3rd Greatest Cricketer - The Poll

[Shri]

And Murali, Vaas and Jayasuriya had nothing to do with that...

Add de Silva too.

 

[honestbharani]

And Murali, Vaas and Jayasuriya had nothing to do with that...

Well.. obviously great players help but I do think Ranatunga played a big part in lifting the ambitions of the average Sri Lanka cricketer, in much the same way a Kapil or a Ganguly did for India. Can;t really show any plausible proof, it is just an observation seeing the cricketers from there before him and after him. Regardless of talent, he was the guy who made them dare to dream of being the best in the world. That surely counts for something.

 

[Migara]

Well.. obviously great players help but I do think Ranatunga played a big part in lifting the ambitions of the average Sri Lanka cricketer, in much the same way a Kapil or a Ganguly did for India. Can;t really show any plausible proof, it is just an observation seeing the cricketers from there before him and after him. Regardless of talent, he was the guy who made them dare to dream of being the best in the world. That surely counts for something.

AWTA.

Ranatunga made people believe winning is possible, not only players, spectators too. He showed that cricket is not the game of elite, but a national game, by fully supporting in outstation players like Murali, Jayasuriya, Vaas etc. Ranatunga's record in test matches is just average. But most of his runs came when SL was in thick ****. He was one of th best ODI batsmen of the era, very much underrated. Average of 35+ with SR nearly 80 in a career spanning 1982-99 and in a minnow team takes some doing. His peak was lost to civil war, 1986 - 1991 period where cricket was not played much in SL, and most of the people have not seen him in full flow. But 1992 WC where his calculated attack on Allan Donald would be enough to prove how good he was in is peak. Ranatunga surely have punched way, way above his weight in SL cricket.

 

[Shri]

Ranatunga surely have punched way, way above his weight in SL cricket.

Pun?

 

[Migara]

Pun?

Pun intended.

 

[vcs]

He was a master at working the gaps between overs 15-40 in the ODI game. Loved watching him stroll across for those singles.

 

[Sir Alex]

A master who knew how to program a chase. One of thee best finishers.

 

[angad]

Here's my list of top 'cricketers' -

1. Don Bradman
2. W.G. Grace
3. Jacques Kallis/Graeme Pollock/Gavaskar
4. Sachin/Murli/Warne/Akram/Richards/R Hadlee
5. Dravid/Imran/Ponting/Lara/Hayden/G Sobers/G Chappell
6. Waqar/McGrath/Walsh/Donald/S Pollock/Ambrose
7. Sehwag/Jayawardene/Allan Border/Ian Botham/Gilchrist
8. S Waugh/Jayasuriya/Sangakarra/J Thomson/D Lillee/J Miandad
9. Kumble/G Gooch/Kapil Dev/J Hobbs/M Yousuf
10. Inzamam/Greenidge/Vettori/Lee/Harbhajan/Laxman

 

[Migara]

Looks more like a grid.

 

[G.I.Joe]

Here's my list of top 'cricketers' -

1. Don Bradman
2. W.G. Grace
3. Jacques Kallis/Graeme Pollock/Gavaskar
4. Sachin/Murli/Warne/Akram/Richards/R Hadlee
5. Dravid/Imran/Ponting/Lara/Hayden/G Sobers/G Chappell
6. Waqar/McGrath/Walsh/Donald/S Pollock/Ambrose
7. Sehwag/Jayawardene/Allan Border/Ian Botham/Gilchrist
8. S Waugh/Jayasuriya/Sangakarra/J Thomson/D Lillee/J Miandad
9. Kumble/G Gooch/Kapil Dev/J Hobbs/M Yousuf
10. Inzamam/Greenidge/Vettori/Lee/Harbhajan/Laxman

Holy indecisiveness.

 

[honestbharani]

dunno abt you guys.. Gotta love a top 10 where you can fit in 50..



Though it does render the header "top 10" kinda irrelevant..

 

[Lillian Thomson]

dunno abt you guys.. Gotta love a top 10 where you can fit in 50..



Though it does render the header "top 10" kinda irrelevant..

Any list with Kallis at number 3 is automatically irrelevant.

 

[Anil]

Any list with Kallis at number 3 is automatically irrelevant.

just noticed that...yep that would do it...

 

[weldone]

Vettori at 10 to top it, though

 

[smash84]

Imran has a VERY strong case for this title