Hardest ever player

[G.I.Joe]

Sreesanth.

To be fair to him, there's a difference between crying from the physical impact, and crying because you wouldn't expect a team mate to slap you.

 

[Sir Alex]

Roger Federer wailed like a woman when he lost a title but yet does not diminish his aura one bit. Aggression on field is what counts and not off it. Not in words but in action.

 

[L Trumper]

Bob Blair and Bert Sutcliffe spring to mind in that game against South Africa.

Part of NZ folklore and deservedly so.

Len Hutton changed his style due to the arm injury during war (I heard his left arm was like 3 inches shorter) still became the best player in the world for a decade.

Alfred Mynn is also notable but he is regarded as the best before grace rather than hard player. There were so many players before helmet era though especially those who injured during the wars and still continued playing, and others who injured on the pitch and still played.

 

[BoyBrumby]

Roger Federer wailed like a woman when he lost a title but yet does not diminish his aura one bit.

Thought he behaved like a soft ****, myself. Went down in my estimation. Totally rained on Rafa's parade.

 

[Top_Cat]

Viv, surely. Heard some hilarious stories about Gordon Greenidge's stint at Adelaide, mostly about how MAWI he is.

 

[Streetwise]

Agree with Justin Lamger he was one very tough nut.

 

[Zinzan]

Not saying he's the 'hardest', but was impressed with Ponting's 'toughness' in the recent Ashes series

 

[Goughy]

I know he has already been mentioned but its hard to go past Willey. Holding rated him as the most difficult batsman he bowled at.

 

[Son Of Coco]

Heard he was delirious for much of it personally - just batting almost completely on instinct. Think the Border "get a QLDer out here" comment came early on, on about 60 or so - he later said, thankfully, that he repented the comment as he didn't realise how ill Jones was. But it annoyed Jones enough that he put himself through the wringer.

Think it happened quite differently myself, have never heard mention that he was delirious for much of it, he did get dehydrated though and was throwing up a lot. Stand to reason he might have become a little delirious as the innings went on.

Don't recall ever hearing Border 'repented the comment' (although I'm a little confused as to what this actually means), although he did say he had no idea how sick Jones was at the time.

 

[SJS]

Watch THIS video. It is the only genuinely scary over I can think of where the very watching of it is painful.

For me the most amazing aspect of this video is not the terrific speed and those vicious bouncers of Holding but the absolutely amazing attitude of brian Close.

delivery after delivery seems to be the one that could actually have killed him and delivery after delivery he moves right behind the line of the ball and let the ball come straight at his face before moving his head out of the way at the last fraction of a minute. Of course that is the best way to play the fast bouncer but it is also the most dangerous and one has seen batsman considered to be of much greater pedigree than Close who have shown clear distaste and, one dare say, fear, of the dangerous attack and taken a step backwards away from the line.

Absolutely stunning.

watch this and then vote here

 

[vcs]

Watch THIS video. It is the only genuinely scary over I can think of where the very watching of it is painful.

For me the most amazing aspect of this video is not the terrific speed and those vicious bouncers of Holding but the absolutely amazing attitude of brian Close.

delivery after delivery seems to be the one that could actually have killed him and delivery after delivery he moves right behind the line of the ball and let the ball come straight at his face before moving his head out of the way at the last fraction of a minute. Of course that is the best way to play the fast bouncer but it is also the most dangerous and one has seen batsman considered to be of much greater pedigree than Close who have shown clear distaste and, one dare say, fear, of the dangerous attack and taken a step backwards away from the line.

Absolutely stunning.

watch this and then vote here

SJS - Yeah, I saw that footage in the other video you linked, Pace like Fire and I was almost scared as I watched it. Holding's action is just amazing and the background music is so appropriate. Also Lillee and Thomson's bowling in this clip.

 

[SJS]

SJS - Yeah, I saw that footage in the other video you linked, Pace like Fire and I was almost scared as I watched it. Holding's action is just amazing and the background music is so appropriate. Also Lillee and Thomson's bowling in this clip.

Yes That's the one (the one you have posted) which I was looking for but couldn't find. Holding was a magnificent bowler. People who have not seen him have no idea how devastating his bowling looked with his silken, silent run up and terrific smooth but very quick delivery action and the unerring accuracy for both bouncers and yorkers.

 

[Dissector]

A nice article on this topic focussing mainly on Indian cricket. One of the commenters mentions Tendulkar in 1989 being hit by a Waqar bouncer and playing on to hit a crucial fifty; all the more magnificent because he was just 16.

