Who is your favourite cricketer?

[open365]

Tendulkar cause he's just awesome, Sreesanth cause he's cool, Mal Loye because he sweeps quick bowlers, Mike Hussey because he seems to like cricket more than anyone else and Flintoff for obvious reasons.

 

[steds]

Dave Mohammed

 

[aussie tragic]

Ian Chappell....

Profile

Ian Chappell fashioned an Australian team in his own image between 1971 and 1975: aggressive, resourceful and insouciant. A dauntless batsman partial to the hook and pull, he inherited the post of captain from Bill Lawry with the team at a low ebb, but others fed off his unhesitating self-belief and conviction that team goals were paramount, and he never lost a series. Some of his personal bests as a batsman, meanwhile, were in partnership with his brother Greg, notably at The Oval in August 1972, and at Wellington in March 1974. English commentator John Arlott described him as "a cricketer of effect rather than the graces", and his part in the World Series Cricket schism arose after years of disaffection with cricket officialdom.

 

[Barney Rubble]

Marcus Trescothick, because no-one realises how good he is.

 

[silentstriker]

Marcus Trescothick, because no-one realises how good he is.

Not even the opposing bowlers, when they take his wickets.

Of course, he apparently lives a very stressful life, so I suppose I can forgive him. Though I reckon the stress will automatically be magically cured come november.

 

[Barney Rubble]

Not even the opposing bowlers, when they take his wickets.

Yes. Clearly he's terrible. 5,825 Test runs is a shocking return for a man 30 years old.

Let's not get into this, it's not what the thread was for.

 

[Chubb]

Ray Price

Because he is a genuinely great bloke and a very good, underrated and unlucky bowler.

 

[Xuhaib]

Glen McGrath, he is Mr Line and Length hopefully Asif will turn out to be as good as him.

 

[silentstriker]

Yes. Clearly he's terrible. 5,825 Test runs

@43.79. Not shocking, no. But not anywhere near being 'great' either. A decent opener.

In any case, this is a thread of favorite players, not great players, so its irrelevent how good the player is. I was just responding to your comment regarding 'how good he is'.

Anyway, perhaps his stress will subside enough and he will be kind enough to grace us with his presense during the Ashes.


Also, my 2nd favorite player (after Tendulkar) is McGrath and third is Flintoff. For obvious reasons.

 

[Jungle Jumbo]

Brian Lara, as my all-time favourite (which only really covers the last ten years or so). Also Shiv Chanderpaul - I liked his name when I was younger, and being from the West Indies seemed kind of cool.

 

[silentstriker]

Becuase Flintoff was given the key to Preston and therefore has free beer whenever he goes out

Of course.

I heard he also plays cricket though, not sure about that.

 

[GIMH]

Flintoff

And Geraint

 

[pasag]

Matthew Hayden for me.

 

[BoyBrumby]

Lara is the obvious choice as a batter; there's no-one better to watch when in full-flow. Some great batsmen make it look easy (Gower, Sir Viv), but the impression Brian Charles always leaves me with is "how did he play that shot?". I think the exaggerated backlift also makes it appear he plays the ball more audaciously late than he actually does.

Bowling wise it was Waqar Younis; his late inswinging yorker was a thing by equal parts deadly & beautiful. I think a lot of people tend to talk him down because his latter career was but a pale reflection of his youthful pomp. I think at one point he'd taken 150+ test wickets @ a fraction over 18 a piece. If (God forbid) he'd been hit by a bus we might be remembering him as the best since Barnes.

Now tho, it's just Freddie.

 

[open365]

Lara is the obvious choice as a batter; there's no-one better to watch when in full-flow. Some great batsmen make it look easy (Gower, Sir Viv), but the impression Brian Charles always leaves me with is "how did he play that shot?". I think the exaggerated backlift also makes it appear he plays the ball more audaciously late than he actually does.

I would have to dis-agree with you there. I think Tedulkar is untouchable at his peak, even against Lara.

I've been watching youtube videos of him the past 3 days, and the ability he has IMO, surpasses everyone in world cricket bar Bradman.

Everything about him is incredible, he treats Brett Lee like Brett Dorey, his balance is unprecidented and his ability to straight drive any bowler is something that sets him apart IMO.

I think the definition of batting should be changed to 'The art of impersonating Sachin Ramesh tendulkar' because he has the best technique, balance, hand eye co-ordination and reflexes. I allways thought before watching him bat that people were over exagerating when they say 'that shot took my breath away' but now i know it can acctualy be true.

 

[ClownSymonds]

It used to be Clown, but now it's not, because he refused to give me his autograph. Therefore, it's a toss-up between Lara, Tendulkar, Ponting, McGrath, and Younis Khan.

 

[Loots]

In no particular order, My favourites in the modern game include....

Because they are South African

de Villiers, Pollock, Kallis, van der Wath

Because they are brilliant players

Dravid, Flintoff, McGrath, Warne, Inzamam, Harbhajan, Ponting.

Because they are good personalities

BRM Taylor, Monty, Lee

 

[silentstriker]

I would have to dis-agree with you there. I think Tedulkar is untouchable at his peak, even against Lara.

I've been watching youtube videos of him the past 3 days, and the ability he has IMO, surpasses everyone in world cricket bar Bradman.

Everything about him is incredible, he treats Brett Lee like Brett Dorey, his balance is unprecidented and his ability to straight drive any bowler is something that sets him apart IMO.

I think the definition of batting should be changed to 'The art of impersonating Sachin Ramesh tendulkar' because he has the best technique, balance, hand eye co-ordination and reflexes. I allways thought before watching him bat that people were over exagerating when they say 'that shot took my breath away' but now i know it can acctualy be true.

The reason I would put SRT over BCL (they are both in my all time team), is just that. Lara is more destructive than Sachin when in full flow, but Sachins shots are beautiful, while Laras are savage.

I don't know if that makes any sense, but thats how I see it. His balance and technique is astounding. People say Dravid has the best technique, and though he may have the best defensive technique...no one (and I mean, no one) rivals SRT for overall technique, and balance.

In the mid to late nineties, some of the shots he played almost made you want to weep (especially if you were a fan of the opposition).

Benaud in his new book agrees with this analysis as well, saying his drives (especially cover drives) during that time period could not have been executed more perfectly.

 

[Armadillo]

Taufeeq Umar...


what?

 

[superkingdave]

Dave