Battle of the Infamous

[Cabinet96]

Miandad and Cronje

 

[Fusion]

Pietersen
Cronje

 

[fredfertang]

KP and Cronje

 

[burr]

I hope this doesn't end up as a battle of the match fixers. As LHC said, 'it's not so much about who defiles the spirit of the game the most (unless that's your sole criterion) but who gives you the most primal reaction of pure, unadulterated rage.'

On that criteria, was never the same since Watson got kicked out.

 

[hendrix]

frankly, anyone who rips Gautam Gambhir a new one is fine by me.

While it's nice to dedicate something to people who have died in a tragedy, it's bloody stupid to dedicate a victory against the opposing nation. Is there really any need for more "us-vs-them" comments?

He's such a ****ing douche.

 

[Furball]

Furball on a roll with the bile:

That was actually me expressing annoyance that Colin Croft is still alive.

Miandad
Cronje
Boycott

Seriously, how the **** is Boycott not in this?

 

[BoyBrumby]

Quite. Harbhajan no mean performer himself, but for him to beat Sir Geoffrey is baffling.

Anyhoo, have to go with Miandad and Cronje here.

Pietersen's an all round douche: selfish, unreflective, egotisitc, chavvy, flashy, vain, refers to himself in the third person and almost certainly cracks one out whilst looking in the mirror; Miandad tho is just like a 20s silent film villian. The first draft before the producers ask the writer to tone it down a little. In my mind's eye he should be twirling that moustache whilst tying maidens to railway lines.

Cronje is a distillation of everything rotten about the sport. Corrupt, corrupting and hypocritical. The devil of the details makes one spew too: a ****ing leather jacket? Was ever a soul sold as cheaply as cricket's?

 

[Jono]

Richard: "Never mind the tragedy of Cronje's death, it's a darn shame he didn't play more ODIs than he did."

Man that sums Richard up perfectly.

 

[GotSpin]

Cronje. Asshole.

Gave the 12th man some quality material though.

 

[weldone]

Shahid Afridi, I am admitting some personal bias on this one.

 

[Prince EWS]

Richard: "Never mind the tragedy of Cronje's death, it's a darn shame he didn't play more ODIs than he did."

Man that sums Richard up perfectly.

That is so great. Sigworthy.

 

[LongHopCassidy]

Round of 16, Battle 6 Results:

Javed Miandad - 6
Kevin Pietersen - 5

Round of 16, Battle 7 Results:

Hansie Cronje - 10
Shahid Afridi - 1

 

[LongHopCassidy]

Round of 16, Battle 8

Last round before the quarters.

The Hon. W.G. Grace (England)

Crimes:

- Setting the precedent for Andrew Symonds winning the 2008 Sydney Test by refusing to walk
- Setting the precedent for backyard cricket laws by refusing to walk even when getting bowled first ball
- Demanding match payments despite declaring himself an amateur
- Running someone out in a Test match while they were pantsless in the middle of the pitch

'Play on. They've come here to see me bat, not you bowl.' - W.G. Grace explaining the customer is always right, even if he's been clean bowled

'The Australians came down like a wolf on the fold,
The Mary'bone Cracks for a trifle were bowled;
Our Grace before dinner was very soon done,
And Grace after dinner did not get a run.'
- Punch Magazine after Australia's first Test victory in England

"Notoriously unscholarly." - Report card from Miss Trotman, his primary school teacher

Not sure about questioning his ability, but I do agree that he seems to have been a bit up himself, and for that reason I've never really liked him that much. Some great stories, though.

Loads of great stories about Grace, whether myth of fact. Like nipping off to Crystal Palace during a game to win a 100 yards sprint at an athletics meet. Another great one is he apparently kidnapped a member of the Aussie touring party and refused to let him go until he agreed to play for Gloucs that summer.

the fact remains- some of the 'superstars' from that era admitted to matchfixing on a regular basis and said everyone did it.
The good doc had the reputation for it as well.....and it isnt such a 'oh my gawd' situation- cricket in the 1800s was NOT equal and did NOT have the level of professionalism it has today. Instead, it had a whole buncha nobility involved along with superstars who rubbed shoulders with the nobility...and if you think that a cotton joe kid from Manchester would bamboozle a noble or superstar in Lords, think again. For it shows a remarkable denial for how things were in a class-structured society.

