Wisden's Cricketers of the Century

[Swervy]

obviously everyone has their own opinions on this, but the wisden list looks pretty fair:

Bradman: the greatest run machine there has ever been and most likely there will ever be
Sobers:the greatest all rounder of all time and certainly one of the ten best batsman of all time
Hobbs:197 centuries....reputedly the greatest opening batsman of all time..and apparently better than Bradman on tricky pitches
Warne: revived the dying art of leg spin, infact revived the dying art of spin full stop.Never seen a leggie in my lifetime with as much control as he
Richards: the greatest natural batsman of at least the last 40 years

others that must have been close:
Hadlee;the greatest NZ player of all time,the best control of any pace bowler i have ever seen
Lillee: the complete fast bowler
Botham:the best all rounder i have ever seen,probably altered the course of a game with bat and ball more times than anyone in the last 30 years

 

[a massive zebra]

Lillee: the complete fast bowler

I don't think Lillee was the complete fast bowler. Even Rod Marsh admitted he had weaknesses against left-handers and he was not that great at running through the tail.

 

[Swervy]

I don't think Lillee was the complete fast bowler. Even Rod Marsh admitted he had weaknesses against left-handers and he was not that great at running through the tail.

ok...as complete as you will see....all bowlers have a weakness,or at least a streghth which may make something quite good actually appear like a weakness (if you know what i mean)

 

[a massive zebra]

ok...as complete as you will see....all bowlers have a weakness,or at least a streghth which may make something quite good actually appear like a weakness (if you know what i mean)

True, and Lillee was one of the best no doubt, but not totally complete. What weakness did Marshall have? IMO he is the most complete and best fast bowler ever (nothing against Lillee/Lindwall/McGrath/Trueman/Holding/Ambrose/Hadlee/Donald/Imran/Wasim/Waqar etc who were also great).

 

[Scallywag]

IMO tendulkar should have been in that list.

Viv Richards, from what I've heard from everyone, was a very great batter. But comparing with tendulkar's record, he is below him against every team.

Richards was absolutely awesome, but Tendulkar is a ball tamperer and does not deserve to be in such good company. Plus he is a lousy captain which indicates that he is only concerned with his own game. When it comes to team players Tendulkar is a self centered batsman that does nothing for the team.

 

[Sudeep]

obviously everyone has their own opinions on this, but the wisden list looks pretty fair:

Bradman: the greatest run machine there has ever been and most likely there will ever be
Sobers:the greatest all rounder of all time and certainly one of the ten best batsman of all time
Hobbs:197 centuries....reputedly the greatest opening batsman of all time..and apparently better than Bradman on tricky pitches
Warne: revived the dying art of leg spin, infact revived the dying art of spin full stop.Never seen a leggie in my lifetime with as much control as he
Richards: the greatest natural batsman of at least the last 40 years

others that must have been close:
Hadlee;the greatest NZ player of all time,the best control of any pace bowler i have ever seen
Lillee: the complete fast bowler
Botham:the best all rounder i have ever seen,probably altered the course of a game with bat and ball more times than anyone in the last 30 years

Totally agree with you. Though I believe Tendulkar can also be added to must-have-been-close list. He had such an impact on Indian cricket in the 90s, that I haven't seen any player have on his team ever.

I believe Warne is the best spinner ever to have played cricket. Disagree with me, but I won't change what I believe.

 

[Mecnun]

Bradman, Sobers & Hobbs I can dig but Viv Richards & Warne? If it is impact then how about Abdul Qadir? Also Sunny Gavasker, I would say he has had a bit of an impact. Cretainly Imran & Sachin have had impacts. Lille was a fast bowler personified ..How about Wasim? A truly unique bowler.

Impact cannot be the only criteria otherwise Ali Bacher would be in there

 

[Deja moo]

Richards was absolutely awesome, but Tendulkar is a ball tamperer and does not deserve to be in such good company. Plus he is a lousy captain which indicates that he is only concerned with his own game. When it comes to team players Tendulkar is a self centered batsman that does nothing for the team.

Murali was absolutely awesome, but warne is a drug cheat and does not deserve to be in such good company.Plus he is a lousy captain which indicates that he is only concerned with his own game.When it comes to great players warne is a phone *** centered bowler that does nothing for the team.

 

[Swervy]

Totally agree with you. Though I believe Tendulkar can also be added to must-have-been-close list. He had such an impact on Indian cricket in the 90s, that I haven't seen any player have on his team ever.

I believe Warne is the best spinner ever to have played cricket. Disagree with me, but I won't change what I believe.

