Warney's top 50 cricketers

[smac]

Warney has started a list of the top 50 cricketers he has played with or against.

Some really interesting selections, in particular (going back to Mal's famous thread here) Steve Waugh ranked at 26.

Still the top 20 to be named.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/ ... 351642.ece

[Aerie]

Very interesting! Lots of surprises already in his choices 20-50. Looking forward to the rest. Lara, Tendulkar and McGrath top 3 (not in any particular order?). Be interesting to see who he rates higher out of Healy and Gilchrist.

[Dogwatcher]

Interesting to see Siddons on the list.

Reminds me of a sledge:

One of the Waugh twins was batting in a Shield game, but taking a little too long to get his equipment in the right places when he was at the crease.

Siddons pipes up from the cordon about how serious said Waugh was taking his equipment adjustments and says "c'mon mate, hurry up, it's not a test match".

To which the withering reply was, "I know mate, you're out here".

[spell_check]

Lol at a comment from a Sri Lankan saying that he couldn't understand why he rated MacGill about Jayasuriya.
He has Jayasuriya at 38 and MacGill at 39....

[smac]

Mark Waugh at 12 (higher than my opinion) and Courtney Walsh at 11 (lower than my opinion) are the two standouts in the latest installment.

[Aerie]

Warne's 50 so far...

50 Jamie Siddons
49 Darren Berry
48 Brian McMillan
47 Chris Cairns
46 Dilip Vengsarkar
45 Waqar Younis
44 Alec Stewart
43 Michael Atherton
42 Ravi Shastri
41 Justin Langer
40 Kapil Dev
39 Stuart MacGill
38 Sanath Jayasuriya
37 Stephen Harmison
36 Andy Flower
35 Michael Vaughan
34 Bruce Reid
33 Allan Donald
32 Robin Smith
31 Tim May
30 Kevin Pietersen
29 Shoaib Akhtar / Craig McDermott
28 Saeed Anwar / Mohammad Yousuf
27 Jacques Kallis / Shaun Pollock
26 Steve Waugh
25 Darren Lehmann
24 Brett Lee
23 Stephen Fleming
22 Martin Crowe
21 David Boon
20 Adam Gilchrist
19 Aravinda de Silva
18 Merv Hughes
17 Matthew Hayden
16 Andrew Flintoff
15 Graham Gooch
14 Rahul Dravid
13 Anil Kumble
12 Mark Waugh
11 Courtney Walsh

[Aerie]

So who will be in the top 10? My guess (not in order): McGrath, Tendulkar, Lara, Healy, Ambrose, Gillespie, Azharuddin, Wasim Akram, Muralitharan, Donald.

[am Bays]

I'm tipping Cronje and Border will be there too as he has appeared to show a favourtism for blokes at teh beginning of his career, Siddons, Vebgsarker, Shastri, Dev and Merv.

Cronje towelled us up in 93-94 (runs wise) when Warne was first starting and Border do I need to say anymore

[smac]

Privately (so I have been told - therefore it could be bullshit) Warne is not a fan of the chucker. Perhaps in retirement he may leave him out of this list altogether?

It will be interesting, nonetheless.

Can's see Mark Taylor in the list anywhere either, he would be a shoe in for Warnes top 5 I reckon.

[Hondo]

and Border do I need to say anymore

No

[brod]

Im hooked on Warney has to say - there is a first for everything. This has been a worthwhile exercise and his reasoning behind his choices is very interesting to hear

[rod_rooster]

It's quite clear that he is one of (if not the greatest) bowlers of all time. It's also quite clear that doesn't make him a great judge of cricketers.

I really like Shane Warne but to rate Graham Gooch ahead of Steve Waugh is simply sour grapes and there is clearly another agenda there. Perhaps if you could have kept your snake in it's cage you wouldn't have turned into such a bitter ex player Shane. Great player, Yes. Great bloke, questionable. Great judge NO!

[jackpot jim]

Warne's 50 so far...

50 Jamie Siddons
49 Darren Berry
48 Brian McMillan
47 Chris Cairns
46 Dilip Vengsarkar
45 Waqar Younis
44 Alec Stewart
43 Michael Atherton
42 Ravi Shastri
41 Justin Langer
40 Kapil Dev
39 Stuart MacGill
38 Sanath Jayasuriya
37 Stephen Harmison
36 Andy Flower
35 Michael Vaughan
34 Bruce Reid
33 Allan Donald
32 Robin Smith
31 Tim May
30 Kevin Pietersen
29 Shoaib Akhtar / Craig McDermott
28 Saeed Anwar / Mohammad Yousuf
27 Jacques Kallis / Shaun Pollock
26 Steve Waugh
25 Darren Lehmann
24 Brett Lee
23 Stephen Fleming
22 Martin Crowe
21 David Boon
20 Adam Gilchrist
19 Aravinda de Silva
18 Merv Hughes
17 Matthew Hayden
16 Andrew Flintoff
15 Graham Gooch
14 Rahul Dravid
13 Anil Kumble
12 Mark Waugh
11 Courtney Walsh

How can there be 2 cricketers rated equal 27th, 28th and 29th ??????
That would then mean that there will be 53 cricketers in Total.

[smithy]

Aravinda and Merv better cricketers than Gilly???? surely not.

