Cricketeres of the century (so far....)

[Slifer]

We r all well aware of 5 men who were chosen for the last century. So who r the 5 who we think would be the 5 for this centuryn so far?? Mine would be (in no particular order):

J Kallis
S Tendulkar
Murali
Gilchrist
Mcgrath

Obviously there r some who may end up surpassing the players above, which is y I said "so far."

 

[NZTailender]

If McGrath's there then surely you'd have Warne too.

 

[watson]

To be cricketers of this century then surely Tests during the 90s are out, unless it's just a handful.

Who does that leave us with?

 

[Cabinet96]

Sanga and Steyn the main ones so far. Probably followed by Smith, Clarke, Amla, AB and Pietersen.

 

[Pothas]

Ponting and Kallis are definetly more cricketers of this century than the last though.

 

[_Ed_]

Definitely true. Gilchrist, too - his test debut was only '98/'99, right?

 

[Red]

Kallis, Sangakkara, Ponting, Dravid, Jayawardene and Tendulkar lead the runs scored.

Clarke, Cook, KP all started after 2000 but worth a mention.

Murali, Harb, Ntini, Warne, Kumble, Steyn, Anderson, McGrath...bowlers.

I'd say Kallis, Gilchrist, Steyn, Warne and Murali would be my top five. Clarke & McGrath unlucky

 

[Agent Nationaux]

Steyn so far.

 

[harsh.ag]

Gilly, Murali, Steyn, Kallis for sure. One spot up for grabs. Between Ponting/McGrath/Sanga/Tendulkar/Warne

 

[OverratedSanity]

Will only consider those whom I believe achieved their greatest feats this century.

McGrath
Steyn
Ponting
Gilchrist
Murali

Dravid, Kallis, Tendulkar, Lara, Warne close. Last 3 probably are defined more by what they did in the 90s for me

 

[OverratedSanity]

Kallis, Sangakkara, Ponting, Dravid, Jayawardene and Tendulkar lead the runs scored.

Clarke, Cook, KP all started after 2000 but worth a mention.

Murali, Harb, Ntini, Warne, Kumble, Steyn, Anderson, McGrath...bowlers.

I'd say Kallis, Gilchrist, Steyn, Warne and Murali would be my top five. Clarke & McGrath unlucky

Gilly, Murali, Steyn, Kallis for sure. One spot up for grabs. Between Ponting/McGrath/Sanga/Tendulkar/Warne

I'm curious why you picked Steyn at the expense of McGrath. Do you consider McGrath a cricketer of the previous century or our think Steyn is already better than McGrath overall. Personally don't think he's there yet

 

[TNT]

I think it goes without saying that Ponting is the first player on the list

Ricky Ponting has been voted Player of the Decade by an overwhelming majority by a jury comprising former and current players and cricket writers.
Ponting got 60 points (a first-place vote fetched three points, a second place two, and third place one), 23 more than second-placed Jacques Kallis. Adam Gilchrist was ranked third (29 points), while positions four to seven went to Muttiah Muralitharan, Glenn McGrath, Sachin Tendulkar and Shane Warne.
Ponting scored more runs and centuries in both forms of the game than any other batsman in the decade, and he was the only one to go past the 9000-mark in both Tests and ODIs. In 107 Tests between 2000 and 2009, he scored 9458 runs at 58.38, and 32 of his 38 centuries. Ponting and Kallis, along with Mohammad Yousuf, were the only batsmen to average more than 58 in Tests in the decade.
Ponting voted Player of the Decade | Decade Review 2009 | ESPN Cricinfo

 

[Zinzan]

We r all well aware of 5 men who were chosen for the last century. So who r the 5 who we think would be the 5 for this centuryn so far?? Mine would be (in no particular order):

J Kallis
S Tendulkar
Murali
Gilchrist
Mcgrath

Obviously there r some who may end up surpassing the players above, which is y I said "so far."

For me the criteria for a player who played both in the 90s/2000s should be based on them playing the majority of their tests matches in the 2000s. McGrath would be a close thing as he debuted around '93 from memory and retired in 2007, so would need to check whether he's a 90s or 2000s player.

