Your Favourite Cricketer of All-Time?

[Duncan Gardner]

Right, quiz time. Just match the test player to the anecdote

[Vicarious Thrillseeker]

It must have just been from pictures but I really wanted a Slazenger bat as that's what Viv used.

I had to go back and check Google, as I thought I remembered him using a Surridge bat. There are pictures of him actually using a Stuart Surridge, a Duncan Fearnley and a Slazenger V500.

[adams house cat]

Derek Randall - Terrific player and a nice guy to be around.
Malcolm Marshall - One of the greatest bowlers ever and a gentleman.
Clive Lloyd - A great player and, again, a gentleman.
Jeff Thomson - A great fast bowler and a nice guy to have a beer with.
Rod Marsh - Best keeper against fast bowling (along with Alan Knott and Jeff Dujon) and he could drink more beer than anyone I've ever seen.
Martin Crowe - Tough batsman, great sense of humor.
Colin Milburn - Larger than life as a player and as a personality.
Franklin Srevenson - Terrific all rounder who would spend hours after a Sunday game talking and teaching kids.

[jwdd27]

Joint award to Ambrose and Walsh - saw them a few times at Leeds, and they were terrifyingly quick, and good. Ambrose the better bowler, but Walsh maintained his level for 20 odd years, bridging two different eras, and was a very entertaining proper no. 11 bat.

[Post-apocalyptic Pete]

I was a Warwickshire member for a few years, restricting it to players I have seen live-

For Warwickshire: Allan Donald- genuinely frightening pace, he was wasted on county batsmen; if he played now he would have had 600 Test wickets. (Notable mentions for Brian Lara and Dougie Brown)

Against Warwickshire: Shane Warne- On the downward slope when he turned out for Hampshire, but he was still class. Probably the most determined bowler I have seen live too, sending down over after over even if the game was drifting to a tame draw.

For England: Graham Thorpe- To score that number of runs for England in the 90s against a number of strong bowling attacks was no mean feat. He was a more resilient batsman than he received credit for too.

Against England: Another vote for Curtly Ambrose; Walsh may have been more consistent, but Ambrose was lethal on occasion.

I feel fortunate to have watched First-Class, Test and one-day cricket for the last 25 years; I worry that T20 is going to consume everything in the next few years.

[The_Purple_Cow]

I had two early Warwickshire heroes Tom Cartwright and Bob Barber. Cartwright in particular I loved, I copied his high wind-milling bowling action for years. I was even more impressed when a teacher who doubles as a WCCC junior coach told me that Cartwright was unpopular with other Warwickshire players due to his Socialist politics. This was sweet music to me ears given that at the time my politics were somewhere to the left of Ho Chi Minh.

MY other hero, Barber, was born decades ahead of his time. He was a wrist spinner who also scored runs at an incredible rate (for the time) - he would be a multi-millionaire if he was playing today. When my left knee gave up on me I switched from copying Cartwright to copying Barber figuring my knee would be put under less strain bowling leg spin. Not quite true as it turned out. I've since met two guys who played with him, one told me Barber was "a complete tosspot", and the other that he was "a real douchbag". Oh well..

[ursus arctos]

TPC, it's wonderful to see you back here. Hope all is well.

Have you seen Dogbeak's thread in World about moving stuff to Amsterdam? Might you have some relevant experience?

[Satchmo Distel]

Cartwright was embroiled in the D'Oliveira affair; selected for the tour but then withdrew with an "injury" but was unlikely to go anyway (so why pick him?):

http://www.espncricinfo.com/england/...ry/292885.html

[Duncan Gardner]

Morning Purplers, morning everyone.

I'll be at Lord's tomorrow and Saturday. Anyone else in welcome to join for refreshments- a full salad bar and French fancies are available.

Get those answers in for the quiz above

[E10 Rifle]

Don't think I can see beyond Viv Richards as the most effortlessly swaggering and cool sportsman of all time. Other faves – Malcolm Marshall, Flintoff, VVS Laxman, Warne and Botham (as players more than people), Steve Waugh, Shoaib Akhtar, Holding, perhaps even Jos Buttler of current players.

