Battle of Cricketers - CW's Favorite Cricketer

[G.I.Joe]

Agree with your overall sentiment that Matt is making a stretch, but if you went to an Indian cricket fan and said "who do you like better, Warne or Wasim", I reckon Warne would be the answer for the majority.

I cbf to conduct a survey. How did the Indians on CW vote?

 

[Jono]

To be fair, I'm not referring to CW. I'm referring to all Indian fans, so if you and Fusion are referring to the CW Indian demographic, that's another story.

But all I remember is the fans going absolutely nuts when Warne used to be at the boundary. And his IPL exploits would have gone a long way to making him even more popular among the casual Indian fan.

 

[G.I.Joe]

Wasim is tremendously popular, I do not doubt that. But we're talking a hell of a lot of fans here, including many younger ones.

Warne's character and image is HUGE in India. Same with Brett Lee and Gilly as well.

I'd say Warne would be the most popular non-Indian player in India in recent times.

Nah. I don't know whether it has to do with Warne's inability to do well against India, or his persona or personal life, but Warne is definitely not as popular as Wasim (the Pakistani at that) is in India.

 

[Zinzan]

Always loved Viv, but not as much as Flower ! - A true Gem

 

[Jono]

Nah. I don't know whether it has to do with Warne's inability to do well against India, or his persona or personal life, but Warne is definitely not as popular as Wasim (the Pakistani at that) is in India.

I'll take your word for it. You're there, I'm not.

Still can't believe for a second that Warne isn't popular/liked in India though.

 

[G.I.Joe]

To be fair, I'm not referring to CW. I'm referring to all Indian fans, so if you and Fusion are referring to the CW Indian demographic, that's another story.

But all I remember is the fans going absolutely nuts when Warne used to be at the boundary. And his IPL exploits would have gone a long way to making him even more popular among the casual Indian fan.

Well, the Indians didn't go nuts when Wasim was on the boundary, for obvious reasons, but there's no denying he's hugely respected and admired here. I truly am surprised that Wasim vs Warne is being considered an upset by some folks on here.

EDIT: Jono, it's not that Warne isn't liked here, I probably shouldn't have phrased it that way. It's just that Wasim is bigger.

 

[Jono]

I don't think Warne over Sachin was an upset - that was always going to be line-ball and decided by who is online at the time.

Wasim over Warne is a slight upset to me, but I don't see how anyone can say it was because people were pissed that Sachin lost to Warne. There were like 2 posters who were upset at that. Wasim has been strong throughout this whole battle. Obviously very respected on the board, and Pakistani fans are generally quite good on CW so there aren't any backlash votes.

I think Flower over Imran was an upset.

Can't think of some others as it's all a bit mashed together as well.

 

[Zinzan]

I'll take your word for it. You're there, I'm not.

Still can't believe for a second that Warne isn't popular/liked in India though.

I'd have guessed the same thing, although wouldn't know for sure & I'm certainly no authority on what India's think of Warne, but always had a feeling that most Indian fans were fond of any 'great' cricketers, I stand to be corrected

 

[Jono]

Whilst this topic of Warne vs. Wasim has generated from a simple battle thread into general opinions of fans in countries (which is good and interesting), I think the idea of overanalysing the meaning of these battles is pretty ****. It's been relatively interesting (like we've seen how Wasim and Flower are truly respected on this board, Ambrose too) but there's also been some posters taking this waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay too seriously.

 

[G.I.Joe]

It's not enough to be great. His case isn't helped by his record against India (and you'd tend to watch and remember his performances against your team more than his performances against the other teams), and his off the field behaviour. It's also the reason why McGrath is so HUGE in India.

 

[Jono]

See, what does Warne's record have to do with whether he's liked? I just don't think it is.

You honestly telling me most Indian fans prefer McGrath to Warne, just because he did better against India? I just can't see that being true across all fans. Maybe those with huge knowledge of the game, but not all of them.

Warne being a character, and his media personality, is a huge plus.

Look at his IPL exploits alone IMO. McGrath would never have been able to captain a team with no other big stars (okay Graeme Smith) and actually get so much media attention.

 

[BoyBrumby]

I'm only guessing here, but I imagine Warney's exploits at the Royals have made him popular in Jaipur at any rate.

Imagine he's still a pretty divisive figure tho; for every two people who think he's a loveable larrikin there's probably someone who thinks he's a ****.

