Geoff Armstrong- The 100 Greatest Cricketers

[Ikki]

Yeah, we owe all the leg spinners currently in their countries' best Test elevens right now to Shane Warne making it cool again when they were all kids 15 years ago.

Without him, we probably wouldn't have the genius on show of .. umm.. err.. Jeevan Mendis and Imran Tahir.

Hmm.

So it's his fault there aren't any spinners as good as him?

 

[watson]

So what was "new" thing that Shane Warne brought to the cricketing world other than masking agents?

And not to see Saqlain Mushtaq who brought something new to the game . . .

Blatently pro-English I'd say.

And kyear is biased toward West Indian players (for example). This is hardly earth-shattering news as we all come with cultural baggage, and no one is exempt.

In other words, it's perfectly healthy and normal to gravitate toward the players and personalites that we grew up with, and were exposed to.

Pro-English, pro-West Indian, pro Pakistani etc - so what?

 

[Migara]

Some revival of leg spin or something, most people reckon.

Revival of what? excuse me? Qadir played his last match in 1993, Kumble played his first in 1991. They were good enough legspinners. The fact is that even if Warne wasn't there, sub continent would never has run out of leggies. Qadir, Somachandra de Silva, Narendra Hiwani, Mushtaq Ahmed, Anil Kumble, Danish Kaneria all were quality performers. Art was not lost to be revived, at least in SC.

 

[Migara]

Blatantly anti-Warne post, this.
Warne has stats comparable to Murali and was far more exciting to watch than any other spinner. Theres no denying how unique and special he was in terms of entertainment.
It was always great fun to watch him work out a plan for every batsman and more often than not, he executed it perfectly.

In my own point of view I would agree with you. But in writers point of view he's baltently pracvtising double standards. Warne brought nothing new to cricket, and is in 1st XI. Saqlain put off spinners in cricket map, but not even in the 10th. And writer says he's looking for players who have given something new to the game. Have your own judgemnt it I'd say.

 

[Prince EWS]

So it's his fault there aren't any spinners as good as him?

Not at all, but to give him credit for reviving leg spin when leg spin didn't revive during his career is absurd.

He was just a ****ing good bowler.

 

[Migara]

Not at all, but to give him credit for reviving leg spin when leg spin didn't revive during his career is absurd.

He was just a ****ing good bowler.

Exact thoughts.

 

[Coronis]

That was just what I'd read and heard in a few places.

 

[sobers no:1]

Everyone always brings up him averaging 50+ for his last 10 years. He only scored 5 centuries, and 6 overall. His batting is very overrated. The only allrounders with worse batting are Hadlee and Kapil. He was an excellent bowler, but a very, very average batsman.

may b ur opinion

kapil > imran as a batsman IMO

 

[Red]

IWarne brought nothing new to cricket,

I can see your point. And I agree with PEWs. His legacy is that he mastered what is the hardest skill in cricket almost completely.

People do say Warne "revived" leg spin, or spin, a lot. In reality, he appeared as the WIs pace batteries declined in power, so sloppy journalism says that he "revived" an art.

 

[sobers no:1]

at a worse case scenario PROCTER wd hv been another BOTHAM / KAPIL , still as good as another ponting or lara (=barry)

 

[sobers no:1]

if warne gets credits for reviving something , akram did more . even challenged the rules of physics.

 

[archie mac]

That was just what I'd read and heard in a few places.

I think it was Australian and English journalists and the lack of quality leg spinners in Ashes series. He inspired a new generation of leg spinners in OZ, just as Lillee did for pace bowlers. None of my mates even thought about bowling spin when Lillee was the best bowler in the world.

I had almost forgot how to play a wrong un and then along came Warne and all these young leg spinners were causing me trouble

 

[Ikki]

Not at all, but to give him credit for reviving leg spin when leg spin didn't revive during his career is absurd.

He was just a ****ing good bowler.

The point you just made had nada to do with the previous post.

Moreover, when people laud Warne for reviving spin it doesn't mean there were no spinners around or some nonsense like that so the reply by you/Migara is a straw man.

 

[Migara]

You can only revive a dead or a dying art. When Warne came in 1992, Qadir, Mushtaq, Hirwani and Kumble were bowling various flavors of that art. Leg spin was alive and there was no need to revive it.

 

[Ikki]

No, you don't always revive something that is necessarily dead or extinct. Moreover, none of those spinners can hold Warne's jock-strap.

The point of the compliment to Warne is that the world had become very pace-orientated. The Windies with their all pace attacks became the standard and almost every team in the world had an ATG pacer in the era directly prior. Spin was no longer on the same pedestal. It took someone like Warne to really put it back on par or for teams to think that they must have a spinner for the sake of balance.

Every time you bring this stupid retort this has to be explained to you. You might not agree with the sentiment, but don't act like people pulled it from their arse.

 

[harsh.ag]

No, you don't always revive something that is necessarily dead or extinct. Moreover, none of those spinners can hold Warne's jock-strap.

The point of the compliment to Warne is that the world had become very pace-orientated. The Windies with their all pace attacks became the standard and almost every team in the world had an ATG pacer in the era directly prior. Spin was no longer on the same pedestal. It took someone like Warne to really put it back on par or for teams to think that they must have a spinner for the sake of balance.

Every time you bring this stupid retort this has to be explained to you. You might not agree with the sentiment, but don't act like people pulled it from their arse.

Come on, Ikki, look at the evidence.

West Indies: Hasn't had a good spinner since Gibbs, and Warne didn't seem to have had an effect. Nor have they looked like they want a spinner.

India: Always had a vibrant and rich heritage of spin bowling, which has always been taken as our main weapon.

Pakistan: Qadir and Mushtaq Ahmed were already operating there in the 80s and 90s, and the tradition there was vibrant as well.

Sri Lanka: I cannot say for sure, but Somachandra De Silva was there, plus they too have historically depended on their spin attacks more than their pace attack, so they, like the two above, knew the importance of having spin in the attack. If anything, India and Sri Lanka always wanted better pacers.

South Africa: Since Tayfield, they have never been blessed with a good spinner. If the importance of having a spinner increased in South African eyes after the emergence of Warne, then I wouldn't know. Do you know for sure?

New Zealand: Same as SA.

We are left with England and Australia, where what you say is almost definitely true for England, and definitely for Australia.

Do you think that something which most probably happened only in England and Australia can/should be taken to represent the world of cricket at large?

 

[Coronis]

Apparently an updated Collector’s Edition was published in 2022, has anyone read this?

 

[BazBall21]

I haven't. Someone posting the updated version on here would be wonderful.

 

[The Sean]

Keen to get a look at this myself. I've got an older version (he's updated it a couple of times over the years), but one thing which has never yet changed is his first XI or his ranking of them - would be interested to see if anything has changed there, or where some of the current champions have been placed.

 

[Coronis]

I may end up buying it - who knows. Sadly there isn’t an eBook I could find anywhere, and I did have the old version but its either gone or hiding somewhere in my parents house.