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Greenidge, Fredericks, Haynes, Gayle, Braithwaithe…

My pick is Fredericks.

In reply to mikelegend

Conrad Hunte would like to have a word with you.

In reply to JoeGrine

Fair enough, fair enough. Is he your #1?

In reply to mikelegend

Christopher Henry Gayle!!!

As a millennial we never really got to see the rest but no one made Test cricket more exciting than the Universe Ass himself!!!

In reply to mikelegend

For me it is always Hunte + who? The answer is somewhere between Greenidge and Fredericks.

In reply to WIfan26

Truly a beast indeed, would have loved to see how he would have handled a prime Lillee( in particular)and Thompson. Successful across all formats against everyone not named Vass.

In reply to mikelegend

I believe he would've still done well as he did face the likes of Brett Lee and Dale Steyn!!!

So you're saying he would've never gotten the iconic 333 if Vaas was playing

Lawrence Rowe, although he preferred batting lower down the order.

In reply to mikelegend

In selecting the best opening batsman the WI ever produced, one should develop some criteria for first selecting a group and then show why your pick is the best.
I felt that in order to be considered one should be a regular opening batsman in test cricket for 8 years and average 40 in test cricket.
I then considered these opening batsmen on the pacy wickets in Australia, the seaming and swinging wickets in England and the dust bowls in Asia.
In the end I chose Conrad Hunte.

In reply to Dukes

If I were choosing an opener for an all-time WI Test team I'd pick someone like Viv or Headley. Better players than all the regular openers we had and both faced the new ball many times coming in at 3

In reply to spider
That is why my cheat sheet say BABU!! What astounds me is how little research/reading some younger and not so young posters do before starting these kinda posts. Who wouldn't choose Conrad C. Hunte 1st?

In reply to Brerzerk

I never actually saw Conrad Hunte bat. But the phrases that I readily recall from my youth are; Hunte forward defensive, bat and pad together; Not a sliver of light between bat and pad; Hunte back and accross........... I could still almost hear John Arlott's voice coming over my little transistor radio.

I’m tempted to say Gordon Greenidge, except he wilted against express pace.

Don’t know about Hunte. Don’t think he faced the kind of pace that Greenidge faced.

It would have to be between Hayne and Gayle for me.

The question have been asked numerous times, differently.
Greenidge was always the one whose name came first, followed by with Hunte or Haynes
Conrad had numerous opening partners, but GG &DH set the standard for opening pairs.
There is nothing to debate, GG with the number of partnership he and Haynes produced, matches played wins,GG is the best opener Conrad and Fredericks played less than 60 matches in comparison to over 100 matches played by Greenidge and Haynes.
There is nothing to discuss on the best opening pair in test.

In reply to openning

But the question is who is the best test opener for WI

Not who is the best opening pair

In reply to imusic

Are you serious dude? I love history so please check if Hunte faced any or all of Lindwall, Miller, Trueman Statham, Hall Griffiths. Those men were not slow. For a tour down under I'd put Freddo n Gayle ahead of Greenudge. BUT, do not forget that after 76 CCG handled Aussie pace well. He however only scored one test ton in Iz and that on his last tour there.

I think the record says Hunte was clean-bowled only ONCE in test cricket!

In reply to imusic
In order to be the Best in any sport, winning is on the top ledger, GG played over 100 matches with an average over 40.
The partnerships that he had with DH counts, Dessie always took second place to GG, even in Knighthood.
I am shock to see Fredericks in the mixed ahead of Gayle, his triple centuries seem to worth anything from posters, along with an average of over 40 after 103 matches.

In reply to Brerzerk
You just cannot pick what decade to played in, it what a player accomplished during his playing days.
Conrad was one of the greatest openers, a Hall of fame, he is not my best choice.
Gordan will always be my #1, and tied with Conrad and Dessie as #2.\, with CG being my #4.

In reply to Brerzerk

Conrad Hunte faced Lindwall?

Interesting


Trueman was like Bob Willis. Stratham was a medium pacer. Get real dude

In reply to openning

People only putting Fredericks over Gayle because their nostalgia and bias hold away over everything else.

I remember test cricket!

In reply to mikelegend

greenidge......was only slightly lesser than viv, our greatest batsman ever

In reply to Jumpstart

Kallicharran, Rowe, and arguably Richardson were arguably better batsmen that Gordon Greenidge

In reply to Jumpstart

Greenidge technically eclipsed Richards the latter's flamboyance v the hard hitting less showy GG gave Richards the edge.

Best test openers:

Hunte
Greenidge
Haynes
Fredricks



Gayle
Kraigg Brathwaite

Freddo like Hunte didn't have a set partner but both were consistently on. Hunte better than all though. He set the standard.

