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

[Kirkut]

As an opposition fan, watching Viv was a mixture of awe and terror

I can imagine that, he looked so comfortable on the crease and effortlessly hit fours while Haynes and others took time to settle. Watching him at the ground must have been an experience of a lifetime!

I also feel that I missed out the experience of watching Tendulkar's peak years in mid-late 90's, when cricket craze was at it's peak in India. Sadly since his retirement the craze has become dormant and it seems to be a matter of time before it completely vanishes But that's what time does, it's undefeated.

 

[fredfertang]

Better than Viv?

I've always thought so, but I was only 8 or 9 when I first saw Barry, so I'll conceded I was at an impressionable age

 

[OverratedSanity]

Shame you didn't see him bat mate - he's the best I've ever seen

Fair enough. I'm not saying you're wrong. You saw him bat and are qualified to make a judgement.

But most voters here didn't and are relying purely on anecdotal evidence and Richards' opinion among peers. Atleast with guys like Grace we have tons of statistical proof to back up the anecdotes. I don't know, I think most people here voting him high (who haven't seen him bat at all) are being disingenouous.

 

[fredfertang]

Fair enough. I'm not saying you're wrong. You saw him bat and are qualified to make a judgement.

But most voters here didn't and are relying purely on anecdotal evidence and Richards' opinion among peers. Atleast with guys like Grace we have tons of statistical proof to back up the anecdotes. I don't know, I think most people here voting him high (who haven't seen him bat at all) are being disingenouous.

I like to think it may have something to do with me banging on about him for the last decade

 

[mr_mister]

#11

Sunil Gavaskar (330 points) FC average of 51.46, FC H.S of 340. 81 FC centuries

India's greatest batsman before he was nearly immediately usurped by Sachin, Gavaskar can still hold claim to be one of the best openers ever, certainly top 5. He still holds the record for most test centuries by an opener with 34, and at the rate Cook is declining he may hang onto it for a few more years yet.

He was the first ever batsman to crack the 10,000 test run barrier which is an impressive feat. He's forever known as a slow grinding batsman based on that strange occurrence that was his 176 ball 36* in the first world cup, an innings that still lands him criticism today. But generally he didn't bat at a particularly slow pace for the time period, it didn't affect his ability to make big hundreds anyway.

His record against the West Indies has to be mentioned. His career crossed over with all of Marshall, Holding, Garner, Roberts, yet he somehow plundered 7 test centuries in away matches against them from only 13 tests. And 6 centuries from 14 matches at home against them. He averaged 65 from 27 tests total against them, easily the toughest resistance that pace battery ever faced in its decade of glory. He must have been very good at playing the short ball.

 

[Kirkut]

I've always thought so, but I was only 8 or 9 when I first saw Barry, so I'll conceded I was at an impressionable age

Watched his 129 vs Lancashire, he matches Azharuddin in his strokeplay, offside shots ooze with class.

 

[Victor Ian]

Mister, you'll have to tell us what 'Like' indigestion feels like. Keep it going. This is good.

 

[Coronis]

Fair enough. I'm not saying you're wrong. You saw him bat and are qualified to make a judgement.

But most voters here didn't and are relying purely on anecdotal evidence and Richards' opinion among peers. Atleast with guys like Grace we have tons of statistical proof to back up the anecdotes. I don't know, I think most people here voting him high (who haven't seen him bat at all) are being disingenouous.

You do at least have his first class stats (isn't that most of Grace's too?), in what was a pretty great era for first class cricket I believe.

 

[Arachnodouche]

Many of us think Tendulkar never usurped Sunny. Also, there's a strong case for him to break into the top 10, but judgment ought to be reserved until we see the final list.

 

[Zinzan]

I'm one of those who's been more likely to include Gavaskar in an all-time Test XI, than Sachin. Although in the last few years I've kind of settled for Hutton and Hobbs as openers, but it used to be Hobbs & Gavaskar as locks.

Disappointed Sunny didn't quite crack the top 10... but very very close.

 

[OverratedSanity]

Played the greatest final innings anyone's ever played in cricket.

