Who were the most elegant or stylish batsmen who averaged under 50 in Test matches?

[Harsh Thakor]

In this list I am ranking in order of merit the most stylish or artistic batsmen who averaged under 50 in test cricket.


1.David Gower
2.Zaheer Abbas/Mohammad Azharrudin
4.Frank Worrell
5.Ranjitsinghji
6.Mushtaq Ali
7.Majid Khan
8.Lawrence Rowe
9.Martin Crowe
10.Gundappa Vishwanath
11.Mark Waugh
12.Ted Dexter
13.Colin Cowdrey
14.Rohan Kanhai
15.Alvin Kalicharan
16 .Mahela Jayewardene
17.Roy Dias
18.Aravinda de'Silva
19.Vijay Manjrekar
20.Dilip Vengsarkar

To me Gower,Azharuddin ,Frank Worrell ,Ranjitsinghji and Zaheer Abbas defined the poetry of cricket at it's highest depth resembling musical composers when batting.Their strokes were reminiscent of the touches of a painter's brush and posessed the grace of the divine.The best of deliveries would be caressed to the boundary with feather touches treating the cricket ball like a child.Very close in their footseps were the likes of Kanhai,Majid,Vishwanath,Crowe,Dexter,Mushtaq Ali etc who on their day also took cricketing art to depths of divinity .
There were better batsmen technically and statistically but none took cricketing grace to such an epitome.

 

[sshakir411]

Pretty good list..this would be my top 3 out of your 20:

1) M Waugh
2) Aravinda
3) Vengsarkar

Mark Waugh was probably the best timer of the ball that I have ever seen. I remember he flicked Akhtar behind square leg at 150+kph and it was the fastest I've seen a ball travel to the boundary. I've been in awe of Mark ever since.

 

[IgnitedMind]

To me Gower,Azharuddin ,Frank Worrell ,Ranjitsinghji and Zaheer Abbas defined the poetry of cricket at it's highest depth resembling musical composers when batting.Their strokes were reminiscent of the touches of a painter's brush and posessed the grace of the divine.The best of deliveries would be caressed to the boundary with feather touches treating the cricket ball like a child.Very close in their footseps were the likes of Kanhai,Majid,Vishwanath,Crowe,Dexter,Mushtaq Ali etc who on their day also took cricketing art to depths of divinity .
There were better batsmen technically and statistically but none took cricketing grace to such an epitome.

You mean This

<iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/loiE0IuWCHo" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Overhyping of past players to sound knowledgable...where is poetry in that "technique"

 

[Hitman]

You mean This

<iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/loiE0IuWCHo" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Overhyping of past players to sound knowledgable...where is poetry in that "technique"

True definition of elegance )

 

[MMHS]

You mean This

<iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/loiE0IuWCHo" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Overhyping of past players to sound knowledgable...where is poetry in that "technique"

Different era, therefore this comparison isn't fair. Still, what I can say that 120 years later, many modern greats will be proud to have that back lift & bat swing.

KS Ranji was averaging close to 58 in FC cricket, when his contemporary greats failed to manage 40 & he did that for 26K FC runs - must be something phenomenal those days. He is credited for inventing/mastering most of the leg side shots, notably leg glance, conventional sweep, wristy whips & straight on drive.

One of the true legends of the game, who had to manage cricket with his royal office, his university, his business & his ill health.

 

[Buffet]

You mean This

<iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/loiE0IuWCHo" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Overhyping of past players to sound knowledgable...where is poetry in that "technique"

Thanks for the clip.

 

[MMHS]

The list is quite good. But I feel Kanhai & Mark are too low, while Sir Gary & Sanga should be in it. Not sure if Cowdrey was more elegant than Grevany or Harvey in his time - and you missed Trumper & Compton!!!!!!

 

[MMHS]

The list is quite good. But I feel Kanhai & Mark are too low, while Sir Gary & Sanga should be in it. Not sure if Cowdrey was more elegant than Grevany or Harvey in his time - and you missed Trumper & Compton!!!!!!

My mistake, Sir Gary, Sanga & Compton averaged over 50. So many lists these days that I ...

Good list, probably now I'll add Tamim as well, since there is a cut off of 50 average.

 

[Tusker]

You mean This

Overhyping of past players to sound knowledgable...where is poetry in that "technique"

Thanks a million for sharing that video .... not sure how it did not came up on my recommended list as Iam a big fan of rare cricket videos.

