Your All-time Top 5's

[King Pietersen]

Lol, had to be done tbh :P Cheers for the welcoming guys

 

[tait express123]

Top 5 Opening Batsman

1. Sir ben pellow
2. Sunil Gavaskar
3.matthew hayden
4. Hebert Sutcliffe
5. Sir Jack Hobbs

Top 5 Middle-Order Batsman

1. Sir Donald Bradman
2. Sir Vivian Richards
3. Sachin Tendulkar
4. Ricky Ponting
5. Brian Lara

Top 5 Allrounders

1. Sir ben pellow
2. Jacques Kallis
3. Imran Khan
4. Ian Botham
5. Keith Miller

Top 5 Wicketkeeper-Batsman

1. Adam Gilchrist
2. Kumar Sangakkara
3. Alan Knott
4. Alec Stewart
5. Ian Healy

Top 5 Spin Bowlers

1. Shane Warne
2. Muttiah Muralitharan
3. Anil Kumble
4. Jim Laker
5. Saqlain Mushtaq

Top 5 Pace Bowlers

1. Sir Ben Pellow
2. Glenn McGrath
3. Wasim Akram
4. Malcom Marshall
5. Sir Richard Hadlee

Top 5 Cricketers

1. Sir Ben Pellow
2. Sir Garfield Sobers
3. Shane Warne
4. Sir Vivian Richards
5. Sachin Tendulkar

 

[Lillian Thomson]

Top 5 Opening Batsman

1. Sir ben pellow
2. Sunil Gavaskar
3.matthew hayden
4. Hebert Sutcliffe
5. Sir Jack Hobbs

Top 5 Middle-Order Batsman

1. Sir Donald Bradman
2. Sir Vivian Richards
3. Sachin Tendulkar
4. Ricky Ponting
5. Brian Lara

Top 5 Allrounders

1. Sir ben pellow
2. Jacques Kallis
3. Imran Khan
4. Ian Botham
5. Keith Miller

Top 5 Wicketkeeper-Batsman

1. Adam Gilchrist
2. Kumar Sangakkara
3. Alan Knott
4. Alec Stewart
5. Ian Healy

Top 5 Spin Bowlers

1. Shane Warne
2. Muttiah Muralitharan
3. Anil Kumble
4. Jim Laker
5. Saqlain Mushtaq

Top 5 Pace Bowlers

1. Sir Ben Pellow
2. Glenn McGrath
3. Wasim Akram
4. Malcom Marshall
5. Sir Richard Hadlee

Top 5 Cricketers

1. Sir Ben Pellow
2. Sir Garfield Sobers
3. Shane Warne
4. Sir Vivian Richards
5. Sachin Tendulkar

In his prime Ben Pellow was also a top class keeper.

 

[Matt79]

I'm having a quiet chuckle that anyone should place Ian Healy in their Top 5 wicketkeepers of all time.

Top 5 Australian keepers since WW2, maybe. But even then, only just.

Disagree strongly. Healy was a champion. Important to separate Healy the player and Healy the commentator.

 

[a massive zebra]

Top 5 Opening Batsman

1. Sir Jack Hobbs
2. Sunil Gavaskar
3. Sir Len Hutton
4. Herbert Sutcliffe
5. Victor Trumper

Top 5 Middle-Order Batsman

1. Sir Donald Bradman
2. Sir Garry Sobers
3. Graeme Pollock
4. George Headley
5. Sachin Tendulkar

Top 5 Allrounders

1. Sir Garfield Sobers
2. WG Grace
3. Imran Khan
4. Keith Miller
5. Jacques Kallis

Top 5 Wicketkeepers

1. Don Tallon
2. Bob Taylor
3. Jack Blackham
4. Syed Kirmani
5. Godfrey Evans

Top 5 Spin Bowlers

1. Muttiah Muralitharan
2. Tiger O'Reilly
3. Shane Warne
4. Jim Laker
5. Wilfred Rhodes

Top 5 Pace Bowlers

1. Sydney Barnes
2. Malcom Marshall
3. Sir Richard Hadlee
4. Curtly Ambrose
5. Fred Trueman

Top 5 Cricketers

1. Sir Donald Bradman
2. Sir Garry Sobers
3. Imran Khan
4. Sydney Barnes
5. Walter Hammond

 

[weldone]

Top 5 Middle-Order Batsman

1. Don Bradman
2. Sachin Tendulkar
3. Viv Richards
4. Graeme Smith
5. Ricky Ponting

You mean Graeme Pollock, right?

 

[zaremba]

Geez Zaremba, I'm usually a huge fan of yours but I think you've packed more self-satisfied smugness into those two posts than all your others put together.

