Who is your favourite Cricketer.

Well mine was Hansie Cronje, when he took over the captaincy from Kepler wessles in Australia we had that famous win where Fanie de Villiers and alan donald took most of the wickets when australia chased something like 127 or so, we won by 7 runs.

He immediately impressed me as a person driven to win. During his tenure as captain SA had their first real successes in test cricket, our record prior to isolation was truly not very spectaular indeed.

As a player was was probably in the class of Vettori, where Vetorri was more a recognised bowler and pert time batsman, Cronje was more a batsman and a pert time bowler. His diddly doddlies he bolwed seemed innocuous, but he took some important wickets in his test career. As a batsman he wasn't the greatest technically, and his record from memory won't stand in the anals of test cricket, but he was fearless and very good at summerising the position we found ourselves in and would knuckle down when necessary, or become aggressive if he felt it was required.

When you look at his captaincy and the team he led, they were certainly not filled with as much talent as Graeme Smith's team and yet they have very similar win percentages.

What stood out for me about Hansie was the absolute belief and trust his team mates had in him. If he required alan donald to run up with bleeding toes and a broken jaw, he would do it.

When you look at the players he captained there wasn't really many stars around. Brian McMillan, Jonty Rhodes, CLive Eksteen, Gary Kirsten, Darrel Cullinan, none of them were any better than just solid performers with bat and ball, but it was in the field where the absolute inensity, focus and hard work he required of his team really showed.

Yes, I know a lot of people will never forgive him for the mistakes he made, but for me he will always remain one of my favourtie players of all time.

Who was yours?

Mine has to be Freddie. Grew up watching him, even in his early days you could see the ability was there if not the dedication. Used to love going to watch tests at Old Trafford just to see him bowl.

Favourite moment has to be the run out of Ponting in the Ashes, his celebration summed up the player he had become, calm, collected and adoring of the fans.

Active players

Batsman: Kevin Pietersen
Bowler: James Anderson

Retired players

Batsman: Adam Gilchrist
Bowler: Shane Warne

Oh, come on fists, give some detail man.

Yo see now I have to guess why.

Kevin Pietersen, you like his ability to be aggressive and dominate bowlers, however you do get dissappointed when he plays rash shots when he has the bowlers on the rack.

James anderson, his ability to swing the ball and the fact that he has developed into a bowler for all conditions.

Adam Gilchrest, well becuase he was the greatests wicket keeper and a superd domineering type batsman

Shane warne, simply becuase in your view he could dominate any batting line up, his astute manner in which he could work a batsman out.

My favourite bowler was definitely Muralitharan. I was always interested when he had the ball in his hand and he had such an infectious joy and love for the game.
Batsman would probably go to Dilshan (mainly just for one day games though). He is usually quite unpredictable to watch.
Close runners up were Sangakkara, Ajantha Mendis, Amir (he was brilliant in that series against England, one of the best I've seen but very much tainted due to the controversy) and Jimmy Anderson.

I am not 100% sure, but pretty confident it was Murali when he came to SA the first time the South Africans lovingly called him muscles.

I'll see if I can find something on it.

No, it was Venkatpathy Raju

Ha, close! Ok here we go.

Kevin Pietersen - compelling viewing. Never ceases to amaze with some of the audacious and downright outrageous strokes he plays when he is on song. Capable of dismantling any bowling attack on his day.

James Anderson - an action that is so easy on the eye coupled with absolute mastery of his art, Anderson is a beautiful bowler to watch. Toys with batsmen like no other, and yes, has proven himself in batsman friendly conditions now, completing the set, if you like.

Adam Gilchrist - what wasn't to like? Always made me chuckle with his boundless enthusiasm and mind games in tandem with Warne when behind the stumps, and an absolute demon of a batsman. Some of the sixes he hit seriously defied gravity (anyone remember the pasting poor Monty took in 2007 during a 57 (or 58) ball Gilchrist century. Brutal, but with all the typical left hander flair.

Shane Warne - the master in every respect. Those huge ragging leg-breaks were great viewing and had the batsmen scared to death. The fact that he had about 9 different names for what amounted to about 4 different deliveries only added to the mind games and the intrigue. Appealed for lbw like no other. Always worth watching with the bat, too.

