12k Runs for Cook

[Vijy]

43 minutes ago, Shunya said:

Surely ATG for England. And can be considered as top 5 opener ever.

He is the only cricketer to have scored 10k plus runs as an opener.  

what about sunny G?

[Vijy]

8 hours ago, Gollum said:

The legend of Cook marches on. I predict he will have a great 2018, 1200+ runs wallah year waiting for him. 

far too optimistic, unless he makes merry against us.

[Gollum]

More than anything his bloody mindedness in Aus 2010-11 and India 2012 alone will place him in the legion of ATGs. 2nd greatest opener after Graeme Smith since Sunny's exit, ahead of Viru, Langer, Haydos.

[Gollum]

2 minutes ago, Vijy said:

far too optimistic, unless he makes merry against us.

He has 2 tests each against NZ/Pak, followed by our tour (5 tests) and a 3 test series in Lanka to get it. I am backing him to have a great series against us and a super series in Lanka, bare minimum. 

[Vijy]

Just now, Gollum said:

He has 2 tests each against NZ/Pak, followed by our tour (5 tests) and a 3 test series in Lanka to get it. I am backing him to have a great series against us and a super series in Lanka, bare minimum. 

it will be difficult against NZ IMO and easy against SL. Against Pak and Ind, can go either way I think.

[Vijy]

4 minutes ago, Gollum said:

More than anything his bloody mindedness in Aus 2010-11 and India 2012 alone will place him in the legion of ATGs. 2nd greatest opener after Graeme Smith since Sunny's exit, ahead of Viru, Langer, Haydos.

hayden in 2001 was better than cook in 2012. ashwin bowled very badly then, whereas dartbhajan was at peak in 2001. I'd put hayden, smith, cook in that order. in SC, sehwag trumps all.

 

it's interesting that cook would be No.6 in the list of Eng openers of all time in my book: Hobbs, Hutton, Sutcliffe, Boycott, Gooch and Cook. shows how much talent Eng had in the distant past.

[Gollum]

12 minutes ago, Vijy said:

hayden in 2001 was better than cook in 2012. ashwin bowled very badly then, whereas dartbhajan was at peak in 2001. I'd put hayden, smith, cook in that order. in SC, sehwag trumps all.

 

it's interesting that cook would be No.6 in the list of Eng openers of all time in my book: Hobbs, Hutton, Sutcliffe, Boycott, Gooch and Cook. shows how much talent Eng had in the distant past.

2001 pitches were on the flatter side plus no Kumble, Srinath. I would place that effort at par with Cook's purely because he led them from 0-1 down heading into turners, great character there. 

 

Agree with the bolded part. Who'd be your no 7, Edrich or Atherton?

Edited January 7, 2018 by Gollum

[Vijy]

1 minute ago, Gollum said:

2001 pitches were on the flatter side plus no Kumble, Srinath. I would place that effort at par with Cook's purely because he led them from 0-1 down heading into turners, great character there. 

 

Agree with the bolded part. Who'd be your no 7, Edrich or Atherton?

I agree - it is a toss-up for me, mostly because I've never seen such toothless bowling on homespun pitches. The previous Ind vs Eng, which actually had somewhat flat pitches, was a more accurate reflection of India's spin bowling.

 

My No.7 would be Atherton slightly ahead, at No. 8 I would have Edrich and Washbrook at 9. Tresco/Vaughan at 10 for me. This list excludes occasional openers such as Cowdrey (who played 22 tests and avg 46 there).

[Shunya]

38 minutes ago, Vijy said:

what about sunny G?

SunnG has 10K+ runs overall...but around 9600 as opener. IMO opening spot is one of the toughest spot to bat, even tougher when you play most of your cricket in England. 

[Vijy]

1 minute ago, Shunya said:

SunnG has 10K+ runs overall...but around 9600 as opener. IMO opening spot is one of the toughest spot to bat, even tougher when you play most of your cricket in England. 

yes, but it's pretty close to 10,000. It's definitely true that opening is the hardest position in Tests.

[Gollum]

8 minutes ago, Vijy said:

I agree - it is a toss-up for me, mostly because I've never seen such toothless bowling on homespun pitches. The previous Ind vs Eng, which actually had somewhat flat pitches, was a more accurate reflection of India's spin bowling.

 

My No.7 would be Atherton slightly ahead, at No. 8 I would have Edrich and Washbrook at 9. Tresco/Vaughan at 10 for me. This list excludes occasional openers such as Cowdrey (who played 22 tests and avg 46 there).

I believe the entire team was toothless at that point, moreover Cool put unnecessary pressure on the spinners by making public announcements about the type of pitches he wanted. Motera pitch was fine for us, yet he had a go at the curator after winning the match.

 

Similar to how Federer lost the plot in SW19 2008 and AO 2009 because of the mental scars of 2008 RG massacre, I think we allowed the English team to get into our heads. The 0-4 in Eng 2011 after the WC triumph and when our no 1 ranking was on the line (still remember the amazing hype in the lead up to that series) followed by the criticism we got affected our players a lot. Aus in 2013 were ****, hence couldn't take advantage of our weakness but Eng was strong enough (and wise enough after the UAE 0-3) to latch on to the opportunity of a rare series win here. Those mental scars affected us in 2014 as well, we never really believed we could compete with them, happens sometimes. Even in Rajkot they had us on the ropes, respect to Vijay, Che, Captain Cook and Kohli who helped us secure the draw, else we would have been 0-1 heading into Vizag.

[fineleg]

12 hours ago, Vk1 said:

Another Allan border like player. Scores tons of runs but your own county doesn't rank you great. Says something about he player.

WTH, Allan Border is an ATG, GOAT.

Will be in the "All era, All-time 16 squad" picked by most people (incl Aussies), and CAPTAINCY too well renowned.

Edited January 7, 2018 by fineleg

[velu]

cook is very likable player .. rare breed among the poms 

[Vijy]

37 minutes ago, velu said:

cook is very likable player .. rare breed among the poms 

he is far better than other seniors like thuggerson, barbie, ex prima-donnas such as KP, etc. has integrity.

[Laaloo]

The end is near 

[Bublu Bhuyan]

Poor Cook fans, I mean envious SRT haters 

[Bublu Bhuyan]

On 07/01/2018 at 10:47 AM, Rasgulla said:

47 average this series.. last time sachin toured aus he has average of 35 

Sachin last toured Aus at the age of 39, Cook is playing this series at the age of 33. Great comparison.

 

As regards averages and numbers against Aus, Cook averages 40 with 5 tons in 64 innings against them, while Sachin averages 55 with 11 tons in 74 innings. So that's 6 more tons in 10 more innings for Sachin, and an average of 15 runs higher.

[Number]

Turning out to be a disastrous year for him. Averaging less than 20.

Last year he at least had one double 100 in Aus.

[Laaloo]

Edited August 21, 2018 by Laaloo

[GolGappe]

The other piss poor English openers have kept the spotlight off Cook.

Even if he fails to score a half century against India, I doubt English selectors will have balls to drop him.