SA Footy

Ricky Ponting has been voted Player of the Decade by an overwhelming majority by a jury comprising former and current players and cricket writers.

Ponting got 60 points (a first-place vote fetched three points, a second place two, and third place one), 23 more than second-placed Jacques Kallis. Adam Gilchrist was ranked third (29 points), while positions four to seven went to Muttiah Muralitharan, Glenn McGrath, Sachin Tendulkar and Shane Warne.

Ponting scored more runs and centuries in both forms of the game than any other batsman in the decade, and he was the only one to go past the 9000-mark in both Tests and ODIs. In 107 Tests between 2000 and 2009, he scored 9458 runs at 58.38, and 32 of his 38 centuries. Ponting and Kallis, along with Mohammad Yousuf, were the only batsmen to average more than 58 in Tests in the decade.

The Top 10
Ricky Ponting 60 points (13 No. 1s, 6 No. 2s, 9 No. 3s)
Jacques Kallis 37 (5, 9, 4)
Adam Gilchrist 29 (7, 3, 2)
Muttiah Muralitharan 27 (3, 5,8)
Glenn McGrath 24 (3, 5, 5)
Sachin Tendulkar 23.5 (3, 5, 4.5)
Shane Warne 20.5 (3. 5. 1.5)
Brian Lara 3 (1, 0, 0)
Rahul Dravid 2 (0, 0, 2)
Shivnarine Chanderpaul 1 (0, 0, 1)

No surprises there. Most dominant batsman in the most dominant team of the decade. Did they do a player of the decade for previous decades? That would be interesting.

Adelaide Hawk wrote:No surprises there. Most dominant batsman in the most dominant team of the decade. Did they do a player of the decade for previous decades? That would be interesting.

i would have thought a player whose batting stats were very similar but also took 205 test wickets and 192 one day wickets for the period would be a far superior overall player

Warney is the greatest sportsman of all time so he should get the title. Geez I love that bloke. Bring him back.

MAY-Z wrote:

Adelaide Hawk wrote:No surprises there. Most dominant batsman in the most dominant team of the decade. Did they do a player of the decade for previous decades? That would be interesting.

i would have thought a player whose batting stats were very similar but also took 205 test wickets and 192 one day wickets for the period would be a far superior overall player

Im with you MAY-Z, I think Kallis is the PLAYER of the decade. his batting is only slightly inferior to Pontings, but his all round contribution is far superior