I'm in your mind Fists.

for me it has to be adriaan kuiper,i grew up watching him play for western province and from what i can remember a very exciting batsman.as a kid heard that he used to practice his batting hitting apples on his farm in grabouw.

biltongbek wrote:Well mine was Hansie Cronje, when he took over the captaincy from Kepler wessles in Australia we had that famous win where Fanie de Villiers and alan donald took most of the wickets when australia chased something like 127 or so, we won by 7 runs.

He immediately impressed me as a person driven to win. During his tenure as captain SA had their first real successes in test cricket, our record prior to isolation was truly not very spectaular indeed.

As a player was was probably in the class of Vettori, where Vetorri was more a recognised bowler and pert time batsman, Cronje was more a batsman and a pert time bowler. His diddly doddlies he bolwed seemed innocuous, but he took some important wickets in his test career. As a batsman he wasn't the greatest technically, and his record from memory won't stand in the anals of test cricket, but he was fearless and very good at summerising the position we found ourselves in and would knuckle down when necessary, or become aggressive if he felt it was required.

When you look at his captaincy and the team he led, they were certainly not filled with as much talent as Graeme Smith's team and yet they have very similar win percentages.

What stood out for me about Hansie was the absolute belief and trust his team mates had in him. If he required alan donald to run up with bleeding toes and a broken jaw, he would do it.

When you look at the players he captained there wasn't really many stars around. Brian McMillan, Jonty Rhodes, CLive Eksteen, Gary Kirsten, Darrel Cullinan, none of them were any better than just solid performers with bat and ball, but it was in the field where the absolute inensity, focus and hard work he required of his team really showed.

Yes, I know a lot of people will never forgive him for the mistakes he made, but for me he will always remain one of my favourtie players of all time.

Who was yours?

I've got every respect for your opinion Biltong, and I know that a lot of South Africans did love Cronje, even after the match fixing.

Nonetheless, I can't agree with your assertion that "When you look at the players he captained there wasn't really many stars around." If my cricinfo skills are correct, he was captain from the start of 1995 through to 2000. Sure, at the start of his tenure the South Africans didn't have a great team. However, by 1996 you still had Donald, and had Klusener, Pollock and Kallis breaking through. By the end of his tenure you can also throw in Nantie Haywood, Mark Boucher and Herschelle Gibbs.

I also think that reference to his actions as 'mistakes' somewhat underplays things. He was the captain of his national team. A grown man living, as far as I'm aware, a relatively privileged life. It was pure greed that motivated him, and he acted against his team mates and his country.

I have to say, as well, that I am always surprised that he is still loved by South Africans, who are among the most competitive and patriotic people around. I would have thought most would have viewed his actions as unforgivable. I guess that perhaps it's his personality and a feeling that, overall, he contributed more than he took from South African cricket. Can't say I'd feel the same if he was English, however.

Currently playing:

Much as I don't think he's a particularly nice person, Kevin Pietersen would top the list. He's probably the only batsman who if I heard he was at the wicket I'd stop whatever I was doing and find a stream to watch him bat. Just on the odd chance you'd see something special. Like that innings in Sri Lanka, very very few players in the history of the game could have played that knock. It takes a substantial measure of confidence, guts and of course sheer natural talent to bat the way he does.

Whatever your views on Pietersen (I tend to be in the "if he never got out playing stupid shots he wouldn't be half the player" camp) there is no doubt that he is one of cricket's great entertainers.

A couple of near misses:

AB de Villiers: the man just oozes class, capable of scoring all around the wicket at a fantastic rate without seemingly breaking sweat. Makes batting look ridiculously straightforward when on song. Probably the best fielder of all time, and certainly worth the entrance money for fielding alone.

Mike Hussey: from a coach's perspective I just love the way he goes about building an innings, never hurried, never flustered, adapting to the situation almost perfectly everytime. Does the basics very very well, which shows that sometimes that's all you need. More of a workmanlike cricketer, but makes the most of his (considerable) abilities.

Bowling wise, I love watching Steyn in full flow, but if you asked me to pick one it would be Swann. In some senses a bit like a finger-spinning Shane Warne, with bustling aggression, an inate ability to work the batsman over, and fantastic understanding of the game. Would have made a great captain.

