After reading a lot of cricketing autibiographies,articles and initiating discussions with random people at bars I have been able figure out to a large extent who all have had the greatest influence on cricket in the past 200 years.Please bear in mind and treat this as a caveat that these are purely my thoughts and have not been influenced by any person living or dead and definitely Iam not writing this under the influence of any amber spirits....
Many names jump up for the likes of W G Grace,Jack Hobbs,Douglas Jardine,Harold Larwood,Graham Gooch,Gavaskar,Gower,Lillee,Thompson,Vivian Richards,Richard Hadlee,Wasim Akram and the list is endless but this list will surely be incomplete without the mention of Sir Donald Bradman,Shane Warne,Sachin Tendulkar,Brian Lara and Ricky Ponting or what I would call from now on the "The famous five".
It is an ardous task to ascertain who is the greatest of them all , but over the past 200 years the game has majorily been a batsman's paradise barring a few years of instances wherein the West Indian bowling greats and sultans of swings from Pakistan tormented the batsman and scared the living daylights of them.Its been a game thoroughly enjoyed to witness the runs scored by a batsman and hence the job of a bolwer becomes all the more tough to take wickets,control the flow of runs and also be a crowd puller.
Now of how many instances have we heard off wherein we go to watch a certain bowler take wickets or just to watch him bowl up his run up to deliver an inswinging yorker or a googly.Such has been the nature of the game that it has always been a tad unfair to the bowlers.Out of the famous five Shane Warne is the only bowler present and rest all are star batsmen in their respective era's.
Sir Donald George Bradman was, without any question, the greatest phenomenon in the history of cricket, indeed in the history of all ball games. To start with, he had a deep and undying love of cricket, as well, of course, as exceptional natural ability. It was always said he could have become a champion at squash or tennis or golf or billiards, had he preferred them to cricket. The fact that, as a boy, he sharpened his reflexes and developed his strokes by hitting golf ball with a cricket stump as it rebounded off a water tank attests to his eye, fleetness of foot and, even when young, his rare powers of concentration. His batting average record of 99.94 is one which maybe would never be broken and thus also makes him immortal for ever.Sachin,Lara and Ponting have taking batting in tests and one dayers completely to a new level and have a tremendous influence on the game inside and outside the field.
Which now brings me to the phenom called "Warney",acclaimed by many greats of the game as the best bowler ever.In 2000, Warne was named by a 100-member panel of experts as the fourth of five Wisden Cricketers of the century, Warne received 27 votes, behind Sir Donald Bradman (100 votes), Sir Garfield Sobers (90 votes), and Sir Jack Hobbs (30 votes). Sir Viv Richards took the fifth place, with 25 votes.Warne has had such a tremendous influence over the game for the past 18 years for enumerous reasons , the top reason being for reviving the dead art of leg spin thought to be extinct, and is now pre-eminent in a game so transformed that we sometimes wonder where the next champion fast bowlers will come from.He was the first cricketer to reach 700 Test wickets. He swatted more runs than any other Test player without making a hundred, and was probably the wiliest and best captain Australia never had. His ball that gazoodled Mike Gatting in 1993, bouncing outside leg stump and cuffing off, is unanimously esteemed the most famous in history.Shane's life has been a like a straight picking from a Hollywood movie, nicknamed as "Hollywood" by his team mates for his great looks and exuberant way of life Warne has always led his life in the fast lane.Fans and general public have mystified his love for fast cars,women and gambling with his wizardry of spinning the leather ball on a 22 yard strip anywhere on the world.
Warne has a great fan following across the realms of society almost making them sycophantsfor the enigma he has been on the cricket field.It was said of Augustus that he found Rome brick and left it marble: the same is true of Warne and spin bowling.Warne's place in cricketing posterity has been assured by the fact that he has overturned the domination of cricket by fast bowling that had prevailed for two decades before his debut. Despite the presence of high quality spin bowlers such as Abdul Qadir on the Test scene, Australia's fast bowlers Lillee and Thompson had dominated cricket in the early 1970s; while from 1976 until the early 1990s, the West Indies had lost only one (ill-tempered and controversial) Test series with a bowling attack almost exclusively comprising fast bowlers. In the early 1990s, with the West Indies on the wane, Waqar Younis and Wasim Akram of Pakistan were assuming the mantle of the world's most feared bowlers. It was in that context that Warne's tormenting of batsmen became so significant rather than his actual statistics. His humiliation of Gatting and subsequent dominance, in particular, of English and South African batsmen, provided a welcome sight for cricket watchers weary of the relentless intimidation by West Indian bowlers of the 1980s and 1990s. His treatment of South African batsman Daryl Cullinan was such that Cullinan was said to have sought the help of a therapist to overcome Warne's psychological hold.So tormented were the English by Warne that British Airways at on epoint of time had planned to put up the image of the leg spinner at the tail of all their 747 airbuses.
One of the greatest compliments which I feel Warne received was the amount of time and practice Sachin Tendulkar had put in specifically to tackle Warnes leg spin before the 1999 India-Australia series.Warne was totally taken offguard and did admit that the images of the Little Master hitting him haunted him for months to come.
The story of Shane Warne is still not over , with him leading the Rajasthan Royals to victory in the first edition of the IPL he proved to his detractors in ACB that he deserved his shot at being the captain of Australia.Fans across the world still want him back to face England in the upcoming Ashes'09, such has been his impact on the game.
