Wisden 2000 - Cricketers of the Century
Ian Diddams
>Who do you reckon they'll select? My money is on
>
>Richards (The best player I've ever seen play)
Which one?
>Botham (Most public impact of any recent cricketer)
Hmmm... Moot point. I'm sure Kapil Dev would equally lay claim to such a
stake.. Or even Shane Warne who has probably (WADR to Abdul Qadir) done
more
to resurrect leg-spin as not only a test winning weapon, but as even an
option, than any other single person. By the late seventies leg-spin was
virtually dead as a test art.
Golden Era players? Plemnty to choose from - Frank Woolley who some 60+
years
after his career ended still 9IIRC) heold the record for catches (and yes I
understand this isn;t purely a statistical competition) and was a very fine
allround player. LEG Ames, arguably the finest of all the mavellous string
of
Kent wicketkeeper/batsmen, so good he was ofdten picked for England on his
batting alone.
Then the players that raised skills almost to an art form, to levels
previously only dreamed of. Bradman, yes, but what of the bowlers - Holding
(in this modern era) or Andy Roberts, or Lindwall. Or courageous players -
Sir Richard Hadlee who (WADR) almost single handedly carried a Kiwi test
team's bowling attack for a decade, or Titmus who continued to carve out a
test career after a terrible accident that would have left many men almost
house bound.
Or the captains that shone - either through tactical genius (Brearley?) or
sheer bloody mindedness and took their men with them (Ian Chappell) and
wouldn't lie down. Or even the likes of Jardine who whilst unpopular, was
nevertheless a determined (if warped?) genius, and no slouch with the bat
either.
And endless list.
A Thankless task.
Didds
Bruce Walton
<di...@MailAndNews.com> writes
>>===== Original Message From Bruce Walton <br...@adamant.demon.co.uk> =====
>
>>Who do you reckon they'll select? My money is on
>>
>>Richards (The best player I've ever seen play)
>
>Which one?
Viv Richards was who I had in mind; I never saw Barry play.
>
>>Botham (Most public impact of any recent cricketer)
>
>Hmmm... Moot point. I'm sure Kapil Dev would equally lay claim to such a
>stake.. Or even Shane Warne who has probably (WADR to Abdul Qadir) done
>more
>to resurrect leg-spin as not only a test winning weapon, but as even an
>option, than any other single person. By the late seventies leg-spin was
>virtually dead as a test art.
Yes, I agree Warne is a candidate (one of the very few from current
players); he was on the short list of 49, but so were two other great
Aussie leg-spinners (O'Reilly and Grimmett).
>
>Golden Era players? Plemnty to choose from - Frank Woolley who some 60+
>years
>after his career ended still 9IIRC) heold the record for catches (and yes I
>understand this isn;t purely a statistical competition) and was a very fine
>allround player.
Woolley was on the shortlist too. They seem to have taken account of
fielding prowess - Colin Bland made it on, mainly I think on the
strength of his fielding.
>LEG Ames, arguably the finest of all the mavellous string
>of
>Kent wicketkeeper/batsmen, so good he was ofdten picked for England on his
>batting alone.
Amazingly, only one wicketkeeper (Godfrey Evans) made it onto the
shortlist.
How about Alan Knott (hurrah for the Men of Kent!)?
[Snip]
>
>Or the captains that shone - either through tactical genius (Brearley?) or
>sheer bloody mindedness and took their men with them (Ian Chappell) and
>wouldn't lie down. Or even the likes of Jardine who whilst unpopular, was
>nevertheless a determined (if warped?) genius, and no slouch with the bat
>either.
I think it'd be a bit odd to select Brearley, given that he never proved
himself as a test-class batsman. Chappell, Yes (or Border, in the same
mould). I think choosing Jardine would be politically incorrect :)
--
Bruce Walton
Colin Kynoch
Bruce Walton wrote:
> In article <3903...@MailAndNews.com>, Ian Diddams
> <di...@MailAndNews.com> writes
> >>===== Original Message From Bruce Walton <br...@adamant.demon.co.uk> =====
> >
> >>Who do you reckon they'll select? My money is on
> >>
> >>Richards (The best player I've ever seen play)
> >
> >Which one?
>
> Viv Richards was who I had in mind; I never saw Barry play.
The unfortunate shortness of Barry Richards career should rule him out.
> >
> >>Botham (Most public impact of any recent cricketer)
> >
> >Hmmm... Moot point. I'm sure Kapil Dev would equally lay claim to such a
> >stake.. Or even Shane Warne who has probably (WADR to Abdul Qadir) done
> >more
> >to resurrect leg-spin as not only a test winning weapon, but as even an
> >option, than any other single person. By the late seventies leg-spin was
> >virtually dead as a test art.
>
> Yes, I agree Warne is a candidate (one of the very few from current
> players); he was on the short list of 49, but so were two other great
> Aussie leg-spinners (O'Reilly and Grimmett).
While both O'Reilly and Grimmett were great spinners they certainly plied their
craft in conditions far more conducive to their art than Warne. Also Warne has
revived a almost lost art, almost to a point that a team without a leggie is at
a disadvantage.
> >
> >Golden Era players? Plemnty to choose from - Frank Woolley who some 60+
> >years
> >after his career ended still 9IIRC) heold the record for catches (and yes I
> >understand this isn;t purely a statistical competition) and was a very fine
> >allround player.
>
> Woolley was on the shortlist too. They seem to have taken account of
> fielding prowess - Colin Bland made it on, mainly I think on the
> strength of his fielding.
>
> >LEG Ames, arguably the finest of all the mavellous string
> >of
> >Kent wicketkeeper/batsmen, so good he was ofdten picked for England on his
> >batting alone.
>
> Amazingly, only one wicketkeeper (Godfrey Evans) made it onto the
> shortlist.
>
> How about Alan Knott (hurrah for the Men of Kent!)?
or Rod Marsh, Ian Healy or Jeff Dujon, all great keepers to great bowlers.
> [Snip]
>
> >
> >Or the captains that shone - either through tactical genius (Brearley?) or
> >sheer bloody mindedness and took their men with them (Ian Chappell) and
> >wouldn't lie down. Or even the likes of Jardine who whilst unpopular, was
> >nevertheless a determined (if warped?) genius, and no slouch with the bat
> >either.
>
> I think it'd be a bit odd to select Brearley, given that he never proved
> himself as a test-class batsman. Chappell, Yes (or Border,
Captain Grumpy, I'd much prefer Mark Taylor over Border.
> in the same
> mould). I think choosing Jardine would be politically incorrect :)
>
> --
> Bruce Walton
Colin Kynoch