 

[Furball]

For me the criteria for a player who played both in the 90s/2000s should be based on them playing the majority of their tests matches in the 2000s. McGrath would be a close thing as he debuted around '93 from memory and retired in 2007, so would need to check whether he's a 90s or 2000s player.

McGrath gets in for being hands down the best bowler of the century so far. Nobody else comes close.

 

[Zinzan]

McGrath gets in for being hands down the best bowler of the century so far. Nobody else comes close.

Ridiculous to say 'nobody else comes close' when there's a perfectly legitimate argument for Steyn >McGrath. Which ever way you argue, it's certainly 'close'.

 

[watson]

McGrath took 297 Test wickets during the 2000s, and 266 wickets during the 1990s so I guess he is nominally a bowler of the 21st century based on raw numbers.

However, I still feel him to be a bowler of last century because his best battles were with Michael Atherton and Brian Lara during the mid-to-late 90s. He was at the height of his powers during that period.

 

[watson]

It's interesting to assess what makes McGrath an ATG.
He was accurate, but so was Fraser and Hendricks.
He was relentless, but so was Roberts and Hadlee.
He bowled the outswinger, but it was inferior to Trueman's or Lillee's.
He bowled the inswinging yorker, but it was inferior to Lindwall's or Waqar's.
He got steep bounce, but not as much as Ambrose.
He attacked with the bouncer, but it was not as devastating as Marshall's.
He could be aggressive, but not like Lillee.
He could intimidating, but not like Thomo or Snow.

So while no one facet of McGrath's bowling represents the absolute peak, he happened to be very good at absolutely everything. And it was the sheer quantity of very good deliveries piled on-top each other that eventually overwhelmed the very best batsman more often than not.

 

[Red]

I'm curious why you picked Steyn at the expense of McGrath. Do you consider McGrath a cricketer of the previous century or our think Steyn is already better than McGrath overall. Personally don't think he's there yet

I didn't put heaps of thought in to it. I should've included Ponting. I do think of McGrath as peaking in the 90s, but he was good always.

 

[Red]

It's interesting to assess what makes McGrath an ATG.
He was accurate, but so was Fraser and Hendricks.
He was relentless, but so was Roberts and Hadlee.
He bowled the outswinger, but it was inferior to Trueman's or Lillee's.
He bowled the inswinging yorker, but it was inferior to Lindwall's or Waqar's.
He got steep bounce, but not as much as Ambrose.
He attacked with the bouncer, but it was not as devastating as Marshall's.
He could be aggressive, but not like Lillee.
He could intimidating, but not like Thomo or Snow.

So while no one facet of McGrath's bowling represents the absolute peak, he happened to be very good at absolutely everything. And it was the sheer quantity of very good deliveries piled on-top each other that eventually overwhelmed the very best batsman more often than not.

People often say that McGrath's success was due to the "corridor of uncertainty" sort of idea. I agree, but he was way more than that. He was ridiculously skilled at his craft, adaptable to all conditions and situations. He just had an unbelievable amount of control over a situation.

 

[TNT]

It's interesting to assess what makes McGrath an ATG.
He was accurate, but so was Fraser and Hendricks.
He was relentless, but so was Roberts and Hadlee.
He bowled the outswinger, but it was inferior to Trueman's or Lillee's.
He bowled the inswinging yorker, but it was inferior to Lindwall's or Waqar's.
He got steep bounce, but not as much as Ambrose.
He attacked with the bouncer, but it was not as devastating as Marshall's.
He could be aggressive, but not like Lillee.
He could intimidating, but not like Thomo or Snow.

So while no one facet of McGrath's bowling represents the absolute peak, he happened to be very good at absolutely everything. And it was the sheer quantity of very good deliveries piled on-top each other that eventually overwhelmed the very best batsman more often than not.

I have heard several players remark that McGrath believed that swinging the ball to get the edge was what he tried to achieve more than swinging it too much and missing the bat altogether.

As far as no one facet of McGraths bowling representing absolute peak his accuracy would surely be that and his ability to deliver on any pitch.