Greatest cricketer post 1990

[ankitj]

I searched the forum for a thread on a similar theme but found none. So thought of creating one. I am shortlisting 15 cricketers, hopefully they are all the cricketers who can be expected to receive votes (despite omitting Dravid, Sangakkara, Mahela, Hayden, Flintoff, Cairns etc).

I urge you to consider both tests and ODIs as ODIs have been central to international cricket in last 2 decades.

Cast your vote, give your reasons, fight it out...

 

[vcs]

Glenn McGrath in my opinion. Kallis and Murali tied for 2nd.

McGrath, because he was the winningest cricketer I've seen in my lifetime, in both forms of the game and was often the one to make the crucial difference between success and failure of his team. Did well against all the great players he faced up to.

 

[ankitj]

It'd be Muttiah Muralitharan for me, for following reasons:

• Leading wicket-taker in both forms of the game
• 800 test wickets at an incredible 6+ wickets per match
• An 11 year period where he averged 7 wickets per test
• An economy rate of under 4 in ODIs despite playing right throught the naughties
• Crossed 900 points in ICC bowlers ratings in both tests and ODIs
• Most man-of-the-match awards in tests
• Most 5-wicket hauls in tests and second highest in ODIs
• And so on...

 

[Jarquis]

For a combined Test and ODI one I'd really, really strongly consider Pollock

 

[Howe_zat]

Decision like this can only be emotive. Had to be a fast bowler, had to be Ambrose. No justification, not necessary.

 

[TumTum]

Meh I don't care much for ODIs, will take it into consideration but not 50/50.

It was a close one for me between Tendulkar and Warne, but I chose Warne.There have been many great cricketers which were hard to split, so my decision was made on the entertainment value. I am not someone that makes an essay long post, so I'll get straight to the point.

Warne has been and arguably still is the face of cricket. His bowling has reignited the imagination of many cricket followers around the world. Watching him bowl felt like you were watching a mystery novel, knowing how it was always going to end. His on-field and off-field personality, for the right or wrong reasons, have made headlines for his entire career (and still does). No cricketer has all these attributes, you can compare him to guys like Phelps or Woods.

 

[weldone]

Sachin Tendulkar - because he has had superlative performances in all forms of the game (Test, ODI, IPL) throughout the 21 years, against all oppositions, on all kinds of surfaces, home or away; because he scored more centuries than no. of matches played by some very good cricketers; because he has always given his best in every match (I know it's going to sound so cliched)-be it a Ranji Trophy final or a test match at WACA; because of the hard work he puts in behind each and every match; because of the way he plans his innings; more because of the way he scores his runs than because of the number of runs he has scored; because of the failures he has had and how he learned from them to improve after every failure; because I have never seen him being complacent; because of the near perfect defensive and attacking technique he displays; because of the similarity Bradman saw between Sachin's game to his; because of all of Warne, Akram, McGrath, Donald crowning him the best batsman they bowled to; because he is not God and so human; and last but not the least - because I am a big fan...

I must admit that both Gilchrist and Murali and to an extent McGrath and Kallis have mighty claims.

 

[0RI0N]

Kallis or Murali

gotta go with Kallis

 

[weldone]

If I have to make a Test XI of this period, I'll go with:

Jacques Kallis
Virender Sehwag
Brian Lara
Sachin Tendulkar
Steve Waugh*
Ricky Ponting
Adam Gilchrist+
Wasim Akram
Curtly Ambrose
Glenn McGrath
Muttiah Muralitharan

Reserves: Matthew Hayden, Rahul Dravid, Andy Flower, Waqar Younis, Shane Warne

And if I have to make a pecking order for the 11 I picked, it would be (from the top of my mind):
1. Sachin Tendulkar
2. Adam Gilchrist
3. Muttiah Muralitharan
4. Glenn McGrath
5. Jacques Kallis
6. Brian Lara
7. Curtly Ambrose
8. Wasim Akram
9. Steve Waugh
10. Ricky Ponting
11. Virender Sehwag

 

[bagapath]

all of them are wonderful cricketers. actually, even rahul dravid, inzamam and sehwag deserve to be listed there.

among these giants, statistically, muralitharan and kallis achieved some milestones that will remain untouched, probably, forever. therefore it is very easy, and justifiable, to name one of them as the best cricketer of the era.

