Guy Whitthall vs Sean William

[Mueddie28]

Guy Whitthall vs Sean William. ..Who is a better player, all rounder, fielder etc

[sloandog]

Williams, surely, on ability.

Whittal wins my vote for being more steely and diverse with the bat. Very much a utility player in ODI cricket

[Googly]

Muddy’s first thought provoking post, wonders will never cease

[encore]

I will answer you from the top of my head and recollection, with no stats checked, but they should not matter.

1. No contest as far as bowling goes. Guy Whittall could swing the ball both ways on his day. There is absolutely nothing to write home about as far as bowling skill is concerned in the case of Williams. I have watched Guy trouble quality batsmen in sustained spells. I have never witnessed Williams trouble anyone, not even a clueless tailender. Even on a spinner's paradise.

2. I still stand by my argument that Sean Williams is only relevant or usefull as a batsman in dead rubbers or matches which do not decide the series, and weak matchups. Some will want to argue that he done well lately. My firm response to that is Guy was 30/31 when he last played a match for Zimbabwe, while Sean Williams is 33 years old with countless questions about his game. Guy was a superb batsman who was excellent at batting according to the situation. He delivered when it mattered. Unlike Williams and his white and brown contemporaries, he actually didn't mind opening the batting in any format.

3. I think he was a better fielder, leader, and probably more disciplined.

If your question is about talent potential in terms of batting then no doubt Williams takes it. But as far as you framed it there is no contest or contrast!

[Googly]

Maybe these days it’s more about protecting the few good batsmen we’ve got against the new ball for a couple of overs
Will you and Julius be sharing a dormitory room at the university to partake in some Command mourning?

[CrimsonAvenger]

Good question. But for me, its a no-brainer. Both are my favorites but Guy Whittall is way way ahead of Williams.

As encore said, he has batted anywhere from opening to no. 7 and 8 across formats. As a cautious top order player ensuring that he faces the opening bowlers'' music and takes the shine off the ball to help other batsmen that followed, as a middle order nurdler accumulating runs, and as a lower order power hitter - all with success at various stages of his career.

He was a more than capable first change / second change bowler. I remember once watching him bowl a 22 over spell on either side of tea at HSC to return with 44 for 1, as one of the main bowlers got injured on day 1 (Watambwa / Olonga). This enabled Streak to attack from the other end and take the new ball at the end of day 1 as there was nothing in it for spinners yet.

Great throwing arm from the outfield, excellent slip catcher. Basically did everything asked of him and more for the team's cause. And a leader. Also the epitome of mental toughness among Zim players across eras. The epic knock he played on 23rd September, 2000 is ample testimony to that.

Coming to Williams, he is arguably the most naturally gifted and talented batsman to come from Zim in the post-Flower era. But he has not necessarily made the most of his potential, while his last couple of years have been more solid. A man anyone would not want to miss watching when on song. But for all the talent he oozes, he hasn't managed to average much higher than the less gifted Whittall, while playing lesser attacks compared to the former.

Williams as a bowler has continued improving right through his career, but Whittall still scores over him overall. Williams the fielder is a definite match for Whittall, may be at their peak fitness, Williams could be rated slightly better.

When it comes to team's cause, Whittall has done orders of magnitude more than Williams. And he has slept with a crocodile under his bed. No-brainer.

[jaybro]

Williams better ODI batsman but Whittall better Test batsman, Guy had more ability to guts it out & see off a good bowler, but Sean has all the shots.

I think they’re pretty even as bowlers, Williams has certainly done well on numerous occasions in all three formats, his numbers are on par with most of Zimbabwe’s spinners & even better than Utseya’s, which is no mean feat considering Utseya had the unfair advantage of cheating.

Whittall was a very useful bowler who could be effective in just about all conditions, both players are great fielders also. So it’s hard to split them, but I’ll go with Guy Whittall just on his ability to compete with the best for long periods.

[Googly]

This stop start cricket we occasionally play against weaker opposition than Whittall had to deal with makes comparisons difficult. Double hundreds are hard to argue with, but there’s no denying Williams’ talent. He a bit iffy against real pace and that’s a big question mark for me.

[gargamel]

GUY WHITTHALL all the way absolutely had the guts and the balls good old Rhodesian reliable steel there.The number of games and quality of opposition cannot be compared to what the current generation has faced. I am biased as i grew up watching the 90s side and i have the vivid memory of the that double with his dirty whites . The catches in the deep , the golden arm and the guy who would run in a day end to hold up an end or relieve Streaky or Eddo, a true hard a nails cricketer. GUY will be more revered as in my eyes as is the case with most of the 99 cricketers is that these guys were Amatures part time cricketers unlike now where guys have a guaranteed central contract.

Sean is absolutely seriously talented and he and a few players were born a generation too late and I believe strongly that if ZIM had maintained the team of 99 standards we would have seen the best of BT , HAMI, CHIGS,Sean Ervine. Lack of games and appreciation of

GUY has that double hundred against New Zealand and the fact that he slept on a bed with a Crocodile makes him the coolest player you want in any situation.

[Bele]

http://static.espncricinfo.com/db/ARCHI ... R1995.html

Look at Guys figures in this game!!!