The CW50 - The Top 3

[Hit_Wicket]

Magnificent work Sean! Especially enjoyed reading the very meticulous write-ups.

A fairly predictable but nonetheless deserving top three in the end.

Something else worth noting, IIRC: Warne was the only player with 100% selection.

 

[zaremba]

Can't see that Sobers is worthy of beating WG but that's my personal opinion and the CW consensus is against me. A similar poll in 50 years' time would place WG higher I'd think. Anyhow a worthy top 3, a great series and a thousand thanks to The Sean for a formidable and excellent job.

ps I forgot to say, Bradman at 8? It's a ****ing disgrace.

 

[zaremba]

Sean, who else didn't vote for DB?

 

[Pothas]

Bradman, Grace, Sobers for me like many others but no complaints at all, great thread and think the final list looks pretty damn good, would have liked Imran and Miller a little higher but do not begrudge any of the top 5 their places.

 

[Hurricane]

Number 6.

Interestingly, both Grace and Warne received more No.1 votes than Sobers did.

Thanks

BTW - I think I missed it where you mentioned the methodology you used for converting votes into the overall rankings. Which thread did you post this in and I will go and read this.

Thanks very much for running this.

 

[andyc]

Thanks

BTW - I think I missed it where you mentioned the methodology you used for converting votes into the overall rankings. Which thread did you post this in and I will go and read this.

Thanks very much for running this.

Was under the impression it was a case of someone ranked 1st getting 25 points, someone ranked 25th getting 1 point, while tied players were solved by ranking higher the player included in the most lists. Could be wrong though.

 

[HeathDavisSpeed]

Number 6.

I might know who that was...

 

[Magrat Garlick]

A great project and a worthy conclusion.

Thanks again Sean and Merry Christmas

 

[BhupinderSingh]

1.Don Bradman
2.Imran Khan
3.Viv Richards
4.W.G.Grace
5.Jack Hobbs
6.Richard Hadlee
7.Muttiah Muralitharan
8.Brian Lara
9.Garry Sobers
10.Sachin Tendulkar
11.Shane Warne
12.Malcom Marshall
13.Keith Miller
14.Sunil Gavaskar
15.Andy Flower

So,I disagree with the list except the 1st spot.

 

[stephen]

1.Don Bradman
2.Imran Khan
3.Viv Richards
4.W.G.Grace
5.Jack Hobbs
6.Richard Hadlee
7.Muttiah Muralitharan
8.Brian Lara
9.Garry Sobers
10.Sachin Tendulkar
11.Shane Warne
12.Malcom Marshall
13.Keith Miller
14.Sunil Gavaskar
15.Andy Flower

So,I disagree with the list except the 1st spot.

Flower over Gilchrist?

 

[andyc]

Lara above Sobers?

 

[Matt79]

Don't encourage him. That's like posing questions to Ikki regarding Warne's record compared to Murali's ...

 

[stephen]

With all the votes now in, we now compile the top team of all time:

Grace
Hobbs
Bradman
Tendulkar
Richards
Sobers
Gilchrist +
Imran
Hadlee
Marshall
Warne

Incidentally, other than Gilchrist, all of the players here were in the top 10 ranked. Given Gilly was by far the highest ranked keeper, this team practically picks itself. Warne at #11 means that this team has an excedingly strong tail, to back up a batting lineup including Bradman and Sobers.

Also:

2 English
3 Australians
3 West Indians
1 Indian
1 Pakistani
1 New Zealander
0 Sri Lankans
0 Zimbabweans
0 Bangladeshis

 

[BhupinderSingh]

Lara above Sobers?

Thats due to following reasons:
Sobers averages 57 because of him beating the hell out of the weakest teams of his time but thats not the case with Lara.Lara was a minutely better batsman than Sobers,but thats just my personal opinion.

2)I have never much of a fan of Sobers bowling which was average at best.

3)Lara is the 1st ever player to score 400 runs in test cricket and it was against a better attack than the one Sobers scored 365*.

4)As a fielder,Sobers was better,though.

5)As overall cricketers,I think there's hardly any difference between them.Being unable to decide,I rated Lara above him because I wtched him play during my lifetime.

 

[Magrat Garlick]

With all the votes now in, we now compile the top team of all time:

Grace
Hobbs
Bradman
Tendulkar
Richards
Sobers
Gilchrist +
Imran
Hadlee
Marshall
Warne

Incidentally, other than Gilchrist, all of the players here were in the top 10 ranked. Given Gilly was by far the highest ranked keeper, this team practically picks itself. Warne at #11 means that this team has an excedingly strong tail, to back up a batting lineup including Bradman and Sobers.

Yeah, it does pick itself (largely because the "greatest cricketer" format encourages one to think of how much in total a player provides to a team), but I think if we had a vote for an all-time team Barnes (#11), Murali (#12) or McGrath (#13) would have made it over Hadlee.

 

[stephen]

The team that they would play against is decidedly weaker:

Hutton
Gavaskar
Hammond
Lara
Headley
Miller
Botham
Dujon+*
Syd Barnes
Murali
McGrath

*Dujon as keeper is my addition as I'm pretty sure that Gilly was the only keeper in the top 50.

 

[Matt79]

Surely Flower, Healy or Knott would be more likely 2nd-placed keepers?

 

[stephen]

Yeah, it does pick itself (largely because the "greatest cricketer" format encourages one to think of how much in total a player provides to a team), but I think if we had a vote for an all-time team Barnes (#11), Murali (#12) or McGrath (#13) would have made it over Hadlee.

I would have thought that the case for one of those bowlers replacing Imran would have been greater. Imran would easily be the weakest link in that bowling attack. Not that he was a bad or even mediocre bowler by any stretch of the imagination

 

[Matt79]

BhupinderSingh to respond.

 

[Matt79]

With all the votes now in, we now compile the top team of all time:

Grace
Hobbs
Bradman
Tendulkar
Richards
Sobers
Gilchrist +
Imran
Hadlee
Marshall
Warne

Incidentally, other than Gilchrist, all of the players here were in the top 10 ranked. Given Gilly was by far the highest ranked keeper, this team practically picks itself. Warne at #11 means that this team has an excedingly strong tail, to back up a batting lineup including Bradman and Sobers.

Also:

2 English
3 Australians
3 West Indians
1 Indian
1 Pakistani
1 New Zealander
0 Sri Lankans
0 Zimbabweans
0 Bangladeshis

Reckon that team could play a hundred matches against any opposition you care to place them against and not lose a match...