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Five Cricketers Of The Decade 2000-2009
- Thread starter Pratters
- Start date
subshakerz
International Coach
Best pacer - McGrath, unfortunately there's no contest here.
Best spinner - Murali, but Warne's massive achievements can't be ignored either.
Best batsman - Ponting is the only genuine all-time great batsman to have emerged this decade, even if he made his debut in the 90s.
Best all-rounder - Kallis, one of the top batsmen of the decade, and thats before you take the 200 odd wickets he's picked up into account.
I didn't just select by category, these five are heads and shoulders ahead of the rest. Sadly but unsurprisingly nobody who debuted this decade.
Best spinner - Murali, but Warne's massive achievements can't be ignored either.
Best batsman - Ponting is the only genuine all-time great batsman to have emerged this decade, even if he made his debut in the 90s.
Best all-rounder - Kallis, one of the top batsmen of the decade, and thats before you take the 200 odd wickets he's picked up into account.
I didn't just select by category, these five are heads and shoulders ahead of the rest. Sadly but unsurprisingly nobody who debuted this decade.
subshakerz
International Coach
Man, I can't believe I forgot Gilchrist! Yeah, substitute Warne for him, Warne can own spin in the 90s.
Prince EWS
Global Moderator
I've got seven I can't really split:
Kallis
Ponting
Gilchrist
Pollock
McGrath
Warne
Murali
I'd name five of them now but my answer would be different had I done it yesterday or if I did it tomorrow, so it's probably more accurate to just name the seven. The only one I'd definitely have regardless would be Kallis.
Kallis
Ponting
Gilchrist
Pollock
McGrath
Warne
Murali
I'd name five of them now but my answer would be different had I done it yesterday or if I did it tomorrow, so it's probably more accurate to just name the seven. The only one I'd definitely have regardless would be Kallis.
subshakerz
International Coach
Pollock and Kallis in my mind are two of the most underrated greats in cricket history. How many cricketers do you know with records comparable to Hadlee and Sobers be written off or not even mentioned when commentators start talking about worldclass players?
I think South Africans for some reason dont get their due from most of cricket punditry, mostly due to their image as being boring or their failures against Australia. Donald is described as weak under pressure, Kallis is called selfish, Pollock is a second-rate McGrath, while Steyn's name hardly comes up much. Is it just me, or do they get a bit of an unfair collective reputation?
I think South Africans for some reason dont get their due from most of cricket punditry, mostly due to their image as being boring or their failures against Australia. Donald is described as weak under pressure, Kallis is called selfish, Pollock is a second-rate McGrath, while Steyn's name hardly comes up much. Is it just me, or do they get a bit of an unfair collective reputation?
bagapath
International Captain
this!
Magrat Garlick
Global Moderator
Warne
Tendulkar
Ponting
Muralitharan
Pollock
Tendulkar
Ponting
Muralitharan
Pollock
Richard
Cricket Web Staff Member
A few fairly-but-not-absolutely rigid criteria would be:
No-one who debuted after 2001;
No-one whose careers were over before 2008;
No-one who had a lengthy down spell at any time;
Only people who are outstanding Test cricketers, rather than merely decent ones, or outstanding ODI and merely decent Test cricketers.
For example - there's no doubt the performances of Andrew Flintoff between 2003/04 and 2006/07 were outstanding, but far too short-lived to be up there when the entire decade is under consideration, in addition to the fact he only became worthy of selection in 2001/02 and spent lengthy spells out injured, including a whole 18 consecutive months. For another example - Mahendra Dhoni has been undoubtedly the best ODI wicketkeeper-batsman ever from 2005 to 2009-so-far, but didn't play before that and is nothing more than a decent Test player. No way would I consider Tendulkar who was frankly pretty poor, never mind mediocre, from 2002/03 to 2005/06.
No-one who debuted after 2001;
No-one whose careers were over before 2008;
No-one who had a lengthy down spell at any time;
Only people who are outstanding Test cricketers, rather than merely decent ones, or outstanding ODI and merely decent Test cricketers.
For example - there's no doubt the performances of Andrew Flintoff between 2003/04 and 2006/07 were outstanding, but far too short-lived to be up there when the entire decade is under consideration, in addition to the fact he only became worthy of selection in 2001/02 and spent lengthy spells out injured, including a whole 18 consecutive months. For another example - Mahendra Dhoni has been undoubtedly the best ODI wicketkeeper-batsman ever from 2005 to 2009-so-far, but didn't play before that and is nothing more than a decent Test player. No way would I consider Tendulkar who was frankly pretty poor, never mind mediocre, from 2002/03 to 2005/06.
Jarquis
Cricket Web: All-Time Legend
Which is why you still picked 6?
Ikki
Hall of Fame Member
Well, I meant that in terms of where to look. Australia has been clearly the dominant side so it's mostly their players. I think Murali was better than Kallis but you can't deny an all-rounder of Kallis' level so I made a concession.
Ikki
Hall of Fame Member
I see people just writing off Warne, simply saying he was he best in the 90s, kinda glossing over how amazing he was in this decade. The irony is, he was even better in the 00s than he was in the 90s. And that's after all the surgeries,drama, etc. His away record is freakish for a spinner.
Pratters
Cricket, Lovely Cricket
That's a tricky one. He had an incosistent phase because of the tennis elbow which was uncharacteristic of Tendulkar and the inconsistency, lack of form lead to much criticism as all the spot light was on Tendulkar.
Yet, if we look at the averages, Tendulkar has done his bit despite being poor for a couple of years (and that too only in test cricket - he was superb in ODIs all decade). I won't grudge any one having Tendulkar in the list.
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Ikki
Hall of Fame Member
Mostly because he was feasting on minnows though - without them he averages 47 (since jan 1 2000). Lara should be in it ahead of him and near Lara there is Dravid. Also there's Sangakkara, Jayawardene, Yousuf, Inzamam and even Sehwag. And that's not counting Australian batsmen like Ponting and Hayden.
Nope, Tendulkar really shouldn't be on this list.
Pratters
Cricket, Lovely Cricket
Tendulkar had 2 bad seasons - 2004-05 and 2006-07. A lot more is made out of it that is required to be very honest. There was the inconsistent 2003-04 but he still averages 51 there. Hell Lara has had several inconsistent spells. Just because it was Tendulkar, people made a furore about it.
If you look at sheer stats the guys like Md. Yousuf deserve more than the credit he has got. Tendulkar has played crucial innings for his team whether it be ODIs or tests and has a case for being among the top 5 players of the 2000s just like any other good player this decade. I am not saying he essentially should be in that top 5. That's why I replied to Hakon's post with an interesting quote.
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