From the past:

Mark Waugh: people talk about making batting look easy, but has anyone ever done it quite so spectacularly? He seemed to just caress the ball and it would go miles (watch some youtube videos, he could hit the ball a long long way). Wonderful feet against spin, and that back-foot glide he played through cover is a thing of pure beauty. Similarly in the slips, he made catching the toughest chances look straightforward, it was amazing.

Shane Warne: who else? If you asked me to name one and only one, he would be it. A cricketer who often seemed to change a game around by sheer force of personality, with the two obvious examples being that semi-final in 99 (coming on to bowl with the score 40odd/0 off 10 overs, Warne produced an absolutely magical spell of bowling of 3-14 in 9 overs, turning the game on its head), and of course Adelaide 2006: had Shane Warne not been playing that test match nobody would have even considered anything other than a draw possible; as it was, such was Warne's stature that the evening before that final day, all everyone was talking about was whether Warne could win it for Australia. That's the kind of effect he had on the game.

One thing I loved about the IPL was having the opportunity to watch him bowl some more. Absolutely mesmerising. Reads a batsman better than anyone I've ever seen (check out him bowling Brendan McCullum in the Aus T20 this year), an absolute master of mind-games. You couldn't take your eye off the game when he was involved.

jbeadles, I accept your view, as far as the players, you summed it up in Donald, Pollock and Kallis.

However there are some things you are not considering. Kallis only started becoming the player he is today in the latter part of Cronje's tenure as captain.

Klusener was a phenominal ODI cricketer but not a great test cricketer, Boucher has always been one of the best glovemen around, but an average batsman.

I am not downplaying his "mistakes" I am just not in the mood to dicuss his failings and his motivations as he was punsihed, banned and paid the ultimate price.

South Africa doesn't tolerate what he did, that's why he got persecuted. I believe but can't prove it that there were many more being coaxed, pulled in, enticed, whatever you want to call it, into this clandestine money gambling scenario.

He is being judged by all, those that were never caught got away scott free. so I am not going to judge him.

Following on from Mike's assessment of Warne, has anyone seen the video on youtube showing highlights of Warne in the Aus Big Bash T20 this year?

They are clips of Warnie saying to the commentators (he is linked up on a mic to them) just before he runs in to bowl about the type of delivery he is going to bowl and the way in which he feels he can get that particular batsman out. It worked so many times to perfection - still a genius even now.

Yeah he is a master. I was listening to jonty rhodes giving us a speech at a seminar a year or so ago. They are good mates from what he tells us, and the stories and anecdotes he has to tell about Warne was very special.

Fists of Fury wrote:Following on from Mike's assessment of Warne, has anyone seen the video on youtube showing highlights of Warne in the Aus Big Bash T20 this year?

They are clips of Warnie saying to the commentators (he is linked up on a mic to them) just before he runs in to bowl about the type of delivery he is going to bowl and the way in which he feels he can get that particular batsman out. It worked so many times to perfection - still a genius even now.

It's simply awesome really... I tell the guys I coach to youtube it to see how you can try and plan out a batsman. May as well learn from the best...

Gregers favourite batsman - KP

My favourite player is Marcus Trescothick always has been, I started watching test cricket around 2002/3 ish, just took a liking to watching him play, then started going down to taunton as well. Enjoyed watching his mixture of big hitting and his placement of shots with his shot selection.

The one and only Graeme Hick. Being fairly young, I only saw him towards the tail-end of his career but what a player. I will always remember a T20 hundred he scored, It was the single greatest display of clean-hitting I have ever witnessed.

Currently, I love to watch Eoin Morgan batting in ODI's/T20's, his innovation is something to behold.

biltongbek wrote:Well mine was Hansie Cronje, and his record from memory won't stand in the anals of test cricket,

Arguably, and sadly, it might?

Won't come as any surprise to HoF posters that my favourite historic cricket is Ken Barrington for his gritty determination and his outstanding contributions for England on overseas tours.

Mat

Interesting call on Hick - on his good days you are right that h was an incredibly clean striker of a ball. Sadly, his good days didn't come quite often enough at Test level.

Of current players, I'm a huge fan of Alistair Cook as a Test batsman - he knows exactly what he is trying to do, in leaving the balls he can and making the bowlers bowl much closer to his legs and so pick off the easy runs. A bit like a modern day Boycott, although a little more fluent.

