Last year we wrote a post for World Cricket Watch, where we named our top 20 batsmen of all time. As we explained yesterday, now seems a good time to revisit this. Firstly, so we can extend the list this time to 30. But secondly, because we are prepared to admit that we erred somewhat last time in placing Sachin Tendulkar behind Ricky Ponting in the all-time batting pantheon. Given that the Ashes were on at the time, we must have done it out of fear that Ponting would inspire his side to retain the little urn.
Today, we count down numbers 20 to 11, before concluding tomorrow with the top 10. If you missed yesterday's post check out numbers 30-21.
20. Kumar Ranjitsinhji(England) – 15 tests, 2 100s, 6 50s, average 44.95, HS 170 - An Indian prince and giant of Victorian and Edwardian cricket, Ranji was credited with bringing several new strokes into the game including the late cut and was an early exponent of back foot defence. Widely considered to be one of the greatest batsmen of all time prior to World War I, Neville Cardus described the stylish and unorthodox Ranji as "the midsummer night's dream of cricket".
19. Allan Border(Australia) - 156 tests, 27 100s, 63 50s, average 50.56, HS 205 - Gritty, durable and determined. A.B was all of these, but he was also reputedly Australia's best player of spin for over 50 years. World Series Cricket allowed him an early opportunity in the test side and he didn't relinquish his chance and played a remarkable 153 consecutive test matches. As we were growing up, we certainly remember Border piling on the runs against England and also of course the way he captained the side to comprehensive series wins in 1989 and 1993. Unfortunately, 1985 became a distant memory after that.
18. Greg Chappell(Australia)– 87 tests, 24 100s, 31 50s, average 53.86, HS 247* - The best Australian batsman of the seventies and early eighties, Chappell allied steadfast concentration with attractive stroke making. Despite his excellent Test record, perhaps his best batting was during the World Series Cricket schism where he made 621 runs at 69 in five ‘Super Tests’ versus the mighty West Indies in the Caribbean in 1979.
17.Javed Miandad(Pakistan)– 124 tests, 23 100s, 43 50s, average 52.57, HS 280* - The greatest Pakistani batsman ever, Miandad was a precocious teenage prodigy scoring a century on debut and in the same series breaking George Headley’s record as the youngest player to score a Test match double century. His non-textbook style, pugnacity and ability to rile bowlers made him a thorn in the side of most opponents during a long and glittering career.
16.Graeme Pollock(South Africa) – 23 tests, 7 100s, 11 50s, average 60.97, HS 274 - Of those that have played at least 20 Test match innings, Pollock holds the second highest average after Bradman, who described the South African as the best left hander along with Sobers that he had ever seen. Widely recognised as his country’s best ever player, Pollock’s Test career was cut short abruptly at the age of 26 due to the sporting boycott of South Africa.
15. Ricky Ponting(Australia) - 144* tests, 39 100s, 51 50s, average 55.22, HS 257- After Tendulkar, the outstanding batsman playing the game today, Ponting is widely acknowledged as the best Australian batsman since Bradman – high praise indeed. One of Ponting’s main strengths is his versatility in that he can score quickly, counter-attack or tough it out when the situation demands. Other strengths include his consistency and his habit of playing match winning innings. Last year we placed him at sixth, above Tendulkar, but we have now revised this view. Ponting is great, but not that great.
14.Sunil Gavaskar(India) – 125 tests, 34 100s, 45 50s, average 51.12, HS 236* - Gavaskar was one of the best openers of all-time and the pre-eminent Indian batsman before Tendulkar – the man who broke his record of most Test match centuries. A brilliant batsman against fast bowling, Gavaskar scored a superlative 13 centuries at an average of 65.45 against the formidable West Indies side of the seventies and eighties.
13.Everton Weekes(West Indies) – 48 tests, 15 100s, 19 50s, average 58.61, HS 207 - The highest ranked of the immortal ‘three Ws’, Walcott believed that Weekes was the best all-round batsman of the three. An attacking batsman with a vast array of strokes, Weekes made an electric start to Test cricket, reaching 1,000 runs in only his 12thinnings, one fewer than Bradman. During this run he also scored five centuries in five consecutive innings against England and India – still a Test record.
