Who do you currently regard as the 3 greatest Australian cricket players ever and why

[SJS]

These exercises are always tough on old-timers like Gregory though.

Not just Gregory, one could name quite a few.
Trumper, Spofforth, Blackham for a start

 

[MrIncredible]

take out barry richards and fred truman and bring in allan donald and walter hammond, please

Wait did i leave Donald out?? WTH I assure u that was a typo. Much apologies DOnald

RSA: Donald, G Pollock, Kallis.

As for Trueman well its a toss up between him and Trueman but i tend to rate great bowlers over great batsmen and England have loads of batsmen comparable to Hammond (Hobbs, Sutcliffe, Barrington, Hutton, Compton) but Trueman stands heads and shoulders above ne other English pacer ( i dont consider Barnes a pacer btw).

 

[SJS]

[B]England[/B] 	Hobbs       	Barnes      	Hammond
[B]Windies[/B]     	Headley     	Sobers      	Worrell
[B]India[/B]         	Tendulkar	Kapil         	Gavaskar
[B]Pakistan[/B]	Hanif         	Imran        	Akram
[B]SAfrica[/B]      	Pollock      	Nourse AD	Faulkner
[B]New Zealand[/B]	Sutcliffe	Hadlee      	Crowe
[B]Sri Lanka[/B]	Muralitharan	Aravinda	Jayasuriya
[B]Zimbabwe[/B]	Flower A	Streak       	Taibu

NOTES :

1. Worrell for his batting as well as his captaincy at a crucial juncture for West Indies.
2. Taibu for his brave attempt to keep the Zimbabwe cricket's flag flying in the most desperate of times and with himself not much more than a schoolboy.

 

[Son Of Coco]

Bradman: Because his record speaks for itself. You don't average that much over such a long period without being extremely talented.
Warne: I could sit down and watch Warne bowl all day long. I know a lot of people talk up the bowlers from the past, but he is the best I've ever seen and I'd be very surprised if there was an Australian spin bowler better ever.
McGrath: Was so so good for so long. Brilliant control, brilliant cricketing brain, and a brilliant bowler.

 

[bagapath]

hobbs - hammond - botham
imran - miandad - akram
gavaskar - kapil - sachin
bradman - miller - gilchrist
sobers - richards - marshall
aravinda - jayasuriya - murali
hadlee - crowe - chris cairns
faulkner - g.pollock - donald
houghton - a.flower - streak

 

[The Sean]

As for Trueman well its a toss up between him and Trueman

I can see why you picked Trueman then.

 

[The Sean]

I'll cheat a bit here, given that the top two for Australia are unquestionably:

1. D. Bradman
2. D. Aylight

I'll pick the next three:

1. Shane Warne
2. Keith Miller
3. Glenn McGrath

Lillee, Trumper, Gilchrist, Chappell G, O'Reilly and a host of others all worthy of a mention.

 

[The Sean]

As for the rest of the cricketing world:

ENG: Grace, Hobbs, Barnes
SA: Faulkner, G Pollock, Donald
WI: Sobers, Richards, Marshall
NZL: Hadlee, M Crowe, Reid
IND: Tendulkar, Gavaskar, Kapil Dev
PAK: Imran, Wasim, Javed
SL: Muralitharan, Sangakkara, Aravinda
ZIM: A Flower, Streak, Taibu

 

[a massive zebra]

Bradman
Miller - Arguably the only Australian to have had the ability to make it at test level both as a batsman and a bowler, certainly their most complete allrounder.
O'Reilly - much better control and consistency than Warne or Grimmett and much better record against the best teams of their time.

 

[SJS]

Bradman
Miller - Arguably the only Australian to have had the ability to make it at test level both as a batsman and a bowler, certainly their most complete allrounder.
O'Reilly - much better control and consistency than Warne or Grimmett and much better record against the best teams of their time.

I think it is perfectly all right to consider him better than the other two after all no less a person than the Great Sir Donald considered him the greatest bowler of all time but I am curious to know how you came to the conclusion that he had "much better control and consistency than Grimmett"

 

[zaremba]

I can see why you picked Trueman then.

 

[MrIncredible]

I can see why you picked Trueman then.

Whoops i meant its a toss up between trueman and Hammond

 

[Jakester1288]

Sir Donald Bradman and Shane Warne are the 2 best cricketers. It would be a toss up for 3rd position because several players arguably deserve to be there.

Yep, I agree with this.

McGrath, Miller or Gilchrist would be my next choice.

 

[morgieb]

Bradman - pretty obivous why, best batsman
Warne - best spinner of all time, IMO
3rd one, IMO Miller, Lillie, McGrath & G Chappell all have claims to this. I'll be contreverisal and go Lillie.

 

[bagapath]

Bradman - pretty obivous why, best batsman
Warne - best spinner of all time, IMO
3rd one, IMO Miller, Lillie, McGrath & G Chappell all have claims to this. I'll be contreverisal and go Lillie.

i dont see anything controversial here. lillee has a very legit claim to be equal to/better than the other names you've mentioned. if you go by the wisden rankings from 2000 when some eminent names sat together to pick the top 5 cricketers of the 20th century, bradman, warne and lillee is the most accepted order among cricket experts.

 

[jeevan]

That requires a long reply. I will come back and do it I promise

I must stress, however, its a tough choice and my preference for O'Reilly is personal although I will, as promised try to answer your specific query. I must confess, I am slightly biased in favour of conventional spinners (read those who flight the ball and generally bowl at a "spinner's speed") rather than those who bowl close to the speed of medium pacers like O'Reilly and Kumble.

Err, a "slight" slip there. You preference is for Grimmett, is it not.

 

[Trumpers_Ghost]

Vic Trumper - The archetype of modern batting technique and entertainer
Don Bradman - The superstar
Shane Warne - The matchwinner

would be happy with Miller, Lillee or Border

 

[nightprowler10]

Bradman - obvious
Miller - won two battle of the Australians
McGrath - a captain's dream

 

[SJS]

Err, a "slight" slip there. You preference is for Grimmett, is it not.

Yes you are right. It is a slip Thanks for pointing out.

 

[PhoenixFire]

Bradman - Duh.
Miller - The best all-rounder ever IMO, should be enough.
McGrath - One of the best fast bowlers ever, has an amazing average for someone who bowled in an era of such flat pitches.