 

[Jono]

Reckon Warne's close friendship with Sachin also goes a long way to making him endearing to Indian cricket fans btw.

 

[Cruxdude]

I voted for Wasim over Warne. While I do like Warne, there is more of an awe factor with Wasim. He is probably the best bowler I have seen. That makes him a bit more of a favorite than Warne.

Regarding backlash, it would be naive to assume that no one does such stuff, as it would be to think that the Sachin - Warne battle wasn't affected by the general feeling in CW towards 'irritating' Indian fans.

 

[four_or_six]

I'm quite surprised that's it's a lot of 'greats' and people not playing at the moment. I was expecting some current players to win out, and not necessarily the best players either.

Edit: Actually, maybe I shouldn't be surprised. When I'm voting for non-English players I probably have tended to vote for bigger name players who I am more familiar with and more likely to like and have remembered watching. And 'home' fans are likely to be in the minority.

 

[Fusion]

I’m still upset that Mohammad Sami didn’t even make the cut!

 

[four_or_six]

I’m still upset that Mohammad Sami didn’t even make the cut!

Sami > Wasim, tbh.

 

[BoyBrumby]

I'm quite surprised that's it's a lot of 'greats' and people not playing at the moment. I was expecting some current players to win out, and not necessarily the best players either.

Think we'd probably get different results if it was a "devil take the hindmost" comp like The X Factor with say 10 cricketers up and then everyone ranked them from 1-10 with the last one exiting each time.

Blokes like Watson and Sachin are popular with a few cricket fans (well, more than a few in Tendulkar's case) so I reckon they'd be at #1 or #2 in a lot of people's lists, but chaps like Flower who're widely respected but perhaps not loved to the same extent would maybe end in the middle of the rankings more often.

I mean, I'd vote for Flower over Watson but wouldn't have him as a fav of mine whereas I reckon you might have Watto as one of yours.

 

[G.I.Joe]

See, what does Warne's record have to do with whether he's liked? I just don't think it is.

You honestly telling me most Indian fans prefer McGrath to Warne, just because he did better against India? I just can't see that being true across all fans. Maybe those with huge knowledge of the game, but not all of them.

Warne being a character, and his media personality, is a huge plus.

Look at his IPL exploits alone IMO. McGrath would never have been able to captain a team with no other big stars (okay Graeme Smith) and actually get so much media attention.

Well, it's true in my case. He's the guy who couldn't pull it off against us on the field. I've watched him in matches involving India more than in matches not involving India, and consequently most of my memories are of me watching and waiting for him to dramatically pull out that trick he's reputedly supposed to be hiding up his sleeve, but he never did manage that. Why would that not impact my memories of him as a cricketer? I can understand how watching him weave his web around English or Kiwi or Saffie players would justify him possibly being a favourite cricketer of theirs. Why is it then a stretch to imagine the opposite to be true and valid? I did catch a decent amount of the 2005 Ashes, but then again Harbhajan isn't my favourite cricketer despite 2001.
Off the field, Warne is the guy who prefers to carry cans of baked beans to India. He's the married man who texts random women and gets caught on camera in his disgusting thightie whities. He's also the guy who's never on the TV screens here showing off the media friendly personality you're talking about. Different strokes for different people, mate.

Most of all, I can't believe we're back to discussing why one should and should not favour a cricketer over another. And this time, it's apparently also conspiratorial.

 

[four_or_six]

Think we'd probably get different results if it was a "devil take the hindmost" comp like The X Factor with say 10 cricketers up and then everyone ranked them from 1-10 with the last one exiting each time.

Blokes like Watson and Sachin are popular with a few cricket fans (well, more than a few in Tendulkar's case) so I reckon they'd be at #1 or #2 in a lot of people's lists, but chaps like Flower who're widely respected but perhaps not loved to the same extent would maybe end in the middle of the rankings more often.

I mean, I'd vote for Flower over Watson but wouldn't have him as a fav of mine whereas I reckon you might have Watto as one of yours.

Hehe, you reckon... well... maybe. Didn't think I was that obvious tbh.

But yeah, that's what I meant about the voting. But it's cool, and it's interesting to see the people coming out on top. Especially someone like Flower, who I suppose is getting votes for a variety of reasons. And Wasim I genuinely didn't realise how popular he was in India.