5 Most Influential Cricketers of All Time

[fredfertang]

no of points here. from the literature that i'v read, it is uncertain as to who exactly first rediscovered reverse swing out of imran and safraz. however what is certain is that imran made the art famous because of his success and longevity as a player. these days people only remember safraz for that one series in australia. so regardless of who invented reverse (and there was a good chance imran did) it was imran who inspired others to do it.

same with sehwag. mcullum,dilshan and tamim will tell you their inspiration is sehwag, not victor trumper. It is not about the first to do it but the one who influenced others. Same with andy flower. Sledging became famous with chappell and it was because of that australian team that the culture exists today.

I'm confident Bart King had it sussed a century before those two, with his "angler" delivery

 

[hang on]

ankitj,

i would argue that constantine was the first great non white caribbean cricketer. in terms of great non caribbean non white cricketers, it cannot be anyone but ranji.

 

[vcs]

Youngesters in Aus, Eng, NZ, RSA possibly WI would look up to Warne. Didn't specify it, thought it was implied.

HOWEVER I myself wanted to bowl legspin thanks to Warne, as did a few of my friends. And we're all Indian/raised in the Middle East. So not completely wrong to say Warne could have inspired us. I know I found Kumble dull when I was younger, and had no clue who Chandrasekhar, Qadir and Mushtaq Ahmed were.

And to say that cricketers from SC form 75% of FC cricketers in the world is just pure BS. 50% maybe, but that's wayyy to high.

I am an Indian and can definitely confirm that a lot of cool kids when I grew up tried to ape Warne, rather than Kumble. Definitely one of the 3 cricketers of the 90's IMO (the other two being Tendulkar and Lara).

 

[honestbharani]

The most influential man in English cricket history may be Tom Cartwright.

He was the man who withdrew from the England squad to South Africa, and was replaced by D'Oliveira. And suddenly history changed.

Also, he was doing some coaching at Somerset when he came across a young all rounder named Botham, who lacked any kind of discipline or commitment. Without Cartwright's guidance, Botham would never have even played first class cricket.

But seriously:
WG Grace
Ranjitsinghi
Don Bradman
Imran Khan
Shane Warne (surprised nobodys mentioned him. Leg spin had been written off until he arrived on the scene)

I did..

 

[BoyBrumby]

Do we define "most influential" by the effect they've had on the playing of the game, the game itself as a whole or the world at large? Or any combination thereof?

Anyway, my tuppence worth:

1) WG Grace - founder of the modern game and all that. Cricket could well have remained a bucolic English pasttime rather than becoming a major international sport were it not for the Good Doctor.

2) Sachin Tendulkar - whatever his merits as a cricketer (and they're many), Sachin is a demi-god in the biggest cricketing nation on earth. When he plays, India watches. His emergence as India's greatest player (with apologies to Kapil & Sunny) co-incided with the devlopement of the information age and is in no small part responsible for the sport being the multi-billion dollar industry it now is.

3) Donald Bradman - he was that good. Even American sportswriters occasionally use his dominance over his peers and generations past and future as an analogy. I once saw him namechecked in an article about Tiger Woods.

4) Muttiah Muralitharan - However one regards him as a player, his influence on the sport is undeniable. As much as some would seek to disingenuously deny it he's been the catalyst for a whole raft of changes, not all of them necessarily for the better.

5) Adam Gilchrist - Has largely killed off the specialist keeper. Never again will we see keepers selected without some ability with the bat.

 

[mrcheek]

5) Adam Gilchrist - Has largely killed off the specialist keeper. Never again will we see keepers selected without some ability with the bat.

Very good point. Wicketkeepers who were great batsmen used to be the exception. Now, no international side would dare pick a weak batsman behind the stumps. Although many overlook what a brilliant keeper Gilchrist was, and think they just need to pick somoen who can bat.
Would Dhoni, Matt Prior, Kamran Akmal or McCullum have managed to keep their places so long if not for Gilchrist?

 

[vcs]

Very good point. Wicketkeepers who were great batsmen used to be the exception. Now, no international side would dare pick a weak batsman behind the stumps. Although many overlook what a brilliant keeper Gilchrist was, and think they just need to pick somoen who can bat.
Would Dhoni, Matt Prior, Kamran Akmal or McCullum have managed to keep their places so long if not for Gilchrist?

Apart from Akmal and Prior early in his career, they're hardly poor keepers.

 

[mrcheek]

Apart from Akmal and Prior early in his career, they're hardly poor keepers.

Sorry, I badly worded my last post.
20 years ago, the selectors would have labelled Dhoni, Akmal and Prior as batsmen, regardless of their keeping ability, and would have chosen a better keeper ahead of them, just for the sake of having the best keeper, even if the other guy couldnt bat. I didnt mean to suggest they were bad keepers, although Akmal seems to have a few bad spells, and Prior was poor at times early on.

 

[vcs]

Sorry, I badly worded my last post.
20 years ago, the selectors would have labelled Dhoni, Akmal and Prior as batsmen, regardless of their keeping ability, and would have chosen a better keeper ahead of them, just for the sake of having the best keeper, even if the other guy couldnt bat. I didnt mean to suggest they were bad keepers, although Akmal seems to have a few bad spells, and Prior was poor at times early on.

Fair point.

 

[smash84]

Sorry, I badly worded my last post.
20 years ago, the selectors would have labelled Dhoni, Akmal and Prior as batsmen, regardless of their keeping ability, and would have chosen a better keeper ahead of them, just for the sake of having the best keeper, even if the other guy couldnt bat. I didnt mean to suggest they were bad keepers, although Akmal seems to have a few bad spells, and Prior was poor at times early on.

MASSIVE understatement

 

[wpdavid]

1. WG Grace - for all the reasons already listed
2. Spofforth - created the Ashes iirc with the famous Oval win.
3. Warwick Armstrong - probably the father of test cricket as something recognisable to what we know it to be. His captaincy paved the way for Jardine and Chappelli, imo.
4. Frank Worrall - without whom Lloyd may not have even been given the captaincy
5. Sarfraz - as already explained.

Honourable mentions to Ranji and the guy who first bowled overarm. But imo we might as well list the guy who invented the un-curved bat and any other foundational changes to the game.

Looking back at other guys mentioned, teams had moved away from 'pure' keepers years before Gilchrist came along. He just did it way better than anyone else. Has Warne influenced anything now he's gone? I still don't see any decent leggies coming from anywhere beyond the subcontinent. As for Badman, I'm not sure what his influence has been as such. Doesn't detract from his standing of course.

 

[Blaze 18]

MASSIVE understatement

Haha, that is what I thought when I read that line.

 

[smash84]

Haha, that is what I thought when I read that line.

Great minds think alike

 

[mrcheek]

MASSIVE understatement

I was just trying to be nice

 

[Blaze 18]

Great minds think alike

Indeed!

 

[smash84]

I was just trying to be nice

trying to be nice to people on this forum...you've got some cheek

 

[Himannv]

Hall (captaincy and uniting Windies anyone? )

Is this Wes Hall? I dont think he was captain. Maybe you confused him for Worrell. Hall did start off as the first great West Indian fast bowler though and did play a major role as an administrator.

EDIT: Oops, see that you corrected it.

 

[marstrott]

1. Adam Gilchrist
2. Vivian Richards
3. Virendra Sehwag
4. Chris Gayle
5. Brandon McCullum

 

[smash84]

1. Adam Gilchrist
2. Vivian Richards
3. Virendra Sehwag
4. Chris Gayle
5. Brandon McCullum

Chris Gayle??? McCullum??? most influential cricketers???

 

[benchmark00]

Lavender oil more influential imo.