Sachin's career was sublime. But Cook's could surpass it ( Article by Peter Oborne)

[Stan AF]

47.07 now. The 1st innings 72 was good. Still expect him to do better in Melbourne and Sydney where they won both the tests last time.

Cook's test batting average has dropped by almost 2 points from 49.17 to 47.20 ever since the start of July's Ashes series. http://stats.espncricinfo.com/ci/engine/player/11728.html?class=1;spanmax1=30+Jun+2013;spanval1=span;template=results;type=batting;view=match

[Trichromatic]

That Sachin >Cook+Clarke graphic reminds me of the Kallis > Sachin + Zaheer graphic they had put up sometime back :P

No one added Sachin's wicket and Zaheer's runs. :P

[Old guy]

No one added Sachin's wicket and Zaheer's runs. :P

Welcome back.. :D

[Tendulkar_Bhai]

None of these guys will come even close, Cook has been outdone by a bit of pace in every innings he is not goin to keep up this form for the next 8 years.

[Trichromatic]

None of these guys will come even close' date=' Cook has been outdone by a bit of pace in every innings he is not goin to keep up this form for the next 8 years.[/quote'] He has his own technical weaknesses, but there haven't been many bowlers to exploit that. He would have been tested thouroughly if he was playing against Wasim, Waqar, Donald, Pollock, Warne-McGrath (he did play few matches), Ambrose-Walsh.

[coffee_rules]

None of these guys will come even close' date=' Cook has been outdone by a bit of pace in every innings he is not goin to keep up this form for the next 8 years.[/quote'] 4 tours with India (home and away) in 8 years will make up for that.

[The Outsider]

I don't get it - according to the theory of evolution propounded by many everything in sports increases in quality with time. Then how come Cook faced inferior bowling than Tendulkar?

[Old guy]

I don't get it - according to the theory of evolution propounded by many everything in sports increases in quality with time. Then how come Cook faced inferior bowling than Tendulkar?

Most teams have been in transition ..that's one explanation

[The Outsider]

Most teams have been in transition ..that's one explanation

How long is the transition going to last? 10 years?

[Old guy]

How long is the transition going to last? 10 years?

Nah ..cooks peak came during 4 or 5 year transition period Actually 3 year and its co incidence most teams were developing now most have some structure I am not making excuses just sharing what I think..

[Lord]

pitches have been flatter too

[Old guy]

pitches have been flatter too

Not really after 2010 most countries have produced result Orontes pitches They were flat in 2000 s

[Muloghonto]

I'd say Cook perhaps isnt odds on favourite to beat Tendulkar's record but his chances are not as bad as some think. Cook is 29. he debuted at the age of 21. In eight years, he's compiled 100 tests and 179 innings. If Cook lasts as long as some of the 'good/great career batsmen' have, ie, till 37-38, he has another 8-9 years to catch Tendy. He requires almost 8000 more runs, which means if Cook is at the halfway point of his career, he definitely has a chance to overhaul or be very close to Tendy's runs. In terms of centuries, he is also on pace to end up beating it or be very close to it. He will highly likely not end up going at nearly 60 average for the rest of his career, so he has no chance to end up with a higher average than Tendu. ( FYI, there are two players currently active who have a higher average than Tendu in the 10,000+ club: Kallis and Sangakkara. And these two are the only ones who have a odds-on shot to end up out-averaging Tendy in the 10K club). The important think about Cook, IMO, is how mentally tough he turns out to be. Don't get me wrong, England fans will tell you how amazingly composed & focussed Cook is on his batting and thats fine and dandy. But to do it for 15+ years also requires durability of the same qualities, which is not easy. If Cook lasts long- which is the key here, since opening is the hardest job in cricket and the easiest job to lose as a batsman ( just look at Sehwag, Gambhir, Trescothik, etc)- then he has a chance to end up as the man with the most test centuries and most test runs. But what he has going for him, is that he will score a lot more runs if his good forms in the future coincide with a heavy schedule, as he is an opening batsman, who will get a lot more innings to bat than a #4 does. ( Tendy batted in 1.64 innings/test, Cook bats in 1.79 innings.test). At this point, I'd say cook is a 65-35 underdog but he is the only one to have a shot at it, really.

[Stan AF]

46.97!!!!

47.07 now. The 1st innings 72 was good. Still expect him to do better in Melbourne and Sydney where they won both the tests last time.

[vvvslaxman]

KP,s jinx is too powerful lol

[Pagalpanti]

46.97!!!!

45's now.. He's having a Gambhir like down-fall. Remember Gambhir averaging 50's and 1 season 'away', lingering around 45s...

[Vilander]

Amazing what a coincidence. Cook and Clarke faced the latest generation of bowlers so their task must have been harder and if they manage to do 90% of sachin they should be on par since sachin only faced older generation bowlers.

[Vilander]

I don't get it - according to the theory of evolution propounded by many everything in sports increases in quality with time. Then how come Cook faced inferior bowling than Tendulkar?

Thats some thing i am also perpetually perplexed about...if i had played some first class cricket in 1990's even i would be called better than current indian test bowlers...its styllish and romantic to call the past better..i guess thats the explanation. Reality is probably the exact opposite.

[panther]

India series coming up a few 100s for cook coming up.

[Sachinism]

I don't get it - according to the theory of evolution propounded by many everything in sports increases in quality with time. Then how come Cook faced inferior bowling than Tendulkar?

The same way Tendulkar faced inferior bowling compared to Sobers, Richards, Gavaskar, et. al