Agreed. The not walking, the whole pro-am business, some examples of blatant cheating...you have to look at it within those times of course, but in today's terms he'd be a Kevin Pietersen / any footballer type. You can admire him for his sporting exploits but it's hard to like him because he's too snotty for his own good.

Has to be the good doctor. Grace was at times a disgrace to the game

Grace for being a fat **** who enjoyed cheating.

.


Sir Ian Botham (England)

Crimes:

- Single-handedly fracturing Somerset (and taking Viv Richards with him) with schoolboy antics
- Designated troll of Sky commentary team
- At least two extramarital affairs
- Beating up people on airlines
- Called out for racist abuse and ball tampering by Imran Khan, and then losing the defamation case he filed because it was true
- Reaffirming his captaincy credentials (0:55)

"Obvious, oafish and banal." - Simon Barnes on Botham's commentary

"Pakistan is the sort of country to send your mother in-law to for as long as possible, all expenses paid." - Botham before the 1992 World Cup final

'What have you done, what have you done?' 'I've run you out, you ****.' - Botham clarifies things to Geoff Boycott

'I told him that the people around him had caused his paranoia. Botham did things in that period and afterwards that I will never forgive or forget – never.' - Peter Roebuck

'Babe, you ain't seen nothing yet! The mighty Beefy sword awaits ... and that's just for starters.' - Botham in an e-mail to his mistress

"Good job I had an understanding wife." - In an interview after said e-mail was leaked

“[Botham was] in no way inhibited by a capacity to over-intellectualise.” - Frances Edmonds, wife of Phil

"Botham's idea of team spirit and motivation was to squirt a water pistol at someone and go and get pissed."- Ray Illingworth

"The only thing Botham would know about dawn runs is staggering back from the pub." - Graham Gooch

"At one point it looked like he’d found me a role in a movie, playing a psychopathic killer, but it never got made." - Botham recalls his meeting with film director Tim Hudson

"We hadn't half his talent, so what were we supposed to think?" - Peter Willey on Botham's twattish behaviour on a West Indies tour

Not a fan of Chappell, but anyone who wants to throw shapes at Ian Botham can't be all bad.

I think Beefy's problem is that he was essentially a cricketing genius with an idiot attached. When the powers of the former waned the latter was singularly unable to compensate.

Worst commentator ever to get a knighthood, for sure.

Botham can go **** himself with a limp celery stick.

I think he stopped walking on water about two decades ago when he became fat and rubbish.

Botham really is a terrible commentator. Reckon I could name about 20 people on CW alone that know more about cricket and would make a better commentator than him.

Murphy, cricket historian:

A source of mine (who is generally very reliable) who works in the media reckons this is how it went down:

"Botham: Hello ****
Chappelli: How long have you been working on that one? Good to hear you’re still a ****ing idiot
Botham: Right, let’s settle this right here

Before they can, channel nine minder steps between them "

 

[BoyBrumby]

Big West Country ****tard derby here.

Have to go with Both, I think. At least the good doctor's shyte commentary remains a matter of conjecture rather than a omnipresent fcat.

 

[morgieb]

Grace was before my time, so Botham.

 

[vic_orthdox]

Pietersen's an all round douche: selfish, unreflective, egotisitc, chavvy, flashy, vain, refers to himself in the third person and almost certainly cracks one out whilst looking in the mirror; Miandad tho is just like a 20s silent film villian. The first draft before the producers ask the writer to tone it down a little. In my mind's eye he should be twirling that moustache whilst tying maidens to railway lines.

 

[Agent Nationaux]

Botham

 

[ankitj]

I have been a huge admirer of Botham's superhuman performances so I will go with WG even though his misdeeds happened so long ago in past that they make for amusing stories rather than being hate worthy.

 

[Furball]

Boycott.

 

[Prince EWS]

Botham because ankit's vote makes no sense and I want to cancel it out.