sami ullah khan
Panel of Selectors
Sanga has been a thorn in our side ever since his debut. He is a pleasure to watch when he scores against other sides though. 
Top 100 in ODI history - 2: Tendulkar, 1: Richards
- Thread starter sifter132
- Start date
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Satan666
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It can be argued that hard working guys like Sangakara have fed of the weak bowling of the era.
sami ullah khan
Panel of Selectors
^Pakistan and Australia have had good bowling line ups throughout last two decades. I have seen Sanga thrash both attacks.
Two former Indian coaches today...ranked in order from least effect to most :P
#46 - Greg Chappell
Role: Batting all-rounder. RH top order batsman, either at #3 or #4. RH medium pace.
Debut: vs England, Melbourne, 1971.
Matches: 74
Runs: 2331
Avg: 40.18
S/R: 75.70
Wkts: 72
Avg: 29.12
Econ: 4.04
Legacy: I'm too young to have seen Chappell bat, but everything I read about him says he had a lovely classical batting style and a sound technique. I've got his coaching book at home
It's said he had a preference for playing pace and was particularly efficient through the leg side.
Has a terrific all-round record, his medium pacers being very effective in the middle overs for Australia. Only 3 men have a better batting average-to-bowling average ratio than Chappell (Watson, Kallis and...Lehmann!). Chappell was averaging over 50 with the bat until going through 2 very quiet home summers in Australia to end his career. Unfortunately those summers were packed with ODIs (World Series Cricket was the new craze), so his poor form over those 2 years had a large effect on his career average.
Chappell was a very fine fieldsman, particularly as a catcher.
Chappell will also be remembered for something a bit more controversial...he was the captain who told his brother Trevor to bowl the last ball of the match underarm. He almost ruined Aus-NZ relations in the process with the NZ prime minister describing it as "the most disgusting incident I can recall in the history of cricket".
Three of the best (matches in chronological order):
1) 125* (137) & 1/0 (0.2) vs England, The Oval, 1977. Chasing 243, Chappell dominated a partnership of 148 with Richie Robinson (the keeper). Then his cool head was required to steer Australia home after a late innings collapse saw Australia lose 6/56. Australia won with 10 balls and only 2 wickets to spare.
2) 138* (109) & 1/41 (10) vs New Zealand, Sydney, 1980. Wisden called it a brilliant innings and praised Chappell's footwork and driving as he belted a pretty good NZ attack around the SCG. Australia's 289 was never in danger of being chased down.
3) 90 (122) & 3/43 (10) vs New Zealand, Melbourne, 1981. This was the underarm game and it was a sour end for Chappell since he had been performing well up to that point. He worked the ball around efficiently with the bat and picked up 3 of NZ's top 5 batsmen with the ball. Then with NZ needing 6 off the last ball to win, he told Trevor to bowl underarm...the rest is history.
Highlights:
#45 - Gary Kirsten
Role: LH opening bat. Not a bowler: only ever bowled 5 overs of his RH off spin.
Debut: vs Australia, Sydney, 1993.
Matches: 185
Runs: 6798
Avg: 40.95
S/R: 72.04
Legacy: Gary Kirsten is known as a fighting, grinding Test opener, but he was arguably more successful as an ODI opener. In fact, he started out his career as the flashier opener when partnered with Andrew Hudson. Then he played more of an anchor role after the 1996 World Cup, when paired with Herschelle Gibbs.
His 188* vs United Arab Emirates in 1996 is still the highest score ever at a World Cup. In fact, Kirten loved Asian conditions, averaging 59.60 in his 45 ODIs on that continent. The 1996 World Cup was in the middle of Kirsten's purple patch. From 94/95-97/98 he played 73 ODIs: making 3136 runs @ 48.25 with 7 100s.
Never captained South Africa, but was a long serving vice-captain behind Cronje and Pollock. After retirement he parlayed that experience into coaching jobs, taking India to the top of world cricket as their head coach(#1 Test rank and World Cup winners in 2011). Now he coaches South Africa.
Three of the best (matches in chronological order):
1) 112* (137) vs Australia, Melbourne, 1994. 1st final of the triangular series and Kirsten was needed to knit the innings together against a strong attack of McDermott, McGrath, Reiffel and Warne. Cronje's 40 was the next highest score. In the end SA's 230 was 28 runs too many for Australia.
2) 118* (127) vs Pakistan, Nairobi, 1996. Another triangular tournament final and another Kirsten century - chasing this time. SA needed 204 to win, and had a brief wobble after Hudson left, but Kirsten dominated the scoring from there on to see SA home easily.
3) 133* (155) vs India, Johannesburg, 2001. India had set a stiff target of 280 but SA got home with 10 balls to spare. Kirsten started the chase in a rollicking partnership with Herschelle Gibbs to get the required run rate down to around 5, then worked the ball around calmly to complete the victory.
Highlights:
#46 - Greg Chappell
Role: Batting all-rounder. RH top order batsman, either at #3 or #4. RH medium pace.
Debut: vs England, Melbourne, 1971.