in terms of style and panache, warne and lara elevated their respective arts to a different plane that even other greats could reach only once or twice in their careers, if they are lucky. because of this box office quality, shane and brian are probably the strongest candidates in my opinion.

tendulkar remains a model of cricketing perfection and continues to inspire cricket enthusiasts with his longevity and consistency. he will probably win the poll if the entire world were to be involved in voting.

ambrose, mcgrath and akram could walk into any all time xi with ease. so could ponting and waqar. they won matches on their own again and again all over the globe.

but i choose adam gilchrist because he expressed himself on the cricket field with a force that was never before seen from a no.7 batsman. he continued for a good part of his long and uninterrupted career (96 tests on the trot from debut till retirement!) to win matches for his country with several late order gems that turned games around. he demoralised the opposition with his power hitting and helped his team reach its targets faster. he also chipped in when the stakes were down and rescued australia on several occasions with responsible batting.

gilly never allowed anything - opposion, match condition or his own form - to bog him down. pace or spin didnt make any difference. he came out with an intent to hit out and more often than not he did precisely that. he played the game at rocket pace but with pin point precision. there was a method to his madness that brought him hundreds against all the countries he played against.

of course, he was one of the greatest wicket keepers of all time. even if technically healy (and knott) was a better bet behind the stumps, gilly never let warne or mcgill down. standing up to their vicious leg spinners, he took edges that came his way and effected brilliant stumpings when the oppotunity presented itself. similarly standing back for mcgrath, lee and gillespie he pouched more catches than anybody before him had done.

for all round quality and non stop entertainment and certain victory for his side, every captain would love to have gilly in the team. he is definitely the third cricketer i would choose in my team (after bradman and sobers) for there was no one like him before he wore that baggy green and there will not be another one in my lifetime.

 

[Jono]

Glenn McGrath

Such a ridiculously brilliant bowler. WAC

 

[vcs]

Sachin Tendulkar - because he has had superlative performances in all forms of the game (Test, ODI, IPL) throughout the 21 years, against all oppositions, on all kinds of surfaces, home or away; because he scored more centuries than no. of matches played by some very good cricketers; because he has always given his best in every match (I know it's going to sound so cliched)-be it a Ranji Trophy final or a test match at WACA; because of the hard work he puts in behind each and every match; because of the way he plans his innings; more because of the way he scores his runs than because of the number of runs he has scored; because of the failures he has had and how he learned from them to improve after every failure; because I have never seen him being complacent; because of the near perfect defensive and attacking technique he displays; because of the similarity Bradman saw between Sachin's game to his; because of all of Warne, Akram, McGrath, Donald crowning him the best batsman they bowled to; because he is not God and so human; and last but not the least - because I am a big fan...

I must admit that both Gilchrist and Murali and to an extent McGrath and Kallis have mighty claims.

Awesome post.

 

[vcs]

all of them are wonderful cricketers. actually, even rahul dravid, inzamam and sehwag deserve to be listed there.

among these giants, statistically, muralitharan and kallis achieved some milestones that will remain untouched, probably, forever. therefore it is very easy, and justifiable, to name one of them as the best cricketer of the era.

in terms of style and panache, warne and lara elevated their respective arts to a different plane that even other greats could reach only once or twice in their careers, if they are lucky. because of this box office quality, shane and brian are probably the strongest candidates in my opinion.

tendulkar remains a model of cricketing perfection and continues to inspire cricket enthusiasts with his longevity and consistency. he will probably win the poll if the entire world were to be involved in voting.

ambrose, mcgrath and akram could walk into any all time xi with ease. so could ponting and waqar. they won matches on their own again and again all over the globe.

but i choose adam gilchrist because he expressed himself on the cricket field with a force that was never before seen from a no.7 batsman. he continued for a good part of his long and uninterrupted career (96 tests on the trot from debut till retirement!) to win matches for his country with several late order gems that turned games around. he demoralised the opposition with his power hitting and helped his team reach its targets faster. he also chipped in when the stakes were down and rescued australia on several occasions with responsible batting.

gilly never allowed anything - opposion, match condition or his own form - to bog him down. pace or spin didnt make any difference. he came out with an intent to hit out and more often than not he did precisely that. he played the game at rocket pace but with pin point precision. there was a method to his madness that brought him hundreds against all the countries he played against.

of course, he was one of the greatest wicket keepers of all time. even if technically healy (and knott) was a better bet behind the stumps, gilly never let warne or mcgill down. standing up to their vicious leg spinners, he took edges that came his way and effected brilliant stumpings when the oppotunity presented itself. similarly standing back for mcgrath, lee and gillespie he pouched more catches than anybody before him had done.

for all round quality and non stop entertainment and certain victory for his side, every captain would love to have gilly in the team. he is definitely the third cricketer i would choose in my team (after bradman and sobers) for there was no one like him before he wore that baggy green and there will not be another one in my lifetime.