In reply to mikelegend

Comparing players of different era, who played under different set of rules and regulations is unwarranted.......
Hunte played till late 60s... uncovered pitches,back leg no balls,which gave undue advantage to bowlers,beamers,least of body protection,bouncer rule non,no leg side fielding restrictions.
Fedricks played from late 60s to late 70s...pitches under cover,but all other parameters same apart from more body protection.
Greenidge & Haynes played from mid 70s, Haynes debut 5 years later,most rules modified, although bouncer rules not in force, front leg no ball in force..more body protection...
Gayle & Braithwaite..played in 2000...2 bouncers,total body protection,rules & regulations heavily in favour of batters.

Interestingly, all players apart from Braithwaite.... batting average in 40s...
Players playing under
different sets of rules can't be compared... with only runs scored and averages...

In reply to mikelegend
Conrad Hunte and take your pick for #2.
I done.

In reply to CricSham
The best in team sports can only be determined by era, and the player impact on the game.

In reply to mikelegend

Fredericks; Rowe...

In reply to imusic
You shouldn't only have a different opinion just to. There are many instances of those who know describing Trueman as 'frighteningly fast' though his action suggests otherwise.
Do you think his 300+ wickets in that era was because of just guile or conditions? No one has ever described Willis as Frighteningly Fast! My question re Hunte/Lindwall, yes question
is that. I am sure they faced each other in league cricket at least.

In reply to Onionman0

How does Brathwaite even enter this conversation?

Jeezas

In reply to Brerzerk

Pure hyperbole.

Again….Trieman was no faster than Bob Willlis.

As for Hunter and Lindwall….I’ll play along. How much did Hunte average against Lindwall in this “league cricket”?

You’re going on nostalgia, which admittedly is powerful…..but often not factual.

In reply to imusic
Gary Sobers thinks differently re Trueman/Willis. This is not Nostalgia, Hunte and Gayle had numerous partners yet are among the top 6 WI openers.
Hunte had a superb technique no less than Greenidge. He was an opener who didn't muck around either. 1st two balls faced in tests hit for four, 1st 3 balls of an over in a test in England
dispatched for 4. Bat and Pad breached only once in test. By Dukes' criteria he has to be the best, he has the highest avg. His avg. in Oz is better than Greenidge's down there he scored runs
everywhere. Why yuh doan ask how much he averaged vs. Hall n Griffiths in Club cricket if and when they faced up to each other in club cricket, yet yuh talk 'bout hyperbole.

In reply to Brerzerk
I like openers who can constantly take the shine off the new ball in that way they can protect the middle order.

I go with Greenidge

In reply to Brerzerk

The panman has his opinion, as I
said to him that Hunte faced the same bowlers as Kanhai and Sobers.

Hunte - seen him bat in test and locally. Pace bowling was never a problem. He attacked them from the get go. Back in the day you couldn't open for B'dos if you couldn't bat fast bowling.

GG and Freddo is a really the question in my book.

Freddo used to lay waste to Bajan fast bowlers and for that matter any fast bowler who had ideas

GG better technically but really quick bowlers gave him problems early.

Darren ganga and Devin Smith

In reply to brians_da_best

In reply to brians_da_best

Ouch Larr will attest…

In reply to brians_da_best



Sherwin Campbell over Devon Smith though lol

Gordon Culbert Greenidge is the best ever WI opener .
As someone mentioned he was technically probably WI best batsman ever.
In the great WI team ,some will argue he was not far behind the great Viv Richards.
Could someone in their rightful sense rate Desmond Haynes ahead of GG when he played second fiddle to GG when he opened with him ???
My openers in order of preference are:
Greenidge
Hunte
Fredicks
Haynes
Gayle ( his triple centuries should see him higher I know )

In reply to Massy

Cuthbert Gordon Greenidge

At least get de man name right.

Hunte vs Trueman, Statham and Titmus



Hunte vs Australia

Hunte against England in 1966

Hunte against India


Hunte's career was only 9 years from 1958-1967

he averaged 48.78 against Aus
43.69 against Eng
33.50 against Ind
64.30 against Pak

In reply to TanteMerle\


you too young to have seen the man from Belleplaine, he was even more technical correct than the lil master.

In reply to analyst-kid


Thanks, he made Bim team at 19, but had to wait until he was 24 to gain a test place.

In reply to tc1
I was in the company of the Huntes from 4 years old, his sister taught at St.Matthews, spent a number of summer days on the beach at Prospect along with many of her students.
Conrad was among the two best openers, but I have about four of GG double centuries on VHS tapes, the double in NZ separated him from any opener in the history of West Indies cricket.
He is the player that my former games master would call me, when he and others had to spot GG at practice, he always wanted a knowledgeable cricket person to have an eye on him at practice.
This match and the double converted. me
Link Text

In reply to Massy

In reply to openning

great

Did not see HUnte...for me it's Freddo

In reply to ray

Freddo was a shotgun Greenidge was a focused technician

In reply to ray
I assume your all time test X1 will have Freddo in it.

In reply to TanteMerle

You need to get it right too :
Sir Culbert Gordon Greenidge .

In reply to Massy
C-U-T-H-B-E-R-T