Matches: 74
Runs: 2331
Avg: 40.18
S/R: 75.70
Wkts: 72
Avg: 29.12
Econ: 4.04
Legacy: I'm too young to have seen Chappell bat, but everything I read about him says he had a lovely classical batting style and a sound technique. I've got his coaching book at home
It's said he had a preference for playing pace and was particularly efficient through the leg side.Has a terrific all-round record, his medium pacers being very effective in the middle overs for Australia. Only 3 men have a better batting average-to-bowling average ratio than Chappell (Watson, Kallis and...Lehmann!). Chappell was averaging over 50 with the bat until going through 2 very quiet home summers in Australia to end his career. Unfortunately those summers were packed with ODIs (World Series Cricket was the new craze), so his poor form over those 2 years had a large effect on his career average.
Chappell was a very fine fieldsman, particularly as a catcher.
Chappell will also be remembered for something a bit more controversial...he was the captain who told his brother Trevor to bowl the last ball of the match underarm. He almost ruined Aus-NZ relations in the process with the NZ prime minister describing it as "the most disgusting incident I can recall in the history of cricket".
Three of the best (matches in chronological order):
1) 125* (137) & 1/0 (0.2) vs England, The Oval, 1977. Chasing 243, Chappell dominated a partnership of 148 with Richie Robinson (the keeper). Then his cool head was required to steer Australia home after a late innings collapse saw Australia lose 6/56. Australia won with 10 balls and only 2 wickets to spare.
2) 138* (109) & 1/41 (10) vs New Zealand, Sydney, 1980. Wisden called it a brilliant innings and praised Chappell's footwork and driving as he belted a pretty good NZ attack around the SCG. Australia's 289 was never in danger of being chased down.
3) 90 (122) & 3/43 (10) vs New Zealand, Melbourne, 1981. This was the underarm game and it was a sour end for Chappell since he had been performing well up to that point. He worked the ball around efficiently with the bat and picked up 3 of NZ's top 5 batsmen with the ball. Then with NZ needing 6 off the last ball to win, he told Trevor to bowl underarm...the rest is history.
Highlights:
#45 - Gary Kirsten
Role: LH opening bat. Not a bowler: only ever bowled 5 overs of his RH off spin.
Debut: vs Australia, Sydney, 1993.
Matches: 185
Runs: 6798
Avg: 40.95
S/R: 72.04
Legacy: Gary Kirsten is known as a fighting, grinding Test opener, but he was arguably more successful as an ODI opener. In fact, he started out his career as the flashier opener when partnered with Andrew Hudson. Then he played more of an anchor role after the 1996 World Cup, when paired with Herschelle Gibbs.
His 188* vs United Arab Emirates in 1996 is still the highest score ever at a World Cup. In fact, Kirten loved Asian conditions, averaging 59.60 in his 45 ODIs on that continent. The 1996 World Cup was in the middle of Kirsten's purple patch. From 94/95-97/98 he played 73 ODIs: making 3136 runs @ 48.25 with 7 100s.
Never captained South Africa, but was a long serving vice-captain behind Cronje and Pollock. After retirement he parlayed that experience into coaching jobs, taking India to the top of world cricket as their head coach(#1 Test rank and World Cup winners in 2011). Now he coaches South Africa.
Three of the best (matches in chronological order):
1) 112* (137) vs Australia, Melbourne, 1994. 1st final of the triangular series and Kirsten was needed to knit the innings together against a strong attack of McDermott, McGrath, Reiffel and Warne. Cronje's 40 was the next highest score. In the end SA's 230 was 28 runs too many for Australia.
2) 118* (127) vs Pakistan, Nairobi, 1996. Another triangular tournament final and another Kirsten century - chasing this time. SA needed 204 to win, and had a brief wobble after Hudson left, but Kirsten dominated the scoring from there on to see SA home easily.
3) 133* (155) vs India, Johannesburg, 2001. India had set a stiff target of 280 but SA got home with 10 balls to spare. Kirsten started the chase in a rollicking partnership with Herschelle Gibbs to get the required run rate down to around 5, then worked the ball around calmly to complete the victory.
Highlights:
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Yeah fairly similar I guess: both pretty smart players who generally take the runs given to them rather than forcing things too early; and both of them often played with a more aggressive opening partner. I think the difference for this list is that Gambhir is still playing, so he gets penalised a bit because he might be distinctly average over the rest of his career - we don't know yet. And Gambhir hasn't had that really hot run of form that Kirsten had in the mid-90s. Kirsten was probably close to/if not the #1 ODI batsman in the world during that period, not sure Gambhir could have made that claim yet in his career.
On with the show! This time one of the biggest names in cricket history...
#44 - Dennis Lillee
Role: RH fast bowler mainly with the new ball, sometimes first change later in his career. RH bat, mostly at #8 or #9.
Debut: vs England, Manchester, 1972
Matches: 63
Wkts: 103
Avg: 20.82
Econ: 3.58
Legacy: Lillee is usually held up as the ultimate fast bowler, perhaps not the best performing bowler ever (although he certainly has his supporters), but the guy who embodied fast bowling. Why? Well Lillee had all the tools: he had a great bowling action, he was fast, he could move the ball, he was aggressive, he was fit and he was a fan favourite. His popularity was two-fold: a) he was much admired for his hard work off the field and coming back from a potentially career ending broken back, and b) on the field he knew how to get the crowd fired up, usually with aggression eg. digging in bouncers at the batsmen or giving them send-offs to the pavilion. In many ways it was Lillee's popularity that helped get World Series Cricket going, and therefore made ODI cricket popular around the world.
