Angelo Matthews

[CoverDrive]

Along with Chandimal' date= Mathews will become the backbone of SL's next decade in cricket. Excellent temperament shown by both so far. I am surprised to see SL take this long to make Mathews captain, he will make an excellent on I think.

Year back SL looked to be in trouble with heavy reliance on the big 3. but these two have emerged as very talented people in the middle order

[cameron_black]

And for sure he wouldnt walk into the Indian side to bat at number 7 :)

sure, india have a much better all rounder at number 7 in ravindra jadeja.

[Crookbond]

Year back SL looked to be in trouble with heavy reliance on the big 3. but these two have emerged as very talented people in the middle order

Same problem as India - not good for Test matches as yet, these two.

[Sehwag1830]

sure' date=' india have a much better all rounder at number 7 in ravindra jadeja.[/quote'] Jadeja is there because Yuvraj is injured.

[adi B]

Lol what ? He was MoM in WC final , which Bevan can't boast of . Neither was Bevan as destructive as Dhoni in first half of the innings. Dhoni has a clear edge over Bevan.

bevan played in an era whre there were no powerpays, the wuality of bowling was extraordinary during those times, with reverse swing playing a big part..he scored most of his runs on difficult tracks, not like dhoni who has mostly scored on pattas..not discrediting dhoni, but bevan anyday far ahead of him nd yeah bevan many times used to come up in the order on difficult conditions

[Old guy]

bevan played in an era whre there were no powerpays' date=' the wuality of bowling was extraordinary during those times, with reverse swing playing a big part..he scored most of his runs on difficult tracks, not like dhoni who has mostly scored on pattas..not discrediting dhoni, but bevan anyday far ahead of him nd yeah bevan many times used to come up in the order on difficult conditions[/quote'] not really... dhoni i think has played well in every country in odis yes over all tracks are bit flatter and bcos of that his strike rate is much much better in tests yes he is crap in odis he is one of the best of game right now and would probably end up as gr8st ever finisher...

[cameron_black]

Jadeja is there because Yuvraj is injured.

cancer isn't exactly an injury.

[ravishingravi]

:hysterical::hysterical::hysterical::hysterical::hysterical::hysterical: kahan kahan se yeh namune aate hain yaar

yaar tujhe to pata hona chahiye. Tere saath hi to tha main.

[CG]

In successful run chases Dhoni 63 matches 1997 runs 105.10 average 90.32 strike rate 2 centuries 14 fifties Bevan 75 matches 1725 runs 86.25 average 66.42 strike rate 3 centuries 13 fifties

You are forgetting the bowlers bevan faced 1994 -2003 were off far higher quality than dhoni and zimbabwe westindies were not as weak as they are now also the pitches were not as flat.so all in all its very close.Dhoni tendency to leave it to last ball has also cost us few matches .

[Clarke]

Lets see his performances @ test cricket against Ajmal & Co.

[Ultimate_Game]

You are forgetting the bowlers bevan faced 1994 -2003 were off far higher quality than dhoni and zimbabwe westindies were not as weak as they are now also the pitches were not as flat.so all in all its very close.Dhoni tendency to leave it to last ball has also cost us few matches .

Can you pls give us examples of the matches Dhoni has "cost" us? The only match I can think of is the tie against SL in the recent CB Series and it wasn't a loss. Dhoni invariably wins us the match if he's still around at the end.

[Precambrian]

In successful run chases Dhoni 63 matches 1997 runs 105.10 average 90.32 strike rate 2 centuries 14 fifties Bevan 75 matches 1725 runs 86.25 average 66.42 strike rate 3 centuries 13 fifties

Endofdiscussion.

[thongale]

Lets see his performances @ test cricket against Ajmal & Co.

Will definietly suck against Ajmal. But unlike in ODI game, he can keep blocking them. He's a very good judger of length although cannot read the way it is spinning. Mathews's place in test cricket, is upper middle order. With SL perspective, he's better to be the opener, because he's one of those players who like pace on the ball. I would have played following XI for the 1st test. Mathews, Dilshan, Sangakkara, M. Jayawardane, Samaraweera, Chandimal, P. Jayawardane, Suraj Randiv, Rangana Herath, Shaminda Eranga, Suranga Lakmal

[ganeshran]

Ajmal has made Mathooz his bunny

Saeed Ajmal to Mathews, OUT, Ajmal is having the Sri Lanka middle order for an early lunch, now he has two in two, and a five-for, has Angelo reaching out to loosely push a very full and flighted ball around off, and accepts the dolly of a return catch, it straightened after pitching, Angelo ended up pushing outside the line, was he expecting it to carry across with the angle

[Square Drive]

Mathews is a poor batsman against quality spin. Also he plays very defensively in tests specially in slow pitches. I think Chandimal is the better option for the no. 6 position in tests. When you consider the composition of the current SL batting line up, Chandimal can play a similar role that Dilshan played when he was batting at 6. Sanga, Mahela, Thilan and Mathews, all are very similar batsmen at the moment. Mathews should come in to the test team after Thilan retires, or maybe when we we play in seaming conditions.

[Clarke]

Will definietly suck against Ajmal. But unlike in ODI game, he can keep blocking them. He's a very good judger of length although cannot read the way it is spinning. Mathews's place in test cricket, is upper middle order. With SL perspective, he's better to be the opener, because he's one of those players who like pace on the ball. I would have played following XI for the 1st test. Mathews, Dilshan, Sangakkara, M. Jayawardane, Samaraweera, Chandimal, P. Jayawardane, Suraj Randiv, Rangana Herath, Shaminda Eranga, Suranga Lakmal

If what you're saying is true, there's no point playing him as an all rounder especially with wickets like Galle & the current opposition. Its better to have a proper opener since he'll be facing Ajmal & Co. in the first session. Then there's bowling of his which is unlikely to make any major contributions on such wickets. Of course, a greener top would completely change the equation.

[thongale]

If what you're saying is true, there's no point playing him as an all rounder especially with wickets like Galle & the current opposition. Its better to have a proper opener since he'll be facing Ajmal & Co. in the first session. Then there's bowling of his which is unlikely to make any major contributions on such wickets. Of course, a greener top would completely change the equation.

Coming and facing the first ball from Ajmal and facing his 50th off Ajmal are two different beasts. Mathews is a very good batsman, and when set he could play any bowler in the world. What SL needs is a set Mathews against spin. He will defend them well, and if becomes confident enough might hammer some as well.