Wicketkeeping brilliance, when in comparison with other keepers, is very difficult to judge IMO. Personally I disagree with you, both in terms of your self-satisfied chuckle and your assertion that there were at least 4 better Australian glovemen than Heals since WWII. I thought he was a superb keeper against both pace and spin, durable under all conditions over a long period, and a very valuable lower order bat - hence I rated him as such.

Ah it's a fair cop Sean. It did indeed come across as a bit self-satisfied. I blame the drink!

I didn't mean to cause any real offence, and I hope I didn't.

Anyhow as I've said elsewhere I just thought Healy was over-rated. I'm the first to admit I'm not a great judge of a keeper's technical ability. His poor Ashes in 1989 always left a feeling in my mind that he wasn't the real deal and for some reason I never really shook that off even though I'll admit he improved. Anyhow I realise I'm in a tiny minority here but hey.

 

[Xuhaib]

Interesting that those players' averages all go up when you exclude the minnow. Javed particularly so.

Javid is one the most underrated test batsman for mine, yes his record againt windies is questionable but one thing to put in to context is Pakistan matches with WI during the 80's were played on very bowler friendly pitches and a lot of batsman through out in those matches. There is also a case of Miandad getting favors from home umpires again I feel thats an overblown theory, Miandad also has a pretty decent away record which shows his quality as a batsman. For me Javaid was one of the best clutch batsman in his times.

 

[Richard]

Well, Sangakkara is also a very good keeper, and Flower was pretty ok too

No he wasn't. Andy Flower was a fairly poor wicketkeeper, by all accounts. As I said earlier, I have no doubt as to the fact that he was the best batsman who ever kept wicket regularly in Tests, but his wicketkeeping did not meet the minimum standard expected of Test-class wicketkeepers, so thus he can't qualify for any list where wicketkeeping is a factor AFAIC.

And much as Sangakkara is an excellent wicketkeeper (it wasn't always that way BTW), he started his career with the gloves, then gave them up, then took them back, then gave them up again, then took them back again, and has now given them up again.

Such a player cannot, to my mind, be considered for a list of wicketkeeper-batsmen. Me, I just wish Sangakkara had never taken the gloves at all, because it'd be very interesting to see if he might've been an even better batsman in that eventuality than he's ended-up being so far. Though to my mind that's relatively unlikely.

 

[Richard]

Hayden suxorz? Only Tendulkar, Lara, Ponting, Kallis and Dravid are better then him from the modern era and even then, Kallis and Dravid are debatable.

CW Elders can say what they want. Completely dominated the last forum I was on.

You don't need to be an elder to spot Hayden's inferiority to, well, anything really. He'd not have been a Test-class batsman at almost any time before 2001/02 - and wasn't. The idea he's one of the best ever, at anything, is utterly laughable.

 

[Manee]

Completely dominated the last forum I was on.

Oh seriously, that is just not true. You were arrogant and seemed to gloss over pretty much every point I made...it is a shame that you got banned as I did attempt to reverse such a decision. It was fun arguing with you but to say you dominated would be bollocks.

 

[archie mac]

Ah it's a fair cop Sean. It did indeed come across as a bit self-satisfied. I blame the drink!

I didn't mean to cause any real offence, and I hope I didn't.

Anyhow as I've said elsewhere I just thought Healy was over-rated. I'm the first to admit I'm not a great judge of a keeper's technical ability. His poor Ashes in 1989 always left a feeling in my mind that he wasn't the real deal and for some reason I never really shook that off even though I'll admit he improved. Anyhow I realise I'm in a tiny minority here but hey.

Early he had poor footwork but he worked hard and was a fine keeper for a long period, he once went two years without missing a chance in Test cricket

 

[zaremba]

he once went two years without missing a chance in Test cricket

I never knew that. Quite impressive! Mind you I never missed a chance in Test cricket either.

 

[Michaelf7777777]

Top 5 Openners

1. Jack Hobbs
2. Sunil Gavaskar
3. Arthur Morris
4. Sid Barnes
5. W. G. Grace

Top 5 Middle Order Batsman

1. Don Bradman
2. Viv Richards
3. Garry Sobers
4. Graeme Pollock
5. Steve Waugh

Top 5 All Rounders

1. Keith Miller
2. Garry Sobers
3. W. G. Grace
4. Imran Khan
5. Jaques Kallis

Top 5 Wicketkeeper-Batsman

1. Adam Gilchrist
2. Kumar Sangakarra
3. Andy Flower
4. Les Ames
5.John Waite

Top 5 Wicketkeepers (Keeping ability only)

1. Don Tallon
2. Jack Blackham
3. Godfrey Evans
4. George Duckworth
5. Ken James

Top 5 Fast Bowlers

1. Malcolm Marshall
2. Richard Hadlee
3. Ray Lindwall
4. Alan Davidson
5. Denis Lillee

Top 5 Spinners

1= Bill O'Reilly
1= Clarrie Grimmett
1= Shane Warne
4. Mutiah Muralitharin
5. Richie Benaud

Top 5 Cricketers

1. Don Bradman
2. Keith Miller
3. Garry Sobers
4. Viv Richards
5. Richard Hadlee

 

[archie mac]

I never knew that. Quite impressive! Mind you I never missed a chance in Test cricket either.

