The Ten Best Cricketers Of All Time

[archie mac]

It's nice to see some O'Rielly love since I always thought he was underrated and the third best spinner of all time. Murali is clearly ahead of him as far as spinners go IMO. As for Barnes, well here has too much competition to make the list as well. Malcolm Marshall is unlucky not to be in there, as is Hadlee, and both have good arguments for being better than Barnes. I think there's too much competition for them to make the top 20. As much as I like O'Rielly, I don't know if he'd make the top 20 when you think about names like Marshall, Hadlee, Akram, McGrath, Gavaskar, Chappell, Headley (who got the better of O'Rielly), Pollock, Lara, Botham etc. Based on one criteria or another, they could be placed ahead of O'Rielly I think. Barnes could make the top 20 but has competition as well.

I respect Barnes' figures, but I just don't see him ahead of Marshall. One of the things I think of when considering SFBarnes is that Shane Bond had around the same strike-rate, and I don't think anybody here would put Bond ahead of Marshall or Hadlee. SF Barnes' figures are great, but it's not impossible to fathom that one could end up with those figures and be worse than Marshall - especially considering Marshall's figures against perhaps the best generation for batting (that's debatable). There's a few too many questions hanging over Barnes, and Marshall was such an established genius.

Marshall > Barnes in my mind clearly...

I would have 'Tiger' (Bradman had no doubt) ahead of Warne and Murali with out a doubt. SF Barnes would be in front of Tiger

I also have no doubt that Marshall was an all time great, but I did not think him so far in front of his contemporaries as was SFB

 

[archie mac]

Archie...you can argue better than that mate

True; do we at least agree Miller was the better fieldsman and captain?

 

[Fiery]

True; do we at least agree Miller was the better fieldsman and captain?

Well "captain" is an easy one of course seeing as Paddles never did but I'll have you know Hadlee pulled off some screamers in the field and had a great arm, but I'll give you that. Hadlee's bowling always outweighs allrounders when it comes to arguinf about best-ever players anway IMO. Even if he couldn't bat he is in the best 5 bowlers of all time imo

 

[oz_fan]

Great list. Like you said several positions could have gone to anyone of a list of great cricketers. Miller and Hadlee in particular are very hard to split and arguments could be made that both deserve to be on the list. I would have Lara in ahead of Tendulkar and Marshall in for Lillee but other than that I agree with everyone else on the list.

 

[shortpitched713]

Thought more people might make their own lists. Anyway, I guess I'll just have to be the first to respond in that manner.

10. Ian Botham - I slag him off a lot, but it can't be denied that he had the greatest ever peak for an allrounder. Now if that had lasted longer then he might have been considered the greatest allrounder of all time but his bowling fell away too greatly to be ignored.

9. Sydney Barnes - If the only measurement of an all time great were their performance compared to their peers then Sydney Barnes would be almost at the top of the heap. As it is helpful pitches and a relatively fewer number of Tests played brings him down a bit.

8. Brian Lara - A peerlessly great batsman of the most recent era. What separates him from Tendulkar is his ability to do what Tendulkar was never able to do, and his quality of showing up when the pressure was on.

7. Glenn McGrath - The greatest fast bowler of all time. Performed consistently in all conditions and especially when the stakes were highest. Perfected a method of bowling that really will always be the most effective for fast bowlers.

5. Richard Hadlee - Arguably the greatest ever contributor to one's team's fortunes, Hadlee had to play a lone hand for New Zealand for the greater part of his career. Able to utilize favorable conditions better than almost any other fast bowler. A handy bat.

5. Shane Warne - I have to say I never really liked him, and can't believe I rated him over McGrath but his aura and the mystery surrounding his bowling probably made him more dangerous.

4. Garry Sobers - A great batsman, useful bowler, great fielder, and a respected and effective leader despite not being the most tactically brilliant. Batting is very underrated and was the best of his era.

3. Imran Khan - Whether he or Sobers was the greatest allrounder is a moot argument for Imran played a more important role for his team and country. The greatest ever captain and an all time great bowler. His batting is underappreciated as well.

2. Muttiah Muralitharan - Statistical dominance has been the hallmark or the era of Murali as hes piled up accomplishments never before matched by a spinner. The greatest match winner of all time and the most dangerous as well.

1. Don Bradman - I'm 99.94 percent sure that hes the greatest player of all time. No one ever has or ever will come close to his feats of batting. Maybe if you combined two of the above players you'd get someone close to his level of excellence but in history he has been peerless.