The thing that set Lillee apart statistically was his strike rate. His economy was pretty good too (certainly below the 4 RPO average of his time), but his strike rate of 34.8 was the best among his fast bowling rivals of the day. Of course in those days they often played 55 or 60 overs, so a strike rate of 35 back then would be a little bit more valuable these days (and conversely economy rates a little less valuable these days).
Was a fine performer in World Series Cricket too, but of course those matches don't count as official ODIs. Took 25 wickets @ 15.76 in 18 "International Cup" matches, the WSC equivalent of ODIs. Combined with his injury issues, it meant Lillee missed around 30 ODIs for Australia over his career - not much now, but that was 1/3rd of his career.
Lillee had a lot of back problems in particular, and since retiring and working as a bowling consultant he has been instrumental in changing the bowling actions of quite a few bowlers to lessen impact on their back eg. Brett Lee who had multiple stress fractures as a junior cricketer.
Three of the best (matches in chronological order):
1) 5/34 (12) vs Pakistan, Leeds, 1975. World Cup match and Pakistan were still in it at 4/181, chasing 279. Then Lillee came back to remove Asif Iqbal and sparked a dreadful collapse, Pakistan all out for 205.
2) 12 (9) & 4/28 (8.5) vs West Indies, Sydney, 1979. Hit what turned out to be an important couple of boundaries with the bat as Australia won by only 7 runs in a low scoring game. With ball, Lillee dismissed Greenidge and Haynes early before finishing the match off with the wickets of Garner and Holding. He claimed both wickets when only 8 were needed, with plenty of balls in hand.
3) 4/12 (10) vs England, Sydney, 1980. Another close finish but this time England scraped over the line. Lillee had earlier dismissed Larkins, Willey, Gower and Botham to leave England 6/61, but the England lower order stuck in to overhaul the 164 run target with 2 wickets and 7 balls left.
Highlights: Go to 1:55 in 1st vid if you want to skip the chat - first ball is a gorgeous inswinging yorker! Action starts around 3:30 in 2nd vid.
On with the show! This time one of the biggest names in cricket history...
#44 - Dennis Lillee
Role: RH fast bowler mainly with the new ball, sometimes first change later in his career. RH bat, mostly at #8 or #9.
Debut: vs England, Manchester, 1972
Matches: 63
Wkts: 103
Avg: 20.82
Econ: 3.58
Legacy: Lillee is usually held up as the ultimate fast bowler, perhaps not the best performing bowler ever (although he certainly has his supporters), but the guy who embodied fast bowling. Why? Well Lillee had all the tools: he had a great bowling action, he was fast, he could move the ball, he was aggressive, he was fit and he was a fan favourite. His popularity was two-fold: a) he was much admired for his hard work off the field and coming back from a potentially career ending broken back, and b) on the field he knew how to get the crowd fired up, usually with aggression eg. digging in bouncers at the batsmen or giving them send-offs to the pavilion. In many ways it was Lillee's popularity that helped get World Series Cricket going, and therefore made ODI cricket popular around the world.
The thing that set Lillee apart statistically was his strike rate. His economy was pretty good too (certainly below the 4 RPO average of his time), but his strike rate of 34.8 was the best among his fast bowling rivals of the day. Of course in those days they often played 55 or 60 overs, so a strike rate of 35 back then would be a little bit more valuable these days (and conversely economy rates a little less valuable these days).
Was a fine performer in World Series Cricket too, but of course those matches don't count as official ODIs. Took 25 wickets @ 15.76 in 18 "International Cup" matches, the WSC equivalent of ODIs. Combined with his injury issues, it meant Lillee missed around 30 ODIs for Australia over his career - not much now, but that was 1/3rd of his career.
Lillee had a lot of back problems in particular, and since retiring and working as a bowling consultant he has been instrumental in changing the bowling actions of quite a few bowlers to lessen impact on their back eg. Brett Lee who had multiple stress fractures as a junior cricketer.
Three of the best (matches in chronological order):
1) 5/34 (12) vs Pakistan, Leeds, 1975. World Cup match and Pakistan were still in it at 4/181, chasing 279. Then Lillee came back to remove Asif Iqbal and sparked a dreadful collapse, Pakistan all out for 205.
2) 12 (9) & 4/28 (8.5) vs West Indies, Sydney, 1979. Hit what turned out to be an important couple of boundaries with the bat as Australia won by only 7 runs in a low scoring game. With ball, Lillee dismissed Greenidge and Haynes early before finishing the match off with the wickets of Garner and Holding. He claimed both wickets when only 8 were needed, with plenty of balls in hand.
3) 4/12 (10) vs England, Sydney, 1980. Another close finish but this time England scraped over the line. Lillee had earlier dismissed Larkins, Willey, Gower and Botham to leave England 6/61, but the England lower order stuck in to overhaul the 164 run target with 2 wickets and 7 balls left.
Highlights: Go to 1:55 in 1st vid if you want to skip the chat - first ball is a gorgeous inswinging yorker! Action starts around 3:30 in 2nd vid.
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Gambhir replaces Yousuf to become No. 1 Test batsman - Times Of India
Gambhir has been on no 1 rank in test but never achieved no 1 rank in ODI. I still think he is a better ODI player though. Since Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel exposed his technique of playing short deliveries, he has not done well in test cricket but still has done well in ODI format.
