cricket fans....how good of a player was jonty rhodes?

VoetbalWizard

New Member
Newbie
Joined
Jan 16, 2006
Messages
12,585
Location
at the altar of ryan giggs
Overrated? Rated just about right? I've only started to get into the sport only for a little over a year, and this past weekend i was watching some old clips on vhs that my dad had of him playing and it got me thinking, how would the dynamics of the game change if cricketers became more athletic in general from a defensive standpoint. Batting technique seems to still rely on natural talent and precision, but defense could improve vastly if crickters were subjected to the athletic 'tuning' that footballers go through, right?

Has the pace/athleticism of cricketers changed drastically from era to era as much as football, why or why not?

am i talking bollocks? probably.
 
Easily the best fielder in the modern era...or ever. He was renowned for his fielding, which although very respectable, isn't what you'd like to be known for. Revolutionised the importance of fielders in the game and influence the likes of Gibbs to make him into a top quality fielder too

Batting and bowling prowess gets you in the side though and Jonty was in fairness reliable batsman able to hold his end well, see off games and do well in the slogs, good bet for a consistent 30-odd run innings doing just about enough to merit a place if batting alone was considered

The Cronje-lead sides was known for batsmen like Kirsten, Cullinan and for a brief but immense spell - Klusner. He was vital in keeping the balance mind
 
I love the bloke...one of my favourite players.I met him once in Delhi when he was here for some promotional work and we had a long chat about ten thousand different things.He's a pretty good football player and I think he played hockey until some level...very fit and always has a big smile on his face...
 
Salvation said:
Easily the best fielder in the modern era...or ever. He was renowned for his fielding, which although very respectable, isn't what you'd like to be known for. Revolutionised the importance of fielders in the game and influence the likes of Gibbs to make him into a top quality fielder too

Batting and bowling prowess gets you in the side though and Jonty was in fairness reliable batsman able to hold his end well, see off games and do well in the slogs, good bet for a consistent 30-odd run innings doing just about enough to merit a place if batting alone was considered

The Cronje-lead sides was known for batsmen like Kirsten, Cullinan and for a brief but immense spell - Klusner. He was vital in keeping the balance mind
Click to expand...

What he said.
 
Pretty much what has been said above.. He was an exceptional fielder, the best I've ever seen, many batsmen lost their wicket due to him running them out often with a direct hit.

To be fair he was a decent batter but not much else, I don't really remember him bowling that much. He played test cricket but in my opinion he was best in the one day scene.

He will undoubtedly be remembered as a brilliant fielder and this is what he specialises in, he is still involved in cricket at this point, in a fielding coaching role. I'm not sure where he is now but I think he used to coach the Pakistan team and then moved on to another country to help there.

I'd say the pace/athleticism has improved from era to era but I think this is just to the fact of new technology and fitness techniques. Many sportsmen tend to look after their bodies much more these days cutting down on drink (apart from Flintoff) and having certain diets.
 
VoetbalWizard said:
Overrated? Rated just about right? I've only started to get into the sport only for a little over a year, and this past weekend i was watching some old clips on vhs that my dad had of him playing and it got me thinking, how would the dynamics of the game change if cricketers became more athletic in general from a defensive standpoint. Batting technique seems to still rely on natural talent and precision, but defense could improve vastly if crickters were subjected to the athletic 'tuning' that footballers go through, right?

Has the pace/athleticism of cricketers changed drastically from era to era as much as football, why or why not?

am i talking bollocks? probably.
Click to expand...

Rhodes was a modern cricketer who changed the outlook of fielding completely. Salvation's got it spot on in his post.

Athleticism has been on the rise in cricket for many years now but I'm not sure what you mean from a defensive standpoint. The defensive mindset has slowly been pushed out of the game due to the number of ODIs being played today but every now and then you get a cricketer like Dravid who plays old school defensive test cricket.

As in every other sport, the style of play has evolved a lot. Especially in cricket since the introduction of one day cricket and the recent attacking Australian team the pace of the game has increased dramatically.
 
mehro said:
Athleticism has been on the rise in cricket for many years now but I'm not sure what you mean from a defensive standpoint.
Click to expand...

I think he means fielding in general, in the 'defending a total' sense.

I think the advent of academy-produced cricketers has resulted in a huge improvement in fielding standards in most countries and changed expectations to an extent that the days when the likes of Phil Tufnell could expect to get away with it are long gone.
 
Melbourne Red said:
I think he means fielding in general, in the 'defending a total' sense.

I think the advent of academy-produced cricketers has resulted in a huge improvement in fielding standards in most countries and changed expectations to an extent that the days when the likes of Phil Tufnell could expect to get away with it are long gone.
Click to expand...

England are always in need of a decent spinner and will overlook the negatives of the fielding side of the player. For example, Monty Panesar! :D

That could be a whole new thread, name a cricket player that gets into the team because of one skill when they clearly lack in another. For example, big bad Inzamam and his comical run outs. :D
 
You must log in or register to reply here.