But yeah you dropped a frigin sledgehammer on a nail when you say "Overhyping past players to sound knowledgable ". Its one of my pet peeves and gets me going when people try to show off by bringing up obscure cricketers and talking as though they played gully cricket with them . The OP is a major repeat offender on that count. But Iam betting a Tenner that he will never show up here or respond to your post.


[MENTION=132916]Junaids[/MENTION] [MENTION=7774]Robert[/MENTION] [MENTION=136302]Haz95[/MENTION]
Yet another bleedingly obvious piece of evidence that highlights the hazards of blindly trusting cricket experts. To see what I mean please read KS Ranjitsinghji's player profile on Cricinfo which sounds pretty fictional when you watch that clip.

 

[TQ89]

The OP has good cricketing viewing experience and has been watching cricket since 70's. But he is the most prime example of those rose-tinted glassed fans who has too much sympathy for oldies of whom we can only read wisden accounts where they are hyped like the gods in greek mythology story.

The above link posted by another poster confirms what i have been saying about the oldies. If ranji was elegant, think how poor were the other batsmen. I read his profile longtime ago and read it again today. Even sachin or viv richards profile doesn't contain that many appreciating adjectives. Never believe wisden's old accounts

 

[Tusker]

The OP has good cricketing viewing experience and has been watching cricket since 70's. But he is the most prime example of those rose-tinted glassed fans who has too much sympathy for oldies of whom we can only read wisden accounts where they are hyped like the gods in greek mythology story.

The above link posted by another poster confirms what i have been saying about the oldies. If ranji was elegant, think how poor were the other batsmen. I read his profile longtime ago and read it again today. Even sachin or viv richards profile doesn't contain that many appreciating adjectives. Never believe wisden's old accounts

Exactly !! Masters when it comes to putting a positive spin on daylight Murder.

 

[gani999]

In this list I am ranking in order of merit the most stylish or artistic batsmen who averaged under 50 in test cricket.


1.David Gower
2.Zaheer Abbas/Mohammad Azharrudin
4.Frank Worrell
5.Ranjitsinghji
6.Mushtaq Ali
7.Majid Khan
8.Lawrence Rowe
9.Martin Crowe
10.Gundappa Vishwanath
11.Mark Waugh
12.Ted Dexter
13.Colin Cowdrey
14.Rohan Kanhai
15.Alvin Kalicharan
16 .Mahela Jayewardene
17.Roy Dias
18.Aravinda de'Silva
19.Vijay Manjrekar
20.Dilip Vengsarkar

.

Maybe a tad too early, but I think Alastair Cook may well be on his way to your list.

 

[Boi]

Umar Amin.

 

[ExpressPacer]

Maybe a tad too early, but I think Alastair Cook may well be on his way to your list.

He may end up averaging over 50 by the end of his career.

 

[On_the_up]

Umar Amin.

He would be top of the list of most stylish test batsman with average under 15.

 

[Zaz]

No saeed anwar?

 

[fawad_wellwisher]

Carl Hooper was a pretty stylish batsman. Shame he did not average higher.

 

[OneTip-OneHand]

No VVS? The guy had some flaws but he was one the most stylish and elgant players of modern era. Definitely desrves a mention imo.

 

[Daniyal 13]

No Saeed Anwar?

 

[Harsh Thakor]

No VVS? The guy had some flaws but he was one the most stylish and elgant players of modern era. Definitely desrves a mention imo.

My error thanks for mention. I forgot .Place him around 15th.still not as stylish as the Top 6 I selected,VVS no doubt was elegance personified.

 

[Harsh Thakor]

No Saeed Anwar?

Was he elegant?great player no doubt .you may be right .as elegant as Zaheer ,Majid and Azhar?

 

[A.A.Z]

Was he elegant?great player no doubt .you may be right .as elegant as Zaheer ,Majid and Azhar?

Definitely Saeed Anwar, exceptionally aesthetic.

 

[On_the_up]

Moeen Ali is as elegant as they come from the current batch.

 

[Billy1999]

Bavuma is quite elegant

 

[IAJ]

True definition of elegance )

Wow, is this a real video? Lovely.

