The Greats

[Dasa]

Can I nominate Michael Holding's over to Geoff Boycott at Kensington in 1981?

Regretfully I've yet to see it but, having read this, and I'm sure many saw it, I feel it's worthy:

I already nominated it!

You can second it though.

 

[social]

I don't want to get into a huge debate now, but I think Gilchrist has been a batsman who has benefited greatly from the decline in bowling standards and flat pitches, and there are much better 'keepers around. Add to that, in my all-time XI I'd have a couple of all-rounders in there, I don't see the rationale in picking Gilchrist.

Without getting into a great debate, name one better keeper at present.

In Aus, weve recently been fortunate enough to view Sanga, Boucher and Ramdin.

He's light years ahead of all of them as a keeper alone.

Only the Pakistani and the NZer are in any way comparable and theyre both relative newbies.

Whilst I dont deny that there is an argument for including a great keeper from the past and batting him at 10 or 11 behind great all-rounders, Gilchrist's batting record defies belief (especially considering the attacking nature of his play) and his keeping remains underrated.

 

[Robertinho]

Indeed I second it

 

[sheerindianspeed]

Ashes - yes
Laxman's 281 ......YES
Imran Khan - Yes
G.D.McGrath - Yes
A.C.Gilchrist - No
S.R.Waugh - no
I.V.A.Richards - Yes
M.Marshall - yes
D.Lillee - No
J.Kallis - No

 

[Pedro Delgado]

Ashes - mmm no, although I support '05 as a nomination.
Laxman's 281 - aye
Imran Khan - aye
G.D.McGrath - ohhhhhhh yes
A.C.Gilchrist - aye. His innings are more chance-free as some might imagine, and are more to do with power and skill as opposed to luck. Very decent 'keeper too. IMO.
S.R.Waugh - yes. The man I want batting for my life on a dodgy wicket with a broken bone, an unlikely scenario, but nevertheless..
I.V.A.Richards - ohhhhhh yes
M.Marshall - aye
D.Lillee - aye
J.Kallis - not yet no, maybe by the end of his career.

 

[Pedro Delgado]

Has anyone hit the ball straight out of the 'Gabba before? That was some shot by Lee, and may warrant nomination per se. No Aussies or Englishmen going to second my choice of Fred's over?

Boooooooooooooooooooo.

 

[honestbharani]

Ashes - yes

Laxman's 281 - yes

Imran Khan - yes

G.D.McGrath - yes

A.C.Gilchrist - yes

S.R.Waugh - yes

I.V.A.Richards - yes

M.Marshall - yes

D.Lillee - yes

J.Kallis - no

 

[Snippie]

Ashes - No (Ashes 2005 - Yes)

Laxman's 281 - Yes

Imran Khan - Yes

G.D.McGrath - Yes

A.C.Gilchrist - No

S.R.Waugh - Yes

I.V.A.Richards - Yes

M.Marshall - Yes

D.Lillee - No

J.Kallis - Not yet

 

[ohtani's jacket]

sounds complicated ohtani... TBH i only think that there are about 10 players in the history of the game who should be caled great. The word great loses it's meaning if you start going for too many more.

I had trouble spitting it out, but what I meant to say is that a player can be great without being peerless. Ponting is a perfect example, he's a great batsman but he's not peerless in the way that Warne and McGrath are.

Anyway, here's my contribution:

Ashes - Yes
Laxman's 281 - Yes
Imran Khan - Yes
G.D.McGrath - Yes
A.C.Gilchrist - No
S.R.Waugh - Yes
I.V.A.Richards - Yes
M.Marshall - Yes
D.Lillee - Yes
J.Kallis - No

Gilchrist and Kallis are at a real disadvantage here.

 

[Dasa]

Without getting into a great debate, name one better keeper at present.

Ok, in terms of pure 'keeping, I'd say Sanga is on par, Kamran Akmal superior, if Chris Read were selected (as he should be) - superior...on potential, Dinesh Karthik is on the way (just looks natural), same with Ramdin. McCullum I'm not sure about...but he certainly looks like he could become one of the best.
None of them come close in batting terms, obviously...I just don't think all that highly of Gilchrist - not enough to rate him as an all-time great, on par with a Lara/Tendulkar/Warne/McGrath/Murali.

 

[social]

None of them come close in batting terms, obviously

That's the point - no-one in history has come close to being as devastating with the bat whilst being a top keeper.

 

[vic_orthdox]

This definently deserves a nomination in a list of "Greats".

 

[shankar]

Ashes - No (Assuming this means the ashes series over the years and not just 2005)

Laxman's 281 - yes

Imran Khan - yes

G.D.McGrath - yes

A.C.Gilchrist - No

S.R.Waugh - yes

I.V.A.Richards - yes

M.Marshall - yes

D.Lillee - yes

J.Kallis - no

 

[SirBloody Idiot]

Ashes yes
Laxman's 281 no
Imran Khan yes
G.D.McGrath no
A.C.Gilchrist no
S.R.Waugh yes
I.V.A.Richards yes
M.Marshall no
D.Lillee yes
J.Kallis no

 

[dontcloseyoureyes]

How can someone vote no for the innings of 281? When India was following-on and everything looked like Australia winning the series, Laxman and Dravid come together. These men single-handedly pulled India from certain defeat and put them back in the match. Harby did his part but seriously, this is close to the greatest fighting innings of all time.

The only reason I can think of for a no is that you're either a bitter Aussie supporter or didn't see it.

 

[Adamc]

Has anyone hit the ball straight out of the 'Gabba before? That was some shot by Lee, and may warrant nomination per se. No Aussies or Englishmen going to second my choice of Fred's over?

Boooooooooooooooooooo.

I'll second that, actually. One of the best overs I've ever seen - in fact probably the best that I can remember vividly.

Continuing that theme, I'd like to nominate Holding's over to Boycott - not that I've ever seen it, but the general consensus is that it was the greatest over ever, so it deserves a mention.

Also, Lara's 153* must be considered great - I'm nominating that as well.

 

[Slats4ever]

Ashes - Yes
Laxman's 281 - No
Imran Khan - No
G.D.McGrath - No
A.C.Gilchrist - Yes
S.R.Waugh - No
I.V.A.Richards - Yes
M.Marshall - No
D.Lillee - No
J.Kallis - No

 

[Slow Love™]

Forget about the no votes for Gilchrist, what about all the no votes for Waugh...

(Actually, I anguished over Gilchrist the most in this list, although I love him as a player.)

Anyhow...

Ashes no
Laxman's 281 yes
Imran Khan yes
G.D.McGrath yes
A.C.Gilchrist yes
S.R.Waugh yes
I.V.A.Richards yes
M.Marshall yes
D.Lillee yes
J.Kallis no

 

[andyc]

I nominate this as being great.

 

[SJS]

Ashes--- NO
Laxman's 281---YES
Imran Khan--YES
G.D.McGrath--NO
A.C.Gilchrist--NO
S.R.Waugh--NO
I.V.A.Richards--YES
M.Marshall--NO
D.Lillee--YES
J.Kallis--NO