thanx notts exile, for your reply i also rate Michael Clarke highly although he did struggle when playing for Hampshire. Why do you think Hussey struggled for Victoria and played so well for us? Possibly Flemings captaincy?

In my opinion,it is Dilshan that is if you are asking about genuine batsman otherwise it would be Glenn McGrath

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Karthik Venkatesan

In my opinion it is Habibul Bashar, he was the highest run-scorer in the Ban-Aus ODI series beating the likes of Ponting, Gilchrist and Symonds. His test average is also something like 33+.

Bashar's record doesn't even match that of Mark Butcher, who's poor form early in his career brings down his average. I think butcher was under-rated, and immediately pre-Ashes his qualities seemed to have been forgotten by some.

Bashar has been Bangladesh's best batsman, but I don't think he's under-rated. He can play his shots, but I feel that he sometimes throws his wicket away too easily by playing loose shots or through poor shot selection.

Most under-rated? I've been a big Trescothick fan for some time, and he was a massive (and not fully recognised) influence on England's Ashes success. He's also one of the few English players who looks competent when attacking the spinners. Lemming has already said most of it, I think.

Here's an interesting one ... Matthew Hayden. Personally (and I'm not alone in this) I think Hayden is a flat track bully, and he has been undone when the ball moves around a bit. However, if you look at the scores he has put together, improving his test average from about 26 to nearly 60 in the space of 3-4 years, does Hayden get the credit he deserves? I'm not going to answer that one - I'm sure some of you have an opinion though.

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Just what is going off out there?

He played in only one test, at the Oval in which Warne bowled at him. And Warne got him in the second innings for only 10 runs, top class I think not. And it was Shaun Tait, who wasn't exactly bowling brilliantly who got him for only 7 in the first innings.

He is a very good (all round) ODI player, and has a good mixture of nurdling and smashing which can really devastate attacks when he wants to.

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Watch this for a perfect about.
James May

He resisted Warne in an entirely blocking role for 50-odd balls and over an hour whilst KP got started. Add that ability, which few have on a fifth day pitch of the final test in a momentous series with Warne in the form of his life, to the 168 unbeaten runs he bagged against Kumble and Harbhajan in Nagpur and you have a case for a top class player of spin. Statistics don't tell the truth of Colly's role in the second innings at The Oval. In the first innings he received an awful lbw decision, when Tait was doing his usual and swinging it way down leg, having been brought back into test cricket for the first time in two and a half years in a tense test. Would KP have been able to start his innings without support from Collingwood? Giles may have supported him but the whole complexion of the match was in the balance when Collingwood came in to bat.

I voted for Dilshan before the India series, but now I'd happily rank Collingwood as one of the most improved batsmen, if improvement is measured in terms of the respect he has in the game. His batting has been that good for at least two years now.

I have nothing against Collingwood as a batsman, and I hope that he scores lots of runs if he plays this summer.

True, but then again, Ashley Giles scored a fifty against the same Shane Warne, the pressure would not have been as high on Giles. But Collingwood's superior ability with the bat should have allowed him to stay at the crease for longer. As the pressure was easing more and more on his shoulders and KP was at the other end scoring runs so Collingwood had no pressure of actually scoring.

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Watch this for a perfect about.
James May

You could argue that by time Giles came in to bat, most of the mental ground work had been done. You could see it in Warne's eyes as he strove away for that 72 minutes. Giles did a great job but he would not have lasted three or four hours in that game if he had come in at 12:30-1pm (whenever the exact time Colly came in was).

The pressure would only have been easing on GIles, not on Collingwood who kept on fighting and conentrating as if his life depended on it. He did a great job that few others could have done and for me there is no taking away from that. Determination is a part of class for me, plus the ability and team thinking that he showed out there are rare qualities. It's easy to say anyone should have stayed at the crease longer, but with the Aussies in such momentum and with England at 126-5 following this below (*points*), I doubt that is certain:

1-2 (Strauss, 3.4 ov), 2-67 (Vaughan, 22.4 ov),
3-67 (Bell, 22.5 ov), 4-109 (Trescothick, 33.1 ov),
5-126 (Flintoff, 37.5 ov),

This preceded:

6-186 (Collingwood, 51.5 ov),
7-199 (Jones, 56.5 ov), 8-308 (Pietersen, 82.5 ov),
9-335 (Giles, 91.1 ov), 10-335 (Harmison, 91.3 ov).

The fact remains, I truly believe, that Collingwood and KP turned a collapse around in the 14 overs, 60 runs and and 72 minutes between Freddie and Colly's wickets falling, and that KP and Giles finished the job off. I understand where you are coming from but I beleive that your position takes away from an innings of class by Collingwood, where class is not simply measured by the number of runs scored.

I should add Vrock, I don't mean to be contentious here.

Spot on! I think that Collingwood has tremendous mental strength, that has showed also in the domestic game where his record reads much more positively (almost 7000 career first class runs). Collingwood also has an excellent test match average, with 40.5, which is impressive for a number 5/6/7 batsman. As Colly said, runs are not always a true measure of class, as you only have to take the 79* winning partnership with Flintoff in the Natwest Series against India. And lets not forget his astonishing 93 against India this year! Even more reasons why Collingwood is the most uderrated Batsman in cricket!

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