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Tony Greig vs Ben Stokes

Better All-rounder

  • Tong Greig

    Votes: 13 40.6%
  • Ben Stokes

    Votes: 19 59.4%

  • Total voters
    32

jcas0167

International Debutant
Wow, I hadn't appreciated Greig's all-round stats were that good. His batting record in particular given the era he played in with Lillee, Thompson, Holding and no helmets. An inspirational captain too. I remember reading Viv Richards spoke very highly of his captaincy when they played in the same side (can't remember if it was in the Packer World Series).

 
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Ashes81

State Vice-Captain
Greig was often a controversial figure and this could detract from his on the field achievements.

For my money he was very much a batting all rounder - his bowling was pretty ordinary to be honest but he could be awkward due to his height.

He was a good attacking number six, he was fearless against pace and was good against spin as well.

He was very aggressive, always on the attack as a.batsman and would never allow bowlers to tie him down.

For me Stokes is the better player although to be fair to Greig their records don't necessarily reflect that.
 

Flem274*

123/5
Interesting how much better Greig's test batting average is compared to his 1st class average (40 to 31).
maybe he was one of those dudes who started as a bowler who could bat and worked his way up?

if we had access to cricket archive we could check his domestic records.
 

Starfighter

Cricket Web: All-Time Legend
I don't think Greig's mediums would be that effective today (though Kyle Mayers is attempting to disprove that), but as far as I know his best test performances were when he bowled spin.
 

shortpitched713

International Captain
Greig looks very underrated, judging on average, purely as a batsman. From what I've watched, he looks technically excellent against pace, especially bounce due to his height.

As much as we remember the idiocy of his comments prior to the series in the West Indies, he did lead from the front, and acquitted himself well, both batting and bowling while taking the absolute most heat the Windies quicks could bring to him. Same when he started the bouncer war with Lillee and Thompson, and then scored a hundred against them. Seems the sort of talent who just needed that bit of extra "spice" to really get himself going and playing to his best, but unfortunately the remainder of the England team wasn't always ready to cash the checks he was writing.
 

ataraxia

International Coach
tbh I thought Greig was talked about in the same breath as Botham, Flintoff, and now Stokes by Poms. It's a bit odd how little his name crops up here, but yeah flash in the pan
 

shortpitched713

International Captain
tbh I thought Greig was talked about in the same breath as Botham, Flintoff, and now Stokes by Poms. It's a bit odd how little his name crops up here, but yeah flash in the pan
Yup, that's the only knock on him I think. Too bad, becasue I think he could have had an even more impressive batting record for England if he had more time.
 

shortpitched713

International Captain
So far I don't see any convincing case for Stokes.

Greig had an impressive away record with the bat.

As a bowler nothing much to separate them except Greig actually took a couple of tenfers, including one away against a good WI side.
Stokes is the current guy in. People overrated Flintoff like that too when he was around, when in reality even at his very best he might barely hold Botham's boots.
 

shortpitched713

International Captain
Botham for me is definitely the gold standard for English all-rounders though. His bowling when at his peak, was at another level.
 

jcas0167

International Debutant
Greig looks very underrated, judging on average, purely as a batsman. From what I've watched, he looks technically excellent against pace, especially bounce due to his height.

As much as we remember the idiocy of his comments prior to the series in the West Indies, he did lead from the front, and acquitted himself well, both batting and bowling while taking the absolute most heat the Windies quicks could bring to him. Same when he started the bouncer war with Lillee and Thompson, and then scored a hundred against them. Seems the sort of talent who just needed that bit of extra "spice" to really get himself going and playing to his best, but unfortunately the remainder of the England team wasn't always ready to cash the checks he was writing.
It does take an impressive level of chutzpah to start a bouncer war with Lillee and Thomson, then to back it up with a century while signaling your own boundaries.

"We needed to attack them otherwise we were just going to be fodder...and I decided also to try and stir them up a little bit."

 
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Burgey

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Botham for me is definitely the gold standard for English all-rounders though. His bowling when at his peak, was at another level.
He was incredibly tinny. TBH his bowling always looked completely innocuous, even at his peak, which it wasn't.
 

Burgey

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It does take an impressive level of chutzpah to start a bouncer war with Lillee and Thompson, then to back it up with a century while signaling your own boundaries.

"We needed to attack them otherwise we were just going to be fodder...and I decided also to try and stir them up a little bit."

How's the lift and carry Thomson is getting in the fourth innings/ day 5 on that pitch? Just no, thank you.
 

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