 

[cover drive man]

Great list mate but in my opinion, There are too many great players of the past too fit into a top ten in my opinion. Such as Brian Lara, Wasim Akram, Joel Garner, Ian Botham, Glen Mgrath and countless others I enjoyed your top ten but there is one problem in the list I feel that Shane Warne deserves to be a number two and Sobers three. As well as being a great player Shane Warne changed the game he changed the look of it and is a idol to thousands since the Michael Atherton bowl Shane Warne has been one of the greatest cricketers of all time and made more of a impression than Sobers.

 

[archie mac]

Well "captain" is an easy one of course seeing as Paddles never did but I'll have you know Hadlee pulled off some screamers in the field and had a great arm, but I'll give you that. Hadlee's bowling always outweighs allrounders when it comes to arguinf about best-ever players anway IMO. Even if he couldn't bat he is in the best 5 bowlers of all time imo

No doubt a great bowler I watched him claim nine wickets at the Gabba, hard to imagine anyone could have ever bowled a better spell then his first (or was it his 2nd? )

 

[JASON]

My Top 10 Cricketers of All Time

1 Sir Don Bradman
2 Sir Gary Sobers
3 Vivian Richards
4 Sachin Tendulkar
5 Imran Khan
6 Shane Warne
7 Sir Richard Hadlee
8 Ricky Ponting (this will be well justified by the time he retires,if not already )
9 Syd Barnes (England)
10 Muralitharan

Others to just edge out

Charlie Turner (Australia), George Lohman, Sir Jack Hobbs, George Headley(Black Bradman) , Brian Charles Lara, Malcolm Marshall, Joel Garner, Sunil Gavaskar, Kapil Dev,Ian Botham, Dennis Lillee, Victor Trumper, Keith Miller, Alan Davidson, Zaheer Abbas, Javed Miandad, Graeme Pollock, Graham Gooch, Steve Waugh, Alan Border, Ray Lindwall, Sir Len Hutton, Jim Laker.

 

[Fiery]

No doubt a great bowler I watched him claim nine wickets at the Gabba, hard to imagine anyone could have ever bowled a better spell then his first (or was it his 2nd? )

I can't recall but I would imagine both would have to be pretty good to get 9/52.

 

[Anil]

don bradman
garfield sobers
viv richards
brian lara
malcolm marshall
muthiah muralitharan
jack hobbs
syd barnes
sachin tendulkar
richard hadlee

 

[Fiery]

don bradman
garfield sobers
viv richards
brian lara
malcolm marshall
muthiah muralitharan
jack hobbs
syd barnes
sachin tendulkar
richard hadlee

No Warne?

 

[ohtani's jacket]

I'm not lying down, no one will ever convince me Miller was better than Hadlee. I might be a bit biased because he's probably the main reason I love the game.

Have you ever met Hadlee? What fun.

 

[haroon510]

i just wana say that lara should have been i place Tendulker there. Lara was playing good cricket when his team needed him to play. he was playing under more pressure than tendulker. also he was dominating the opposite bowlers.

 

[chaminda_00]

1. Don Bradman
2. Shane Warne
3. Muttiah Muralitharan
4. Garfield Sobers
5. Imran Khan
6. Adam Gilchirst ( I can't believe the lack of love for him TBH)
7. Keith Miller
8. Richard Hadlee
9. Glen McGarth
10. Sachin Tendulkar

 

[adharcric]

he was playing under more pressure than tendulker.

Uhh wtf?

 

[adharcric]

1. Don Bradman
2. Garry Sobers
3. Imran Khan
4. Muttiah Muralitharan
5. Jack Hobbs
6. Richard Hadlee
7. Shane Warne
8. Malcolm Marshall
9. Sachin Tendulkar
10. Glenn McGrath

Next on the list: Viv Richards?

 

[pasag]

Uhh wtf?

Yeah heard it argued both ways endlessly. "Lara had the pressure of being in a poor side" and "Tendulkar had the pressure of millions of people watching his every move" etc etc etc.

 

[Fiery]

Have you ever met Hadlee? What fun.

I know he's no a barrel of monkeys but I couldn't care less what he's like off the field tbh

 

[adharcric]

Yeah heard it argued both ways endlessly. "Lara had the pressure of being in a poor side" and "Tendulkar had the pressure of millions of people watching his every move" etc etc etc.

Being in a poor side is a source of pressure?

 

[pasag]

Being in a poor side is a source of pressure?

Apparently. The logic is that the batsman knows if he fails the team goes down the drain, so he has much more on his shoulders etc.