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Gilchrist named Australia's greatest ever ODI player

pup11

International Coach
I don't have any problem with Gilly getting this honour he truly deserves it, he is great player and great man one of legends of the game so i am not suprised by this news and the only guy who probably could have got this title ahead of Gilly was Michael Bevan (he was a genius) who i rate among the top 3 Odi players ever.
 

Engle

State Vice-Captain
Gilly should get into an All-Time ODI XI with far less debate than any other cricketer...in fact, pick him first then debate the rest
 

open365

International Vice-Captain
There's so many great players to chose from but i think Bevan should have got this.,
 

pup11

International Coach
There is no doubt that there were lots of players to choose from but Gilly stands out of the rest of crowd because of two reasons, first he is an amazing player who single handedly revolutionalized the way Australia player cricket and he is a tremendous all-rounder for Australia, secondly Adam is a very humble and nice guy (from what i have seen of him) and he has plently of goodwill among his peers which comes in handy when they have to vote for you! ;)
 

Perm

Cricket Web: All-Time Legend
OMG....why does everyone here worship stats seemingly without watching people play.
Because cricket is about scoring runs and taking wickets. The manner in which the players do this is fairly insignificant.
 

shortpitched713

International Captain
Gilly should get into an All-Time ODI XI with far less debate than any other cricketer...in fact, pick him first then debate the rest
Wasim Akram and him are pretty much the first picks. Then come a number of other players of more or less equal merit.
 

Top_Cat

Request Your Custom Title Now!
Interesting call. I wouldn't have made it.

I think people are a little quick to forget the bowlers in this instance and it's a hard to go past a little-known Aussie quick called Glenn McGrath. As far as ODI bowling, he had it covered; could take early wickets with aggressive bowling and was the best death bowler Australia ever produced. How many times did McGrath bowl end up with figures like 3/35 (10)? How many times did the two or three he took early create big wins for the Aussies? Plenty. How many times did he knock over someone going hard or shut them down? He's number 1 in my book.

250 matches, 381 wickets, BBI 7/15, 22.02 avg, econ 3.88. 'Nuff said.
 

stephen

Cricket Web: All-Time Legend
Interesting call. I wouldn't have made it.

I think people are a little quick to forget the bowlers in this instance and it's a hard to go past a little-known Aussie quick called Glenn McGrath. As far as ODI bowling, he had it covered; could take early wickets with aggressive bowling and was the best death bowler Australia ever produced. How many times did McGrath bowl end up with figures like 3/35 (10)? How many times did the two or three he took early create big wins for the Aussies? Plenty. How many times did he knock over someone going hard or shut them down? He's number 1 in my book.

250 matches, 381 wickets, BBI 7/15, 22.02 avg, econ 3.88. 'Nuff said.
His economy is what is most impressive, in an era when an economy under or around 5 is considered good. However, Gillchrist has absolutely zero competition when it comes to the WK/Batsman spot in one day history. McGrath would be the second name on the teamsheet though.
 

shortpitched713

International Captain
Interesting call. I wouldn't have made it.

I think people are a little quick to forget the bowlers in this instance and it's a hard to go past a little-known Aussie quick called Glenn McGrath. As far as ODI bowling, he had it covered; could take early wickets with aggressive bowling and was the best death bowler Australia ever produced. How many times did McGrath bowl end up with figures like 3/35 (10)? How many times did the two or three he took early create big wins for the Aussies? Plenty. How many times did he knock over someone going hard or shut them down? He's number 1 in my book.

250 matches, 381 wickets, BBI 7/15, 22.02 avg, econ 3.88. 'Nuff said.
While McGrath would probably be one of the names on my teamsheet, I'm not sure that he brings anything to the table that a Hadlee, Garner, Ambrose or Pollock doesn't bring. Wasim was special in that he was a genuinely aggressive wicket taking bowler, and probably the most destructive bowler in ODI cricket history. Plus his more than capable slogging in the lower order seals the deal for me.
 

LongHopCassidy

International Captain
Perm said:
Compare their averages.
Batsmen who average 41.15 at 73.70 are a dime a dozen, frankly. I know, I'm generalising. But can you honestly tell me you'd take it over 35.96 at 96.66? Would you prefer 41 (59) or 36 (37)?

Anyhow, Gilchrist's value as an ODI player isn't measurable in his batting alone, which is grossly unfair to the flexibility he allows the Australian team in his dual role - in turn, worth an additional batsman or bowler.

Most international keepers, Sangakkara, Boucher and Dhoni aside, are essentially dead weight as batsmen with any runs being a bonus and only marginally more expected than runs from bowlers. However, Churchy manages to be worth his spot alone as a batsman - an opener averaging 36 at 97, no less - and provide an extra batting or bowling slot by playing two roles at once with unprecedented dual competence - instead of shoring up the innings at 7 or 8 like most ODI keepers.

This has given Australia freedom to experiment with all-rounders - it's a fair chance Symonds wouldn't have gotten a gig save for the latitude allowed by Gilly's role as opener and keeper - and reap the benefits without risking the results of matches.

Sometimes it's about more than 4.19 runs.
 

NUFAN

Y no Afghanistan flag
Batsmen who average 41.15 at 73.70 are a dime a dozen, frankly. I know, I'm generalising. But can you honestly tell me you'd take it over 35.96 at 96.66? Would you prefer 41 (59) or 36 (37)?

Anyhow, Gilchrist's value as an ODI player isn't measurable in his batting alone, which is grossly unfair to the flexibility he allows the Australian team in his dual role - in turn, worth an additional batsman or bowler.

Most international keepers, Sangakkara, Boucher and Dhoni aside, are essentially dead weight as batsmen with any runs being a bonus and only marginally more expected than runs from bowlers. However, Churchy manages to be worth his spot alone as a batsman - an opener averaging 36 at 97, no less - and provide an extra batting or bowling slot by playing two roles at once with unprecedented dual competence - instead of shoring up the innings at 7 or 8 like most ODI keepers.

This has given Australia freedom to experiment with all-rounders - it's a fair chance Symonds wouldn't have gotten a gig save for the latitude allowed by Gilly's role as opener and keeper - and reap the benefits without risking the results of matches.

Sometimes it's about more than 4.19 runs.

Great post.

I'm certain Gilly could average 40 plus if he was playing for a lesser team. But for Australia facing an average of 6 overs per game is enough due to the strong batting lineup.
 

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