Viv Richards Voted as County Cricket's Greatest Overseas Player.

[mr_mister]

you can only entertain so much when you're back in the sheds after getting out

Maxwell is literally my all time favourite player but I still think people go waaaay too soft on Viv in their assessments for whatever reason. 77-78, 82-83 and of course 89-91. The guy had way too many lean periods of test batting for the reputation he has as potentially the number 2 after Bradman.

And this county thing further proves it for me!

he got 16 tons in his final 100 tests after hitting 8 in his first 21

He threatened to be a god initially but then turned into someone with Mark Waugh level output after 1976

 

[a massive zebra]

Doesn't Procter win this hands down

14,216 runs @ 36.63 with 32 hundreds and 814 wickets @ 19.39

 

[a massive zebra]

I guess as he played for England he is arguably not an overseas player, but Ranji made 18,594 runs @ 63.24 with 58 centuries for Sussex. This compares favourably with most of the modern players already identified, even though he played in a noticeably lower scoring era.

Frank Tarrant was born in Australia and never played for England. His record for Middlesex is a fairly epic 12,169 runs @ 38.03 with 26 hundreds and 1,005 wickets @ 17.43.

 

[trundler]

14,216 runs @ 36.63 with 32 hundreds and 814 wickets @ 19.39

Bowling average being half his batting average has to be special. I've always wondered what sort of role Procter had. Was he more Miller or Imran?

 

[tony p]

Some counties had an almost impossible task just to pick their best 4 overseas player, let alone their best.

Glos, Procter, Zaheer, Walsh, Ian Harvey.
Hants, B. Richards, Greenidge, Marshall, Warne
Kent, Aravinda, Asif Iqbal, Hooper, John Shepherd
northants, Bedi, Ambrose, Mushtaq Mohammed, Sarfraz
Notts, Sir R Hadlee, Rice, Sobers, D Hussey
Surrey, Intikhab, Sangakkara, Saqlain Mushtaq, Clarke
Warw, Donald, Lara, Kallicharran, Kanhai

Viv only had to beat for Somerset, Alfonso Thomas, Bill Alley, and Garner.
I Thought Majid Khan probably should have won the Glamorgan vote over him, but like others have said, One Day , Sunday League, where he was on T.V much more than others, may have Helped him.

Still, it's good for opinion & discussion, and well done to Viv.

As i said when i first started the thread, It would have been for me
1 Procter,
2 B Richards
3 Walsh
4 Viv.
5 Turner
6 Sir R. Hadlee.

 

[mr_mister]

https://stats.espncricinfo.com/ci/e...7;spanval1=span;template=results;type=batting


but #swagger or something

okay it's late and i should go to bed. but Viv is overrated! Lara and Sobers over him all day

 

[a massive zebra]

Sobers 7,041 runs @ 48.89 with 18 centuries and 281 wickets @ 25.63. For anyone else these would be incredible stats, but his batting average is actually lower than I expected. Perhaps this could be explained by the fact that he played for Notts between the ages of 32 and 38, so perhaps he was past his batting peak at this time.

Barry Richards 15,607 runs @ 50.50 with 38 hundreds.

 

[trundler]

Mushy and Waqar have massive reputations for their county services as far as I know

 

[tony p]

Sobers 7,041 runs @ 48.89 with 18 centuries and 281 wickets @ 25.63. For anyone else these would be incredible stats, but his batting average is actually lower than I expected. Perhaps this could be explained by the fact that he played for Notts between the ages of 32 and 38, so perhaps he was past his batting peak at this time.

It was a shame for Sobers that overseas players were officially allowed in 1968, when he was 32, otherwise he may have had a better record if he started younger.

Obviously before 1968, if an overseas player, threw his lot in to play county cricket, Like Roy Marshall, George Tribe, Colin McCool, Bruce Dooland etc, they couldn't play Test Cricket again, although some players had given up on hopes of a Test Career, which is why they played County Cricket.

 

[a massive zebra]

Mushy and Waqar have massive reputations for their county services as far as I know

Mushtaq Ahmed took 289 wickets for Somerset @ 26.32 and 478 wickets for Sussex @ 25.34, for a total of 767 wickets @ 25.70. That bowling average might not look as good as some of the others, but his bucketloads of wickets played a key role in Sussex winning the championship three times in five years (2003, 2006 and 2007). In those three successful seasons, he took an incredible 295 wickets in just 46 matches, including over 100 wickets in a season on two occasions. Sussex have never won the championship without Mushtaq in their side. Also, he played in one of the highest scoring eras ever in the history of the championship.

 

[trundler]

Did Viv struggle against Hadlee? I know the NZ record is a small sample size but still. Hadlee (like the other great all rounders of the era except Botham ) stepped up against WI too.

 

[smash84]

Mushtaq Ahmed took 289 wickets for Somerset @ 26.32 and 478 wickets for Sussex @ 25.34, for a total of 767 wickets @ 25.70. That bowling average might not look as good as some of the others, but he twice took over 100 wickets in a 16 match Championship winning season for Sussex. Also, he played in one of the highest scoring eras ever in the history of the championship.

Where are you getting all the county stats from?

 

[honestbharani]

This is an excellent thread. I have never really followed county cricket, so its wonderful learning from all this discussion.


That Sobers record, any team will literally kill for a player who can score at 49 and get wickets at 26. I mean, wow!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Fuller Pilch]

Jeetan Patel was robbed!

 

[AndrewB]

Ted McDonald won 4 county championships with Lancashire, which I'm guessing is the most for an overseas player?

 

[Engle]

https://www.bbc.com/sport/cricket/52514110

Excellent write-up of international cricketers and poll percentages

 

[BoyBrumby]

Ted McDonald won 4 county championships with Lancashire, which I'm guessing is the most for an overseas player?

Wayne Daniel at Middlesex also won 4 (77, 80, 82 & 85), albeit the first was shared with Kent.

 

[Lillian Thomson]

I agree with Viv as the outstanding winner with Clive Lloyd second. I would have had Greenidge ahead of Richards or Marshall for Hampshire.

 

[TheJediBrah]

Jesse Ryder the greatest overseas county bowler IMO

 

[Bolo.]

Lloyd in second? Surprises me.

The other guys who picked up a bunch of votes can all be explained in logical or emotional terms, but I don't really know why Lloyd polled that high?