The Sean
Cricketer Of The Year
To commence our pre-Christmas week we push on into your all time top five - and begin things with The Master himself.
5.
Sir Jack Hobbs | Cricket Players and Officials | Cricinfo.com
Nominated by 85% of voters - highest ranking no.3
Sir John Berry Hobbs is - accoring both to this study and to most others - the greatest Test opener of all. A true gentleman of the game with effortless style and the ability to succeed on virtually any wicket, he has to this day scored more First Class runs and centuries than any other batsman in the history of the game, and it is highly likely that those two records will belong to him for all time. Forever associated at County level with Surrey, the great opener was actually rejected for a trial by Essex early in his career - a decision which, on balance, must rank close behind Decca rejecting the Beatles six decades later on the list of the 20th century's poorest calls of judgement. It wasn't until Hobbs was 22 - a relatively advanced age - that he made his First Class debut for Surrey, scoring 18 and 88 against a Gentlemen of England side captained by WG Grace. In a sense, that match was a passing of the baton - from unquestionably the greatest English cricketer of the previous generation to unquestionably the greatest of the next. The records that had been set by The Champion were later eclipsed by The Master (as Hobbs came to be known) and to this day they remain widely considered to be the two greatest players England has every produced.
At Test level Hobbs was consistently superlative, scoring more than 5,000 Test runs at an average of nearly 57 despite playing half his cricket on pre-WWI minefields. Superlative before the war and able to tear attacks apart with magical strokeplay, Hobbs was more cirumspect once hostilities had ceased and yet nevertheless remained equally and magnificently prolific. Indeed, the great man somehow even seemed to get better with age - half of his nearly 200 First Class centuries came after the age of 40, and between the ages of 43 and 46 he scored an extraordinary 11,000 runs. There has probably never been a more popular touring cricketer in Australia, where he was regarded with both wonder and affection by both players and fans alike, despite the fact that Hobbs was so often the thorn in Australia's side with his astonishing feats of batsmanship. During the 1920s he was joined at the top of England's batting order by Herbert Sutcliffe and together the two men formed unquestionably the greatest opening partnership in Test history. Opening together 37 times, they shared 15 century stands and averaged as a pairing just over 87. Knighted for his services to cricket in 1953, named one of Cardus' six Giants of the previous 100 years later in the decade, and ranked as one of Wisden's five cricketers of the century in 2000, Jack Hobbs is also one of CricketWeb's five greatest cricketers of all time. To say he deserves it is an understatement.
Your number four to follow in the next 24 hours...
5.
Sir Jack Hobbs | Cricket Players and Officials | Cricinfo.com
Nominated by 85% of voters - highest ranking no.3
Sir John Berry Hobbs is - accoring both to this study and to most others - the greatest Test opener of all. A true gentleman of the game with effortless style and the ability to succeed on virtually any wicket, he has to this day scored more First Class runs and centuries than any other batsman in the history of the game, and it is highly likely that those two records will belong to him for all time. Forever associated at County level with Surrey, the great opener was actually rejected for a trial by Essex early in his career - a decision which, on balance, must rank close behind Decca rejecting the Beatles six decades later on the list of the 20th century's poorest calls of judgement. It wasn't until Hobbs was 22 - a relatively advanced age - that he made his First Class debut for Surrey, scoring 18 and 88 against a Gentlemen of England side captained by WG Grace. In a sense, that match was a passing of the baton - from unquestionably the greatest English cricketer of the previous generation to unquestionably the greatest of the next. The records that had been set by The Champion were later eclipsed by The Master (as Hobbs came to be known) and to this day they remain widely considered to be the two greatest players England has every produced.
At Test level Hobbs was consistently superlative, scoring more than 5,000 Test runs at an average of nearly 57 despite playing half his cricket on pre-WWI minefields. Superlative before the war and able to tear attacks apart with magical strokeplay, Hobbs was more cirumspect once hostilities had ceased and yet nevertheless remained equally and magnificently prolific. Indeed, the great man somehow even seemed to get better with age - half of his nearly 200 First Class centuries came after the age of 40, and between the ages of 43 and 46 he scored an extraordinary 11,000 runs. There has probably never been a more popular touring cricketer in Australia, where he was regarded with both wonder and affection by both players and fans alike, despite the fact that Hobbs was so often the thorn in Australia's side with his astonishing feats of batsmanship. During the 1920s he was joined at the top of England's batting order by Herbert Sutcliffe and together the two men formed unquestionably the greatest opening partnership in Test history. Opening together 37 times, they shared 15 century stands and averaged as a pairing just over 87. Knighted for his services to cricket in 1953, named one of Cardus' six Giants of the previous 100 years later in the decade, and ranked as one of Wisden's five cricketers of the century in 2000, Jack Hobbs is also one of CricketWeb's five greatest cricketers of all time. To say he deserves it is an understatement.
Your number four to follow in the next 24 hours...
Like what?!
