Furball
Evil Scotsman
Ok, I'm going to cheat slightly and give 2, for reasons given below.
First icon was the great Brian Charles Lara, although my admiration for him wasn't based on seeing him play. I started playing cricket around about 1994, right at the time when Lara's batting exploits were making him headlines. When you're an impressionable 9 year old and you see headlines about Lara making the highest Test score, then the highest ever score, it's natural to think that this man must be the greatest cricketer ever. That, combined with the fact that it was his name on the cricket game you play on your friend's Mega Drive, meant that it was Lara who I would always pretend to be when playing.
My first icon based on seeing them play however, was Lance Klusener. The 1999 World Cup is the first proper cricket I can remember watching (though I've got memories of watching Dominic Cork's hat-trick vs the West Indies c. 1995), and it just seemed that everytime I saw Klusener stride to the crease, he would just effortlessly smash the bowling all over the park, as if it was the easiest thing in the world to do. When you combine that with the fact that not only could he bowl fast, he took wickets for South Africa as well, it's easy to see why at the time I thought he was easily the best cricketer around.
Who were your first cricketing idols?
First icon was the great Brian Charles Lara, although my admiration for him wasn't based on seeing him play. I started playing cricket around about 1994, right at the time when Lara's batting exploits were making him headlines. When you're an impressionable 9 year old and you see headlines about Lara making the highest Test score, then the highest ever score, it's natural to think that this man must be the greatest cricketer ever. That, combined with the fact that it was his name on the cricket game you play on your friend's Mega Drive, meant that it was Lara who I would always pretend to be when playing.
My first icon based on seeing them play however, was Lance Klusener. The 1999 World Cup is the first proper cricket I can remember watching (though I've got memories of watching Dominic Cork's hat-trick vs the West Indies c. 1995), and it just seemed that everytime I saw Klusener stride to the crease, he would just effortlessly smash the bowling all over the park, as if it was the easiest thing in the world to do. When you combine that with the fact that not only could he bowl fast, he took wickets for South Africa as well, it's easy to see why at the time I thought he was easily the best cricketer around.
Who were your first cricketing idols?