This treatise might be thought by many as an eulogy but its not , its my love for the game which is supreme and will so till the end.....
I will pose a question to all the readers "Is Shane the greatest cricketer ever ?"
Regards
Ishan
Many names jump up for the likes of W G Grace,Jack Hobbs,Douglas Jardine,Harold Larwood,Graham Gooch,Gavaskar,Gower,Lillee,Thompson,Vivian Richards,Richard Hadlee,Wasim Akram and the list is endless but this list will surely be incomplete without the mention of Sir Donald Bradman,Shane Warne,Sachin Tendulkar,Brian Lara and Ricky Ponting or what I would call from now on the "The famous five".
It is an ardous task to ascertain who is the greatest of them all , but over the past 200 years the game has majorily been a batsman's paradise barring a few years of instances wherein the West Indian bowling greats and sultans of swings from Pakistan tormented the batsman and scared the living daylights of them.Its been a game thoroughly enjoyed to witness the runs scored by a batsman and hence the job of a bolwer becomes all the more tough to take wickets,control the flow of runs and also be a crowd puller.
Now of how many instances have we heard off wherein we go to watch a certain bowler take wickets or just to watch him bowl up his run up to deliver an inswinging yorker or a googly.Such has been the nature of the game that it has always been a tad unfair to the bowlers.Out of the famous five Shane Warne is the only bowler present and rest all are star batsmen in their respective era's.
Sir Donald George Bradman was, without any question, the greatest phenomenon in the history of cricket, indeed in the history of all ball games. To start with, he had a deep and undying love of cricket, as well, of course, as exceptional natural ability. It was always said he could have become a champion at squash or tennis or golf or billiards, had he preferred them to cricket. The fact that, as a boy, he sharpened his reflexes and developed his strokes by hitting golf ball with a cricket stump as it rebounded off a water tank attests to his eye, fleetness of foot and, even when young, his rare powers of concentration. His batting average record of 99.94 is one which maybe would never be broken and thus also makes him immortal for ever.Sachin,Lara and Ponting have taking batting in tests and one dayers completely to a new level and have a tremendous influence on the game inside and outside the field.
Which now brings me to the phenom called "Warney",acclaimed by many greats of the game as the best bowler ever.In 2000, Warne was named by a 100-member panel of experts as the fourth of five Wisden Cricketers of the century, Warne received 27 votes, behind Sir Donald Bradman (100 votes), Sir Garfield Sobers (90 votes), and Sir Jack Hobbs (30 votes). Sir Viv Richards took the fifth place, with 25 votes.Warne has had such a tremendous influence over the game for the past 18 years for enumerous reasons , the top reason being for reviving the dead art of leg spin thought to be extinct, and is now pre-eminent in a game so transformed that we sometimes wonder where the next champion fast bowlers will come from.He was the first cricketer to reach 700 Test wickets. He swatted more runs than any other Test player without making a hundred, and was probably the wiliest and best captain Australia never had. His ball that gazoodled Mike Gatting in 1993, bouncing outside leg stump and cuffing off, is unanimously esteemed the most famous in history.Shane's life has been a like a straight picking from a Hollywood movie, nicknamed as "Hollywood" by his team mates for his great looks and exuberant way of life Warne has always led his life in the fast lane.Fans and general public have mystified his love for fast cars,women and gambling with his wizardry of spinning the leather ball on a 22 yard strip anywhere on the world.
Warne has a great fan following across the realms of society almost making them sycophantsfor the enigma he has been on the cricket field.It was said of Augustus that he found Rome brick and left it marble: the same is true of Warne and spin bowling.Warne's place in cricketing posterity has been assured by the fact that he has overturned the domination of cricket by fast bowling that had prevailed for two decades before his debut. Despite the presence of high quality spin bowlers such as Abdul Qadir on the Test scene, Australia's fast bowlers Lillee and Thompson had dominated cricket in the early 1970s; while from 1976 until the early 1990s, the West Indies had lost only one (ill-tempered and controversial) Test series with a bowling attack almost exclusively comprising fast bowlers. In the early 1990s, with the West Indies on the wane, Waqar Younis and Wasim Akram of Pakistan were assuming the mantle of the world's most feared bowlers. It was in that context that Warne's tormenting of batsmen became so significant rather than his actual statistics. His humiliation of Gatting and subsequent dominance, in particular, of English and South African batsmen, provided a welcome sight for cricket watchers weary of the relentless intimidation by West Indian bowlers of the 1980s and 1990s. His treatment of South African batsman Daryl Cullinan was such that Cullinan was said to have sought the help of a therapist to overcome Warne's psychological hold.So tormented were the English by Warne that British Airways at on epoint of time had planned to put up the image of the leg spinner at the tail of all their 747 airbuses.
One of the greatest compliments which I feel Warne received was the amount of time and practice Sachin Tendulkar had put in specifically to tackle Warnes leg spin before the 1999 India-Australia series.Warne was totally taken offguard and did admit that the images of the Little Master hitting him haunted him for months to come.
The story of Shane Warne is still not over , with him leading the Rajasthan Royals to victory in the first edition of the IPL he proved to his detractors in ACB that he deserved his shot at being the captain of Australia.Fans across the world still want him back to face England in the upcoming Ashes'09, such has been his impact on the game.
This treatise might be thought by many as an eulogy but its not , its my love for the game which is supreme and will so till the end.....
I will pose a question to all the readers "Is Shane the greatest cricketer ever ?"
Regards
Ishan
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