scores of 147 n.o.,129,90 and 236 n.o but scored 50 or more only on 4 occasion sin 20 innings averaging around 43.Also scored centuries v Imran Kahn at Madras in 1980 and Faisalabad in 1983.
Alan Lamb registered 3 centuries in the 1984 home series v the greatest West Indian team or arguably best ever test team and pace attack ever.He exhibited phenomenal skill driving and pulling deliveries all around the wicket or cutting them piercing the most impregnable gaps.I have seen few batsmen posess as much natural skill against genuine pace as Lamb who on his day could deal with express pace like a baker slicing a cake and the organization of a propelled machine.
Javed Miandad by 1987 was the best batsmen in the world and was successful on the 1988 tour of West Indies averaging over 7 with 2 centuries.He was also consistent on the bouncy Australian tracks averaging over 38 with centuries at Perth and Adelaide.Still although he exhibited great skill his record was not as outsanding aginst great pace as greats like Border,Gower,Sunny and Crowe.Arguably he did not do justice to his real potential .Scored the bulk of his run sin Pakistan and was not as successful away,especially in Australia or West Indies.
Mohsin Khan was a revelation in Australia in 1983-84 scoring 149 at Adelaide and 152 at Melbourne against the fastest of men.On his day very few batsmen posesed as meticuluos skill against genuine pace as Mohsin.Considering strength of attack and fact he was opening the batting it may rank as the best performace by a pakistan batsmen in a test series in Australia.To me his 70 v West Indise at the Oval in 1983 world cup semi-final was one of ODI cricket's best innings on fast wicket or against lightning pace .
Gordon Greenidge was the best batsmen of the 1980's with Viv Richards and Miandad and in 1984-87 was arguably the bets.However he was not at his best in Australia o had to face his own quickies.
1.Graham Gooch
2.Mohinder Amarnath
3.Viv Richards
4.Martin Crowe
5.Alan Border/David Gower
7.Dilip Vengsarkar
8.Sunil Gavaskar
9.Alan Lamb
10.Javed Miandad
11.Mohsin Khan
12.Gordon Greenidge
Graham Gooch had a phenomenal record in the West Indies in 1981 averaging over 57 with 2 centuries and averaged over 45 in home series versus the Calypsos in 1988 .Arguably no opening batsmen combated the fiery Carribean pace attack with the venom with which Gooch did..His 153 at Kingston in 1981 revealed combat against great pace bowling at it's highest zenith.
In 1982-83 in Pakistan and in 1983 in West Indies Mohinder Amarnath tackled pace bolwing arguably beter than any batsmen ever.He aggregated 584 runs at an average of 73.6 in Pakistan facing Imran while in 1983 in West Indies he aggregated 598 runs at an average of 66.8.He blended the courage of a soldier with the technical organization of an architect hooking and driving the great paceman with consistency of skill never witnessed against the best pace attack ever.Sadly he lost his form in the home series in 1983-84 in India v West Indies.Mohinder resembled a boulder unflinchingly resisting the fiercest of thunderstorms taking technicalo skil agisnt express pace to it's highest
crescendo.
Viv massacred the likes of Willis.Imran and Lille etc but never had to face his own great quickies.He also dominated relatively mediocre English and Australian pace attacks in the 1980's with the retirement of Lillee in 1984 and Willis by 84.I feel Viv did not posess the reflexes of the 1970's after 1981.
Martin Crowe was revelation on a series of tours in Australia and when scoring 188 at Kingston in 1985 against the great quickies.Few batsmen ever played great pace with such remorseless ease and fluency .
I have ranked Alan Border and David Gower together who in many ways were an anti-thesis of each other.Border was an epitome of grit and defiance while Gower was elegance and grace personified.Border amassed runs at an average of over 74 in the Carribean in 1984 and averaged over 67 against West Indies at home in 1981-82.His unbeaten 98 and unbeaten 10 in the 2nd test at Trinidad was arguably test cricket's best innings to ressurect a team from the grave against a genuine pace attack.Border in Malcolm Marshal's view was the ultimate batsmen to bat for your life.Gower treated great pace with the ease of putting a child to sleep and would send the quickest of deliveries to the fence with the touches of a painter's brush.Gower was prolific against top paceman like Geoff Lawson and Jeff Thomson in 1982-83 in Australia averaging over 44 and also in 1985 in a home Ashes series took Craig Mcdermott and Geoff Lawson to the sword aggregating 732 runs.Few batsmen have played genuinely fast men on bouncy Australian tracks with the ease of Gower.Gower also scored an unbeaten 154 against the Fiery Calypso pace attack at Kingston in 1981.
Dilip Vengsarkar for some time was arguably the best batsmen in the world from 1986-88. No batsmen scored as many centuries in the decade against the great Calypso pace attack or had such a high batting average against them.Vengsarkar averaged over 53 in 1983-84 including a 159 at Delhi and 102 at Mumbai and averaged 100 in 1987-88 including centuries in Delhi and Kolkata and a match saving heroic 50 in Mumbai which saved India from the brink of defeat.Few batsmen posessed the flourish of his drives and he was master of the flicked on drive.Rated lower down because all his centuries v West Indies were at home.
Sunil Gavaskar was giant of a batsmen but to me was overall inconsistent against the great Carribean pace quartet in 1983-84.No doubt he had scores of 147 n.o.,129,90 and 236 n.o but scored 50 or more only on 4 occasion sin 20 innings averaging around 43.Also scored centuries v Imran Kahn at Madras in 1980 and Faisalabad in 1983.
Alan Lamb registered 3 centuries in the 1984 home series v the greatest West Indian team or arguably best ever test team and pace attack ever.He exhibited phenomenal skill driving and pulling deliveries all around the wicket or cutting them piercing the most impregnable gaps.I have seen few batsmen posess as much natural skill against genuine pace as Lamb who on his day could deal with express pace like a baker slicing a cake and the organization of a propelled machine.
Javed Miandad by 1987 was the best batsmen in the world and was successful on the 1988 tour of West Indies averaging over 7 with 2 centuries.He was also consistent on the bouncy Australian tracks averaging over 38 with centuries at Perth and Adelaide.Still although he exhibited great skill his record was not as outsanding aginst great pace as greats like Border,Gower,Sunny and Crowe.Arguably he did not do justice to his real potential .Scored the bulk of his run sin Pakistan and was not as successful away,especially in Australia or West Indies.
Mohsin Khan was a revelation in Australia in 1983-84 scoring 149 at Adelaide and 152 at Melbourne against the fastest of men.On his day very few batsmen posesed as meticuluos skill against genuine pace as Mohsin.Considering strength of attack and fact he was opening the batting it may rank as the best performace by a pakistan batsmen in a test series in Australia.To me his 70 v West Indise at the Oval in 1983 world cup semi-final was one of ODI cricket's best innings on fast wicket or against lightning pace .
Gordon Greenidge was the best batsmen of the 1980's with Viv Richards and Miandad and in 1984-87 was arguably the bets.However he was not at his best in Australia o had to face his own quickies.
