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Who is Australia's second best Test cricketer ever?

Who is Australia's second best Test cricketer ever?

  • Warwick Armstrong

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Richie Benaud

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Allan Border

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Alan Davidson

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Clarrie Grimmet

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Ray Lindwall

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Monty Noble

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Doug Walters

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Steve Waugh

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Total voters
    61
  • Poll closed .

G.I.Joe

International Coach
Pardon the laundry list of nominees. A similar exercise to the Indian one, with the aim of discovering which Australian cricketer Cricketweb considers to be second best only to the Don.

A wealth of talent here, from the all-round exploits of Armstrong, Benaud, Gilchrist, Miller and Noble to the specialists with secondary utility like Davidson, Lindwall, Walters, Waugh and Warne, to the specialists in the form of Border, Chappell, Grimmett, Jackson, Lillee, McGrath, O'Reilly, Ponting and Trumper.

Cast your vote in the poll, please.
 

stephen

Cricket Web: All-Time Legend
I have a feeling it will come down to a choice between Warne, McGrath or Gilchrist and not just because of how recently they played. All three have very strong claims to be the second greatest Australian player of all time.

Miller might be the only one who would be in with a shot of displacing them, but he'd be a dark horse.

EDIT: Voted Gilly just because he's awesome and was the only player I named who hadn't got a vote.

I'd also suggest that Spoffoth (SP?) should be on the short list.
 
Last edited:

stephen

Cricket Web: All-Time Legend
For the record my Australian XI looks like this (excluding the Don of course):

Hayden
Harvey
Ponting
Chappell G
Border (c)
Gilchrist
Miller
Warne
O'Reilly
Lillee
McGrath

If I included the Don, G Chappell would be pushed out and Ponting shuffled down to 4.
 

The Sean

Cricketer Of The Year
We've had two Battle of the Australians (ex-Bradman), both of which IIRC have been won by Miller. Be interesting to see if CW feels the same way in this poll.
 

The Sean

Cricketer Of The Year
For the record my Australian XI looks like this (excluding the Don of course):

Hayden
Harvey
Ponting
Chappell G
Border (c)
Gilchrist
Miller
Warne
O'Reilly
Lillee
McGrath

If I included the Don, G Chappell would be pushed out and Ponting shuffled down to 4.
A superb team mate, though it's worth nothing that Neil Harvey never opened the batting in his Test career.
 

G.I.Joe

International Coach
I'd also suggest that Spoffoth (SP?) should be on the short list.
Knew I'd miss somebody. The poll can't be edited unfortunately.

I'm interested in the mini-battles here, like McGrath vs Lillee, or Warne vs O'Reilly or the batsmen vs all rounders vs bowlers.

Could end up being a three way race between Warne, Gilchrist and Miller though.
 

stephen

Cricket Web: All-Time Legend
A superb team mate, though it's worth nothing that Neil Harvey never opened the batting in his Test career.
I know, but I had to slot him in somewhere.

Australia really has had a very large amount of wonderful middle order batsmen. We've had some great openers too I suppose with Simpson, Lawry and Hayden. If I was to include a specialist opener with Hayden I'd probably go with Simpson, despite all the accolades Trumper gets. He was a wet track bully and never really lived up to his potential on roads :p
 

weldone

Hall of Fame Member
For me it's a very close call between Gilchrist, Miller, McGrath, O'Reilly (and maybe Warne and Lillee and even Waugh, when you add his bowling and captaincy with his batting)...All of them are contenders in the all-time world XI (except Waugh, of course)...But I chose the person who is probably the strongest contender in an all-time world XI after Sir Don, that is Gilchrist
 
Last edited:

Ikki

Hall of Fame Member
I think Warne. Although Miller is so close behind he keeps clipping the heel of Shane's shoe. I think if Miller actually cared for Cricket the way the likes of Warne did then he'd be indisputably number 2, not only for Australia but the world.
 

four_or_six

Cricketer Of The Year
I don't know why, but although I think Gilchrist was a great player, I've never been quite so amazed by him as I have by some other players. I'm going to go for McGrath just for the totally ridiculous number of wickets he took, and therefore his amazing ability to keep going at such a high standard through such a long career.
 

fredfertang

Cricket Web: All-Time Legend
Considering he was just 21 when he played his last first class match and that he achieved what he did without ever being fully fit I'm going for Archie Jackson - one of the game's saddest stories - David Frith's short biography of him is a masterpiece
 

Richard

Cricket Web Staff Member
I don't know why, but although I think Gilchrist was a great player, I've never been quite so amazed by him as I have by some other players.
Perhaps because the success he achieved in the first half of his Test career was virtually beyond comprehension - similar to Michael Hussey of more recent times.

And obviously, in the second half of his career he was no more than an average wicketkeeper-batsman who occasionally played some of the most astonishing innings' you'll ever see.

Ironically, it was in ODIs, his weaker format, that he was probably more notably remarkable.
 

The Sean

Cricketer Of The Year
Considering he was just 21 when he played his last first class match and that he achieved what he did without ever being fully fit I'm going for Archie Jackson - one of the game's saddest stories - David Frith's short biography of him is a masterpiece
The Duncan Edwards of Australian cricket - a tragic loss, he could have been anything.

His 164 on debut in 28/29 might just be the finest first Test innings of all.
 

zaremba

Cricketer Of The Year
Considering he was just 21 when he played his last first class match and that he achieved what he did without ever being fully fit I'm going for Archie Jackson - one of the game's saddest stories - David Frith's short biography of him is a masterpiece
Hadn't heard of such a book - and I know shamefully little about Archie Jackson - so it looks as though I'm in for a good read when I've been onto Amazon.

(once I've finished Maurice Tate's book, obviously, Fred).
 

G.I.Joe

International Coach
Hadn't heard of such a book - and I know shamefully little about Archie Jackson.
*pops up collar*

Quite possibly a rare instance of a CW Book Club stalwart knowing lesser about an oldie than me. :cool:

Now, please don't go ahead and prick my balloon by suggesting you know anything more than the handful of facts I know about said player. :ph34r:
 

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