^Yes I meant world #1 in ODIs...but I agree with you on both counts: I think Gambhir is better at ODIs, and yes, since he's been exposed a bit by SA and again by Australia in longer stuff, he'll have to work very hard on his game to be #1 Test batsman again. But I really like his style, I think he could be one of the best again if he irons out his kinks. And he certainly should be one of the better ODI guys.
Oh and just looked it up, Gambhir's highest ICC ranking in ODIs is 8th, back in 2010. He's 17th at present.
#43 - Andrew Flintoff
Role: All-rounder. RH bat, most often at #5 or #6. RH fast-medium bowler, usually first change.
Debut: vs Pakistan, Sharjah, 1999.
Matches: 141
Runs: 3394
Avg: 32.01
S/R: 88.82
Wkts: 169
Avg: 24.38
Econ: 4.39
Legacy: Like Dennis Lillee above, Flintoff missed about 1/3rd of the ODIs that England played over his career. Initially he wasn't good enough, but most matches were missed due to a variety of injuries. It was sad he missed so many games because he's the last Englishman left on this list ie. their best ODI player ever! He could change matches with either bat or ball and, again like Lillee, Flintoff was much loved by the fans and had a way to get the crowd going.
Flintoff's batting was mostly based on destruction, able to pepper the boundaries and hit the ball out of any ground. While his bowling peak lasted for a bit longer than his batting peak, there was a time when both came together. In the mid 2000s, Flintoff finally delivered on the promise he had initially only teased with the bat and put up some great stats:
2002-2005/06: 63 ODIs, 2017 runs @ 42.02, S/R: 91.93, 3 100s.
Rest of his career: 78 ODIs, 1377 runs @ 23.74, S/R: 84.63, 0 100s.
As a bowler, Flintoff was versatile and could play both the striking or containing role. His height and natural 'back of a length' bowling made it easy for him to move into containment mode. Then if wickets were needed he could ramp up the pace and aggression. Flintoff was also one of the best death bowlers of his day who could fire in yorkers when required. Flintoff also owns an ODI hat-trick, coming in his last ever ODI (vs West Indies). As part of his best ever figures of 5/19 he claimed Ramdin, Rampaul and Benn to collect the hat-trick.
Three of the best (matches in chronological order):
1) 123 (104) vs West Indies, Lord's, 2004. England had laboured to begin with, but finished with a bang thanks to Flintoff who hit 7 sixes in his innings. An over from Dwayne Smith near the end was taken for 27 (26 from Flintoff). He and Strauss put on 226 in 30.3 overs, but England couldn't defend 285 as Gayle and Sarwan replied with a big partnership of their own. Flintoff was unable to bowl due to injury.
2) 104 (91) & 2/21 (5) vs Sri Lanka, Southampton, 2004. Champions Trophy match and an odd game as rain made it take place over two days. Flintoff was 51 off 72 balls at one stage, his last 53 runs coming in just 18 balls as he spanked Sri Lanka around the park. Then picked up 2 key wickets to stop Sri Lanka from achieving their reduced target.
3) 3/21 (7) & 31* (12) vs South Africa, Lord's 2008. Another rain reduced match. In SAs shortened 32 over innings, Flintoff only conceded 3 RPO while the other bowlers went for double that: 151 off their 25 combined overs (Flintoff dismissing Kallis, Duminy and Philander). Then in a short 20 over chase for England, Flintoff arrived with 44 off 36 needed. He barely needed half those balls, Flintoff slapping Morkel and Philander around to finish off the game quickly.
Highlights:
Oh and just looked it up, Gambhir's highest ICC ranking in ODIs is 8th, back in 2010. He's 17th at present.
#43 - Andrew Flintoff
Role: All-rounder. RH bat, most often at #5 or #6. RH fast-medium bowler, usually first change.
Debut: vs Pakistan, Sharjah, 1999.
Matches: 141
Runs: 3394
Avg: 32.01
S/R: 88.82
Wkts: 169
Avg: 24.38
Econ: 4.39
Legacy: Like Dennis Lillee above, Flintoff missed about 1/3rd of the ODIs that England played over his career. Initially he wasn't good enough, but most matches were missed due to a variety of injuries. It was sad he missed so many games because he's the last Englishman left on this list ie. their best ODI player ever! He could change matches with either bat or ball and, again like Lillee, Flintoff was much loved by the fans and had a way to get the crowd going.
Flintoff's batting was mostly based on destruction, able to pepper the boundaries and hit the ball out of any ground. While his bowling peak lasted for a bit longer than his batting peak, there was a time when both came together. In the mid 2000s, Flintoff finally delivered on the promise he had initially only teased with the bat and put up some great stats:
2002-2005/06: 63 ODIs, 2017 runs @ 42.02, S/R: 91.93, 3 100s.
Rest of his career: 78 ODIs, 1377 runs @ 23.74, S/R: 84.63, 0 100s.
As a bowler, Flintoff was versatile and could play both the striking or containing role. His height and natural 'back of a length' bowling made it easy for him to move into containment mode. Then if wickets were needed he could ramp up the pace and aggression. Flintoff was also one of the best death bowlers of his day who could fire in yorkers when required. Flintoff also owns an ODI hat-trick, coming in his last ever ODI (vs West Indies). As part of his best ever figures of 5/19 he claimed Ramdin, Rampaul and Benn to collect the hat-trick.
