The Greats

[Anil]

james, what is your opinion on martin crowe?

 

[jamesicus]

"I will base my nominations on those players who, in my eyes and experience, have achieved greatness by elevating and enhancing the game in extraordinary ways -- not necessarily just on-field accomplishments -- although I do include some players (or collection of players) strictly because of the sheer enormity and excellence of their career performance."


Richard Hadlee is certainly one of the greatest of all fast bowlers and all-round cricketers. His stature as New Zealand's foremost cricketer is unchallenged.

Martin Crowe has achieved greatness not only because of his superb batting performances, but also due to his contributions to tirelessly enhancing and modernizing the game at all levels..

My updated list of nominees:

D. G. Bradman
J. B. Hobbs
L.N. Constantine
G. A. Headley
E. D. C. Weekes
G. S. Sobers
B. C. Lara.
C. E. L. Ambrose
M. A. Holding
M. D. Marshall
F. M. M. Worrell
C. L. Walcott
I. V. A. Richards
W. G. Grace
W. R. Hammond
L. E. G. Ames
S. F. Barnes
H. Larwood
H. Verity
G. Boycott
I. T. Botham
F. S. Trueman
M. Amarnath
A. M. Mankad
V. S. Hazare
S. R. Tendulkar
Imran Khan
Waqar Younis
Wasim Akram
R. J. Hadlee
M. D. Crowe

 

[jamesicus]

james, what is your opinion on martin crowe?

I think he deserves nomination as one of the greats of cricket, Anil -- please see my (ongoing) updated list.

 

[Slats4ever]

james can you please stop posting ur updated list. TBH nobody really cares

 

[Anil]

I think he deserves nomination as one of the greats of cricket, Anil -- please see my (ongoing) updated list.

yes, he was one of my biggest favourites in the 80s and 90s but i hesitated putting him in my list of all-time greats because in my opinion, he just didn't fulfil his awesome potential.....but when he is on song, what a wonderful player to watch...!!

 

[ohtani's jacket]

To be honest, I care about a guy who's been playing/watching cricket since the 30s.

 

[dontcloseyoureyes]

james can you please stop posting ur updated list. TBH nobody really cares

It's the only list with any real credentials anyway.

 

[Dasa]

james can you please stop posting ur updated list. TBH nobody really cares

I certainly enjoy reading James' posts in this thread, and I think a lot of others do. For someone to provide a different perspective with their opinions of the 'greats' of the game is very enjoyable to read, especially as James has provided explanations for all of his selections...and SJS has also done similarly, and I notice that you've rudely replied to him as well. If you don't like it, don't read it....and certainly don't comment negatively on it.

 

[Slats4ever]

but he should post it in his own thread. this is one of those threads that really needs to stay on topic. Pratyush has started it off with the intention of a nomination followed by voting process...

Maybe some people do care... So maybe you should start up your own thread James, then they can read it.

 

[jamesicus]

"I will base my nominations on those players who, in my eyes and experience, have achieved greatness by elevating and enhancing the game in extraordinary ways -- not necessarily just on-field accomplishments -- although I do include some players (or collection of players) strictly because of the sheer enormity and excellence of their career performance."

It is unfortunate that Robert Pollack literally disappeared from view during the South African hiatus from international cricket for he was one of the greatest batsmen of the time. His test average is second only to that of Don Bradman: 23 innings, 2256 runs, 60.96 average (7 centuries, two of which were double centuries). He scored runs prolifically against top flight bowling of his day including the West Indies fast bowling attack of 1983/84.

My updated list of nominees:

D. G. Bradman
J. B. Hobbs
L.N. Constantine
G. A. Headley
E. D. C. Weekes
G. S. Sobers
B. C. Lara.
C. E. L. Ambrose
M. A. Holding
M. D. Marshall
F. M. M. Worrell
C. L. Walcott
I. V. A. Richards
W. G. Grace
W. R. Hammond
L. E. G. Ames
S. F. Barnes
H. Larwood
H. Verity
G. Boycott
I. T. Botham
F. S. Trueman
M. Amarnath
A. M. Mankad
V. S. Hazare
S. R. Tendulkar
Imran Khan
Waqar Younis
Wasim Akram
R. J. Hadlee
M. D. Crowe
R. G. Pollack

 

[howardj]

"I will base my nominations on those players who, in my eyes and experience, have achieved greatness by elevating and enhancing the game in extraordinary ways -- not necessarily just on-field accomplishments -- although I do include some players (or collection of players) strictly because of the sheer enormity and excellence of their career performance."

It is unfortunate that Robert Pollack literally disappeared from view during the South African hiatus from international cricket for he was one of the greatest batsmen of the time. His test average is second only to that of Don Bradman: 23 innings, 2256 runs, 60.96 average (7 centuries, two of which were double centuries). He scored runs prolifically against top flight bowling of his day including the West Indies fast bowling attack of 1983/84.

My updated list of nominees:

D. G. Bradman
J. B. Hobbs
L.N. Constantine
G. A. Headley
E. D. C. Weekes
G. S. Sobers
B. C. Lara.
C. E. L. Ambrose
M. A. Holding
M. D. Marshall
F. M. M. Worrell
C. L. Walcott
I. V. A. Richards
W. G. Grace
W. R. Hammond
L. E. G. Ames
S. F. Barnes
H. Larwood
H. Verity
G. Boycott
I. T. Botham
F. S. Trueman
M. Amarnath
A. M. Mankad
V. S. Hazare
S. R. Tendulkar
Imran Khan
Waqar Younis
Wasim Akram
R. J. Hadlee
M. D. Crowe
R. G. Pollack

No room for Warney?

