Days of Grace
International Captain
I have summer break at my school in Japan at the moment, so I'd thought I'd once more play around with my ratings. I have not changed the formula, but instead, I have taken away the matches against "minnows" from a batsmen's/bowler's rating.
First, I defined what a minnow was. A minnow is, IMO, a team that has not yet beaten a non-minnow team in a test series of at least 3 matches. Your test status as a minnow means that you are also a minnow in ODIs, to make it simpler.
Minnows in the history of cricket:
South Africa 1889-1902
West Indies 1928-1933
New Zealand 1930-1969
India 1932-1960
Pakistan 1952-1958
Sri Lanka 1982-1985
Zimbabwe 1992-
Bangladesh 2000-
From this, I got to work. Notice the difference in ratings from the original versions and the versions where matches against minnows have been taken out of consideration:
Top 30 Test Batsmen (Original)
1 Bradman 1414
2 Hobbs 924
3 Ponting 901
4 Tendulkar 882
5 Hammond 853
6 Kallis 849
7 Sobers 845
8 Headley 843
9 Hayden 840
10 Hutton 839
11 Lara 835
12 Sutcliffe 834
13 Gavaskar 832
14 Pollock 824
15 Barrington 818
16 Mohammad Yousuf 807
17 Weekes 802
18 Dravid 798
19 Hussey 794
20 Chappell 787
21 Jackson 786
22 Walcott 786
23 S. Waugh 774
24 Richards 764
25 Javed Miandad 761
26 Inzamam-Ul-Haq 757
27 Compton 755
28 Border 754
29 Nourse 750
30 Jayawardene 738
Top 30 Test Batsmen (vs. non-minnows)
1 Bradman 1359
2 Hobbs 901
3 Ponting 884
4 Headley 867
5 Sutcliffe 855
6 Pollock 854
7 Hutton 847
8 Tendulkar 826
9 Gavaskar 822
10 Lara 820
11 Kallis 793
12 Hayden 788
13 Jackson 786
14 Chappell 786
15 Hammond 785
16 Hussey 779
17 Sobers 778
18 Javed Miandad 777
19 Barrington 776
20 Richards 764
21 Nourse 759
22 Border 753
23 Dravid 750
24 S. Waugh 736
25 Mohammad Yousuf 736
26 Boycott 718
27 Inzamam-Ul-Haq 716
28 Compton 708
29 Langer 706
30 Chanderpaul 703
Notice the amount of change within the top 10. Sobers' battering of a weak Pakistan team in the mid-1950s drastically affects his rating. Sutcliffe and Hutton's averages actually improve And Yousuf is shown up for the minnow-basher he really is. Hammond must have made merry against India in the 1930s as well.
Top 30 Test Bowlers (Original)
1 Muralitharan 1248
2 Barnes 996
3 Hadlee 926
4 Warne 914
5 McGrath 912
6 Marshall 886
7 Ambrose 859
8 Lillee 822
9 O'Reilly 817
10 Grimmett 815
11 Trueman 804
12 Imran Khan 793
13 Donald 786
14 Kumble 781
15 Davidson 780
16 Wasim Akram 769
17 Waqar Younis 766
18 Garner 764
19 Walsh 747
20 Lohmann 743
21 Blythe 731
22 Laker 720
23 S.M. Pollock 715
24 Bedser 698
25 Turner 698
26 Steyn 684
27 Wardle 678
28 Holding 677
29 Adcock 655
30 Tayfield 644
Top 30 Test Bowlers (vs. non-minnows)
1 Muralitharan 1022
2 Barnes 996
3 McGrath 910
4 Warne 905
5 Marshall 886
6 Hadlee 870
7 Lillee 823
8 Ambrose 819
9 Donald 774
10 Grimmett 767
11 Garner 764
12 Kumble 759
13 Walsh 744
14 Imran Khan 739
15 Wasim Akram 738
16 Blythe 731
17 Davidson 720
18 O'Reilly 716
19 S.M. Pollock 702
20 Trueman 699
21 Turner 698
22 Laker 691
23 Holding 677
24 Lohmann 672
25 Waqar Younis 648
26 Steyn 646
27 Lindwall 624
28 Botham 623
29 Peel 619
30 Roberts 613
So, Murali, as predicted, loses a huge amount of points. Hadlee drops behind McGrath, Warne and Marshall. Trueman is the biggest surprise. As is Walsh, who actually loses little of his overall rating
Which ratings list (original or non-minnow) is better as a judge of the greatest ever Test cricketers?
