COVER POINT - Weston Creek Cricket Club

STIRLING VIEWSA regular series of statisticalBATSMAN OF THE DECADEby PhilDistrictrevelations.I thought that it may be useful to revealthe leading contenders for the title of"Batsman of the Decade". I have separatedthe statistics into two categories; MostFirst Class Runs and Most Test Runs. Theformer is complete to the end of the 1986English season, whilst the latter showsfigures for all Tests prior to Brisbane withthe exception of Border, Gower, and Bothamwhose statistics are current as of theMelbourne Test.In order to allow you to make your choiceI offer the following comments. Gavaskarwas clearly the winner of the Test titlein the 1970's. He is a batsman who hasachieved almost everything e.g. most runsin all Tests, 100 f.c. centuries and so on.Age has done little to slow him down,but it would not be surprising to see himfinish before the end of the decade.A quick glance at the First Class list showthat all of the contenders have playedCounty cricket for some time. However,I can say that Boycott, Rice and Amisscan be scratched from the betting, and thatit won't be long before Wright suffers thesame fate. I was quite surprised to seeGatting and Javed so highly placed.Gatting has come back well after his muchpublicised attempt to head butt a fastishone from Malcolm Marshall. His battingin the current series has revealed anaggressive nature with a sound technique.Gatting could well be a good each waybet. Had Javed not missed the last Englishseason he could well be nipping at the heelsof Gooch. With his unpredictable brillancehe could yet be a serious challenger.Richards may have done his dash. Muchwill depend on how well (if at all) he doesin the next English summer. There aresigns that his light may be dimming; hisnatural genuis may not be enough for himto reach the top. Is Greenidge nearingthe end of his career? Having seen himbat in Perth in late December he stillpossesses all of the shots that have becomehallmarks of his career. Rod Marsh claimsthat Greenidge has the most powerful cutshot that Marsh has ever seen. Despitebeing 35 years old (sorry Laurie and Wal)and his wearing of glasses to assist hissight, he was able to pass 2,000 runs ina season (for the first time) in 1986.Then there is Gooch. His efforts for Essexand England should have assured him aplace in the annals of history. Certainlyhis participation in the Rebel tour andpolitical problems in the West Indies haveensured that this will be the case. If hecan put all of that behind him he will havethe First Class title all sewn up.In the race for the Test title, Border andGower seem certain to be the finalists.Much will depend on how Border handlesthe responsibilities of captaincy, and onhow quickly the rest of the Australian Testteam matures and removes the very greatweights placed upon Border's shoulders.Indeed Gower has had a new lease of lifeafter removing the shackles of captaincy.The rest of the field are at very longodds, so prohibitive are the prices forBorder and Gower.My predictions are as follows:First1. Gooch2. GattingClass3. GreenidgeTest1. Border2. Gower3. Botham (but only if he's a good boy).MOST FIRST-CLASS RUNS 1980-86Inns NO Runs 100 AveC.A. Gooch 350 25 16008 47 49.25C.G. Greenidge 325 58 14357 30 53.77I.V.A. Richards 281 19 13818 52 52.74M.W. Gatting 288 47 13365 38 55.46Javed Miandad 269 44 13321 39 59.2A.J. Lamb 327 51 13242 35 47.98A.I. Kaliicharran 31 3 38 13100 41 47.64D.I. Gower 321 27 12792 29 43.51J.G. Wright 305 20 12414 31 43.56G. Boycott 268 48 12261 34 55.73C.E.B. Rice 334 30 12230 31 43.99D.L. Amiss 310 30 12085 20 43.16MOST TEST RUNS 1985-86Inns NO Runs 100 AveA.R. Border 120 21 5407 16 54.61D.I. Gower 128 10 5257 1 1 44.93S.M. Gavaskar 93 9 3730 10 44.4I.T. Botham 1 10 3 3741 10 34.96I.V.A. Richards 73 6 3484 1 1 52D.L. Haynes 90 9 3437 8 42.43Javed Miandad 72 6 3354 8 50.82C.G. Greenidge 77 10 3301 7 49.27