For bowlers, I love Monty's enthusiasm even if I wish he'd be a little more adventurous.

For retired players, there's only one bowler, same as most everyone else - Warne. Anyone who can make Gatting look THAT confused had the X factor.

Batsmen - Lara was class, but I'm going to say Robin Smith. I've never seen a ball hit harder than The Judge hit his square cut.

Mat wrote:The one and only Graeme Hick. Being fairly young, I only saw him towards the tail-end of his career but what a player. I will always remember a T20 hundred he scored, It was the single greatest display of clean-hitting I have ever witnessed.

Currently, I love to watch Eoin Morgan batting in ODI's/T20's, his innovation is something to behold.

To be honest Graeme Hick didn't endear himself to the crowds in SA when england toured here in 1995. I went to Port elizabeth as a young man accompanied by a mate of mine wanting to see his girlfriend and a little two man tent. At the ground we sat amingst some kids who kept on asking Graeme Hick for his autograph and he just kept on ignoring them.

So this kid in front of me started this conversation with Graeme Hick.

" Graeme, Graeme, can I have your autograph please.......... Graeme Hick, can I pleeeeeeaaase have your autograph................................... Mr Graeme Hick sir, number 4 batsman in the world Sir, may I please have your autograph......................................................Mr Grame Hick sir, number 4 atsman in the world sir , stick your autograph..........."

I almost fell of my chair.

My other favourite historic cricketer was Graham Roope, a reasonable batsman but a world class slip fielder.

I'll name you two.

Richards.

guildfordbat wrote:I'll name you two.

Richards.

Not le Roi?!

Just like you Biltong - Salim Malik, master player of spin and brilliant to watch, also watched a recording of him going out to bat with a broken arm against windies in 1986 - I think I watched it in 1992 when my family proudly boasted their british vhs player (the only one in the village at the time and a good while after ). I really wish I had got to those tapes before they disintegrated, fond memories of sipping mango milkshakes and watching old cricket when there wasnt any current on. 2 months of bliss every other year.

Second, Rashid Latif - God that man made keeping look like a walk in the park.


Current players.

De Villiers - no need to answer why and Anderson because hes a proper fast bowler with the attitude to match. No friendly stuff from him - sort of missed those types.

dummy_half wrote:Mat

Interesting call on Hick - on his good days you are right that h was an incredibly clean striker of a ball. Sadly, his good days didn't come quite often enough at Test level.

Of current players, I'm a huge fan of Alistair Cook as a Test batsman - he knows exactly what he is trying to do, in leaving the balls he can and making the bowlers bowl much closer to his legs and so pick off the easy runs. A bit like a modern day Boycott, although a little more fluent.

For bowlers, I love Monty's enthusiasm even if I wish he'd be a little more adventurous.

For retired players, there's only one bowler, same as most everyone else - Warne. Anyone who can make Gatting look THAT confused had the X factor.

Batsmen - Lara was class, but I'm going to say Robin Smith. I've never seen a ball hit harder than The Judge hit his square cut.

A real shame Hick never did it in the test arena consistently. Like I said I only saw him at the tail-end of his career but he was still an incredible player, a class above anything Worcs had at that time. Honestly I don't know why he didn't do it at Test Level, maybe it was the build-up that he'd been given or maybe he's just one of those players who's too good for County but not good enough for Tests.

Biltong-He did have that sort of aloofness about him at Worcs, he never seemed to keen on the whole autograph and fan interaction, though I think as his career came to an end he began to appreciate the support he got from New Road a little bit more.

Yep, not all players enjoy the whole fan inter action thing.

Current
Batsman - KP for the same reasons as everybody else
Bowler - Swann. Always love watching the very top world class spinners in action regardless of their nationality

Past Players
Batsman - Sir Vivian Richards. I was only young when I first began watching test cricket in the late 80's but I was instantly struck by how he dominated the bowling (unfortunately against England). Just loved watching him nonchalantly step across to his off stump and effortlessly 'clip' the ball over deep square leg's head for six and then follow it with a thunderous off drive for four that was all power. Due to how he played and carried himself he always seemed much taller than his 5;10"
Bowler - Warne, again for the same reasons as others have said. Some were saying he was on his way out before he toured England in 2005 but he almost helped the aussies retain the Ashes on his own. The best bowler ever in my opinion.

