WG needs to be with the elite, and Ranji in the second tier
What would you think if I said yes?Did you see either of these players when they played?.
Old videos, news reels then maybe.What would you think if I said yes?
I did initially have Barry Richards with the first tier and by the time i finish this article he may end up there again, he is the one player that I struggle with the most, because talent wise he does deserve to be there, also why I would include Richards and not Pollock as much is that Richards also got to prove himself playing first class cricket all over the world and especially in WSC. He was seen along with his name sake as the best batsmen of the era, just ahead of Greg Chappell.Why doesn't Barry Richards get much mention on this forum? Surely couldn't have been many more talented batsmen than him in the annals of the game.
I tend to stick to players of the 20th century, and one reason that Syd Barnes is not in mine and most peoples all time 1st 11, is that no one has seen him even on footage and no one is even sure what he bowled. the same goes for Grace and Ranji, aditionally the level of competition those days was quite below standard and Grace's reputation and dealing with umpires doesnt help with his long term credibity. Also most of his career was pre Test Cricket, and so while he is regarded as pne of the three towers of the game and created modern batsmanship, I dont think it translates to this exercise.WG needs to be with the elite, and Ranji in the second tier
Cryonic freezing?What would you think if I said yes?
Then ignore the tiers, dont know how many historians rated Pollock higher than Headley, but sure you wouldn't find many. As one of the sourses I constantly cite, when Cricinfo made their all time selections, Headley missed the first team by one point, and Pollock was behind in order Bradman, Sobers, Tendulkar, Richards, Headley, Lara, Hammond and Chappell, and that was just the middle order batsmen. Headley carried his team on his back when the West Indies were new to test cricket and toured and dominated as few has before or after. Pollock played on much stronger teams, not saying Pollock wasn't great, I have him in the top 10 of all time of middle order batsmen, not a slight. Don't think being compared to Everton Weekes, Javed Miandad or Denis Compton is an awful thing.This thread could have gone only one way - a discussion on who comprise the second tier. I for one find it outrageous that G Pollock is in second tier, when G Headley curiously isn't!
I was seriously expecting this!I'd say India and West Indies are the best of the second tier sides atm.