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Ten players you wished you could have seen live in their prime?

silentstriker

silentstriker

The Wheel is Forever
A post in the other thread got me thinking, which players do you wish you had seen at their best? Limit to ten.

Mine (not in a particular order)

  1. Viv Richards
  2. Donald Bradman
  3. Gary Sobers
  4. Jack Hobbs
  5. Dennis Lilllee
  6. Malcolm Marshall (I am sure I saw him but I was 7 when he played his last Test and I cant remember)
  7. Bishan Singh Bedi
  8. Kapil Dev (I caught the very tail end of his career)
  9. Jeff Thompson
  10. Victor Trumper
 
Coronis

Coronis

International Coach
WG Grace - I’m the person who came to see him play that he’s putting the bails back on for.
SF Barnes - Partly to settle the debate as to what he bowled, partly because the best of ‘em today is half as good as Barnsey.
Gilbert Jessop - Probably like watching today’s shortform players 100 years ago
Jack Hobbs - The greatest opener of all time, watching him both pre and post war would be wonderful to see him master both
Herbert Sutcliffe - I’m always talking him up, one of the greatest wet wicket players of all time, plus I could give that positive peer rating for ya’ll to be reading nowadays
Don Bradman - The greatest batsman of all time, how could I not?
Garry Sobers - The greatest allrounder of all time, how could I not?
Ken Barrington - See Sutcliffe’s reasoning
Mike Procter - My favourite player of all time
Malcolm Marshall - The greatest fast bowler of all time, how could I not?

That was a bit annoying. 2 players I had to sadly leave out - was tough between Sutcliffe/Barrington and them.
 
P

Patience and Accuracy+Gut

State Vice-Captain
1. D.G Bradman (Best Cricketer Ever)
2. Jeff Thomson (Fastest ever)
3. Garfield Sobers (Best All-rounder ever)
4. Bill O’Reilly (Imo best bowler ever)
5. Frank Tyson ( Very fast but in Thommo’s level? Idk)
6.Harold Larwood (Best bowling action ever)
7.Malcolm Marshall (Best Quick ever)
8.Syd Barnes (Freak, would love to see him at his fastest)
9.W.G Grace (Champion, most important cricketer ever)
10.Victor Trumper (Genius)
 
Last edited:
SillyCowCorner1

SillyCowCorner1

Moooo
Roy Fredericks
Rohan Babulall Kanhai
Alvin Kallicharan
Basil Butcher
Lance Gibbs
Joe Solomon
Supercat
Colin Croft
Faoud Bacchus
Roger Harper
John Trim

All from my country (I'll make a list of overseas players soon.) These players in my list here I have heard great things about them from elders growing up. A careful look at the ones from Berbice: Fredericks, Kanhai, Kallicharan, Trim...

Most of the talent back then came from matches played between the sugar estates: Blairmont, Rose Hall, Albion (my home ground), Port Mourant (They were a powerhouse back in the day), and Skeldon.
 
kyear2

kyear2

International Coach
Jack Hobbs - would want to see the original Master
Syd Barnes - so I can win that argument
Garry Sobers - want to see him do everything with ultimate grace
Don Bradman - would want to see the phenom, the Great One with my own eyes
Viv Richards - only saw him edge of / post peak
Malcom Marshall - saw him live and heard a bit of his peak, but want to watch the GOAT from '83 onward.
Tallon / Oldfield - want to see if they were really better than Russel / Healy
Barry Richards - want to see the man that many say was the only batsman to compare to his name sake and Sobers
George Headley - how good was the black Bradman
Brian Lara - yes strange one that I obviously saw, but I was playing tennis less than 10 mins away from Kensington when he scored the 153*, and decided not to go because I didn't think we could win.
 
kyear2

kyear2

International Coach
Coronis said:
WG Grace - I’m the person who came to see him play that he’s putting the bails back on for.
SF Barnes - Partly to settle the debate as to what he bowled, partly because the best of ‘em today is half as good as Barnsey.
Gilbert Jessop - Probably like watching today’s shortform players 100 years ago
Jack Hobbs - The greatest opener of all time, watching him both pre and post war would be wonderful to see him master both
Herbert Sutcliffe - I’m always talking him up, one of the greatest wet wicket players of all time, plus I could give that positive peer rating for ya’ll to be reading nowadays
Don Bradman - The greatest batsman of all time, how could I not?
Garry Sobers - The greatest allrounder of all time, how could I not?
Ken Barrington - See Sutcliffe’s reasoning
Mike Procter - My favourite player of all time
Malcolm Marshall - The greatest fast bowler of all time, how could I not?