 

[jaf348]

Some honourable mentions

Hashim Amla
Inzamam ul Haq
Marcus Trescothick
Michael Vaughan
Ian Bell
Damien Martyn
Shaun Marsh
Sourav Ganguly
Stephen Fleming

 

[Tusker]

BUMP for [MENTION=131701]Mamoon[/MENTION]

You mean This

<iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/loiE0IuWCHo" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Overhyping of past players to sound knowledgable...where is poetry in that "technique"

 

[Ab Fan]

KP- Very stylish and as someone said VVS.

 

[Mamoon]

BUMP for [MENTION=131701]Mamoon[/MENTION]

)

Thanks for sharing this. Unbelievable.

But hey, he is a better batsman than Kohli and Root because he is batting with a stick bat on uncovered pitches. The fact that he averaged 56 in F/C Cricket with 70 tons sums up the standard of the game at that time. Any half-decent gully batsman of today would have been known as an ATG if he would have played in that era.

This is really comical. He would struggle to average 5 today.

 

[Hasan123]

Will name a few in no particular order

Bell
Gower
Mahela
M. Waugh
Martyn
Vaughan
S. Anwar

 

[Anik Sharma]

Damien Martyn
<iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/qZBLa7e5_4Y" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Ashraful
<iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/MpFsiPQkLOI" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe

 

[Hamza_]

Some beautiful shots up there by Martyn.

 

[Tusker]

)

Thanks for sharing this. Unbelievable.

But hey, he is a better batsman than Kohli and Root because he is batting with a stick bat on uncovered pitches. The fact that he averaged 56 in F/C Cricket with 70 tons sums up the standard of the game at that time. Any half-decent gully batsman of today would have been known as an ATG if he would have played in that era.

This is really comical. He would struggle to average 5 today.

Exactly! And Hence why I do not take anything that Harsh Thakor says seriously. Like [MENTION=77677]IgnitedMind[/MENTION] said it perfectly it is an attempt to sound intelligent by overhyping past players because most of it will not be challenged by anybody.

 

[FreePalestine]

Definitely Saeed Anwar, exceptionally aesthetic.

Definitely my favourite batsman growing up.

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ZZeetCziNiU" frameborder="0" gesture="media" allowfullscreen></iframe>

 

[Harsh Thakor]

Exactly! And Hence why I do not take anything that Harsh Thakor says seriously. Like [MENTION=77677]IgnitedMind[/MENTION] said it perfectly it is an attempt to sound intelligent by overhyping past players because most of it will not be challenged by anybody.

Past players rank amongst the greatest and could be ranked equal if not better than those of lat 2 decades.It is not I who is saying this,but the most knowledgeabe cricket experts and writers.Do refer to the modern cricket historian or writers.

 

[Mirpur express]

lol @ some players on that list *

 

[Harsh Thakor]

)

Thanks for sharing this. Unbelievable.

But hey, he is a better batsman than Kohli and Root because he is batting with a stick bat on uncovered pitches. The fact that he averaged 56 in F/C Cricket with 70 tons sums up the standard of the game at that time. Any half-decent gully batsman of today would have been known as an ATG if he would have played in that era.

This is really comical. He would struggle to average 5 today.

What do you feel about my list,sir.Not clear.

 

[Harsh Thakor]

)

Thanks for sharing this. Unbelievable.

But hey, he is a better batsman than Kohli and Root because he is batting with a stick bat on uncovered pitches. The fact that he averaged 56 in F/C Cricket with 70 tons sums up the standard of the game at that time. Any half-decent gully batsman of today would have been known as an ATG if he would have played in that era.

This is really comical. He would struggle to average 5 today.

appreciate list overall?

 

[kingusama92]

Damien Martyn.

I mean, look at this (even if it's ODIs).

[utube]gY-r1HSqx3M[/utube]

 

[Tusker]

Past players rank amongst the greatest and could be ranked equal if not better than those of lat 2 decades.It is not I who is saying this,but the most knowledgeabe cricket experts and writers.Do refer to the modern cricket historian or writers.

Tell me why I need to believe anyone when the footage of Ranji is showing him to be worse than a tailender ?

 

[Savak]

Daryl Cullinan, Herschuelle Gibbs

 

[Mamoon]

appreciate list overall?

I won't bring pre-war players into any serious cricketing discussion. The standard of cricket was too low for them to be compared to modern players.

I think your overall list is good, but I would add the likes of Damien Martyn, Carl Hooper, Rohit Sharma and Ian Bell.

 

[big_gamer007]

You mean This

<iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/loiE0IuWCHo" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Overhyping of past players to sound knowledgable...where is poetry in that "technique"

Damn that was savage!!!