The best after the Don? CW ranked 25 contenders, here is the countdown thread

[mr_mister]

Thanks to everyone who made a list. I won't be able to churn this list out as quick as last time, but it shouldn't take longer than a month. I'm only going to include FC stats in the player breakdown, just because everyone here already knows everyone's test stats like the back of their hand.



#25:

KS. Ranjitsinhji (93 points) FC average of 56.37, FC HS of 285*. 72 FC centuries

KS Ranji is a predictable 25th placed contender. There was a lot of debate over whether we should include Golden age players, but we ended up letting him compete. Ranji was a legend, way ahead of his time. Often compared to his contemporary CB Fry, Ranji averaged way higher and was a more original player. He apparently invented the leg glance, the late cut and the backfoot defence. Not too bloody shabby. By all accounts he brought entertainment wherever he played with an unorthodox(at the time) flourish of the bat. It was unfortunate he only played 15 tests. Sorry to get political, but it has to be mentioned that he was an Indian in a white man's world, so I'm sure he didn't have the easiest of paths to stardom. Though he was a Prince... so I dunno. Great player though I'm sure.

 

[Gob]

Wtf kind of shot is he playing

 

[weldone]

Wtf kind of shot is he playing

Posing for the picture maybe...the professional photographer probably made him wait for 30 minutes to get everything right

clue: no wicketkeeper, no spectators, no ball

 

[vcs]

I generally strike that pose when I need to go to the loo and there isn't one nearby

 

[OverratedSanity]

Yeah most of those old pictures are them posing for a shot as a demonstration.

Still a pretty badass looking leg glance.

 

[SillyCowCorner1]

Photographer: Please give me a pose of your best shot

Ranji: yes sirji, I do that.

Photographer: why are u looking at that guy at square-leg? I am right in front of you.

Ranji: what? Isn't that you with the camera there?

Photographer: No! That's an anachronistic guy from the 1990s with something called a 'Boom Box'.

 

[weldone]

Still a pretty badass looking leg glance.

Come on, he's inventing something.

This is like complaining Alexander Graham Bell's telephone didn't have speed dial and video chat.

 

[Agent TBY]

for weldone

 

[mr_mister]

#24


Clyde Walcott (125 points) FC average of 56.55, FC HS of 314*. 40 FC centuries

Statistically a little less impressive than Weekes, and not having the legacy of Worrell's captaincy, Walcott is often the forgotten member of the three W's who put the Windies on the map in the 1950s. Him being near the bottom of this list is also not a big shock, being the only addition to my original list(in place of Steve Smith... who's inclusion would have made ranking these guys even more difficult). Walcott has a similar career arc to Sangakkarra, he started off as a solid keeper bat, but when he started playing as a specialist bat he really stepped up his batmanship. Averaging ~64 in tests as a specialist bat, Walcott's finest patch was 7 centuries in 7 tests between 1954-1955, against very strong English and Australian bowling attacks. In fact he nearly played his entire career against insanely strong attacks, including combinations of Lindwall, Miller, Davidson and Benaud, alongside combinations of Trueman, Tyson, Bedser and Laker.

 

[mr_mister]

#23


Victor Trumper (145 points) FC average of 44.57, FC HS of 300*. 42 FC centuries.

Ah, Victor Trumper. A personal favourite of mine. A possible case for statistics don't mean everything? Or perhaps a great indicator for how much they do mean. I'll paraphrase the extract I posted in the voting thread by saying Trumper was usually always good for a fifty, excelling when the chips were down on sticky dogs. He sure played on a lot of them. His average wasn't bolstered by excessive high scores, with just the one double century in his test career. His test average of just shy of 40 looks pretty crumby next to Hobbs, who had to play on the same rain soaked pitches as Trumper during the early 1900s. However Trumper has something important weighing in his favour, he had to bat against Syd Barnes in half the tests he played.

He passed away young too at 37, considering Grace and Hobbs played test cricket til they were basically 50. It's unlikely Trumper would have played much more cricket after the war, but who knows. His skill may be more myth than reality, people of the time might have overrated him due to how good he probably looked when he did score runs, hell maybe he was just a great guy. He finishes 23rd on the list, with far and away the worst batting record, but we love him anyway.

 

[SillyCowCorner1]

^^ Early form of flair, until West Indies took it and made it their own.

 

[mr_mister]

#22


Javed Miandad (155 points) FC average of 53.37, FC H.S of 311. 80 FC centuries

Far and away Pakistan's best ever batsman before Inzy, Yousuf and Younis muddied that discussion a bit in the 21st century. But Miandad still probably clings onto the title, just. Miandad was the only player to feature in all 6 of the first cricket world cups, so nobody can take aim at his longevity and commitment to Pakistan. His test career never fell below fifty either. So why isn't he ranked higher? Like Younis Khan, his batting style wasn't classical or necessarily that pretty to watch. He also probably stood a little in the shadows since Imran Khan was poster boy for Pakistani cricket and their careers had massive crossover. He also wasn't universally loved, for reasons I'm not quite sure of. Maybe he liked to bend the odd rule, maybe he was a little outspoken. 2 captaincy stints nearly resulted in team mutiny and some of the Indian players like Ravi Shastri were quoted as 'hating his guts'. There's also a not so flattering picture of him holding his bat up like a weapon threatening to bash DK Lillee's head in.

Miandad didn't have the great conversion rate of 50s to 100 of a true superstar. Still, the man put runs on the board and at the end of the day that's the most important thing. He was pesky, he was pugnacious and he was very hard to get out. A bit of a heel.

 

[mr_mister]

#21

Steve Waugh (164 points) FC average of 51.94, FC H.S of 216*. 79 FC centuries

Steve Waugh is such a hard player to rate. For the first 3-4 years of his career he was known for his tight defensive bowling, nicknamed the Iceman because he excelled at the death in ODIs with his slower balls. He ended up becoming one of the best batsman of the entire 90s, hanging with Lara and Sachin in any kind of statistical measurement. His tremendous ashes record, including the twin tons at Old Trafford, the 200 and 199 against Ambrose/Walsh on their home turf and his match winning 120* in a do-or-die situation in the 1999 WC. Then add in his last ball four to bring up another ton to stave off retirement for another year in 2003, and you've got a career full of amazing memories. He was my favourite player growing up, I would sit down in front of the television praying that he would score a hundred every time he went out to bat, often turning the telly off if he was dismissed.

He was called selfish by some for sacrificing tail enders to preserve his average, he was called a coward by some(Ian Chappell the guilty party on both occasions actually) for putting away the hook shot. But I see no issues with removing a flaw from your game. Ian wanted him to work on it and turn a weakness into a strength I suppose, but who cares he still scored runs for fun the back half of his test career.

His batting never looked pretty, his cut shot looked reckless(but yielded him thousands of runs) and his slog-sweep didn't look fluid either, especially compared to his twin brother. But looks aren't everything.

 

[OverratedSanity]

Surprised Waugh ended up so low.

 

[Burgey]

Surprised Miandad ended up in the list at all. Basically an Asiatic Hayden, he was such a home town bully.

 

[mr_mister]

avraged 77 in NZ from 9 tests against Hadlee

 

[Burgey]

So against Chatfield and Sneddon as well.

Rest of his away record must be trash then. Inzi and Younis > Miandad. Easily.

 

[mr_mister]

He had a decent average in England from a big sample size, but the 77 stood out to me

Anyway people still talk him up as a legend so I threw him in

 

[weldone]

That Trumper pic looks like stickcricket

 

[Burgey]

Mr_mister out on the turps last night I reckon. Need some more list action today please. This is good stuff