[Aerie]

50 Jamie Siddons
49 Darren Berry
48 Brian McMillan
47 Chris Cairns
46 Dilip Vengsarkar
45 Waqar Younis
44 Alec Stewart
43 Michael Atherton
42 Ravi Shastri
41 Justin Langer
40 Kapil Dev
39 Stuart MacGill
38 Sanath Jayasuriya
37 Stephen Harmison
36 Andy Flower
35 Michael Vaughan
34 Bruce Reid
33 Allan Donald
32 Robin Smith
31 Tim May
30 Kevin Pietersen
29 Shoaib Akhtar / Craig McDermott
28 Saeed Anwar / Mohammad Yousuf
27 Jacques Kallis / Shaun Pollock
26 Steve Waugh
25 Darren Lehmann
24 Brett Lee
23 Stephen Fleming
22 Martin Crowe
21 David Boon
20 Adam Gilchrist
19 Aravinda de Silva
18 Merv Hughes
17 Matthew Hayden
16 Andrew Flintoff
15 Graham Gooch
14 Rahul Dravid
13 Anil Kumble
12 Mark Waugh
11 Courtney Walsh
10 Ian Healy
9 Mark Taylor
8 Ricky Ponting
7 Muttiah Muralitharan
6 Wasim Akram
5 Glenn McGrath
4 Allan Border
3 Curtly Ambrose
2 Brian Lara
1 Sachin Tendulkar

[Aerie]

Very interesting to read the views of one of the greatest cricketing minds of the modern era rate his peers while still fresh in his mind. I was mostly interested that he rated Healy > Gilchrist and Tendulkar > Lara and was surprised he rated Mark Waugh > Steve Waugh.

Warne's best:
Batsman: Sachin Tendulkar (1)
You have to watch India in India truly to appreciate the pressure that Sachin Tendulkar is under every time he bats. Outside grounds, people wait until he goes in before paying to enter. They seem to want a wicket to fall even though it is their own side that will suffer. This is cricket as Sachin has known it since the age of 16. He grew up under incredible weight of expectation and never buckled once – not under poor umpiring decisions or anything else. I place him very slightly ahead of Lara because I found him slightly tougher mentally. It is such a close call, but here is an example of what I mean: in Australia in 2003-04 he was worried about getting out cover driving so he decided to cut out the shot. I saw the wagon wheel for his next innings: he scored 248 without a single cover drive. Like Lara, he has scored runs all over the world. I have seen him run down the pitch and hit Glenn McGrath over the top for six, and I have seen him hit me for six against the spin going around the wicket. I have been lucky to get to know him off the field as well. He is quiet and humble. A great player and a great man.

Spinner: Muttiah Muralitharan (7)
No matter what anybody thinks about his action, he is wonderful to bat against for the experience of facing a ball that turns so much. He has helped to turn Sri Lanka into a formidable side at home. It is also worth remembering the work he did in the aftermath of the tsunami when he gave so much hope to people in despair. And we all love that smile.

Fast Bowler: Curtly Ambrose (3)
It was very difficult to split Curtly and Glenn McGrath, but I think Curtly had that extra half-gear as well as being just as accurate and clinical. He could take your head off if he wanted, and he did have that nasty streak. I don’t remember him ever giving me a half-volley – or anybody else for that matter. He turned a game – and the series – in Perth in 1992-93 with a spell of seven wickets for one run. Early in my career, I watched in amazement at his brilliance.

Australian Batsman: Allan Border (4)
AB is the top Australian in my list. I probably learnt more from him than anybody bar Ian Chappell. The toughest cricketer I have played with, he was also an outstanding batsman and had been for more than a decade by the time I came into the side. People remember his determination but he also had plenty of shots. He led from the front and remains a great example to youngsters.

Australian Bowler: Glenn McGrath (5)
He kept everything simple but effective. Although batsmen knew exactly what McGrath was about, he still beat them almost every time. He had that ability to take the big wicket and his longevity was incredible. By keeping things so tight he helped me to get a lot of wickets at the other end. Don’t let him fool you over his batting: it really was terrible.

[jackpot jim]

The question still remains, How does 53 players make his top 50 ?????????????

Am i missing something here or is it just a leg spinners thing????????

Other than that, it is a very interesting list and its Great to see BOOF Lehmann get Reconition at No. 25.
From memorey, he had Warnes' measure most times he faced him.

[spell_check]

Very interesting to read the views of one of the greatest cricketing minds of the modern era rate his peers while still fresh in his mind. I was mostly interested that he rated Healy > Gilchrist and Tendulkar > Lara and was surprised he rated Mark Waugh > Steve Waugh.

I'd say he rated Healy above Gilchrist because of his keeping abilities. They kept wicket for half of Warnes career each, and as a spin bowler in particular he would look at that.

And as for Waugh > Waugh, well mal would agree with that.

[Hondo]

Good to see Warney give some credit to Murali. The chucking rule was mainly brought in years ago to stop pace bowlers amping things up baseball style, rather than an off-spinner. Line up a baseball pitcher alongside Murali and you'll see clearly what a chucker is. If anyone would want to cast doubt on Murali's action you'd think it'd be Warney as he is about to lose his greatest wicket taker title to him soon.

[mal]

Warney has made some unusual sweeping selections
To put things in perspective it seems a lot of his ratings are
from his own personal duels with some of those players.
He has picked Tendulkar/Lara as his better batsmen as they at times dominated Warney
That is no surprise

When You anaylise his rating of LEHMANN at 25 STEVE WAUGH at 26
it appears as the sweepingest of all ratings
But putting things in Warnes perspective his rating may have been made
because after bowling to both men he considered Boof a better player of leg spin.
I have to agree from that point of view
BUT
If you were rating Boof and SW overall there would be about 1000 rating positions different

OTHERS
He has KP at 30 for the same reasons
SIDDONS at 50 because he was a brilliant player of leg spin for the same reasons

Having said all that MAY/HUGHES/MACGILL are strange listings