Rhodes' batting and bowling peaks not coinciding was an issue for The Cricketer's judges, who ignored his batting and picked him as the best left-arm spinner on all pitches. Ames was their keeper batting six. Others considered Rhodes' career as a whole and treated him as an all-rounder.
Some reputations have shifted over half a century. Grace, Hirst, Rhodes and Woolley were considered the big four English all-round cricketers. When Botham arrived on the scene they all got pushed back to varying degrees. One of the most common descriptions of Barrington now is "underrated". He wasn't rated back then. Grace and Hobbs kept all other openers out of the discussion apart from Hutton. Ranji had been consigned to the imperial past. The next batting cab off the rank was May. Dexter and Cowdrey were recalled fondly from the previous decade but neither was deemed to be in the Hammond/Compton class.
Tate and Bedser were regarded highly, but not as highly as Barnes. Lohmann was forgotten. Knott's Test career was almost over but there was still some old-fashioned prejudice around his standing back to medium-pacers. Verity and Underwood were seen as bad-wicket bowlers, as was Laker but there weren't any viable off-spinning alternatives. The reliable Statham was respected more than Trueman, Tyson or Snow, but never seriously challenged Larwood, whose closest rival might still actually have been Tom Richardson.
