The Cricketer's Cricketers.

[fredfertang]

Sydney Barnes

Best Batsman:- "Victor Trumper" Who next? "No one else ever troubled me."

Best Bowler:-Never quoted, but by his tone, probably Himself. Never a modest man, Barnes.

Shows how great Trumper was.

When did he say that? I suspect it must have been before he got so hacked off with Herbie Taylor that he supposedly flounced off in a Test and refused to bowl at him

 

[The Sean]

"Taylor, Taylor, always Taylor!"

To be fair, I think Barney's admiration for Trumper was that Vic at least took the attack to him and gave him a duel. Taylor's stonewalling style might have been effective in keeping Barnes at bay but didn't exactly endear him as a player!

 

[Teja.]

When did he say that? I suspect it must have been before he got so hacked off with Herbie Taylor that he supposedly flounced off in a Test and refused to bowl at him

The quote was in John Arlott's tribute to Barnes in 1963 in 'The Cricketer'. Since Arlott admits the only time he saw Barnes play, Barnes was over the age of sixty, so I suspect Arlott asked him the question after Barnes ended his bowling Career.

 

[BoyBrumby]

On Barnes's renowned lack of false modesty, Cardus related the tale of when he told the great man that Bradman rated Tiger the better bowler, because he bowled every ball Barnes did plus the wrong 'un and Barnes replied,

"It's quite true, I never bowled the 'googly'. I never needed it."

 

[The Sean]

I've always thought reading the earlier posts in a thread was over-rated too.

 

[BoyBrumby]

I've always thought reading the earlier posts in a thread was over-rated too.

Quite so. Better just to jump in without a thought of the potential for looking a **** if one repeats what's been said before. Anything else is just unmanly.

 

[The Sean]

 

[vcs]

Nice thread.

I've read Holding's autobiography and found some interesting thoughts... he specifically compares Gavaskar and Miandad as batsmen of similar style and says Miandad was much harder to dislodge under all conditions, but Gavaskar would only put a price on his wicket when he truly set his mind to it and he felt comfortable with the conditions (or similar words to that effect). I found that surprising when I compared Gavaskar and Miandad's records against WI in that period. I read it long back and don't really remember it, so it would be nice if someone could confirm. He also rates Boycott as the ultimate obsessive technician of that era, and how he looked at several video replays to figure out exactly how the ball got past his bat in that immortal over at Sabina Park.

Andy Roberts seems to be generally underrated out of the WI pace battery of that era, Holding speaks of him as the ultimate senior professional and the leader of the pace attack. He always took the new ball and the choice of ends. When Holding bowled "that" over to Boycott, it seems he was surprised when Lloyd asked him to pick an end instead.

The Fastest Over Ever

And finally, I'll indulge my fanboy side a bit.. in the words of Tony Greig "Well, this little man's the nearest thing to Bradman there's ever been..".

YouTube - Sachin 134 Vs Australia in Sharjah

 

[Teja.]

Tbh, I hate how Gavaskar keeps underselling himself, He was one of the finest batsmen ever IMO and could do well without statements like "I want to kiss Sachin's feet" especially when the latter considers Gavaskar his Guru. Saying Vishy was a better Batsman than him is also a fairly ludicrous statement IMO, though it does not compare to the Sachin Statement. One feels he is way too liberal with his words.

The worst example of the 'liberal words' syndrome was Warne's Statement that Pathan's IPL century was the Best Innings he has seen in his life. Over Sachin's 148, Sharjah Blitzkriegs and Chennai Innings, Over Lara's 153, 277 and all those gems, and for stating the bleeding obvious above Laxman's 281?

 

[Ikki]

Shane Warne

Best Batsman:-"Sachin Tendulkar is, in my time, the best player without doubt - daylight second, Brian Lara third.

I place him very slightly ahead of Lara because I found him slightly tougher mentally.

Erm, so Warney, is it close or not? Make up your mind.

 

[honestbharani]

Erm, so Warney, is it close or not? Make up your mind.

I am pretty sure the first quote was to the INdian press and the next one was in his top 50 cricketers rating...


Not uncommon if you are in India...


I have actually heard "arguments" that Lara's 365 should not be considered the highest ever test score and should be replaced by something Sachin has hit, simply because Lara was not scoring as many hundreds as Sachin and because he was "not good enough"... I tell you, it is fun pretending that you dont care about this game and that you don't know anything and listen to some of these "gurus".. Sad part is most of them are well educated and actually work alongside me for a MNC..

 

[Teja.]

I am pretty sure the first quote was to the INdian press and the next one was in his top 50 cricketers rating...


Not uncommon if you are in India...


I have actually heard "arguments" that Lara's 365 should not be considered the highest ever test score and should be replaced by something Sachin has hit, simply because Lara was not scoring as many hundreds as Sachin and because he was "not good enough"... I tell you, it is fun pretending that you dont care about this game and that you don't know anything and listen to some of these "gurus".. Sad part is most of them are well educated and actually work alongside me for a MNC..

With all due respect to Lara, what does Warne telling there is daylight between SRT and the next best Batsman have anything to do with Indian Mentality?

 

[marc71178]

Different quotes at different times to suit the audience I would guess.

 

[slippyslip]

Erm, so Warney, is it close or not? Make up your mind.

Only coming to the realisation that Warney was a genius on the field and dumber than a toilet brush off it?

 

[honestbharani]

Different quotes at different times to suit the audience I would guess.

lol... I thought that point was obvious, tbh.

 

[GuyFromLancs]

A good thread. I am always interested in what players, players rate.

Off the top of my head-

Kallis rates S Waugh as his cricketing hero.

Flintoff rates Murali as the best bowler and Sachin as "probably" the best batsman he has played.

 

[GuyFromLancs]

Didn't Wasim rate Martin Crowe as the best batsman he as played?

Stephen Fleming- Best bowlers = Akram and Warne. (retirement interview)

 

[Xuhaib]

Reckon Akram is on many former greats list as the most difficult bowler faced.Martin Crowe and Lara surely Dravid in 2000 also held that opinion not sure whether he has changed it now.

 

[Cevno]

Don Bradman on Hedley Verity-

"I think I know all about Clarrie (Grimmett), but with Hedley I am never sure. You see, there's no breaking point with him."

 

[honestbharani]

Sachin :

Batsman - Lara
Bowler - He named too many.. you can chk his interview to NDTV on You Tube..


Lara:

Batsman: Sachin
Bowler: Warne (as per Ikki's sig quote)