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Cricketing spiritual successors

The Sean

The Sean

Cricketer Of The Year
A bit of a left-field one, but I’ve not posted for an age and I’ve been thinking a bit about this for a while now. Who would you consider to be the spiritual successor to a player from that player’s past? I remember first thinking along these lines when Tendulkar was being compared with Bradman left, right and centre, and it felt to me that – notwithstanding the incomparability of Bradman – it was a comparison that missed the point.

My view was very much that Tendulkar was more the spiritual successor to Jack Hobbs.

Both men were, simplest level, all time great batsmen and serious contenders for the title of second greatest ever.
Both men were defined by the completeness as batsmen – they were brilliant and prolific on all wickets, in all conditions, against all opposition.
Both men played in eras where Australia was the strongest possible opposition for all or most of their careers, and they were both hugely popular in and very successful against Australia throughout their careers.
Finally, both men allied extraordinary longevity and consistency to their exceptional skill, and in doing so amassed career aggregate records which will never (Hobbs in FC) and may very well never (Tendulkar in combined internationals) be beaten.

I might be talking to myself here (it wouldn’t be the first time), but does anyone have any others?
 
The Sean

The Sean

Cricketer Of The Year
Another one from me – VVS Laxman is the spiritual successor to Stan McCabe.

Both men were middle-order batsmen of exceptional quality and aesthetic appeal.
Both men spent their time in generally very powerful batting line-ups, including playing their entire careers alongside one of the game’s absolute all-time icons, who predictably overshadowed them both statistically and historically.
Both men were humble, terrific teammates, and largely shunned the limelight.
Both men finished with outstanding Test career records of which any batsman could be very proud, and yet neither is known or remembered for their overall numbers.
Rather, both men are defined by the sheer class of their batting, and especially by a handful of beyond extraordinary innings – knocks in which they put even their iconic teammates in the shade and scaled peaks of batsmanship that arguably no other (or at least very, very few) players in history ever have.
 
F

Fuller Pilch

Hall of Fame Member
For a more decent example: Devon Conway as the new Mike Hussey. Left handers, all format players, started international cricket late, know their games well, both even CSK players in the IPL.
 
Line and Length

Line and Length

Cricketer Of The Year
Dennis Lillee was likened to Fred Spofforth. They bore similar physical features as well as being oft-feared quicks.

 
TheJediBrah

TheJediBrah

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Bit of a funny one, Steve Smith was a bit of a spiritual successor to Shane Warne. Chubby blonde leggie selected quite young, IIRC there were comparisons at the time.
 
HeathDavisSpeed

HeathDavisSpeed

Cricket Web: All-Time Legend
Chris Schofield is the natural successor to Ian Salisbury.

Edit: in before someone suggests Ronnie Irani from Derek Pringle which would be wholly unfair as Ronnie had some personality.
 
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