Honorable mentions
Ricky Ponting. I know many dislike him and he has certainly stayed around too long but in his prime he was amazing to watch. Equally comfortable on the front or back foot and bowlers just couldn't bowl at him when his was on song. Bowl short and his pull was probably the best I've ever seen (plus he had a decent square cut), bowl full and his drive either side of the wicket was just about textbook perfect. His balance at the crease is the best I've ever seen.
Andrew Flintoff. His over to Ponting in the 2005 ashes is the best 7 ( ) balls together I can remember seeing a fast bowler bowl. Test cricket at it's best.
Ambrose, Marshall, Donald, Kallis, Dravid are others that also spring to mind.

Current Batsmen: KP

Reasons pretty obvious, the way as we saw in the Sri Lanka test match, he can change a game in a second. Incredibly powerful striker of a ball and can play all the shots in the book.

Current Bowler: Steven Finn

Big fan of his and in my view should be leading the attack with Anderson, Broad and Swann. Impressed early on in his career, and now bowls 90mph stump to stump can't argue with that. He needs to be playing consistently in the Test arena as I genuinely believe he is England's answers to Glenn McGrath.

All Time Batsmen: Brain Lara

Incredible natural talent, could strike a ball like no other and the saying of when you get in, you need to go and get a big score. That's exactly what he did.

All Time Bowler: Glenn McGrath

Elegance followed by destruction. That's what I think of when the name Glenn McGrath is said. I'll always remember that first test in 05 at Lords when he ripped apart England's top order. It was my favourite spell of bowling and the best I have ever seen, simply because I was watching it live. The term I use of 'Elegance followed by destruction' summed that morning up perfectly. He strolled up and didn't force his arm over, every thing was flowing and then Michael Vaughan's off stump was out of the ground. It was a privilege to say I watched him bowl.

Obviously Sir Viv is a great shout. Another for the honourable mention list would be Sir Richard Hadlee - as with McGrath, he was an incredibly skillful and silky bowler who never looked like he had to try hard to generate pace.

As far as players I hated watching, at least in Test matches, the names Marshall, Holding, Garner and Roberts come to mind. You just knew that the England batsmen didn't have the ability to combat what they could fo.

Mat
There were a few things with Hick as a Test batsman. He was unlucky that he came into the Test team at a time when his form was starting to dip, and so his confidence was undermined. Not good when you have to face the Windies fast bowling attack.
Also, being such a tall and fairly bulky guy, his technique wasn't that good against really high quality fast short bowling, and he struggled to overcome this weakness.
The other issue though was that he tended mostly to score in boundaries at County level, and wasn't very good at just rotating the strike and keeping the scoreboard ticking over if he didn't get loose balls that he could put away.

[quote="Mat"]

dummy_half wrote:Mat

Interesting call on Hick - on his good days you are right that h was an incredibly clean striker of a ball. Sadly, his good days didn't come quite often enough at Test level.

Honestly I don't know why he didn't do it at Test Level, maybe it was the build-up that he'd been given or maybe he's just one of those players who's too good for County but not good enough for Tests.

There is one good reason for this and that is because Curtley Ambrose sorted him out when he first came into test cricket playing for England in 1991.

GBNut
(interesting editing on the quote - my first para and Mat's second one).

Some truth that Curtley worked Hick out - as I said, he struggled against really good short pitched bowling because of his size. At County level it was usually less of a problem because the quick bowlers were less accurate so Hick could often get away with hooking or pulling the ball, but Curtley for one was very good at getting the lifting ball right in on the batsman's body and so giving no room for Hick's long arms.

It should perhaps be noted though that Hick had scored a big hundred in the Worcestershire v Windies warm up match, so he wasn't entirely incapable of playing quick bowling (I'm not sure if Ambrose played that game but I'm pretty sure Marshall did).

Dwayne Leverock - it's astonishing to me how anyone can watch his catch in the 07 world cup & not immediately recognise him as their favourite player. The kind of person you'd starve your children to feed.

my favourites over the years have been:

Gower
Beefy
Atherton
Marshall
Viv
Lara
Hadlee
Crowe
Tendulkar (the early version)
Ponting
M Waugh
Warne
Miandad
Waqar
Murali
Donald

I may have missed a few but there have been too many to mention.