Tendulkar definately would be in say the top 20 of all time i would have thought

 

[Swervy]

Bradman, Sobers & Hobbs I can dig but Viv Richards & Warne? If it is impact then how about Abdul Qadir? Also Sunny Gavasker, I would say he has had a bit of an impact. Cretainly Imran & Sachin have had impacts. Lille was a fast bowler personified ..How about Wasim? A truly unique bowler.

Impact cannot be the only criteria otherwise Ali Bacher would be in there

Was Qadir as good as Warne???? NO
Was Gavaskar as good as Richards??? NO
Was Akram as good as Lillee??? NO

 

[Sudeep]

Tendulkar definately would be in say the top 20 of all time i would have thought

I reckon, in the top 10.

Actually it's difficult to name top 5 out of the whole lot, because each great player has been unique in his own way, and has contributed to cricket immensely.

I don't think I specified anywhere that impact on the country's cricket would be the criteria for this, I just said that Tendulkar made an impact on his side like no over ever has for any country, he has an exceptional achievement, that of being the God of Indian cricket. The criteria should be impact of cricket in general. And yes in that context, Wasim, Lillee, Imran, Gavaskar all deserve to be thereabouts of the top 10.

And one more thing, Warne for me is any day better than Murali. We have to keep in mind that Murali is the only strike bowler in SL, bowls 40% of their overs, and thus is bound to take more wickets than Warne, who might be bowling only 25% of Australia's overs when he is bowling. Plus, Warne has had the might of McGrath and Gillespie around him, who were as eager to pick up wickets as he.

 

[Ford_GTHO351]

197 Centuries says enough for me.

199 FC Centuries

 

[Swervy]

199 FC Centuries

i think it is a figure that has been disputed over..some people think 197 others think 199

 

[Ford_GTHO351]

i think it is a figure that has been disputed over..some people think 197 others think 199

Well what ever people think the figure is (197 or 199), his number of centuries is still

 

[Spetsnatz]

obviously everyone has their own opinions on this, but the wisden list looks pretty fair:

Bradman: the greatest run machine there has ever been and most likely there will ever be
Sobers:the greatest all rounder of all time and certainly one of the ten best batsman of all time
Hobbs:197 centuries....reputedly the greatest opening batsman of all time..and apparently better than Bradman on tricky pitches
Warne: revived the dying art of leg spin, infact revived the dying art of spin full stop.Never seen a leggie in my lifetime with as much control as he
Richards: the greatest natural batsman of at least the last 40 years

others that must have been close:
Hadlee;the greatest NZ player of all time,the best control of any pace bowler i have ever seen
Lillee: the complete fast bowler
Botham:the best all rounder i have ever seen,probably altered the course of a game with bat and ball more times than anyone in the last 30 years

I'd take Malcolm Marshall over Lillee any day. Marshall was IMO the greatest fast bowler ever.

 

[Ford_GTHO351]

I'd take Malcolm Marshall over Lillee any day. Marshall was IMO the greatest fast bowler ever.

Test Comparison
Marshall: 81 Matches, 376 wickets@ 20.94, SR: 46.7, Economy: 2.68 rpo
Lillee: 70 Matches, 355 wickets@ 23.92, SR: 52.0, Economy: 2.75 rpo

ODI Comparison
Marshall: 136 Matches, 157 wickets@ 26.96, SR: 45.7, Economy: 3.53 rpo
Lillee: 63 Matches, 103 wickets@ 20.82, SR: 34.8, Economy: 3.58 rpo

 

[PY]

Marshall for me too. But as has been said in the 'Greatest Quick' thread, they are all very close.

but Tendulkar is a ball tamperer and does not deserve to be in such good company. Plus he is a lousy captain which indicates that he is only concerned with his own game. When it comes to team players Tendulkar is a self centered batsman that does nothing for the team.

Yeah, good one mate.

I'll have an 8th of what you're smoking.

 

[tooextracool]

Bradman, Sobers & Hobbs I can dig but Viv Richards & Warne? If it is impact then how about Abdul Qadir? Also Sunny Gavasker, I would say he has had a bit of an impact. Cretainly Imran & Sachin have had impacts. Lille was a fast bowler personified ..How about Wasim? A truly unique bowler.

obviously you have never seen richards bat....

 

[marc71178]

Plus he is a lousy captain which indicates that he is only concerned with his own game.

Try telling that to Hampshire supporters - they seem to be quite happy with
him.

He certainly seems to be getting the best out of the likes of Mascarenhas (for one)

 

[marc71178]

i think it is a figure that has been disputed over..some people think 197 others think 199

But nobody suggests we split the difference and go 198?