Three of the best (matches in chronological order):
1) 123 (104) vs West Indies, Lord's, 2004. England had laboured to begin with, but finished with a bang thanks to Flintoff who hit 7 sixes in his innings. An over from Dwayne Smith near the end was taken for 27 (26 from Flintoff). He and Strauss put on 226 in 30.3 overs, but England couldn't defend 285 as Gayle and Sarwan replied with a big partnership of their own. Flintoff was unable to bowl due to injury.
2) 104 (91) & 2/21 (5) vs Sri Lanka, Southampton, 2004. Champions Trophy match and an odd game as rain made it take place over two days. Flintoff was 51 off 72 balls at one stage, his last 53 runs coming in just 18 balls as he spanked Sri Lanka around the park. Then picked up 2 key wickets to stop Sri Lanka from achieving their reduced target.
3) 3/21 (7) & 31* (12) vs South Africa, Lord's 2008. Another rain reduced match. In SAs shortened 32 over innings, Flintoff only conceded 3 RPO while the other bowlers went for double that: 151 off their 25 combined overs (Flintoff dismissing Kallis, Duminy and Philander). Then in a short 20 over chase for England, Flintoff arrived with 44 off 36 needed. He barely needed half those balls, Flintoff slapping Morkel and Philander around to finish off the game quickly.
Highlights:
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#42 - Hashim Amla
Role: RH opening batsman. Has not bowled in ODIs.
Debut: vs Bangladesh, Chittagong, 2008.
Matches: 57
Runs: 2881
Avg: 56.49
S/R: 91.43
Legacy: Hashim Amla is a laid back character with an elegant batting style. Not too many critics thought that Amla would be an excellent ODI player given his relatively careful Test match batting, but he has blown those doubts out of the water by showing he can score a lot of runs and play aggressively when required. Has great wrists which he can use to manoeuvre the ball around the field into the gaps, and I guess it's no surprise, given that his family originally comes from India with their great tradition of 'wristiness'.
Stats-wise, Amla currently owns the 2nd highest batting average in ODI history (behind Ryan ten Doeschate's minnow bashing career). It's a little inflated by 3 100s against Zimbabwe and Bangladesh, but he still averages 53.59 vs the top 8 nations. Started out with a lack of 100s, but has well and truly beaten that weakness, and now Amla owns a good conversion rate of 50s-to-100s (18 50s vs 9 100s), exactly what you want from your openers.
Amla's calm demeanour has helped made him a leader in the South African dressing room, where he is currently vice-captain under AB De Villiers. He's had a great start, lets see if he can keep it up for another 5-10 years
Three of the best (matches in chronological order):
1) 129 (115) vs West Indies, Dominica, 2010. WI had set a stiff target of 304 and Amla was Mr Cool, keeping SA up with the rate but not doing anything stupid too soon. Had good support from Kallis and de Villiers, but SA wobbled after Amla's dismissal. SA got home off the last ball when Sammy fumbled the ball in what could have been the tieing run-out.
2) 119* (126) vs Pakistan, Dubai, 2010. Amla ended up batting for the full 50 after scoring more than half of SA's 228. Everyone else struggled, Duminy's 26 the next highest score. SA ended up scraping home by 2 runs, Amla Man of the Match.
3) 116* (132) vs India, Centurion, 2011. A measured innings from Amla, calm early (50 off 72 balls) before gradually going through the gears as he kept losing partners. SA made 250, Amla still there at the end. India made a rotten reply before Yusuf Pathan bashed a 68 ball century, but his dismissal bought an end to their hopes. Amla was Man of the Match.
Highlights: 2nd one is Amla batting in a Test vs India
#41 - Michael Holding
Role: RH fast bowler, both with new ball or as change bowler. RH batsman, usually #9 or #10.
Debut: vs England, Scarborough, 1976.
Matches: 102
Wkts: 142
Avg: 21.36
Econ: 3.32
Legacy: Michael Holding was known as 'Whispering Death', because his long approach to the crease was so smooth, graceful and quiet it seemed amazing that he would then unleash deadly thunderbolts. Wasn't a big swinger of the ball, but Holding was tall, gained good bounce, and combined with his pace it made him a daunting opponent...and the West Indies had 3 others just like him too, that kinda helped as well!
Interestingly, Holding played 56 of his 102 ODIs in Australia vs only 14 in the West Indies. In those days Australia were the country that held the longest ODI tournaments, and they seemed to invite the world's best side, the West Indies, every year (gosh, greed in cricket even back then :O) The other interesting thing about Holding's record is that no country averaged better than 23 against him, 22.81 vs England being his highest average. Just showed that no one in world cricket was comfortable facing Holding.
Holding's known now as a commentator who likes to speak his mind. He also captained WI twice in ODIs against Australia.
Three of the best (matches in chronological order):
1) 4/33 (12) vs India, Birmingham, 1979. World Cup match and Holding got early wickets of Gaekwad and Vengarkar before coming back to remove Viswanath and keeper Khanna. Wisden called the WI bowling 'hostile' and much of it short-pitched. India only made 190 and WI made the runs with little effort.
