Coolest Cricketers

[Shaggy Alfresco]

Kp

 

[andruid]

Once had Maurice Odumbe's e-mail address. And no I'm not a stalker

The likes of Brad Hogg, Andrew Symonds, Michael Clarke, and Michael Hussey seem to be very cool in Australia ATM. The cheer that Symonds gets when he comes into bat, and of course the 'Hoggy' chants as well today.

so you do Know about Maurice Odumbe's woman troubles

 

[cover drive man]

Kp

Nah he's too "Naughty schoolboy" For my liking. Good taste in women though.

 

[Richard]

Seeing that I'm definitely not a lady, of course I don't mind. I'm 29 but almost 30 -- IIRC, I'm a bit younger than you. Given that I was but one year old at the start of the '80s, my cricketing memories of the period only start from 1986 or so.

The most vivid ones include sitting in a car for hours on a stifling hot day listening to the WIndies batter England, and also watching Gower & co. capitulate on TV, probably during the same series. That was the first series I ever really noticed, I suppose.

How old did you think I was? I'm born September '85 yer cheeky sod!

I have absolutely no memory of anything much before 1990, which was why your comment about "memories of the 80s" caught my eye. My first memories of cricket aren't until the memorable Pakistan contest in 1992 (just following on from the equally memorable World Cup), but I didn't start watching really seriously as I do now until the sensational South Africa series in 1998.

I'm not sure which TV you'd have watched Gower and co. capitulate in '86 though. Didn't think anyone showed cricket in West Indies over here until 1990. Guess they'd probably have shown radio coverage of 't tho. If I didn't know better I'd have guessed the date was summer '84 rather than spring '86.

 

[Mystery]

Misbah-ul-Haq for me. The man's just so "chill." Seems like a man of few words too. Doesn't get worked up or overly hyper. And while I'm on a roll praising him, I'd like to add that he just comes off as a very humble and decent being (not that I know the guy personally or anything.)

 

[BoyBrumby]

Cool English cricketers? I've already mentioned Gower, and I suppose WG was the epitome of cool in his very starched-white-collar era. More recently, the King of the Jungle himself, Tuffers, was and is laconic to the point of coolness.

We Poms don't traditionally do "cool" too well, but if you're looking for the embodiment of the sort of patrician, reserved cool of which Gower (with his Kenyan upbringing) was a late flowering, then you really can't go past Douglas Jardine. I don't know whether you call it patrician reserve or aristocratic arrogance, but he genuinely didn't give a **** what anyone outside of his team thought of him, whether they were a barracker on the mound at the SCG or a member in the Long Room at Lords. There's something powerfully cool about that.

Who else would play the entire tour in a harlequin cap that made him instantly identifiable? Or set a leg-theory field for the next ball Woodfull was hit over the heart? Or reply to Patsy Hendren's remark that all Australia hated him that "It's ****ing mutual."?

 

[The Sean]

We Poms don't traditionally do "cool" too well, but if you're looking for the embodiment of the sort of patrician, reserved cool of which Gower (with his Kenyan upbringing) was a late flowering, then you really can't go past Douglas Jardine. I don't know whether you call it patrician reserve or aristocratic arrogance, but he genuinely didn't give a **** what anyone outside of his team thought of him, whether they were a barracker on the mound at the SCG or a member in the Long Room at Lords. There's something powerfully cool about that.

Who else would play the entire tour in a harlequin cap that made him instantly identifiable? Or set a leg-theory field for the next ball Woodfull was hit over the heart? Or reply to Patsy Hendren's remark that all Australia hated him that "It's ****ing mutual."?

I'd never thought of DRJ as "cool" but you make a strong - if unconventional - case. Definitely had that aloofness and you-can-think-what-you-like-about-me-I-dont-give-a-toss thing going on in a big way.

And, of course, the ability to back it all up by actually winning the Ashes.

Probably the kind of bloke you'd have a late night brandy with though, rather than a few beers down the pub...

 

[Evermind]

How old did you think I was? I'm born September '85 yer cheeky sod!

1985?

You must've spent just about 33% of your waking life posting on these forums!

Though some of the posts look like they weren't quite made during the waking hours.

 

[Mahindinho]

How old did you think I was? I'm born September '85 yer cheeky sod!

Ooops! I always thought you were a bit older. Take it as a condiment

I'm not sure which TV you'd have watched Gower and co. capitulate in '86 though. Didn't think anyone showed cricket in West Indies over here until 1990. Guess they'd probably have shown radio coverage of 't tho. If I didn't know better I'd have guessed the date was summer '84 rather than spring '86.

The capitulation may not have been in '86 then...and '84 seems too early (would I really have remembered it as a 6-year-old?)...perhaps it was a highlights programme, or on the news?