 

[archie mac]

Top 5 Openners

1. Jack Hobbs
2. Sunil Gavaskar
3. Arthur Morris
4. Sid Barnes
5. W. G. Grace

Top 5 Middle Order Batsman

1. Don Bradman
2. Viv Richards
3. Garry Sobers
4. Graeme Pollock
5. Steve Waugh

Top 5 All Rounders

1. Keith Miller
2. Garry Sobers
3. W. G. Grace
4. Imran Khan
5. Jaques Kallis

Top 5 Wicketkeeper-Batsman

1. Adam Gilchrist
2. Kumar Sangakarra
3. Andy Flower
4. Les Ames
5.John Waite

Top 5 Wicketkeepers (Keeping ability only)

1. Don Tallon
2. Jack Blackham
3. Godfrey Evans
4. George Duckworth
5. Ken James

Top 5 Fast Bowlers

1. Malcolm Marshall
2. Richard Hadlee
3. Ray Lindwall
4. Alan Davidson
5. Denis Lillee

Top 5 Spinners

1= Bill O'Reilly
1= Clarrie Grimmett
1= Shane Warne
4. Mutiah Muralitharin
5. Richie Benaud

Top 5 Cricketers

1. Don Bradman
2. Keith Miller
3. Garry Sobers
4. Viv Richards
5. Richard Hadlee

Why James? I only know he kept for NZ in the 30s (I think), what about Keith Andrew?

 

[Richard]

I actually thought seriously about Keith Andrew but decided that in the end I don't, currently, know quite enough about him.

All those I've heard write about him do so in the same tone though. But compared to my reading on the likes of Tallon and Taylor, it's negligable.

 

[archie mac]

I actually thought seriously about Keith Andrew but decided that in the end I don't, currently, know quite enough about him.

All those I've heard write about him do so in the same tone though. But compared to my reading on the likes of Tallon and Taylor, it's negligable.

Stephen Chalke wrote a bio of him (we have a review up on the site) it is very good, and well worth a read

 

[wfdu_ben91]

You don't need to be an elder to spot Hayden's inferiority to, well, anything really. He'd not have been a Test-class batsman at almost any time before 2001/02 - and wasn't. The idea he's one of the best ever, at anything, is utterly laughable.

Hayden's was always top class and was extremely hard done by in the 1990's. Only playing against the West Indies in Australia and South Africa in South Africa and outperformed Mark Taylor, who was already well set at International level.

He struggled to find his feet in South Africa in his earlier days but 2002 in South Africa proved that once he was well established at Test level and the pressure was off his back that he could play any conditions with ease.

Steve Waugh's testiment of Hayden dominating Donald, Ntini, Kallis & Nel on a hard Johnnasburg pitch (in 2002) and even going as far as to say that it was embarrassing to bat with Hayden, because Hayden was so good, speaks for itself. Especially coming from such a great figure like Steve Waugh. I mean, Waugh, Langer or Ponting would probably know better then anyone else.

Open your eyes mate, if anything it "utterly laughable" then it's your assessment that Hayden can't be considered one of the best openers of all-time. He may not be the best, but he is definately right up there.

 

[Trumpers_Ghost]

I'll give this a go, although I wont comment or include any players I haven't seen play as I think that is just stupid. To rate a player on reading others opinions would be akin to thinking that all posters on this forum have the same opinions on modern players. Its just not true and smacks of romantasism.

So here goes (for players I've seen play only):

Opening Batsman

Hayden
Grenidge
Haynes
Langer
Sehwag

Middle order Batsman

Viv Richards
Lara
Tendulkar
Ponting
Miandad

Allrounders

Imran
Botham
Flintoff
Kapil Dev
Kallis

Wickies

Gilly
Healy
Sanga
Dujon
Dhoni

Fast-bowlers

Akram
Ambrose
McGrath
Marshall
Hadlee

Spinners

Warne
Murali
Harbajan
Qadir
Saqlain

and because fielding never gets due recognition

outfielders

Harper
Symonds
Ponting
Rhodes
De Villiers
(wish i hadda seen viv in the 70s)

Slips Fielders

M.Waugh
De Villiers
Taylor
Flemming
Ponting