I agree with the fellow who said Gibbs' 175 was full of mi**** boundaries etc. It's natural that many would regard it as one of the best considering how monumentous that run chase was. But if you watch replays of Gibbs' innings, it was choc-full of French cuts and edges that beat the keeper, not forgetting he was dropped by Nathan Bracken.
There's a few great innings that stick out in my mind...
*Dean Jones against New Zealand in the late 80s where he almost orchestrated one of the all-time best comebacks, only to go out and see Mike Whitney go out for a slog-shot when Australia needed 2 runs to win off the last over. Stupid Whitney ruined all his hard work! But yeah, revolutionary innings with inventage aggressive shots. He paced the innings beautifully and took calculater risks. Pretty much all the ingredients of a batsman.
*Michael Bevan against New Zealand in 2002 or so... he had to bat with Brett Lee and Andy Bichel? I think.... anyway brilliant innings! What I liked about was that Bevan had limitations. Herchille Gibbs didn't just have luck, he had freedom when he made 175. Gibbs didn't have to worry about playing risky shots because he was chasing such a huge total. Bevan was placed in the highest pressure situation.
-Lose and Australia's out of the VB series.
-Lose your wicket and Australia lose.
-Keep the strike as much as possible.
-Find twos as much as possible.
-Take small risks to keep in touch with run-rate etc.
What impressed me most about that innings was how often he found twos. Bevan was also lightning in between wickets. Just a champion... of all his comeback performances, that was his best.
- Big Viv's highest ODI score has gone down in folklore and deserves nomination.
-Sachin Tendulkar had incredible ODI centuries against Australia in 1998. IIRC, he made a century in nearly every game, demolishing McGrath and Warne... and in the one game where he went out he took a lot of wickets with the ball! Just an amazing series where Tendulkar ruled all!
Coming to think of it, those four guys would be my pick for the four best ODI batsmen ever! 1. Tendulkar, 2. Richards, 3. Bevan, 4. Jones