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CW All Time XI Spinner

CW All Time XI Spinner

  • Bishan Bedi

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Richie Benaud

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Lance Gibbs

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Anil Kumble

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Derek Underwood

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Total voters
    55
  • Poll closed .

Jager

International Debutant
He was great, but he did bat in the uncovered and matted pitch era. I am not sure how he would have fared in the modern era. For this reason I always have Warne and Murali ahead. They were genuine freaks.




Yeah yeah :)
But on that note, Warne and Muralitharan played in an era of batsmen being absolutely clueless against spin. No one brought the attack to them consistently (except perhaps Tendulkar, Laxman and co.) as would happen pre-Packer era. I can't imagine a player such as Neil Harvey or Victor Trumper experiencing the same level of difficulty as our modern batsmen, since they used their feet properly instead of staying stuck in the crease. I really think modern batsmen have no idea to be honest
 

Arachnodouche

International Captain
But on that note, Warne and Muralitharan played in an era of batsmen being absolutely clueless against spin. No one brought the attack to them consistently (except perhaps Tendulkar, Laxman and co.) as would happen pre-Packer era. I can't imagine a player such as Neil Harvey or Victor Trumper experiencing the same level of difficulty as our modern batsmen, since they used their feet properly instead of staying stuck in the crease. I really think modern batsmen have no idea to be honest
But you're only relying on anecdotal evidence with respect to Trumper or Bradman's prowess while dealing with spin, aren't you? Nobody ever saw them tackle a spinner who could have the ball on the proverbial yoyo and make it talk in tongues day in and day out like Murali or Warne did, so what makes you so certain they would've fared any better? I understand it's fascinating to compare eras and hypothesize over what may have happened, but it doesn't make it more fact.
 

zaremba

Cricketer Of The Year
Likewise.

Not sure he's the best but he definitely deserves a place on the shortlist if Richie, Bedi, Gibbs and Underwood do.

Plus he was a war hero, whereas Warne isn't even a Waugh hero
 
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Jager

International Debutant
But you're only relying on anecdotal evidence with respect to Trumper or Bradman's prowess while dealing with spin, aren't you? Nobody ever saw them tackle a spinner who could have the ball on the proverbial yoyo and make it talk in tongues day in and day out like Murali or Warne did, so what makes you so certain they would've fared any better? I understand it's fascinating to compare eras and hypothesize over what may have happened, but it doesn't make it more fact.
There have been many spinners with wonderful control of flight, length and spin. Laker, Lock and Tayfield are names that spring to mind when it comes to my example of Harvey. Verity dismissed Bradman the most amount of times, if I remember correctly. Valentine and Ramadhin are two other excellent spinners that often go unmentioned. I think that anecdotal evidence is incredibly valuable as it is essentially the charm of the game and adds insight into what actually happened.

For example, Sehwag made 67 runs (that's off the top of my head, don't hold me to it) on Boxing Day last year. From the statistics, it will go down as a fine performance from Sehwag. If you had actually been there, which I was, you would have noted that he looked highly uncomfortable against anything short pitched, scored approximately 50% of his runs through edges that ran down to the third man boundary and had relatively simple chances dropped on 11 and 58 (once again, from memory), both off the bowling of Pattinson.

You can ignore the anecdotal evidence but it's what gives life to the history of the game, and I have no doubts in my mind that when Bradman described O'Reilly as the "best bowler" he ever saw, he wasn't just saying it.

On Harvey and Bradman, Ashley Mallett said this: "[to them] smart footwork helped eliminate the real danger here and that was being anchored to the crease while a clever spinner could weave his spell."
 

Migara

Cricketer Of The Year
Warne and Murali bowled to guys like SRT, Azhar, Lara and Sidhu. I cannot see how a batsman become better than Sidhu against spin.
 

kyear2

Cricketer Of The Year
For the last time, this is the list compiled by Wisden. Bowlers such as Verity, especially English ones were seen as being greatly aided by wet wickets which especialy gave spin bowlers of that era a tremendous statistical advantage.
 

salman85

International Debutant
Surely Qadir deserves a mention here.He might not get picked with competition like Warne and Murali,but he was still good enough to make this list.
 

Jager

International Debutant
Surely Qadir deserves a mention here.He might not get picked with competition like Warne and Murali,but he was still good enough to make this list.
Qadir sounded like a majestic legspinner on his day, I agree. Especially with his aura increasing beard, as Imran said.
 

Prince EWS

Global Moderator
I voted for O'Reilly. I'm not actually entirely sure why, as I did it a few days ago and can't remember the reason anymore, but there you go. I actually think Murali was the best bowler of all time, so it was an odd thing for me to do.
 

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