Cricket's greatest son who couldn't make it

[AndyZaltzHair]

So for one reason or another, many great players did not get an opportunity to perform at highest level. We really don't know how they would perform if given chance but the topic often comes up. Who is the best among them? I think it's a good point of discussion as we might discover many unknown gems along the way and about their heroic deeds.

Note: Stuart Law wasn't eligible for the poll because he played 1 Test. Sorry if the poll is missing any cricketer who deserves to be there.

 

[Bahnz]

Franklyn Stephenson was meant to have been pretty awesome. Also invented the off-break slower ball (a tool which he passed onto Chris Cairns).

 

[benchmark00]

Ummm...

 

[uvelocity]

sachin baby

 

[benchmark00]

btw you spelled Clive Rose's last name wrong on the poll.

 

[watson]

26 thousand FC runs at 40.95, and 930 FC wickets at 22.49 - has to be Clive Rice for mine.

With numbers like that he could have been one of the cricket's greatest Test match allrounders, and been part of a superb South African pace attack

06. Clive Rice
07. Dennis Lindsay
08. Mike Procter
09. Garth Le Roux
10. Vince van der Bijl
11. A Spinner

 

[benchmark00]

Has Tangy written an article about Rice?

 

[grecian]

Jack Bannister probably deserves a mention.

Between Rice and Van der Bijl for me.

Tikolo though.....

 

[fredfertang]

Has Tangy written an article about Rice?

Nope, but did one about Karl Schneider, who I reckon is worth a shout

 

[robelinda]

Cant go past Rice, and LeRoux.

 

[doesitmatter]

I went with Rajinder Goel, Sunny in his book is supposed to have mentioned him as the greatest spinner he has faced..if a spinner can beat Sunny's defence who is a great great player of spin (which Indian is not from the 60s70s80s) then he is right up there as the one to miss out on Intl cricket....

Was Sathasivam the one named by Sobers as the greatest batsman? Wow then, him not playing was a big loss?

 

[Satyanash89]

Rice is the one with the strongest case in my opinion. Sathasivam's reputation among players like Sobers also speaks volumes of how great he could have been too

 

[BoyBrumby]

The Lion of Kent.

 

[Pothas]

Good to see a couple of Hampshire legends in that list, Jack Newman and Peter Sainsbury. Bit of a surprise neither of them got a test, guess Sainsbury was always behind Illingworth and Titmus.

 

[Neil Pickup]

Van der Bijl must be close for me; everything I've ever read has always been in the most glowing terms, and his numbers in domestix have been staggering on both sides of the equator.

 

[Lillian Thomson]

The South Africans from the isolation years are always likely to come out on top, but I would throw the name Hartley Alleyne into the pot and see if it sticks. In later era's he might well have sneaked his way into consideration for the West Indies.

 

[HeathDavisSpeed]

Ken McEwan was a great batsman to watch and with my biased Essex eye, I'll always have to vote for him.

Disappointed Mike Garnham didn't make the poll.

 

[Quaggas]

26 thousand FC runs at 40.95, and 930 FC wickets at 22.49 - has to be Clive Rice for mine.

With numbers like that he could have been one of the cricket's greatest Test match allrounders, and been part of a superb South African pace attack

06. Clive Rice
07. Dennis Lindsay
08. Mike Procter
09. Garth Le Roux
10. Vince van der Bijl
11. A Spinner

Alan Kourie

 

[Quaggas]

The Lion of Kent.

Is that a bent arm?

 

[Red]

For some reason I thought Siddons' FC record would've been more impressive than it is.