2) 5/26 (10) vs Australia, Sydney, 1985. 3rd final of the triangular series in Australia and Holding was 4th bowler used. He made an immediate impact though, Australia going from 1/51 to 7/89 as Holding got Wessels, Border, Phillips, Lawson and McDermott. Aus scrambled to 178 thanks to Simon O'Donnell, but WI made the runs comfortably.
3) 4/17 (7.3) vs Pakistan, Peshawar, 1985. Pakistan needed 202 in 40 overs but couldn't conquer Holding and fell 40 short. He dried up the runs and got regular wickets: Mudassar Nasar, Javed Miandad, Saleem Yousuf and Wasim Akram the victims.
Highlights: 2nd one if from a 1976 Test vs England.
Role: RH opening batsman. Has not bowled in ODIs.
Debut: vs Bangladesh, Chittagong, 2008.
Matches: 57
Runs: 2881
Avg: 56.49
S/R: 91.43
Legacy: Hashim Amla is a laid back character with an elegant batting style. Not too many critics thought that Amla would be an excellent ODI player given his relatively careful Test match batting, but he has blown those doubts out of the water by showing he can score a lot of runs and play aggressively when required. Has great wrists which he can use to manoeuvre the ball around the field into the gaps, and I guess it's no surprise, given that his family originally comes from India with their great tradition of 'wristiness'.
Stats-wise, Amla currently owns the 2nd highest batting average in ODI history (behind Ryan ten Doeschate's minnow bashing career). It's a little inflated by 3 100s against Zimbabwe and Bangladesh, but he still averages 53.59 vs the top 8 nations. Started out with a lack of 100s, but has well and truly beaten that weakness, and now Amla owns a good conversion rate of 50s-to-100s (18 50s vs 9 100s), exactly what you want from your openers.
Amla's calm demeanour has helped made him a leader in the South African dressing room, where he is currently vice-captain under AB De Villiers. He's had a great start, lets see if he can keep it up for another 5-10 years
Three of the best (matches in chronological order):
1) 129 (115) vs West Indies, Dominica, 2010. WI had set a stiff target of 304 and Amla was Mr Cool, keeping SA up with the rate but not doing anything stupid too soon. Had good support from Kallis and de Villiers, but SA wobbled after Amla's dismissal. SA got home off the last ball when Sammy fumbled the ball in what could have been the tieing run-out.
2) 119* (126) vs Pakistan, Dubai, 2010. Amla ended up batting for the full 50 after scoring more than half of SA's 228. Everyone else struggled, Duminy's 26 the next highest score. SA ended up scraping home by 2 runs, Amla Man of the Match.
3) 116* (132) vs India, Centurion, 2011. A measured innings from Amla, calm early (50 off 72 balls) before gradually going through the gears as he kept losing partners. SA made 250, Amla still there at the end. India made a rotten reply before Yusuf Pathan bashed a 68 ball century, but his dismissal bought an end to their hopes. Amla was Man of the Match.
Highlights: 2nd one is Amla batting in a Test vs India
#41 - Michael Holding
Role: RH fast bowler, both with new ball or as change bowler. RH batsman, usually #9 or #10.
Debut: vs England, Scarborough, 1976.
Matches: 102
Wkts: 142
Avg: 21.36
Econ: 3.32
Legacy: Michael Holding was known as 'Whispering Death', because his long approach to the crease was so smooth, graceful and quiet it seemed amazing that he would then unleash deadly thunderbolts. Wasn't a big swinger of the ball, but Holding was tall, gained good bounce, and combined with his pace it made him a daunting opponent...and the West Indies had 3 others just like him too, that kinda helped as well!
Interestingly, Holding played 56 of his 102 ODIs in Australia vs only 14 in the West Indies. In those days Australia were the country that held the longest ODI tournaments, and they seemed to invite the world's best side, the West Indies, every year (gosh, greed in cricket even back then :O) The other interesting thing about Holding's record is that no country averaged better than 23 against him, 22.81 vs England being his highest average. Just showed that no one in world cricket was comfortable facing Holding.
Holding's known now as a commentator who likes to speak his mind. He also captained WI twice in ODIs against Australia.
Three of the best (matches in chronological order):
1) 4/33 (12) vs India, Birmingham, 1979. World Cup match and Holding got early wickets of Gaekwad and Vengarkar before coming back to remove Viswanath and keeper Khanna. Wisden called the WI bowling 'hostile' and much of it short-pitched. India only made 190 and WI made the runs with little effort.
2) 5/26 (10) vs Australia, Sydney, 1985. 3rd final of the triangular series in Australia and Holding was 4th bowler used. He made an immediate impact though, Australia going from 1/51 to 7/89 as Holding got Wessels, Border, Phillips, Lawson and McDermott. Aus scrambled to 178 thanks to Simon O'Donnell, but WI made the runs comfortably.
3) 4/17 (7.3) vs Pakistan, Peshawar, 1985. Pakistan needed 202 in 40 overs but couldn't conquer Holding and fell 40 short. He dried up the runs and got regular wickets: Mudassar Nasar, Javed Miandad, Saleem Yousuf and Wasim Akram the victims.
Highlights: 2nd one if from a 1976 Test vs England.