 

[Kirkut]

Played the greatest final innings anyone's ever played in cricket.

Yes, Imran Khan rates that knock very highly.

 

[mr_mister]

#10

Greg Chappell (359 points) FC average of 52.20, FC H.S of 247*. 74 FC centuries

The second best Australian batsman after the Don, according to the voters in this exercise. And by a relatively comfortable margin too. He performed well in all conditions, with the ashes being his weakest link funnily enough. He still managed several tons against England, but it was against them that he had his lowest averages. His place in history is assured due to being part of such a large cricketing family and of course for a few of his famous captaincy decisions. In my opinion when Steve Smith's career is done and buried he'l have overtaken Chappell as the number 2 behind the Don, but we'll see. There's not much more for me to say about Greg actually. I haven't read too much about him.

 

[OverratedSanity]

You do at least have his first class stats (isn't that most of Grace's too?), in what was a pretty great era for first class cricket I believe.

Difference with Grace was that during his time FC cricket was the highest standard of the game.

 

[Coronis]

#10

Greg Chappell (359 points) FC average of 52.20, FC H.S of 247*. 74 FC centuries

The second best Australian batsman after the Don, according to the voters in this exercise. And by a relatively comfortable margin too. He performed well in all conditions, with the ashes being his weakest link funnily enough. He still managed several tons against England, but it was against them that he had his lowest averages. His place in history is assured due to being part of such a large cricketing family and of course for a few of his famous captaincy decisions. In my opinion when Steve Smith's career is done and buried he'l have overtaken Chappell as the number 2 behind the Don, but we'll see. There's not much more for me to say about Greg actually. I haven't read too much about him.

Unfortunate that what will stick in history will be some of his captaincy decisions rather than his excellent batting.

 

[mr_mister]

#9

George Headley (368 points) FC average of 69.86, FC H.S of 344*. 33 FC centuries

People in Australia and England called him the Black Bradman, those in the west indies called Bradman the White Headley. He wasn't the original ambassador for the West Indies, that was Learie Constantine by a couple of years, but Headley took Constantine's raw potential as a star player and produced amazing results still high up in the record books to this day.

He was a great example of quality over quantity, with both WW2 halting his career and the fact that the Windies didn't get to play much cricket back in the day being two huge obstacles for Headley to threaten the aggregate based records of the day. But when it comes to batting averages he's right up there, averaging just shy of 70 in FC cricket is amazing. 10 centuries in 22 tests is also an enormous feat. He peeled the tons off at a tremendous rate in the 1930s. Two thirds of his test 50+ scores were converted to centuries. That is one stat that nobody else other than Bradman can boast.

The result of the match often depended on Headley's performance, nobody has probably had to carry a team on their shoulders like he did in the 30s, at least batting performance wise. He was said to have amazing onside ability, much like the Don, and was extremely nimble on his feet with a terrific hand eye.

Quite a few players ended up hovering around his test average of 60, but if he never played cricket again after the war his test average would have been set in stone at 65. This could have cemented him as the clear number 2 but a few crappy post war performances when he was an old man muddied the waters a bit. Still, Headley was a pioneer and a legend of the game.

 

[Coronis]

Wait has Headley been ranked below Pollock? Or did I miss him? Don't agree with that at all.

 

[Anil]

question: why are we calling this list candidates for best batsmen after the don? a lot of these players while being all-time greats clearly aren't anywhere close to being the 2nd best...can't we just say we are ranking the 25 best batsmen after bradman?

 

[veganbob]

Agreed. Sangakkara shouldn't even be in the top 25 and Barry Richards just hasn't played enough Tests to realistically be ranked ahead of someone like Border.

Sanga should be higher. His career was clearly superior to border.

 

[veganbob]

Shame you didn't see him bat mate - he's the best I've ever seen

Shame that hes hardly played any tests. Its like rating sonny bill williams as a great cricketer cause I only saw him destroy a high school team. Test stats or nothing. He isnt better than any test cricketer thats played over 10 tests. Would not be in top 500