On Hick
Badly managed (needed an arm around the shoulder)
Weak mentally
Bad technique against the short stuff

current: going to be a bit dull and go with KP as my favourite current batsman, for much the reasons everyone has stated. His ability to change the course of a test match in one session is remarkable. When he's in full flow you just get the feeling he's unstoppable.

as a bowler, much like Mike I enjoy watching Swann, who's probably the closest thing we have to a modern Shane Warne in the way he out-thinks and outwits batsmen. A joy to watch.

Others (in no particular order) I enjoy watching: Ponting, De Villiers (batting and fielding), Anderson, Steyn, Pattinson, Trott (I like the calm, organised way he goes about his batting), Brett Lee (I remember the spell he bowled at the end of day 2 in the 02-03 Melbourne Ashes test - five or six overs at the speed of light, it was magnificent!)

Of all time, I used to really love Mike Atherton. Watching him battle it out with some of the all-time great opening bowlers (McGrath, Ambrose and Walsh, Wasim and Waqar, Donald and Pollock) was cricket at its very best.

Bowlers: there can only be one, the great Shane Warne.

Current with the bat Alastair Cook

For me I love the patient building of an innings. Don't get me wrong, a player coming in and having a whack and a ball a run type of innings is entertaining, but for me Test Cricket is the theatre stuff and Cook from the moment he debuted in 2006 just caught me eye and during 2010/2011 has clicked into gear and for me is a proper proper batsman. Can attack and adapt his game and that is what I enjoy to watch. I love a batsman wh thinks and he clearly does. For ODI and T20 it has to be Chris Gayle and Eoin Morgan. Gayle just for the explosiveness and Morgan for showing his natural touch and hands with the bat.

With the ball, Jimmy Anderson.

Just for the swing, but the effort. He never lets up and just keeps on running in ball after ball. The level of intensity is just immense too. Good fielder to have in the side too. The leadership he demonstrates with the ball and the pack of the bowlers is superb. Demands the best of himself and others too and isn't scared of piping up either.

Past

Batsman, Brian Lara.

His innings were just epic. Again someone who could be patient at the crease, but could also accelerate the run rate and was so powerful on the off-side. He looked just un-shakable at the crease. Was mentally the strongest batsman I have seen.

Bowler Glen McGrath.

Naturally wasn't the most gifted bowler, but he hit the line and length and took wickets by the bucket loads. I would be tempted to plump for a Warne, but McGrath was a class act. Didn't like his 5-0 predictions every chuffing Ashes series!

Current: KP,Jimmy,SRT,Steyn,Broad

Past : Gilly,Flower,Warne,Dravid,Bond

Future : Finn,Cummins,Pattinson,Bracewell, Kohli,J Taylor,Warner

I like Merv. The moustache, the physical guts, the mental guts, that he was always sledging and usually outpointed when the other guy came up with something better, but he kept trying. That he put on some glasses and convinced everyone he had the right stuff to be a selector despite never really being a model professional in his playing days. He was a big character and a real tryer that made a lot of possibly not so much talent.

Out of the ones still active, I'd say Ponting. A real blue collar batsman, and for a long time if I were asked which player I could transplant from another international team in to England's, it would have been him, without so much as a second of thought. Utterly magnificent player, and while he rubs plenty of people up the wrong way, I actually enjoy his combative, aggressive and fiery personality / attitude. Was delighted to see him back amongst the runs against India over the winter.

In an all-time sense, it would likely be Lara. So few sportsmen merit 'genius' status, but Lara sails in to that category. Charismatic, tenacious at the crease, incredible to watch and without doubt the cricketer (not just batsman) I'd pick to see if I had to chose just one for the rest of my days.

375, 400*, 501. Don't think there's anything more that needs to be said. Greatest test batsman since Bradman, in my opinion.

Last Century : Statham , Cowdrey , Benaud , Hall , Sobers , Pollock (G) ... I could go on but how many "favourites" is reasonable ?

Currently ? Cook , Anderson , Chanderpaul , Tendulkar , Vettori , Steyn and Clarke.

Favourite Cricketer has to be Graeme Pollock, as his philosophy of batting is based purely on a simple method of "see the ball-hit the ball"!

I had the same philosophy, sadly it didn't work for me.