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Who are your 10 greatest cricketers of the 19th Century?

SpofforthLohman

SpofforthLohman

U19 12th Man
Midwinter said:
From Australia

Charles Bannerman - just because
Alec Bannerman - the first Bill Lawry
Billy Murdoch - how could anyone leave him out ?, a great in any era.
J.Darling - specialist batsman
G.Giffen - "time to change the bowling George ? - "hmm alright, I'll try from the other end"
W.Midwinter - who else ?
J.Blackham - The first black jack
JJ Ferris - left arm variety
H.Trumble - better than Warne apparently
CTB Turner - the Terror !!!
Fred Spofforth - its rumoured Dennis Lillee modelled himself on the Demon

Sorry if its an eleven, just couldn't help it
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Darn, I better check Trumble again, I know he played at the end of the century but I have been thinking of him as more belonging to the next century, I had better check because he was an incredible spin bowler as was Giffen. If EW Gregory belongs to the 19th century then I would say he was the best of the Aussie Batsmen.(not sure of his exact year of debut, late 1890's I think).
...... Big LOL at Alec Bannerman, he made Boycott look like Adam Gilchrist but of course he should be the first Bannerman picked, just make sure he is the only STODGE up the batting order or the crowd will fall asleep.. I can't find a spot for Charlie but, just not enough test matches or runs.
 
SpofforthLohman

SpofforthLohman

U19 12th Man
Midwinter said:
From Australia

Charles Bannerman - just because
Alec Bannerman - the first Bill Lawry
Billy Murdoch - how could anyone leave him out ?, a great in any era.
J.Darling - specialist batsman
G.Giffen - "time to change the bowling George ? - "hmm alright, I'll try from the other end"
W.Midwinter - who else ?
J.Blackham - The first black jack
JJ Ferris - left arm variety
H.Trumble - better than Warne apparently
CTB Turner - the Terror !!!
Fred Spofforth - its rumoured Dennis Lillee modelled himself on the Demon

Sorry if its an eleven, just couldn't help it
Click to expand...
Postscript : MAN how awesome is that bowling line up, Spofforth, Turner, Trumble and Giffen and JJ Ferris, that nis a bowling attack that would destroy most test batting line-ups to ever play tests, throw in Midwinter for support (they wouldn't need his bowling, most sides would be all out before he ever got a look at the ball. It is a much stronger bowling side than it is a batting side, once Midwinter is out this tail falls very very fast, there are five total bunnies in there but with bowlers like that it wouldn't matter. That line up would destroy many modern sides.
 
SpofforthLohman

SpofforthLohman

U19 12th Man
a massive zebra said:
I think it would be wiser to put together one list covering the Test match era and another covering the period prior to that. The game changed to such an extent over the last third of the century as to render any comparison between players of different eras little short of meaningless.

When W.G. Grace emerged in the 1860s, roundarm bowling still played a crucial role, swing bowling was non existent, googlies and doosras were yet to be discovered, lob bowling was a respected art form, and most fast bowlers span the ball. On the batting front, footwork was looked down upon, there were no leg glances and very few hook shots, and it was considered bad manners to hit good balls for runs or off side balls to leg. By the end of the century, top class cricket had evolved into something comparable to the modern first class game.

With that in mind, here are my lists:

Top 10 19th Century Pre Test Cricketers
Alfred Mynn
George Freeman
Fuller Pilch
William Beldham
William Lillywhite
Richard Daft
George Parr
Bob Carpenter
John Jackson
Tom Hayward

Top 10 19th Century Test Cricketers
W.G. Grace
KS Ranjitsinhji
George Lohmann
Fred Spofforth
Charlie Turner
Jack Blackham
Arthur Shrewsbury
AG Steel
Tom Richardson
Johnny Briggs

Grace has been excluded from the pre Test team because he played a larger proportion of his 19th century career during the Test era.
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Mate, absolutely great posts. I am fascinated by Julius Caesar the all-rounder who was always rated amongst the top five to ten of his time, apparently he was one of the more exciting players. If you can dig up some stuff on this great player of the 1850's I would enjoy that. I do know he did one trip at least to Australia in one of the pre test tours but I don't know much about him. Yes I admit freely his remarkable name has something to do with it, imagine naming your little English boy with a name like that. Obviously his parents had VERY high hopes for that lad.
I agree with your division, I have only counted those who played tests as not long before test cricket they bowled round arm for a short spell and before that it was all underarm so we basically have three completely different types of cricket in that remarkable century.Julius Caesar was said to be a round-armer and was part of the bowling revolution mid-century.
 
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