Michael Bevan

[JLC]

Ive been saying this for ages but i think he is dead set boring to watch. Most people on here disagree but its interesting to see a little bit of support is building.

What are other peoples thoughts ??

[piedys]

Bevo's a gun ODI player and has saved Australia's ass more times than i can remember any other player doing it.
So he pushes the ball around more than he plays shots for boundaries. He is the quiet assassin. He's not flash granted, but mate is he effective.

Dyso

[Donny]

Seeing you ask, JLC.

Let me put it this way. Would you rather a team goes out there, on a tricky wicket as it was the other night, all play shots and end up giving the opposition 170 to chase ??

I'll go so far as to add: If India had a 'Bevan' to stay there with Agarkar, they could well have won.

Oh, by the way, did you notice sacred Sach took 42 balls to make 6 ??

[JLC]

Bevan is the first night watchman to play one day cricket. That would be Bevans perfect role in test cricket a night watchman.....lol

What was Sachins strike rate at the end of his innings ??

Bevan

[Donny]

68. Pretty low, eh ?

And remember, he was batting with only two outfielders. Bevan always bats with 5 boundary riders.

[JLC]

I just think Bevan is selfish and bats for the red ink. Its not like Australia were 9 down they still had Harvey and Bichel yet Bevan showed no urgency.

jlc

[commonwombat]

Well JLC, I'm with you on this.

He DOES at the very least create a strong perception of batting for himself. Then again it may also be due to the massive technical holes in his game which by necessity make knocking the ball around the basis of his game and boundary striking less possible.

These weaknesses. Firstly his complete incapacity against the short ball which ended his Test career but is much less of a factor in limited overs. Still could see little wrong with letting a few rip at him early, even at risk of a no ball or two. Far more important however is his v limited footwork which generally sees his feet a long way from the ball impacting on his timing and he is frequently off balance.

Yes he is certainly quick between wickets but judgement of a run can be another matter. Still may not hang him on that as runouts and blame can be v subjective.

With increasing age his LOI future may be finite. Others may challange for selection and he really is NOT a candidate for a top order spot. He is not really a bowling factor nowadays. It is in the field where he can really be exploited. He can certainly still cover the ground quickly but he has absolutely NO power in his throw and could be tagged regularly by alert opponents for the extra run, esp if they persist with him as a boundary rider.

Yes Dyso, I'm sticking it to a NSW player, not just yr beloved Victorians.

[labrooy]

At the end of an innings Bevan is fantastic at finding the holes in the field and scoring quickly. One has to ask why it is that during the middle stages of an innings he just pushes the ball to the infield with no intention of looking for a run. Surely a batsman with his ability could find the gaps a few more times.

I find him to be the most frustrating batsman in the team. You know he can score quickly. The other night during a two over stint he received two full tosses, one long hop and a wide half volley all from spinners. Any batsman at that level would have put all of them toward the boundary somewhere and scored probably three fours. Bevan however missed the half volley, bottom edged the long hop, hit one of the full tosses straight to an infielder and the other to a fielder on the boundary. Net result from those four gift balls - 1 run!

[JLC]

Bevan is good at grinding out a pain stakingly boring innings when chasing a LOW total.

Bevan should really thank his bowlers as chasing any half decent total he would be pretty much useless.

I would like to clarify my comments by saying this applies to the latter part of his career. At the beginning of his career he was very exciting particularly when he played for S.A

jlc

[hoggy]

[JLC]

Then again not many South Australians do get picked hence they move state....lol

He even used to play the pull and hook shots when playing for South Australia.

It would be interesting to see his strike rate in the last year or two.

jlc

[Donny]

Strike rates, JLC ?

What do these batsmen have in common ? Dean Jones, Michael Vaughan, VVS Laxman, Richie Richardson, Romesh Kaluwitharana, Matt Hayden, Ricky Ponting, Saurav Ganguly, Mark Waugh, Chris Gayle and Brian Lara.

I think most would agree they are all strokeplayers, stylists, boundary hitters and good to watch and yet they all strike within 4 of Bevan. Four of them, including Deano and Vaughan, have lower strike rates.

Even Tendulkar, Gibbs and Trescothick - who bat at the top when there's only 2 outfielders - strike under 87. Big hitters like Shaun Pollock (83), Andy Flintoff (89) and Lance Klusener (91) who all bat in positions where run-a-ball is the minimum requirement, have lower strike rates than Gilly (92)

Ganguly, considered to be an attacking batsman and one of the best six hitters in ODIs, has the same s/r as Bevo.

[JLC]

However Donny what is Bevans strike rate in the last two years ?? This is the period in which Bevan has developed into a boring batsman. When he first started he was one of the most exciting batsman going around.

jlc

[Donny]

Wombat, Wombat When you come out of your burrow you do tend to exaggerate, don't you.

You say Bevan has "massive technical holes". What !? I could debate you on that one but either way, who cares, if he gets the job done ?? Correct me if I'm wrong but isn't it still the idea to try to win the game ?

Hoggy's list of Man of the Match awards does tell a story. He wins matches for his team. His role in the 'winningest' team in world cricket is to do EXACTLY as he does.

After Hayden, Gilly and Ponting we see Martyn and Bevan. Then comes Symonds, Clarke, Harvey/Bichel/Hogg. It's ideal.

Martyn can bat run-a-ball if needed but he and/or Bevo are asked to play the way they do if we lose early wickets or if an anchor is needed to compliment/support one of the top order or lower order hitters.

Just saw your last post, JLC. I say the same to you. Who bloody cares what his strike rates is ? He's still winning games for his team.

[JLC]

My point is that he is extremely boring and has developed into a selfish batsman. One day cricket was meant to be exciting and in the most part the Aussies are fantastic to watch with Gilchrist and Hayden etc. Bevan is the exception.

BTW its obvious Bevan doesnt care about his strike rate either....lol

His technical flaws are quality fast bolwers as evidenced when he played test cricket. However this was partly his own fault as he went all defensive instead of playing aggressive cricket as he did with SA.

I would have said last game in the final that Clarkes was a much more important innings than Bevans and in the World Cup it was Bichel who delivered the goods with Bevan assisting.

jlc