I might have a look through the Cricinfo series archives at some point and see it I can figure it out.

 

[Richard]

Ooops! I always thought you were a bit older. Take it as a condiment

Meh, too many people thinking I'm too old at the moment. Barely seems like yesterday I was 19, and I have people calling me 24, 26, 28 even(!) left right and centre. And now early-30s. It's just too much!

The capitulation may not have been in '86 then...and '84 seems too early (would I really have remembered it as a 6-year-old?)...perhaps it was a highlights programme, or on the news?

I might have a look through the Cricinfo series archives at some point and see it I can figure it out.

I guess it might have been '88, the successive hammerings occurred in '84 (home), '86 (away) and '88 (home). Sandwiched on the outside were surprisingly competetive series in '80 (home) and '81 (away) and the sensational occurrings in '90 (away) and '91 (home).

I think we can safely say it wouldn't have been '76.

 

[Richard]

1985?

You must've spent just about 33% of your waking life posting on these forums!

No, not close. I only posted on CW for the first time in October '03, that's only just over 4 years, and I was 18 before I even signed-up.

Though some of the posts look like they weren't quite made during the waking hours.

They weren't. I can still post at 3:20AM as well as I can at 12midday.

 

[roseboy64]

So he says.

 

[neville cardus]

It's difficult to get away from Chris Gayle, although I find his ostensible "coolness" (which, anyway, I am yet to see defined) a touch superficial at times. Team-mate Marlon Samuels also suffers that annoying penchant for focusing less on his batting and more on appearing unfocused and disinterested.

 

[roseboy64]

Highly doubt Gayle is superficial. The comment about Samuels is probably true up to a few months ago.

 

[neville cardus]

Highly doubt Gayle is superficial.

Why?

The comment about Samuels is probably true up to a few months ago.

Why?

 

[BoyBrumby]

I don't know about Gayle coolness being superficial or not, but this ancedote, whilst probably apocryphal, is ample demonstration of his coolness (link)

Chris Gayle, West Indies' latest and least likely triple centurion, is arguably the coolest dude in the cricket firmament. He does not care much for running when he bats, preferring the heavy artillery. He cares even less for it when he bowls his off-spin (a bit too sweaty bowling seam and, besides, the shades would have to come off). And, if possible, he plants himself at slip when doing neither.

Neither does he enjoy wasting good breath on idle social chit-chat. At an official function last summer he found himself placed next to a former England and Wales Cricket Board official, who could enthuse for the World against the planet Mars.

After half an hour of sitting sullenly through reminiscences and accounts of the privileges of touring, he could take no more. He turned, looked through his mirrors at his companion and spoke for the first time. "You get much *****?"

 

[Dissector]

Thanks. That's the best laugh I've had in days.

 

[Richard]

I don't know about Gayle coolness being superficial or not, but this ancedote, whilst probably apocryphal, is ample demonstration of his coolness (link)

Chris Gayle, West Indies' latest and least likely triple centurion, is arguably the coolest dude in the cricket firmament. He does not care much for running when he bats, preferring the heavy artillery. He cares even less for it when he bowls his off-spin (a bit too sweaty bowling seam and, besides, the shades would have to come off). And, if possible, he plants himself at slip when doing neither.

Neither does he enjoy wasting good breath on idle social chit-chat. At an official function last summer he found himself placed next to a former England and Wales Cricket Board official, who could enthuse for the World against the planet Mars.

After half an hour of sitting sullenly through reminiscences and accounts of the privileges of touring, he could take no more. He turned, looked through his mirrors at his companion and spoke for the first time. "You get much *****?"

A fitting - if predictable - way to raise the 16,000.

 

[roseboy64]

Why?

From interviews I've seen and heard and how people here in the cricket fraternity view him.

Why?

Noticed more application in his batting and an account by former WI player Maurice Foster that he thinks Marlon has matured and is more focused especially with the birth of his daughter last year.

 

[roseboy64]

I don't know about Gayle coolness being superficial or not, but this ancedote, whilst probably apocryphal, is ample demonstration of his coolness (link)

Chris Gayle, West Indies' latest and least likely triple centurion, is arguably the coolest dude in the cricket firmament. He does not care much for running when he bats, preferring the heavy artillery. He cares even less for it when he bowls his off-spin (a bit too sweaty bowling seam and, besides, the shades would have to come off). And, if possible, he plants himself at slip when doing neither.

Neither does he enjoy wasting good breath on idle social chit-chat. At an official function last summer he found himself placed next to a former England and Wales Cricket Board official, who could enthuse for the World against the planet Mars.

After half an hour of sitting sullenly through reminiscences and accounts of the privileges of touring, he could take no more. He turned, looked through his mirrors at his companion and spoke for the first time. "You get much *****?"

Not too surprised TBH.