12.Leonard Hutton(England) – 79 tests, 19 100s, 33 50s, average 56.67, HS 364 - Despite World War II robbing him of six years of cricket from the age of 23, Hutton is still considered amongst the giants of English batters. Before the War and at the age of 22, he scored the then highest Test match score of 364 against Australia. Afterwards, he continued to amass runs for Yorkshire and England and became the first professional player to captain his country.
11. Herbert Sutcliffe(England) - 54 tests, 16 100s, 23 50s, average 60.73, HS 194 - Sutcliffe’s name always seems to be inexplicably left on the margins when discussions as to who is the best ever English batsman. Perhaps this is because he opened the batting with Hobbs and played in the same era as Hammond. Whatever the reasons, Sutcliffe deserves recognition in his own right - the fourth highest Test match batting average of all-time for players with at least 20 innings, a fantastic record against Australia and prodigious run scoring for country and Yorkshire alike.
You can say a lot about Pakistan cricket team, but you could never accuse it of being boring. In over 30 years of watching and absorbing cricket in almost every orifice, Pakistan have has always been the most fascinating team to watch - on and off the field. Sadly, Pakistan cricket is in the mire at the moment. Security concerns mean that the team cannot play at home and to say that their antics in recent times are tantamount to a travelling circus would be an understatement.
The problems start at the top and the PCB is rotten to the core with Chairman Ijaz Butt more akin to a dictator of a military state rather than the leader of a humble cricket board. He undermines his selection committee, team management and captain at every turn and how he is still in the job is beyond belief. His reaction in ostracising the team's two best batsmen Mohammad Yousuf and Younis Khan following the Australian tour debacle is the sort of madness normally associated with despots like Kim Jong Il.
Then there are the politicians. Every time Pakistan lose a match accusations of match fixing abound as the next senator gets his 15 minutes in the sun. Heaven forbid that Pakistan lose because they have performed badly or have just come up against a better team. No it must be because some or all of the players have thrown the match. What nonsense.
Other ills include inconsistent selection, poor leadership by a succession of captains and player infighting that makes the spat between Henry II and Thomas a Becket look trivial in comparison. Not being Pakistani myself, I cannot fully understand all the problems surrounding the team, but as a fascinated onlooker I can see that there is an inherent sickness that needs curing.
It was all very different in the days of Imran Khan's leadership when he used the constant state of chaos surrounding the team to bring them together as a group of 'cornered tigers' with the the rest of the World against them. The results were sensational as they vied with the West Indies for the title of the World's best side in the late 1980s and then won the World Cup in 1992.
During my 30 years of watching cricket, Pakistan have been renowned for its battery of quick bowlers, its wily spinners and a series of wristy batsmen. But how many of the current side would make my composite XI of the last 30 years? Only one sadly and he is supposedly just about to retire.
The openers is a case of Saeed Anwar plus one other. Anwar's combination of graceful strokeplay and quick scoring has been solely missed since his premature retirement with Pakistan still searching for someone of Anwar's reliability and quality to open the batting. Mudassar Nazar takes the second opening slot for me ahead of Aamer Sohail, Majid Khan and Ramiz Raja, with his obdurateness being an excellent foil for the flamboyant Anwar.
Pakistan has been spoilt with quality middle order batsmen over the last 30 years and with Mudassar able to double up as the fifth bowler, I have given myself the luxury of picking six batsmen. Zaheer Abbas was known by some as the Asian Bradman, such was his thirst for runs and his style and elegance gets him in at number three ahead of Younis Khan. The combative Javed Miandad is Pakistan's highest test runscorer and in most observers opinion its greatest batsman so is a shoo-in at number four. Only three runs behind Miandad is Inzamam-ul-Haq and he gets the number five spot. When Inzy was in full flow he never looked like getting out, unless it was by a run out of course! The soon-to-be-retired (if you believe the reports) Mohammad Yousuf gets the number six spot ahead of Saleem Malik. In time people will remember Yousuf for his great batting rather than his impotent captaincy and for a time in the mid-2000's he was arguably the best batsman in the World.