That was a bit annoying. 2 players I had to sadly leave out - was tough between Sutcliffe/Barrington and them.
Click to expand...

Love it 🤣🤣
 
Burgey

Burgey

Request Your Custom Title Now!
Bradman
Grace
Headley
Hobbs
Miller
Sobers
Chandra (I saw him in 77 out here but I was just a kid and don't remember much of him)
G Pollock
Worrell
Larwood
 
Line and Length

Line and Length

Cricketer Of The Year
I'm of a vintage that has seen many of those mentioned to date, though I only saw TV clips of the Don .
Because of that, Bradman heads my list, for obvious reasons, followed by:
WG Grace - Just so I can say I saw him.
Fred Spofforth - An original demon bowler
Jack Hobbs - The greatest opener ever
Walter Hammond - I want to see all aspects of his game.
Stan McCabe - To see that innings which Bradman rated so highly.
S.F. Barnes - To satisfy my curiosity and answer some questions.
Manny Martindale/Harold Larwood - Bodyline exponents. How did it compare with modern short pitched bowling?
Keith Miller - My boyhood hero. Saw him on TV.
C.B.Fry - Only to see his party trick of jumping backwards onto a mantlepiece (allegedly).
 
H

HouHsiaoHsien

International Debutant
Hobbs(my joint favourite player with Viv Richards)
Steyn(started following cricket post 2014, so missed majority of his peak)
Viv Richards(what more can I say)
Waqar Younis(one of the most purely destructive bowlers, when on song)
Malcolm Marshall(GOAT)
Bradman(obvious)
Barry Richards(that 325)
Keith Miller(in general, also would’ve wanted to be present when he hit that famous six).
 
kyear2

kyear2

International Coach
Line and Length said:
I'm of a vintage that has seen many of those mentioned to date, though I only saw TV clips of the Don .
Because of that, Bradman heads my list, for obvious reasons, followed by:
WG Grace - Just so I can say I saw him.
Fred Spofforth - An original demon bowler
Jack Hobbs - The greatest opener ever
Walter Hammond - I want to see all aspects of his game.
Stan McCabe - To see that innings which Bradman rated so highly.
S.F. Barnes - To satisfy my curiosity and answer some questions.
Manny Martindale/Harold Larwood - Bodyline exponents. How did it compare with modern short pitched bowling?
Keith Miller - My boyhood hero. Saw him on TV.
C.B.Fry - Only to see his party trick of jumping backwards onto a mantlepiece (allegedly).
Click to expand...
Wants to add him to my list, but ran out of spaces. I want to see him catch, I know some hyperbole is always involved, but to be featured so heavily in bios even back then, he had to be special.

Also Frank Tyson, would have lived to see him bowl.
 
Pap Finn Keighl

Pap Finn Keighl

International Debutant
W.G. Grace - Greatest Batsman? Greatest Allrounder? Greatest Cricketer?

Sydney Barnes - Greatest Bowler?

Gary Sobers - Greatest Cricketer
Don Bradman - Greatest Batsman

Mike Procter - Greatest Cricketer in last 50 years

Barry Richards, G. Pollock and Vander Bijl.

Ranjit Singhji and Trumper.
 
M

ma1978

International Debutant
An XI of players who I saw play, but past their primes, who I wish I saw when they were great.

Sunil Gavaskar
Gordon Greenidge
Viv Richards
David Gower
Alan Border
Ian Botham
Kapil Dev
Imran Khan
Jeff Dujon
Richard Hadlee
Malcolm Marshall

Twelfth Man: Javed Miandad

An XI of players who I never saw, but have read enough about to care

Len Hutton
Vijay Merchant
Don Bradman
George Headley (the Black Bradman, from Beyond a Boundary)
Vijay Hazare
Alan Knott
Learie Constantine (also Beyond a Boundary)
Clive Rice
Mike Procter
Harold Larwood
Subash Gupte

Twelfth Man: Basil D'Oliveira
 
shortpitched713

shortpitched713

International Captain
Bradman and Sydney Barnes off the top, as players with not much footage in context to really get a sens of their techniques and impact.

Would also love to see more of Weekes and Miller, in the context of their time.

Also, welcome back @silentstriker !
 
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