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Its hard for me to believe that Dennis Lillee is placed above players like Chris Cairns, Steve Waugh, Nathan Bracken, Makhaya Ntini, Darren Gough, Kevin Pietersen, Shane Watson, Yuvraj Singh and De Villiers. I mean if you consider "only ODIs", then he wouldn't be rated so highly, even Bob Willis at number 63 is a surprise inclusion for me.
StinkyBoHoon
National Board President
- Joined
- Mar 5, 2009
- Location
- Glasgow, Scotland
when I was looking at putting together my list I came across lillee's stats and was surprised by how good lillee was. I think he is better than all those players you mentioned.
I agree, I'm a big supporter of Flintoff because when he had it all together he could be a world class batsman OR bowler. He was in my top 20, but no one else mentioned him so that's why he's at #43. I like that he shouldered more responsibility than other guys who will finish ahead of him eg. Klusener, Symonds who were often 6th or 7th best batsmen and 5th best bowlers for their teams (admittedly very strong teams though...)
Yeah there's quite a few older bowlers in this list eg. Lillee, Holding, Roberts, Marshall, Alderman, Willis, Chatfield, Sarfraz Nawaz. Still to come: Hadlee, Imran, Kapil Dev, Garner. Most of them have excellent stats, their weakness being that they didn't play a lot of ODIs. Not really their fault though, it was the way of the cricket world back then.
I think most would agree though that these bowlers are legends of the game, 'known commodities' if you like, that we KNOW were good despite their lack of ODIs. I think perhaps apart from Chatfield, there's not a bowler in there who would be argued as an 'average bowler with good stats'.
It's different than if we had included Chris Pringle for example or Carl Rackemann. Those guys have great looking stats, and took a reasonable number of wickets, but no one would ever call them great bowlers.
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#40 - Shane Bond
Role: RH fast bowler, always opening the bowling. RH batsman, usually #10 or #11.
Debut: vs Australia, Melbourne, 2002.
Matches: 82
Wkts: 147
Avg: 20.88
Econ: 4.28
Legacy: Bond was a bowler of rare pace (for a Kiwi...:P), able to break the 150kph barrier. He bowled a mean yorker and could move the ball back into the batsmen regularly so he was a difficult man to keep out. Took a lot of wickets despite often being the only true wicket taking threat NZ had, a testament to his skill.
Bond's career was regularly interrupted by injury. In fact he didn't play any international cricket at all for 2 years: mid 03-mid 05 as he recovered from a back operation. To add to his injury woes, Bond signed for the ICL which effectively banned him from playing for NZ for almost 2 years. He only played 15 more ODIs after coming back in 2009/10 and wasn't quite as effective, averaging 29.73 post-ICL vs 19.33 pre-ICL.
Shane Bond ended his ODI career with one of the best strike-rates in history: 29.21 balls per wicket. It WAS the best for anyone over 100 wickets until Brett Lee got his strike rate down to 29.16 on Saturday vs Ireland
And speaking of Australians, Bond performed brilliantly against the arch-rival Australians in particular. In 17 ODIs vs the Aussies, he achieved 44 wickets @ 15.79 - amazing numbers vs the #1 side of the era. Took a hat-trick vs Australia as well at Hobart in 2007 (White, Symonds and Bracken the victims).Three of the best (matches in chronological order):
1) 5/25 (9.2) vs Australia, Adelaide, 2002. This was only Bond's 5th match, but he was already up to 15 wickets as he ripped into Australia's top order again. NZ defended 242 easily thanks to Bond getting Gilchrist, Ponting and Martyn early to have Aus 4/26. Then cleaned up the tail with Bichel and Gillespie's wickets.
2) 6/23 (10) vs Australia, Port Elizabeth, 2003. World Cup group match and poor Shane Bond deserved better...he did all the hard work. His first spell was 3/20 off 6, taking out Hayden, Gilchrist and Ponting. His next spell was even better, 3/3 off 4 as Australia slumped to 7/84. But with Bond's quota finished, his teammates couldn't dislodge the Bevan/Bichel partnership as they dragged Australia to 208. By the time Bond came out to bat NZ were 9/108 and the match was lost. No support for poor Shane...
3) 6/19 (9) vs India, Bulawayo, 2005. India were probably happy after bowling out NZ for 215, but Bond ripped India a new one, taking 5 of the first 6 wickets to have India 6/39 and soon 8/44 in a stunning opening spell of 5/13 off 7 overs. 4 of his first 5 wickets were guys on this top 100 list: Ganguly, Dravid, Yuvraj and Sehwag. Venugopal Rao and Irfan Pathan were his 2 other wickets.
Highlights:
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#39 - Curtly Ambrose
Role: RH fast bowler, usually with new ball. LH bat, mostly #9 or #10.
Debut: vs Pakistan, Kingston, 1988.
Matches: 176
Wkts: 225
Avg: 24.12
Econ: 3.48
Legacy: At about the time Curtly Ambrose came onto the scene, I was just discovering cricket as a young lad of 6. He soon became my favourite non-Aussie because of his unique build, a towering, but gangly 6'7". And of course he could bowl a bit too... Ambrose used his height to gain extra bounce off a good length, making it very difficult for batsmen to get forward to him. Then with the batsmen back in their crease he would fire in the yorker. His greatest skill was control, able to hammer away on that awkward length for spell after spell. His career economy rate of 3.48 was the stingiest of any bowler in the 90s (with at least 50 wkts...).
