Who is the most underrated player in your side? | Cricket coaching, fitness and tips

Who is the most underrated player in your side?

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Apart from you (after all, I know how underrated you are) is there anyone in your side who does a great job every week without anyone really noticing?

club cricket

It could be a timely reminder for the lesser lights of your club, what with many end of year piss ups ceremonies very soon.

Here are a few types the nominations committee may have glossed over. Make sure you don't do the same.

  • The Plodding Opening Bat. This player has a defense modelled on Boycott and a limited range of run scoring shots. Every week you can rely on him to see off the fearsome opening bowlers with the new ball and build a platform for your big hitting middle order. When he does well, everyone complains he batted too slowly. Actually, he has been a critical cog in your innings.
  • The Miserly Third Seamer. For our accurate medium pacer, a job well done would be something like 10 overs, 6 maidens 1 for 21. Happy to bowl as many overs as you want, a dot ball is almost as good as a wicket. A maiden is the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. It might be dull from one end, but increasing desperation usually means wickets falling at the other.
  • The Spin Twins. Good spinners are vital at club level, especially when bowling at tail enders. A great combination is the 'lollipop' leg spinner who throws it up with the flatter off spinner. Although any two different styles tend to work well in tandem.
  • The Wily All-Rounder. The type who can do anything: Bats at 6, 7 or 8 and is capable of bowling a few tidy overs. Always ready to get you out of any situation, usually with the minimum of fuss. Will probably save more games than they win and will rarely lose one for you.
  • The Specialist Keeper. Although somewhat of a dying breed, the specialist keeper still exists in the club game. The type of keeper you hardly notice tidies up well, catches everything and pays more attention to his gloves than the rest of the team. Given the choice between an average keeper who can bat and a great keeper who can't go for the great keeper and take the time to notice his invisibility.

Are their any types I have missed? Drop me a line and let me know.

© Copyright miSport Holdings Ltd 2008

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Comments

[...] Following this post on underrated club cricketers I got a mail about one type that I missed. Over to Mark: “Another underrated player is the enthusiastic occasional player.The guy who has very little cricketing skill - can’t bowl at all and is really only good at blocking an end up when batting, but he’ll chase everything in the field saving countless runs in the process, and is likely to take the occasional useful catch. [...]

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