And another.

 

[Teja.]

Assigning equal value to both forms, Shaun Pollock.

Otherwise, Kallis

 

[M0rphin3]

Between Pidge, Tendulkar and Warnie for me. I'm gonna go with Pidge.

 

[Cricketismylife]

I see the question as asking who was the best cricket post 1990. Not the most entertaining just the most effective.

I find it hard to look past Jacques Kallis and Shaun Pollock. Both world class in their first disciplines, and very useful in their second discplines. There may be a handful of batsman and bowlers who were slightly better than the above two in their first disciplines, but their second discipline should put them comfortably ahead of all

After those 2 I would give 3rd place to Murali, for an astounding record in both test in odis, despite often being a lone wolf. He transformed Lanka from bottom of the pile, by the time he retired they had reached second place. Since he's gone Sl havent won a test match! I think a testament to him is the amount of players who faced him post doosra that found him the hardest bowler to face. Even Brian Lara who completely dominated him admitted Murali was the toughest bowler in the first 45 minutes. Bell, Collingwood, Pietersen, Flintoff, Gambhir, Sehwag, Ganguly and Dravid have all said he was either the best they had faced or the best spinner they had faced. An absolute genius.

4th place would be Sachin, in my mind tied with Viv Richards for top spot for odi batsman, and 2nd after Don in tests. A complete batsman who can attack, defend, accumuluate whatever the situation demands, whether on a spinning track in Calcutta or a bouncy track in Perth, or in seaming conditions in England, Sachin has every condition covered. Has handled the pressure for 21 years and has a superb record in world cups.

5th place Mcgrath who was involved in 3 world cup wins; like Sachin has performed in all conditions, a metronome of a bowler, who would target a player before a series and then go on to dismiss him. Best player in the Australian team for me; would be there performing series after series, ripping the heart out of most sides. Took more valuable wickets than Warne (as he dismissed top order batsman a lot more) and at nearly 4 runs cheaper. His value is shown that even when Warne had his best series in 2005 Ashes, the 2 tests Mcgrath was absent Australia lost. I would argue no batsman dominated Mcgrath over his career, even Tendulkar only averaged 36/37 in matches involving Glenn.

So 1) Kallis 2) Pollock 3)Murali 4)Tendulkar 5)Mcgrath

 

[Furball]

As a cricketer, Kallis.

Over 11,000 runs, 250 wickets and 100 catches in both forms of the game.

 

[ankitj]

Reading some the posts above, makes one appreciate that we have had an amazing collection of talent in last 2 decades. Batsmen with solid techniques (think Tendulkar) and also with electric strokeplay (think Lara). Fast bowlers who could intimidate with pace and bounce (think Ambrose), those who could play with the patience of batsmen (think McGrath) and those who mastered swing and seam (think the 2 Ws). Also arguably the best Leg spinner (Warne) and the best Off spinner (Murali) in the history of the game. And best wicketkeeper-batsman ever (Gilchrist and to a an extent, Flower and Sangakkara too).

Hard to think another period of similar length which produced so many great cricketers of so many varieties. The 70's and 80's arguably had more rounded all-rounders, but they did not have a Murali, a Warne or a Gilchrist.

Let's keep the tributes flowing

 

[weldone]

those who could play with the patience of batsmen (think McGrath)

Why does this make me feel that batsmen donated their wickets to McGrath when they became impatient?

Replace the word 'patience' with 'technique', and you are almost there...

 

[Howe_zat]

Hard to think another period of similar length which produced so many great cricketers of so many varieties. The 70's and 80's arguably had more rounded all-rounders, but they did not have a Murali, a Warne or a Gilchrist.

Let's keep the tributes flowing

Possibly the inter-war 20 years (1919-1939) ? Especially given that there were only two or three competetive nations.

Bradman
Ponsford
McCabe
O 'Reilly
Grimmet
Hobbs
Sutcliffe
Hammond
Larwood
Verity
Voce
Ames
Headley
Constantine