One-Day International lists to follow.
First, I defined what a minnow was. A minnow is, IMO, a team that has not yet beaten a non-minnow team in a test series of at least 3 matches. Your test status as a minnow means that you are also a minnow in ODIs, to make it simpler.
Minnows in the history of cricket:
South Africa 1889-1902
West Indies 1928-1933
New Zealand 1930-1969
India 1932-1960
Pakistan 1952-1958
Sri Lanka 1982-1985
Zimbabwe 1992-
Bangladesh 2000-
From this, I got to work. Notice the difference in ratings from the original versions and the versions where matches against minnows have been taken out of consideration:
Top 30 Test Batsmen (Original)
1 Bradman 1414
2 Hobbs 924
3 Ponting 901
4 Tendulkar 882
5 Hammond 853
6 Kallis 849
7 Sobers 845
8 Headley 843
9 Hayden 840
10 Hutton 839
11 Lara 835
12 Sutcliffe 834
13 Gavaskar 832
14 Pollock 824
15 Barrington 818
16 Mohammad Yousuf 807
17 Weekes 802
18 Dravid 798
19 Hussey 794
20 Chappell 787
21 Jackson 786
22 Walcott 786
23 S. Waugh 774
24 Richards 764
25 Javed Miandad 761
26 Inzamam-Ul-Haq 757
27 Compton 755
28 Border 754
29 Nourse 750
30 Jayawardene 738
Top 30 Test Batsmen (vs. non-minnows)
1 Bradman 1359
2 Hobbs 901
3 Ponting 884
4 Headley 867
5 Sutcliffe 855
6 Pollock 854
7 Hutton 847
8 Tendulkar 826
9 Gavaskar 822
10 Lara 820
11 Kallis 793
12 Hayden 788
13 Jackson 786
14 Chappell 786
15 Hammond 785
16 Hussey 779
17 Sobers 778
18 Javed Miandad 777
19 Barrington 776
20 Richards 764
21 Nourse 759
22 Border 753
23 Dravid 750
24 S. Waugh 736
25 Mohammad Yousuf 736
26 Boycott 718
27 Inzamam-Ul-Haq 716
28 Compton 708
29 Langer 706
30 Chanderpaul 703
Notice the amount of change within the top 10. Sobers' battering of a weak Pakistan team in the mid-1950s drastically affects his rating. Sutcliffe and Hutton's averages actually improve And Yousuf is shown up for the minnow-basher he really is. Hammond must have made merry against India in the 1930s as well.
Top 30 Test Bowlers (Original)
1 Muralitharan 1248
2 Barnes 996
3 Hadlee 926
4 Warne 914
5 McGrath 912
6 Marshall 886
7 Ambrose 859
8 Lillee 822
9 O'Reilly 817
10 Grimmett 815
11 Trueman 804
12 Imran Khan 793
13 Donald 786
14 Kumble 781
15 Davidson 780
16 Wasim Akram 769
17 Waqar Younis 766
18 Garner 764
19 Walsh 747
20 Lohmann 743
21 Blythe 731
22 Laker 720
23 S.M. Pollock 715
24 Bedser 698
25 Turner 698
26 Steyn 684
27 Wardle 678
28 Holding 677
29 Adcock 655
30 Tayfield 644
Top 30 Test Bowlers (vs. non-minnows)
1 Muralitharan 1022
2 Barnes 996
3 McGrath 910
4 Warne 905
5 Marshall 886
6 Hadlee 870
7 Lillee 823
8 Ambrose 819
9 Donald 774
10 Grimmett 767
11 Garner 764
12 Kumble 759
13 Walsh 744
14 Imran Khan 739
15 Wasim Akram 738
16 Blythe 731
17 Davidson 720
18 O'Reilly 716
19 S.M. Pollock 702
20 Trueman 699
21 Turner 698
22 Laker 691
23 Holding 677
24 Lohmann 672
25 Waqar Younis 648
26 Steyn 646
27 Lindwall 624
28 Botham 623
29 Peel 619
30 Roberts 613
So, Murali, as predicted, loses a huge amount of points. Hadlee drops behind McGrath, Warne and Marshall. Trueman is the biggest surprise. As is Walsh, who actually loses little of his overall rating
Which ratings list (original or non-minnow) is better as a judge of the greatest ever Test cricketers?
One-Day International lists to follow.