Who belongs on cricket's Mount Rushmore?
This is an exercise I got from a NFL show that talked about which faces you should associate with American football.
For example, let's take professional wrestling (or "sports entertainment). I don't regard Hulk Hogan as a good wrestler. He's very limited. But his face is so recognizable with wrestling, that he has to be considered on its Mount Rushmore. So would Stone Cold Steve Austin.
With American football, Joe Montana and Tom Brady might be the best quarterbacks ever, but Johnny Unitas is like the Babe Ruth of American football, and deserves to be put in there, in my opinion.
Anyway, I hope I explained the concept enough. Here's my cricket Mount Rushmore...
WG Grace
Sir Donald Bradman
Sir Vivian Richards
Shane Warne
WG Grace modernized the game and made it what it is today. He made cricket a game of the people. Plus, he's very recognizable with that beard. You can easily put a face to a name, just like Hulk Hogan to wrestling.
Sir Donald Bradman is Australia's greatest ever sportsman. He is the Babe Ruth of cricket - a legend, an icon. Even people who don't know anything about cricket know his batting average - 99.94.
Sir Vivian Richards was the hardest person to select. I thought about Tendulkar and Sobers. Sobers, I believe, is the second best cricketer ever, after Bradman. In terms of all-round talent, he should be on my Mount Rushmore. But I don't think his face is as recognizable, as say, Sachin Tendulkar in India.
I put Viv Richards ahead of Sobers and Tendulkar because of his presence, his swagger, the proud face and the long nose - he's recognizable. In Australia, for example, he's still loved and revered. Richards was a cricketer personality and character like Tendulkar and Sobers weren't. Ian Botham was another character, but he's not in the others league in terms of ability.
Shane Warne captured people's imaginations. Even if you think he's overrated, he captured people's imaginations with his incredible deliveries - how he bamboozled players, spun the ball a mile and with skill and accuracy. Matt Gatting is a good example of that! He was marketable, and remains marketable. He's a character comparable to Botham and Richards, yet no matter how people dispute this with me, he really did revive spin bowling. He made cricket fashionable again.
So there's my cricket Mount Rushmore - Grace, Bradman, Richards, Warne.
My NFL Mount Rushmore was Jim Brown, Johnny Unitas, Lawrence Taylor and Jerry Rice (with Mean Joe Greene a close fifth).
This is an exercise I got from a NFL show that talked about which faces you should associate with American football.
For example, let's take professional wrestling (or "sports entertainment). I don't regard Hulk Hogan as a good wrestler. He's very limited. But his face is so recognizable with wrestling, that he has to be considered on its Mount Rushmore. So would Stone Cold Steve Austin.
With American football, Joe Montana and Tom Brady might be the best quarterbacks ever, but Johnny Unitas is like the Babe Ruth of American football, and deserves to be put in there, in my opinion.
Anyway, I hope I explained the concept enough. Here's my cricket Mount Rushmore...
WG Grace
Sir Donald Bradman
Sir Vivian Richards
Shane Warne
WG Grace modernized the game and made it what it is today. He made cricket a game of the people. Plus, he's very recognizable with that beard. You can easily put a face to a name, just like Hulk Hogan to wrestling.
Sir Donald Bradman is Australia's greatest ever sportsman. He is the Babe Ruth of cricket - a legend, an icon. Even people who don't know anything about cricket know his batting average - 99.94.
Sir Vivian Richards was the hardest person to select. I thought about Tendulkar and Sobers. Sobers, I believe, is the second best cricketer ever, after Bradman. In terms of all-round talent, he should be on my Mount Rushmore. But I don't think his face is as recognizable, as say, Sachin Tendulkar in India.
I put Viv Richards ahead of Sobers and Tendulkar because of his presence, his swagger, the proud face and the long nose - he's recognizable. In Australia, for example, he's still loved and revered. Richards was a cricketer personality and character like Tendulkar and Sobers weren't. Ian Botham was another character, but he's not in the others league in terms of ability.
Shane Warne captured people's imaginations. Even if you think he's overrated, he captured people's imaginations with his incredible deliveries - how he bamboozled players, spun the ball a mile and with skill and accuracy. Matt Gatting is a good example of that! He was marketable, and remains marketable. He's a character comparable to Botham and Richards, yet no matter how people dispute this with me, he really did revive spin bowling. He made cricket fashionable again.
So there's my cricket Mount Rushmore - Grace, Bradman, Richards, Warne.
My NFL Mount Rushmore was Jim Brown, Johnny Unitas, Lawrence Taylor and Jerry Rice (with Mean Joe Greene a close fifth).