Career split is interesting:
1988-1993: 91 ODIs, 139 wickets @ 20.51, RPO: 3.45, S/R: 35.6
1993/94-2000: 85 ODIs, 86 wickets @ 29.97, RPO: 3.52, S/R: 51.1
His economy rate stayed similar all through his career, even with the invention of the dashing opener in the mid-90s. Yet Curtly's strike rate increased a lot though, perhaps losing a bit of pace and carrying a few more niggles in the mid-late 90s, but also not having such a strong supporting attack around him. Shows how awesome Curtly was early in his career though.
One of my favourite Ambrose moments was in the 1992/93 triangular series finals in Australia. Dean Jones told him to take off his white armbands, since they were distracting him from seeing the ball. Curtly was not too thrilled about it and Jones later said "those next three balls, Jesus?they were quick". Jones didn't get out to Ambrose, but Curtly took 5/32 and WI won. He was a quiet man, but not one to be provoked
Three of the best (matches in chronological order):
1) 4/29 (10) vs Pakistan, Sharjah, 1988. Pakistan were getting sick of Ambrose. This was only the 5th time he'd faced Pakistan and yet this was his 3rd 4 wicket haul against them. Knocked over Mudassar Nazar and Rameez Raja with the new ball before coming back to get the big wicket of Javed Miandad and then Wasim Akram, right when WI needed a breakthrough. WI home by 11 runs.
2) 12* (9) & 5/17 (8.2) Helped WI add a crucial 30-odd runs before ending the Australian chase in dramatic fashion. The Aussies needed 69 off 60 with 7 wickets in hand, but Ambrose picked up 4 of them in quick fashion to see Australia fold 34 runs short.
3) 5/26 (10) & 23 (36) vs Australia, Melbourne, 1989. 1st final of the triangular series and Ambrose was very tight, getting 2 early wickets and not letting Australia get away when he returned at the death, with 3 more victims. Unfortunately, the WI batsman didn't help him out struggling at 7/129 (chasing 204) when Ambrose came out. But he and Bishop added almost 50 and gave Australia a fright, 9 needed from the last over and then Walsh needing a 4 off the last ball to win. He couldnt' do it though and Australia won.
Highlights:
Role: RH fast bowler, usually with new ball. LH bat, mostly #9 or #10.
Debut: vs Pakistan, Kingston, 1988.
Matches: 176
Wkts: 225
Avg: 24.12
Econ: 3.48
Legacy: At about the time Curtly Ambrose came onto the scene, I was just discovering cricket as a young lad of 6. He soon became my favourite non-Aussie because of his unique build, a towering, but gangly 6'7". And of course he could bowl a bit too... Ambrose used his height to gain extra bounce off a good length, making it very difficult for batsmen to get forward to him. Then with the batsmen back in their crease he would fire in the yorker. His greatest skill was control, able to hammer away on that awkward length for spell after spell. His career economy rate of 3.48 was the stingiest of any bowler in the 90s (with at least 50 wkts...).
Career split is interesting:
1988-1993: 91 ODIs, 139 wickets @ 20.51, RPO: 3.45, S/R: 35.6
1993/94-2000: 85 ODIs, 86 wickets @ 29.97, RPO: 3.52, S/R: 51.1
His economy rate stayed similar all through his career, even with the invention of the dashing opener in the mid-90s. Yet Curtly's strike rate increased a lot though, perhaps losing a bit of pace and carrying a few more niggles in the mid-late 90s, but also not having such a strong supporting attack around him. Shows how awesome Curtly was early in his career though.
One of my favourite Ambrose moments was in the 1992/93 triangular series finals in Australia. Dean Jones told him to take off his white armbands, since they were distracting him from seeing the ball. Curtly was not too thrilled about it and Jones later said "those next three balls, Jesus?they were quick". Jones didn't get out to Ambrose, but Curtly took 5/32 and WI won. He was a quiet man, but not one to be provoked
Three of the best (matches in chronological order):
1) 4/29 (10) vs Pakistan, Sharjah, 1988. Pakistan were getting sick of Ambrose. This was only the 5th time he'd faced Pakistan and yet this was his 3rd 4 wicket haul against them. Knocked over Mudassar Nazar and Rameez Raja with the new ball before coming back to get the big wicket of Javed Miandad and then Wasim Akram, right when WI needed a breakthrough. WI home by 11 runs.
2) 12* (9) & 5/17 (8.2) Helped WI add a crucial 30-odd runs before ending the Australian chase in dramatic fashion. The Aussies needed 69 off 60 with 7 wickets in hand, but Ambrose picked up 4 of them in quick fashion to see Australia fold 34 runs short.
3) 5/26 (10) & 23 (36) vs Australia, Melbourne, 1989. 1st final of the triangular series and Ambrose was very tight, getting 2 early wickets and not letting Australia get away when he returned at the death, with 3 more victims. Unfortunately, the WI batsman didn't help him out struggling at 7/129 (chasing 204) when Ambrose came out. But he and Bishop added almost 50 and gave Australia a fright, 9 needed from the last over and then Walsh needing a 4 off the last ball to win. He couldnt' do it though and Australia won.
Highlights:
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sami ullah khan
Panel of Selectors
Who could forget the spell he bowled against Aussies in 1996 world Cup. I remember watching it live on TV. He made the Aussies dance.
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