 

[fredfertang]

Ian Botham's first matchwinning innings, when he was 18, only happened after Andy Roberts knocked some of his teeth out - easily explained when you look at how he learnt his craft - the Old Bald Blighter was his skipper at the time

 

[zaremba]

Ian Botham's first matchwinning innings, when he was 18, only happened after Andy Roberts knocked some of his teeth out - easily explained when you look at how he learnt his craft - the Old Bald Blighter was his skipper at the time

As I read the last post about Sachin / Waqar I immediately thought of this - but Biscuit Barrel beat me to it

 

[Richard]

Ian Botham's first matchwinning innings, when he was 18, only happened after Andy Roberts knocked some of his teeth out - easily explained when you look at how he learnt his craft - the Old Bald Blighter was his skipper at the time

Heard about that before I'd heard about teeth reconstruction - deliberately made a point of concentrating hard on Botham's mouth next time I saw him open it and was shocked to see a full set.

 

[Richard]

Think it happened quite differently myself, have never heard mention that he was delirious for much of it, he did get dehydrated though and was throwing up a lot. Stand to reason he might have become a little delirious as the innings went on.

Think he was properly ill for much of it - the main reason why it's considered such an astonishing, remarkable, unlikely innings.

Think the last time I heard Deano mention it was about 2 days ago though, so I'm probably a bit off-the-boil.

Don't recall ever hearing Border 'repented the comment' (although I'm a little confused as to what this actually means), although he did say he had no idea how sick Jones was at the time.

I can't remember where I read it, but I'm sure I once read Border walked in on Jones in hospital on a saline drip that evening and said something along the lines of "oh, ****, wtf was I doing saying that?"

 

[Son Of Coco]

Watch THIS video. It is the only genuinely scary over I can think of where the very watching of it is painful.

For me the most amazing aspect of this video is not the terrific speed and those vicious bouncers of Holding but the absolutely amazing attitude of brian Close.

delivery after delivery seems to be the one that could actually have killed him and delivery after delivery he moves right behind the line of the ball and let the ball come straight at his face before moving his head out of the way at the last fraction of a minute. Of course that is the best way to play the fast bouncer but it is also the most dangerous and one has seen batsman considered to be of much greater pedigree than Close who have shown clear distaste and, one dare say, fear, of the dangerous attack and taken a step backwards away from the line.

Absolutely stunning.

watch this and then vote here

He was lucky not to have been killed on the first (or second?) delivery shown, only just got his head out of the way. If he hadn't Tony Grieg might've regretted his 'grovel' comment even moreso.

 

[SJS]

He was lucky not to have been killed on the first (or second?) delivery shown, only just got his head out of the way. If he hadn't Tony Grieg might've regretted his 'grovel' comment even moreso.

It wasn't the first time Close was facing a barage from a fast bowler and he NEVER got out of the way.

To say that he "only just" got his head out of the way, is to miss the point. Firstly, it is the best way to leave the bouncer-to see where it is coming and then get out of the way. Otherwise you duck like, say Yuvraj, and find the ball was going where you took your head anyway.

I do not know if you watched Gavaskar batting. He was a master at it. He would just sway slightly out of the way at the very last moment and allow the ball to p[ass inches from his face and he faced real fast bowlers and opened the innings and almost never got hit.

Of course there is a difference between Gavaskar and Close in class and that is why we say Close is the "toughest" nut to crack. Inspite of his limitations as a batsman he went right behind the ball, as the greatest players of fast bowling would, and then tried getting out of the way. He did not always manage to succeed and has had some fearsome blows in his long career but then that is what we are discussing, right ?

Ha appropriately called his autobiography "I Don't Bruise Easily" and of course he meant he did not get mentally bruised from the blows he took on his body both at the batting crease and at a very short leg where he stood so bravely for so long.

I am sure I have a picture in a book somewhere of his bruises from one such encounter. If I find it I will post it. Its really something.

 

[Goughy]

The Close /Holding incident shows changes in technique. I have no doubt, that today, players would be looking to hook (for reasons other than the helmet). However, it was not possible for Close to hook.

Brought up on uncovered, seaming wickets, Close played the ball far later than modern batsmen. However, Holding was too quick to hook with that technique .

Look how late he lifts the bat. He waits for the ball to be bowled before moving. Great on difficult seaming tracks. Dangerous and potentially deadly against short quick bowling.