John Woodcock's 100 Greatest Cricketers

[capt_Luffy]

Did he really Average 21.46 with the bat in FC? Guess that's pretty high for that era.

Imo, pre 20th Century stats should be judged as completely different numbers than the ones we are familiar with.

 

[ma1978]

Imagine if Migara had a list of top 100 cricketers and had say Ranjan Madugalle at 5 and Chaminda Vaas ahead of Dale Steyn. This is the equivalent.

That said, Woodcock has a delightful turn of phrase.

 

[Bolo.]

Did he really Average 21.46 with the bat in FC? Guess that's pretty high for that era.

Imo, pre 20th Century stats should be judged as completely different numbers than the ones we are familiar with.

From his cricinfo bio:

Spanning the era when underarm bowling gave way to lobs, he was one of the first players to use his feet to attack bowlers, and so effective was he that concerns grew that the batsmen were too dominant.

 

[Red_Ink_Squid]

Imagine if Migara had a list of top 100 cricketers and had say Ranjan Madugalle at 5 and Chaminda Vaas ahead of Dale Steyn. This is the equivalent.

That said, Woodcock has a delightful turn of phrase.

Indeed, this list is the equivalent of Migara's top 100 cricketers.

 

[kyear2]

@Migara catching strays.

 

[Migara]

Ranjan Madugalle already has entered eliteness when it comes to match referees.

The grape keeps getting sour . . .

 

[OverratedSanity]

It is astonishing that a photograph exists for a cricket player born in 1760s. Must have been one of the earliest cricketers photographed.

Billy Beldham Profile - Cricket Player England | Stats, Records, Video

Read about Billy Beldham cricket player from England profile, stats, rankings, records, videos, photos at ESPNcricinfo

www.espncricinfo.com

His cricinfo bio ends with:

His complexion was remarkably fresh and ruddy and, notwithstanding his great age, he was even then a splendid specimen of a veteran athlete." He was clearly a splendid specimen - he is reputed to have fathered 39 children.

Well, then.

 

[sayon basak]

His cricinfo bio ends with:



Well, then.

No. Of children > batting average

 

[capt_Luffy]

No. Of children > batting average

Well, atleast he doesn't have more Rolls Royce than he has scored runs in a full tour as captain.....

 

[smash84]

It’s about as white as the members room at the Royal Automobile Club, but John Woodcock is a delightful writer so I will give him a pass.

Seems more like a John Softcock list

 

[ma1978]

BTW, list aside, as I've said before he's a fine writer and historian

The India I remember

A veteran cricket writer looks back a couple of India's earliest visits to England, featuring an incompetent prince-captain, a colossal allrounder, and more

www.espncricinfo.com

 

[honestbharani]

Well, then.

Quite fitting for Woodcock's list tbf.

 

[h_hurricane]

Some of these bios of ancient players are interesting reads.

John Wells Profile - Cricket Player England | Stats, Records, Video

Read about John Wells cricket player from England profile, stats, rankings, records, videos, photos at ESPNcricinfo

www.espncricinfo.com

Beldham's brother in law

"He was a man," declared Nyren, "of a trans-parent and unflawed integrity - plain, simple, and candid; uncompromising yet courteous; civil and deferential, yet not a cringer." John Wells was born in 1759--the year of victories--and came from the village of Wrecclesham, near Farnham, like the great William Beldham whose sister he married. The distance from his home to Hambledon was 27 miles, and Wells and his brother-in-law had to ride there and back in the day. Eventually they decided to build a cart for the journey, but the dart-tax was laid on about that time, so they continued to ride.

Indeed it was so marked that, on one occasion in a single-wicket match, Lord Frederick Beauclerk warned the younger Tufton (afterwards the last Earl of Thanet, who was arrested in France by Napoleon's orders in 1803) to beware of Honest John's marksmanship. But the warning was not sufficiently heeded and the honourable gentleman's wicket was thrown down from the side, where only a single stump was visible to the fieldsman. His physical strength was evidently allied to phenomenal quickness in gathering the ball. Once he was so quick that Beldham saw him tear off a finger-nail against his shoe-buckle in the process.

Lord Frederick Beauclerk Profile - Cricket Player England | Stats, Records, Video

Read about Lord Frederick Beauclerk cricket player from England profile, stats, rankings, records, videos, photos at ESPNcricinfo

www.espncricinfo.com

he was a "foul-mouthed, dishonest man who was one of the most hated figures in society ... he bought and sold matches as though they were lots at an auction". So unpopular was he, that it is said that a notorious criminal once refused to travel in the same coach as him on account of his "fluent and expressive vocabulary". Another source said he was "cruel unforgiving, cantankerous and bitter". When he died, in 1850, The Times didn't even give him an obituary.

 

[trundler]

If we're discussing pre-Grace cricketers, William Ward, the first batsman to score an FC double century, deserves a mention.

 

[Fuller Pilch]

Indeed, this list is the equivalent of Migara's top 100 cricketers.

No offence to the great Christopher Roger Woakes, but this list is the equivalent of your top 1 cricketer.

 

[ataraxia]

His cricinfo bio ends with:



Well, then.

Isn't he the pfp of some prehistoric CW poster?

 

[ankitj]

69 MD Marshall
53 GA Gooch

Gooch the better slip fielder, hence.

 

[sayon basak]

Gooch the better slip fielder, hence.

Yeah Gooch is also taller,not really close.

 

[Brook's side]

He also had a better moustache.

 

[mr_mister]

Had Sachin done that much by 1997 to be top 30?

Predates even desert storm and the taming of Warne