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Who was your first cricketing icon?

Saint Kopite

First Class Debutant
Being an Indian, it was Sachin.

But, I loved Mark Waugh and Donald big time as well. Used to copy Donald's power over the nose when I bowled! :cool:
 

watson

Banned
Prior to the Ashes series of 1972 I remember my grandfather saying "Australia will win because we have Dennis Lillee!" My father simply replied, "So what? England have John Snow!".

From a childish perspective there has never been, nor will there ever be an Ashes series with a pair of opposing fast bowlers who are more iconic, more inspiring. The quintessence of their trade - one extroverted, loud, confident, and brash, the other introverted, brooding, and just plain nasty.
 

mr_mister

Cricket Web: All-Time Legend
sorry to bump an old thread but Steve Waugh. First match I ever saw he got 112 and though Healy outscored him(lol) I was hooked from the get go. He had a great series(ashes 98/99) and then he got 199 against the windies and 120* in the WC semi. It got to the point I was so obsessed I'd pray(and im not religious) that he'd score a hundred. used to turn off the tv if he got out. I was later like this with Phil Hughes. I latched onto him because we had similar styles(I love the offside)
 

CricAddict

Cricketer Of The Year
Sachin Tendulkar. The two centuries he hit in Sharjah held me in awe as a kid. It looks childish now, but when the dust storm came in Sharjah stadium while he was hitting the century, everyone lied down on the ground while Sachin just faced the opposite side and stood still. I looked at him as a hero.
 

Swingpanzee

International Regular
Probably wasn't the first great cricketer I knew (as an Indian not knowing Sachin and co would be ridiculous) but my first idol was probably Shane Bond.
 
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The Battlers Prince

International Vice-Captain
Allan Border was it for me then Lara. Looking back I guess they both had to be the difference between their own side and dismal defeat so often. Though they achieved that in such different ways.
 

Coronis

International Coach
Growing up I always wanted to be a leg spinner. I think every Aussie kid my age idolised Warney.
 

indiaholic

International Captain
Sachin was certainly the one who gave me the most happiness, but I idolized Donald and Bond. Tried to copy their actions every time I bowled. Amongst batsmen it was probably Sadagopan Ramesh. As somebody who refused to move his feet, he gave me hope. :ph34r:
 

Pratters

Cricket, Lovely Cricket


Pravin Amre. I used to look how he used to knock hard at the pitch awaiting the ball. He used to have his face tight. Then, he made some runs. Was the second highest scorer for India in the first ODI I saw. Also helped India win in SA in the final ODI of the 7 match series which I watched full. Had quite a good series at home v England in 93. I liked the determination he had when batting. Probably should have played more tests. Seeing his record, he wasn't even a good List A player.

PS - I always like the obscure heroes people mention more than the non obscure ones. So I like a Trevor Gripper mentioned by PEWS. As a kid starting off, you are innocent. You have no idea who is good or bad. So when people say their first cricketing heroes are a Tendulkar or an Imran Khan, while it's plausible that they are, I find it more interesting when I find an obscure name mentioned.

Another point - Even after watching so much cricket, we always tend to select players who are superstars. So when some one will mentioned a John Crawley or McClenenghan, say, to just pick two names out of so many, it's kind of nice. While I admire talent, I also admire styles of play. This is often lost by the modern spectator when it should be even more, given that we get to see so much cricket on television apart from domestic games we may watch. Let's see a fan of the run up of Yasir Shah, hey.
 
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Pratters

Cricket, Lovely Cricket
I was too young then. I watched cricket with my father, but I was too young to even comprehend the rules. I thought singles have something to do with the inner circle. :p

As far as I can remember the sheer beauty of those glorious square cuts had me for the first time:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Aj6EINaDXc
Were these games broadcast in India? Back then, we had home games broadcast and ODIs abroad broadcast but only highlights of games from away from India tests.

After Amre, I liked Callaghan from SA and Kapil was big for me for the non chalance he showed while batting. I quite hate the way he batted when I think about it now though. Tendulkar threw his wicket a lot in ODIs (which we had more access to as kids) and I only started liking him a bit from 96 and really started liking him 98 onwards.
 
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