Goodbye Polly!

Originally posted by mtthw
Slightly better average, slightly worse economy. Be fair.

Don't bother. boreman is so consumed with disagreeing with me, the stats mean nothing to him.

Originally posted by boarman
BUT you have got to start accepting that SA do not have the best cricket and rugby players.

Uhm, I know SA doesn't have 'the best players', BUT the likes of Polly and Kallis are practically unmatched in cricket history, so I will sing their praises until your head explodes.

Originally posted by Crowley
Uhm, I know SA doesn't have 'the best players', BUT the likes of Polly and Kallis are practically unmatched in cricket history, so I will sing their praises until your head explodes.

Let's not get too carried away here! 'Unmatched'?? In cricket history? Sure, they are handy players but I'd hardly go to the point of saying that they are the best ever! Maybe they are unmatched in South Arica but not on thw world stage..

Come to think of it..that's obviously what you mean - Unmatched in South Africa.. sorry, my mistake. There's no possible way you could be referring to them being unmatched on the world stage.

Originally posted by AussieG
Let's not get too carried away here! 'Unmatched'?? In cricket history? Sure, they are handy players but I'd hardly go to the point of saying that they are the best ever! Maybe they are unmatched in South Arica but not on thw world stage..

Come to think of it..that's obviously what you mean - Unmatched in South Africa.. sorry, my mistake. There's no possible way you could be referring to them being unmatched on the world stage.

Oh God, we're going to have to start all over again now, aren't we?

To try and shortcut some of the inevitable:

- look at Kallis' Test stats.
- yes, stats have limitations when comparing people from different eras (for lots of reasons that go in both directions)
- but still, look at the stats - they really do compare to pretty much anyone - they're even comparable with Sobers
- but Kallis doesn't have quite the same presence as some of the great allrounders, does he? And how many matches did he win on his own?
- yes, but that's because we tend to be drawn to spectacular performances, rather than consistency - but consistency is just as important to a team
- etc

For Pollock, repeat, except we're now looking at ODI allrounders. Yes, he's a bowling allrounder rather than a batting allrounder - interpret everything on that basis.

Up to speed? OK, now we can continue the argument...

🙂

Originally posted by mtthw
Oh God, we're going to have to start all over again now, aren't we?

To try and shortcut some of the inevitable:

- look at Kallis' Test stats.
- yes, stats have limitations when comparing people from different eras (for lots of reasons that go in both directions)
- but still, look at the stats - they really do compare to pretty much anyone - they're e ...[text shortened]... everything on that basis.

Up to speed? OK, now we can continue the argument...

🙂

Thank Christ! A voice of reason!