Was Kevin Curran overrated?

Participate in discussion with your fellow Zimbabwe cricket fans!
pariah
Posts: 1490
Joined: Fri Jun 16, 2017 2:27 pm
Supports: Matabeleland Tuskers

Was Kevin Curran overrated?

Post by pariah »

Kevin Curran is touted as one of ZImbabwe's finest allrounders (so was Graeme Hick if you consider that his bowling was quite often to a level Williams and Raza can only dream of :D ).

Anway Curran did well in County cricket for the most part, as have several average Joes in England.

Nonetheless, he played just 11 ODIs - all of them spread like present-day Zimbabwe due to lack of games, and his stats are pretty much like, or worse than similarly-affected Zimbabwean cricketers. Plus he had an age and experience advantage most didn't have at the start of their careers.

11 ODIs - 26 Batting average - 44 bowling average.

So it's not misplaced to ask if he was overrated.

NB: Either way I hope the same fate doesn't befall his son Sam Curran. I do think he has some talent, but I'm not sure the people handling him know if he should be a batting-allrounder or a bowling allrounder.

User avatar
CrimsonAvenger
Posts: 9838
Joined: Thu Dec 13, 2007 2:57 am
Supports: Mountaineers
Location: India

Re: Was Kevin Curran overrated?

Post by CrimsonAvenger »

Let the man rest in peace. Just to stop this forum from witnessing cherry picked feelings masquerading as a page long analysis with arbitrary emphasis thrown in, let me just say YES. So that there isn't any argument.

Again, let the man rest in peace.

User avatar
eugene
Posts: 7653
Joined: Wed Jan 02, 2008 11:31 pm
Supports: Matabeleland Tuskers

Re: Was Kevin Curran overrated?

Post by eugene »

It is worth noting that in Curran's era the Rhodesian/Zimbabwean cricketers were very much amateurs playing against professionals. His stats are comparable to Chigumbura's and achieved against tougher opposition so he should be rated at least as highly as Elton.
Neil Johnson, Alistair Campbell, Murray Goodwin, Andy Flower (w), Grant Flower, Dave Houghton, Guy Whittall, Heath Streak (c), Andy Blignaut, Ray Price, Eddo Brandes

pariah
Posts: 1490
Joined: Fri Jun 16, 2017 2:27 pm
Supports: Matabeleland Tuskers

Re: Was Kevin Curran overrated?

Post by pariah »

CrimsonAvenger wrote:
Sat Aug 05, 2017 1:41 pm
Let the man rest in peace.
FYI, no disrespect towards the late Kevin Curran is intended.

All purely cricket, and I didn't exactly intend on commenting further on the subject, hence the odd 4 or 5 sentences in the OP. More interested in people's genuine general view of the man in terms of what he really could offer on the pitch at the highest level, or if he was just unconsciously overrated.

pariah
Posts: 1490
Joined: Fri Jun 16, 2017 2:27 pm
Supports: Matabeleland Tuskers

Re: Was Kevin Curran overrated?

Post by pariah »

eugene wrote:
Sat Aug 05, 2017 1:46 pm
It is worth noting that in Curran's era the Rhodesian/Zimbabwean cricketers were very much amateurs playing against professionals.
I took that into consideration.

As an aside, due to ZC financial troubles, there are also a lot of players who have gone unpaid for playing franchise cricket, and also gone upaid for playing internationals as non centrally-contracted players too - profesisonal only in name at the end of the day. Same also applies to a lot of the Associates/Affilaites today who are not playing County/Shield cricket.

I'm not comparing Kevin to any player - past or present. Purely in his own standing as a cricketer. What is his "weight in gold"?

foreignfield
Posts: 4944
Joined: Mon Jul 18, 2011 9:39 am
Supports: Mountaineers

Re: Was Kevin Curran overrated?

Post by foreignfield »

You want to judge someone with 25,000+ career runs and almost 1,000 wickets to his name on the basis of 11 World Cup matches? Come on.

He was undoubtably one of Zim's greatest FC players.

User avatar
CrimsonAvenger
Posts: 9838
Joined: Thu Dec 13, 2007 2:57 am
Supports: Mountaineers
Location: India

Re: Was Kevin Curran overrated?

Post by CrimsonAvenger »

pariah wrote:
Sat Aug 05, 2017 1:54 pm
All purely cricket, and I didn't exactly intend on commenting further on the subject, hence the odd 4 or 5 sentences in the OP
Yes, the "purely cricket" part is very clear from the title and the NB baits.

saifulsohel05
Posts: 187
Joined: Mon Jul 25, 2016 5:39 pm

Re: Was Kevin Curran overrated?

Post by saifulsohel05 »

I love the forum. But these reckless people open up unnecessary thread. Some of them too much biased.

User avatar
jaybro
Posts: 10390
Joined: Tue Apr 30, 2013 3:36 am
Supports: MidWest Rhinos

Re: Was Kevin Curran overrated?

Post by jaybro »

saifulsohel05 wrote:
Sun Aug 06, 2017 2:01 am
I love the forum. But these reckless people open up unnecessary thread. Some of them too much biased.
+1

No prizes for guessing who he's talking about ....
Chairman of the Neville Madziva fan Club

Originator of the #mumbamania movement

Jemisi
Posts: 8978
Joined: Wed Oct 12, 2011 8:04 am
Supports: Southern Rocks

Re: Was Kevin Curran overrated?

Post by Jemisi »

In what context?

In the space where people talk about an obviously quality player who is a popular reference point during discussions about past greats when in fact he probably doesn't quite match his peers?

Or in the space where Chari and Maruma are hailed?

Post Reply