 

[jamesicus]

No room for Warney?

Ah, my favorite great Aussies are coming!

 

[Anil]

It is unfortunate that Robert Pollack literally disappeared from view during the South African hiatus from international cricket for he was one of the greatest batsmen of the time. His test average is second only to that of Don Bradman: 23 innings, 2256 runs, 60.96 average (7 centuries, two of which were double centuries). He scored runs prolifically against top flight bowling of his day including the West Indies fast bowling attack of 1983/84.

you mean graeme pollock, right? i've never heard him referred to as robert, that's why i am asking...

 

[Zinzan]

My Nominations :

Australia :

• Bradman
• Trumper
• Grimmett
• Orielly
• Lillee
• Lindwall
• Miller
• Tallon
• Oldfield

England :

• Hobbs
• Hammond
• Ranji
• Compton
• Grace
• Barnes
• Bedser
• Tate
• Larwood
• Laker
• Evans
• Ames

West Indies :

• Headley
• Sobers
• Weekes
• Worrell
• Walcott
• Viv Richards
• Andy Roberts
• Holding
• Marshall
• Garner

South Africa :

• Barry Richards
• Graeme Pollock
• Proctor
• Bruce Mitchell
• Tayfield
• Donald
• Nourse
• Bruce Mitchell
• Faulkner

Sub-continent :

• Merchant
• Gavaskar
• Kapil Dev
• Hazare
• Vishwanath
• Zaheer Abbas
• Imran Khan
• Hanif Mohammad
• Waqar
• Wasim

I have intentionally not included any currently active players.

9 south africans and no room for Sir Richard Hadlee (or Martin Crowe for that matter) who were both better than half of those S.African in your list.....strange call

 

[jamesicus]

you mean graeme pollock, right? i've never heard him referred to as robert, that's why i am asking...

Yes, sorry -- Robert Graeme -- called Graeme.

 

[Pratters]

Thank you every one for the nominations which will make this very interesting.

I am afraid I have not been able to devote time to this the last 2-3 days because of work. Hopefully I will find time tonight and I can tabulate all the stuff which keeps coming in. Also if some one can help me with this thing so that we can make it all easier for the future, I will be glad.

Else of course I will do it alone.

Cheers
Pratyush

 

[Pratters]

My updated list of nominees:

Some of them have already been put in for voting and made the list of greats. It would be much better if you could just write in the players you wish to nominate whenever periodically instead of repeating your list adding one or two players imo. It just clogs up the thread. Just imagine if every one started doing that!

 

[Jono]

9 south africans and no room for Sir Richard Hadlee (or Martin Crowe for that matter) who were both better than half of those S.African in your list.....strange call

Have to agree. Hadlee was a better bowler than Allan Donald by a fair distance (That's saying something considering how good Donald was) and whilst Waqar had the potential before injury to become one of the best fast bowlers ever, he never did so how Waqar is a great and not Hadlee is equally as puzzling.

 

[jamesicus]

"I will base my nominations on those players who, in my eyes and experience, have achieved greatness by elevating and enhancing the game in extraordinary ways -- not necessarily just on-field accomplishments -- although I do include some players (or collection of players) strictly because of the sheer enormity and excellence of their career performance."

Although I could probably write more vignettes about Australian cricketers than those from any other country, unexpected circumstances prevent me from (mercifully ) doing that.

I had to undergo unforseen extensive surgery last Friday and am experiencing severe post-operative pain and discomfort. I wish I wouldn't have written my contributions to the Forum this past weekend for the pain-killer drugs I was taking befuddled my mind. Anyway, I will just list my Australian -- and Sri Lankan -- nominees without any notes -- I may append some later (in a different thread) when I am more clear-headed and feeling better.

Australia:

S. G. Barnes
R. Benaud
A. R. Border
G. S. & I. M. Chappell
J. H. W. Fingleton
C. V. Grimmett
R. N. Harvey
D. K. Lillee
R. R. Lindwall
R. W. Marsh
K.R. Miller
W. J. O'Reilly
V. T. Trumper
S. K. Warne

Sri Lanka:

P. A. De Silva
C. I. Gunasekara
M. Muralitharan

So my final nominees are:

D. G. Bradman
J. B. Hobbs
L.N. Constantine
G. A. Headley
E. D. C. Weekes
G. S. Sobers
B. C. Lara.
C. E. L. Ambrose
M. A. Holding
M. D. Marshall
F. M. M. Worrell
C. L. Walcott
I. V. A. Richards
W. G. Grace
W. R. Hammond
L. E. G. Ames
S. F. Barnes
H. Larwood
H. Verity
G. Boycott
I. T. Botham
F. S. Trueman
M. Amarnath
A. M. Mankad
V. S. Hazare
S. R. Tendulkar
Imran Khan
Waqar Younis
Wasim Akram
R. J. Hadlee
M. D. Crowe
R. G. Pollack
S. G. Barnes
R. Benaud
A. R. Border
G. S. & I. M. Chappell
J. H. W. Fingleton
C. V. Grimmett
R. N. Harvey
D. K. Lillee
R. R. Lindwall
R. W. Marsh
K.R. Miller
W. J. O'Reilly
V. T. Trumper
S. K. Warne
P. A. De Silva
C. I. Gunasekara
M. Muralitharan

 

[SJS]

I was very pleased to see Faulkner on your list, but was surprised you found no place for Len Hutton?

Thanks for reminding.

I left out, through an over sight,

Hutton and Hadlee