Who is England's greatest cricketer?

[Fuller Pilch]

The majority of cricket fans would agree on the greatest cricketer from most test nations (Bradman - Aus, Sachin - India, Kallis - SA, Imran - Pakistan, Hadlee - NZ, Murali - SL, Sobers - WI, Shakib - Bang, Flower - Zim... etc) but who is England's greatest?

 

[cricketsavant]

Beefy for my money but let's not forget the paths that Hutton, Hobbs and Hammond trod in a previous era, in a previous time.

Dunno if Stokes should be on there just yet.

 

[Red]

Either Grace or Hobbs imo.

If the question is "greatest cricketer" there's no doubt it's Grace. If it's test cricket specific, it's Hobbs.

 

[Red]

I think Hutton was the greatest opener ever, but I also think Hobbs was the greater cricketer.

 

[Pothas]

For all cricket it has to be Grace followed by Hobbs.

 

[TheJediBrah]

Vikram Solanki

 

[Red_Ink_Squid]

Voted Grace. Transcendent in accomplishment and legacy.

I think 2nd greatest is trickier, not sure who I'd pick for that.

 

[h_hurricane]

The majority of cricket fans would agree on the greatest cricketer from most test nations (Bradman - Aus, Sachin - India, Kallis - SA, Imran - Pakistan, Hadlee - NZ, Murali - SL, Sobers - WI, Shakib - Bang, Flower - Zim... etc) but who is England's greatest?

Sachin being the greatest Indian cricketer is not written in stone. Gavaskar and Kapil right up there as well.

On topic, I would go with Hobbs. The master indeed.

 

[honestbharani]

I suppose Hobbs is the popular choice but personally I feel Wally Hammond is the best, given the little we can actually judge them by.

 

[Line and Length]

I'm amazed that WG features so strongly in the voting. It's like voting on the best car ever and picking a Model T Ford ahead of a Ferrari.

 

[h_hurricane]

I suppose Hobbs is the popular choice but personally I feel Wally Hammond is the best, given the little we can actually judge them by.

Yep, Hammond was immense too. His average was over 61 before WWII. If he hadn't come back after the war when he was 43, it would have been the second best average of all time(for players with any decent sample size), above the likes of Pollock and Headley.

One remarkable aspect about Hobbs's batting was that he was averaging well over 50 after turning 40.

 

[ataraxia]

I'm amazed that WG features so strongly in the voting. It's like voting on the best car ever and picking a Model T Ford ahead of a Ferrari.

greatest ≠ best

 

[Line and Length]

greatest ≠ best

Fair call. I guess WG and the Model T had the greatest impact on their respective areas.

 

[ImpatientLime]

grace

the delta between him and his contemporaries was bradmanesque

there were some pretty good numbers run on it in a thread on this forum. hopefully someone else remembers the exact thread.

 

[Dan]

Jack Leach obvs

 

[Howe_zat]

@a massive zebra to come in and post peak Grace achievements hopefully

 

[Pap Finn Keighl]

Sachin being the greatest Indian cricketer is not written in stone. Gavaskar and Kapil right up there as well.

On topic, I would go with Hobbs. The master indeed.

Same can be said about
Imran vs Akram, Kallis vs Steyn vs Donald vs Procter Vs G.Pollock vs S.Pollock and Murali vs Sanga

On Topic
Voted for W.G
Greatest Test cricketer - Sydney Barnes

 

[Pap Finn Keighl]

Yep, Hammond was immense too. His average was over 61 before WWII. If he hadn't come back after the war when he was 43, it would have been the second best average of all time(for players with any decent sample size), above the likes of Pollock and Headley.

One remarkable aspect about Hobbs's batting was that he was averaging well over 50 after turning 40.

+ bowling

 

[Pap Finn Keighl]

grace

the delta between him and his contemporaries was bradmanesque

there were some pretty good numbers run on it in a thread on this forum. hopefully someone else remembers the exact thread.

Bradmaneseque with bat + close to 3000 wickets

 

[trundler]

@a massive zebra to come in and post peak Grace achievements hopefully

The correct way of summoning him is to to say Grace was past it by 1895. Shrewsbury and then Ranji were comparably good.