I really can't wait to see Gayle get going this WC....

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Nobody has a batting stance quite like the mighty Shivnarine....

Im still shocked that Gilchrist is not even on the list. Gayle is a quality ODI batsman, I still think that players like Ponting and Tendulkar can be considered big hitters as well.

Just looking at this. Most sixes in an innings.

1. Jayasuriya 11
2. Afridi 11
3. Dhoni 10
4. Boucher 10
5. Hayden 10
6. Ijaz Ahmed 9
7. Afridi 9
8. Vincent 9
9. Ponting 9
10. Greenidge 9

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Bill Ponsford - The only one who could play in Bradman’s company and make it a duet.

It is difficult to consider the likes of Ponting as big hitters, thats probably because they are also class batsman and dont need to "hoick" the ball to score quickly.

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Mark.

Yes but they can also hit the ball just as far. So what defines a hitter, I think that there is a difference between a hitter and a slogger.

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Bill Ponsford - The only one who could play in Bradman’s company and make it a duet.

I suppose a hitter is someone who could hit the ball hard all around the ground with plenty of shots, whereas a slogger would tend to hit in one or two areas with only one shot??

You could also say that some of the big hitters tend to premediate most of their big hits where the likes of Ponting would usually play each ball on merit unless it is desparation time.

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Mark.

Yes but ever batsman apart from Afridi on that list hits the ball on there merits Jayasuriya, Pietersen, Symonds, Dhoni all wait for the ball that is right for them to hit over the rope. At the end of the innings class batsman do the same thing. Its not like they just try to smash every ball over the rope.

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Bill Ponsford - The only one who could play in Bradman’s company and make it a duet.

I can see your point, but what i'm trying to (unsuccesfully) say is that perhaps it just comes down to batting style.

You are probably less likely to see Ponting walk down the pitch to the opposition fast bowler, whereas the likes of Symonds or Pieterson would... well perhaps not Pieterson now .

Ponting would look to drive if he pitched up or Pull if he dropped short. Obviously in the last 10 anything goes.

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Mark.

Yeh I would agree with that, Ponting, Tendulkar and Lara play cricket shots for six, Pietersen, Afridi and Symonds dont, they smash sixes with brute force

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Bill Ponsford - The only one who could play in Bradman’s company and make it a duet.

Obviously, as shown by the various views expressed in previous posts here, there are a number of ways of addressing this question, and hence, no clear-cut way to answer it. If by big hitting one means "fast-scoring" and "six-hitting" in general, then there are a number of statistical tools one can use to analyse the question.

1. An interesting way to look at this is to analyse most sixes over a career, and augment that by looking at sixes per innings. Afridi leads the pack with 224 sixes, and has a very consistent record, averaging a six every innings. Flintoff averages 0.83 sixes per innings, and has far fewer innings, so doesn't really compare. Justin Kemp, at 0.88 sixes per innings, does better than Flintoff, but has only cleared the rope on 47 occasions. The only real competitor to Afridi in this statistic is Dhoni, who averages 1.06 sixes per innings, but has only done it 62 times so far. Jayasuriya on the other hand also has 224 sixes, but averages a very low 0.6 per innings, ie he clears the rope almost half as frequently as Afridi.

2. Fast scoring, consistently over a career, is of course an important result of "big hitting" or should be. For batsmen with 25 or more ODI innings, Afridi comfortably has the highest strike rate (runs per 100 balls). His career strike rate of 109% is significantly ahead of the likes of Flintoff (88%), Jayasuriya (90%), KP (95%) and Symonds (92%).

3. Exceptionally fast scoring when the going is good is the third statistical measure that's of interest. Its relevance to "bit hitting" is obvious - someone who hits big should, on a few occasions, set the ground alight with his rate of scoring. The fastest century in the history of ODIs was Afridi's 37 ball blitzkreig - incidentally, his first-ever international innings! The second fastest is considerably slower at 44 balls, so this record looks safe. Afridi also has the fourth fastest 100 of all time.

In fact, in the 2,520 odd ODIs played so far, only on 5 occasions has a batsman scored a 100 in less than 60 deliveries. Two of those, at 37 and 45 balls, have been by Afridi. The likes of KP, Flintoff, Dhoni or Gilchrist don't feature here.

And of the eight fastest 50s of all time, all of them in 20 deliveries or less, exactly half have been by one man - yes, Afridi again. Four of the eight fastest 50s.

Similarly, in the list of the the top 25 fastest ODI 50s of all time, no other batsman in history features more than once (except Abdur Razzaq, but way down at numbers 21 and 25). Jayasuriya is there just once. Kemp likewise. Pietersen, Flintoff, Dhoni or Gilchrist are all notable by their absence from this hall of fame. Afridi, remarkably and uniquely, appears in this list a staggering five times, and near the top of the all-time list, at # 3, 4, 7, 8 and 13.

4. The one statistic Afridi doesn't dominate is most runs off a single over - there have been eight occasions that ODI batsmen have scored 28 or more in a single over, and Afridi has managed that on two of those eight occasions, the same frequenmcy as Sanath Jayasuriya.

5. And finally, the statistic quoted earlier - most sixes in a single innings, the quickest measure of 'big hitting'. The record, 11 sixes, is shared by Afridi and Jayasuriya.

In addition, of the 15 occasions that a batsman has hit 8 or more sixes in a single innings, Afridi has contributed three separate instances, whilst Ponting contributes two, and no one else manages more than one.


Ladies and gentlemen - I rest my case. The "biggest hitter" in this world cup, or in the history of ODI cricket for that matter, can only logically be one person.

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A lie can travel halfway around the world while the truth is putting on its shoes
Mark Twain

LOL... but does this prove anything other than that Afridi is the most reckless / irresponsible of big-hitting ODI batsman? I'm pretty sure Ponting (for instance) COULD excel as a six-hitter... but the responsibility of building a big score (combined with his evident ability to score quickly WITHOUT such big hitting) sees him chose a more productive path.