The imperious Imran Khan is at number seven and naturally would be captain. He was the greatest of the four magnificent all-rounders of the 1980s just shading Kapil, Botham and Hadlee and is arguably one of the three best all-rounders ever along with Sobers and Miller. If only Imran was more involved with Pakistan cricket today, perhaps it wouldn't be in such a mess.
The wicketkeeper spot is a toss up between the superior glove work of a Wasim Bari or Rashid Latif, or the additional runs of a Moin Khan or Kamran Akmal. Thankfully, with Imran before him and Wasim Akram to come, the best keeper of the four can be selected and given that he was favourably compared with Allan Knott, Wasim Bari really was a fantastic keeper.
Then comes the aforementioned Wasim Akram, surely the best left arm quick of all time and a decent if slightly underachieving batsman to boot with a test best of 257. With complete mastery over swing and seam, ability to move the ball both ways and serious pace, Wasim was a fearsome sight especially in partnership with the equally devastating Waqar Younis. As an England fan, the performances of Wasim and Waqar on the 1992 tour was both frightening and wonderful depending on how strong my allegiance to the home side was at the time.
It's no surprise then that Waqar Younis comes next. The king of reverse and late swing, Waqar bowled so many batsmen with the late swinging yorker that the name of the delivery arguably should be changed to a 'Younis'. Sheer speed, an effortless technique and a strike rate up there with the best in history, Waqar was a seriously great bowler.
As referred to earlier Pakistan has produced a battery of fast bowlers in the last 30 years. Of these Safraz Nawaz, Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Amir deserve a mention. Safraz was entering the sunset of his career when my cricket watching began but was one of the pioneers of reverse swing. Amir would have played more tests than he has but for discipline and drug problems, but it seems he is back to his best now. And what can you say about speedster Shoaib? Suffice to say that he is a larger than life figure, who doubtless a bollywood film will be made about one day. When he concentrates on his bowling though he bears comparison with Wasim, Imran and Waqar and would be my 12th man.
Quality spin has gone hand in hand with extreme pace, and there is an abundance of choice for the spinning position in the XI. But who to pick out of Abdul Qadir, Saqlain Mushtaq, Mushtaq Ahmed, Danish Kaneira or Iqbal Qasim? This is where my childhood comes in and it is the mercurial Qadir who wins the day for me. Without him there may have been no Shane Warne and in a time of pace and seam, it was Qadir who flew the flag for leg spin. If I had to plump for a reserve, it would have to be Mushtaq Ahmed - well, I am a Sussex supporter!
So my team is as follows in bold with Shoaib and Mushtaq added to make a XIII to cover all conditions. If a fifth bowler was required then it would be Yousuf who would drop out for Shoaib or Mushtaq.
Saeed Anwar, Mudassar Nazar, Zaheer Abbas, Javed Miandad, Inzamam-ul-Haq, Mohammad Yousuf, Imran Khan, Wasim Bari, Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis, Abdul Qadir, Shoaib Akhtar and Mushtaq Ahmed
I was having a debate come argument with one of my best pals over the weekend as to who is the greatest of the three modern day batting greats of Ponting, Tendulkar and Lara. I reckon it is the Australian captain who wins the day (just) because in my view he has played the greater number of match winning or game saving innings during his career.
Whoever is the best modern day batsman (and there will never be common consensus on this one!), all three princes must rank amongst the twenty best batsmen to ever play the game. This leads rather aptly to my own list of the greatest batsmen ever.
Being in my mid-thirties, I obviously do not have the benefit of seeing the great players of yesteryear live at the crease. Thus, I have relied on my extensive collection of Wisden and other cricket books, plus newsreel footage and general knowledge of the game in order to arrive at my final list.
The twenty names are based primarily on Test cricket, which is undoubtedly the real barometer of a batsman’s ability and greatness. In any case, international limited overs cricket was not played before 1971 so we will never know how Bradman, Hammond and other such great luminaries would have fared in this form of the game. Naturally, comparing players from different generations is difficult as the game has changed irrevocably over the course of its history with covered pitches, faster scoring rates and changes to the laws of the game. As such, Ponting will never play on a ‘sticky dog’, but can be adjudged leg before to a ball pitching outside off-stump, which would not have been the case before 1935.
