The Forgotten Ones

[Beleg]

You don't hear about them often but the following two players were absolute stalwarts of their respective teams. It's a pity how soon the dust seems to have settled on their careers with barely anybody even mentioning them in a sidenote while counting up the notable batsmen of the 80's and 90's. Richie Richardson is particular was an absolute dynamite and easily the second best WI batsman I have seen. (with all due respect to Chanderpaul)

Richie Richardson

http://stats.cricinfo.com/statsguru/engine/player/52810.html?class=1;template=results;type=batting

Shoaib Mohammad's batting statistics certainly don't measure up to his West Indian colleague, however, those of us who saw him live can attest to his extraordinary temprament - in a team comprising primarily of stroke-players, he was often the person playing the anchor role. He was never able to - or in the opinion of some, allowed to - settle in the team with vigorous opposition coming from the likes of Miandad, Salim Malik and several others felt that his presence in the team, at least initially, had more to do with his familial connections than pure merit. Be that it may, I will refrain from commenting on this particular issue, but one thing is for certain - Shoaib perfected the task of taking the dibbly-dobblers to the cleaners. His cover drive is second only to a young Sachin Tendulkar's in terms of absolute majesty and aesthetic beauty.

http://stats.cricinfo.com/statsguru/engine/player/42658.html?class=1;template=results;type=batting

 

[gettingbetter]

Good on you for mentioning Richie, was one of the first players that I saw when I started 'watching' cricket. In all honesty though, as sad as it is, in theory, are there any batsmen between Viv and Lara? If you know what I mean.

Other forgotten players:

Sidhu: it always worries me when some fans say that India have only produced two good openers; Gavaskar and Sehwag - the latter, highly debatable. Sidhu took apart Warne and did real well against the best bowlers of his time. I don't think I have anyone loft their drives better than he.

Damien Fleming/Paul Reiffel: I guess it is understandable as they only played 20 and 36Tests each (I thought it was more, especially in Reifell's case), and both were in between phases of Australian cricket - what it is now with the likes of Lee, McGrath, Warne and Gillespie and prior to 1994 or so. Always god to have a look through old scorecards and see their names. Correct me if I'm wrong, but they both played the 99 WC right?

Just a few I came up with now.

 

[Lillian Thomson]

It's Richie Richardson's birthday today.
I'm not sure who you have at Number 1 if he's the second best you've seen. Of those I've seen he'd be way behind Viv and Lara and maybe on a par with Kallicharran and Lloyd.

 

[Richard]

Yeah, it's incredible how little credit Richardson seems to get these days, given he was massively highly regarded in his day. Obviously, he wasn't as good as Vivian Richards or Lara. Nor was he as good as the man whose place he essentially took (there was a year and a bit between retirement and debut), Alvin Kallicherran.

But he was obviously West Indies' best batsman from shortly after his debut until Lara's emergence in Australia in 1992\93. That's not that far short of a decade.

Shoaib Mohammed meanwhile has to be one of Pakistan's best openers. Ever. Only his dad would undoubtedly be better.

Reiffel and Fleming - like Gillespie early on in his career, and like McDermott and Reid (and to a lesser extent Merv Hughes) before them - were obviously players who were stopped from having as good a careers as they clearly could have by injuries. Both far better bowlers than Brett Lee, and it'll take something fairly monumental from him to equal their achievements too. That Lee has had such a longer career than them is slightly rough justice. And without them Australia's seam-attack in the mid-1990s would have been nothing of much note - McDermott first and McGrath second were the spearheads, but if the backup had been composed of O'Donnells and Gilberts and the like, they'd have been highly unlikely to have been the best in The World.

Another who comes to my mind is Glenn Turner. Undoubtedly amongst the best openers to have played the game in the modern (post-1970) era, and possibly New Zealand's greatest ever batsman. But hardly ever gets a mention.

 

[Beleg]

I'm not sure who you have at Number 1 if he's the second best you've seen.

Lara.

 

[Lillian Thomson]

Lara.

Does this mean you didn't see Viv or you think Richardson was superior?

 

[Beleg]

I didn't see (enough of) Viv Richards.

 

[gettingbetter]

I think Richie is also another candidate for coolest cricketer.

 

[Beleg]

Yeah, he's pretty chill.

 

[Lillian Thomson]

I didn't see (enough of) Viv Richards.

Thank goodness for that, I would've had to have tracked you down and performed urgent remedial surgery.

 

[Richard]

I didn't see (enough of) Viv Richards.

You did see Richards then Yawer? Must have been really young? Like, 3 or 4 or something?

 

[Nate]

Craig McDermott.

 

[Beleg]

Richard,

Pakistan Television used to broadcast old cricket games during my childhood. They sometimes included matches in which Richards played.

 

[Beleg]

McDermott is a good choice.


Ejaz Ahmad is another one.

 

[Goughy]

If Richie Richardson is classed a s a forgotten player then Dean Jones must be as well.

Id class Jones as a far superior player and seems to be lost in the midst of the Waughs, Pontings, Borders etc.

Very good Test player and maybe (I said maybe) the best OD batsman Ive seen.

 

[Richard]

Dean Jones was the Michael Bevan of his day. Given his ODI career was mostly after Richards', he could justifiably be called the best of his time.

Certainly the man to exert more influence on one-day batting than any other. The WG Grace of one-day cricket, almost.

Astounding how little credit he gets, and for Test batting too. When I first read of him - before I'd looked at his career record, and an account which mentioned his outstanding performances at ODI and Shield level - I presumed he must have been Bevan-esque in Tests too, or maybe even worse. When I looked at his actual Test performances, I was gobsmacked.

 

[Goughy]

Given his ODI career was mostly after Richards', he could justifiably be called the best of his time.

It actually wasnt. He played 100 of his 160 odd ODIs during the career of Richards (period 84-90) and he averaged 49 with the bat during those 100.

He actually didnt perform as well during the period after Richard retired.

Out of interest (as the Jones time period gave a round 100 ODIs) what are the highest averages and run totals for a player after 100 ODIs?

 

[Goughy]

Out of interest (as the Jones time period gave a round 100 ODIs) what are the highest averages and run totals for a player after 100 ODIs?

Interesting, just checking the usual suspects.

Player, run totals and Av for their first 100 ODIs
Bevan 3346 runs @ 61.96 (1999)
Tendulkar 3146 runs @ 36.58 (1995)
Richards 4146 runs @ 55.28 (1985)
Jones 3857 runs @ 48.82 (1990)

 

[Mr Mxyzptlk]

Interesting, just checking the usual suspects.

Player, run totals and Av for their first 100 ODIs
Bevan 3346 runs @ 61.96 (1999)
Tendulkar 3146 runs @ 36.58 (1995)
Richards 4146 runs @ 55.28 (1985)
Jones 3857 runs @ 48.82 (1990)

Ramnaresh Sarwan 3407 @ 47.31 (2006)

 

[Mr Mxyzptlk]

And...

Brian Lara 3994 @ 43.89 (1996)
Chris Gayle 3853 @ 39.72 (2004)
Desmond Haynes 3607 @ 41.94 (1985)
Gordon Greenidge 4177 @ 46.93 (1988)