It has been an agonising process to come down to the final twenty names and several great names have not made the cut. Hopefully, it will provoke some discussion and debate amongst Cricket fans worldwide.
An Indian prince and giant of Victorian and Edwardian cricket, Ranji was credited with bringing several new strokes into the game including the late cut and was an early exponent of back foot defence. Widely considered to be one of the greatest batsmen of all time prior to World War I, Neville Cardus described the stylish and unorthodox Ranji as "the midsummer night's dream of cricket".
19. Clyde Walcott (West Indies) – 44 Tests, 15 100s, 14 50s, Average 56.68, HS 220
One of two of the ‘three Ws’ on this list, Walcott played an instrumental role in the first West Indian victory on English soil at Lord’s in 1950 scoring 168 not out. Along with Weekes, he was arguably the best batsman in the World during the mid-1950s reaching his peak with an incredible five hundreds and 827 runs during Australia’s first Test series in the Caribbean.
The best Australian batsman of the seventies and early eighties, Chappell allied steadfast concentration with attractive stroke making. Despite his excellent Test record, perhaps his best batting was during the World Series Cricket schism where he made 621 runs at 69 in five ‘Super Tests’ versus the mighty West Indies in the Caribbean in 1979.
Gavaskar was one of the best openers of all-time and the pre-eminent Indian batsman before Tendulkar – the man who broke his record of most Test match centuries. A brilliant batsman against fast bowling, Gavaskar scored a superlative 13 centuries at an average of 65.45 against the formidable West Indies side of the seventies and eighties.
The greatest Pakistani batsman ever, Miandad was a precocious teenage prodigy scoring a century on debut and in the same series breaking George Headley’s record as the youngest player to score a Test match double century. His non-textbook style, pugnacity and ability to rile bowlers made him a thorn in the side of most opponents during a long and glittering career.
15. William ‘W.G’ Grace (England) – 22 Tests, 2 100s, 5 50s, Average 32.29, HS 170
Until Bradman, Grace was regarded as the greatest cricket player ever and was certainly one of the most competitive. Over the course of a 44 year career, he transcended the sport and in the words of John Arlott “created modern cricket”. Amongst other nicknames, Grace was known as “the Champion” and one of his contemporaries and fellow all-time great batsmen Ranjitsinhji said of him in the Jubilee Book of Cricket “I hold him to be not only the finest player born or unborn, but the maker of modern batting”.
14. Graeme Pollock (South Africa) – 23 Tests, 7 100s, 11 50s, Average 60.97, HS 274
Of those that have played at least 20 Test match innings, Pollock holds the second highest average after Bradman, who described the South African as the best left hander along with Sobers that he had ever seen. Widely recognised as his country’s best ever player, Pollock’s Test career was cut short abruptly at the age of 26 due to the sporting boycott of South Africa.
13. Everton Weekes (West Indies) – 48 Tests, 15 100s, 19 50s, Average 58.61, HS 207
The highest ranked of the immortal ‘three Ws’, Walcott believed that Weekes was the best all-round batsman of the three. An attacking batsman with a vast array of strokes, Weekes made an electric start to Test cricket, reaching 1,000 runs in only his 12th innings, one fewer than Bradman. During this run he also scored five centuries in five consecutive innings against England and India – still a Test record.
12. Leonard Hutton (England) – 79 Tests, 19 100s, 33 50s, Average 56.67, HS 364
Despite World War II robbing him of six years of cricket from the age of 23, Hutton is still considered amongst the giants of English batters. Before the War and at the age of 22, he scored the then highest Test match score of 364 against Australia. Afterwards, he continued to amass runs for Yorkshire and England and became the first professional player to captain his country.
The ‘Little Master’ holds a number of prestigious Test batting records including most runs and most centuries; and he hasn’t finished yet. Other than Hobbs, Tendulkar is the only player to score ten centuries or more against Australia. Many would have him higher on this list – certainly Wisden ranked him behind only Bradman as the second greatest batsman of all time in 2002.
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