[Duncan Gardner]

When are you next on Graun commentary duties E10?

[E10 Rifle]

Not for a bit

[Duncan Gardner]

Will look out for it. As I've said, what other sport in a picnic environment can offer such a seamless mix of description, analysis, nostalgia, banter and cake?

[San Bernardhinault]

As everyone has favourites from "classic era West Indies", I'll note that mine's Joel Garner because he was a crazily nice (and insanely tall) bloke one day at a warm up game at the University Parks. As well as being very, very good.

I always enjoyed watching Gower, but as time has gone on I've increasingly wondered whether it was because he was good, or because the BBC and cricket establishment basically subliminally bullied me into liking the idea of the "naturally talented amateur" with all that harking back to Gentlemen vs Players nonsense and basically how rotten it is that we had to pay people to play the game, and the best people don't need paying, that's only hard working oiks like Graham Gooch...

Heading out of the 80s, Daniel Vettori, Dale Steyn and - because you really never knew what you'd get - Inzamam

[Satchmo Distel]

The media turned against Gower as Thatcherism ground on, though, and cricket became more materialistic and results-based reflecting that dog-eat-dog new establishment (New Tory replacing Old Tory). OTOH giving him back the captaincy for the 1989 Ashes against a new, ruthless Australia was totally mad.

[Greenlander]

When did left handed batsmen become so prevalent. I'm sure there wasn't that many around when I was growing up and so because he was an opener, a leftie and played for my Dad's county I've always loved Graeme Fowler. Also Clive Lloyd because he wore glasses. If I was younger it would have been Marcus Trescothick.

Wasim Bari because of his ridiculously oversized wicket keeping pads and odd stance (probably related to said pads). More recently Kumar Sangakkara exuded cool in everything he did.

Viv, Joel, Botham, Vic Marks, Martin Crowe as Taunton and the JPS League was my introduction to live cricket.

Plenty of New Zealander's just because I have a real soft spot for them and always played as them on the original Brian Lara Cricket: Stephen Fleming, Nathan Astle, Daniel Vettori, actually pretty much all of the 1999 team that got to the WC semi and put England rock bottom.

And a few Zimbawean's from that era too but there's always a feeling that they may not be particuarly nice individuals (read racist) though Heath Streak seems like a decent sort.

[longeared]

though Heath Streak seems like a decent sort.

Read Henry Olonga's book and see if you still hold that view by the end.

[adams house cat]

Hello Purps. How are you?

[E10 Rifle]

I always enjoyed watching Gower, but as time has gone on I've increasingly wondered whether it was because he was good, or because the BBC and cricket establishment basically subliminally bullied me into liking the idea of the "naturally talented amateur" with all that harking back to Gentlemen vs Players nonsense and basically how rotten it is that we had to pay people to play the game, and the best people don't need paying, that's only hard working oiks like Graham Gooch...

Oh hell yeah. I remember when Gower got dropped under Gooch, and the sport's entire Telegraph wing erupted in snobbish uproar at the very idea of this Naturally Talented Dashing Gentleman being elbowed aside by the dour working-class-made-good Essex boy. Gower could be great to watch but I think a player like that would have been judged more harshly now than he was then, when stroke-playing left-handers were more of a rarity. Given his poor captaincy record and the number of erratic dismissals he'd get it in the neck quite a bit I think.

Pre-1990s Gooch was a pretty entertaining aggressive batsman - his century against West Indies at Lord's in 1980 is a stunning childhood memory and his 154 v them at Headingley in 1991 remains probably the best Test innings I've ever seen live. And he was a star of Essex's best ever side. Actually, stick him in my list

[Edit: except he did a rebel tour to apartheid SA, the twat]

[Greenlander]

Read Henry Olonga's book and see if you still hold that view by the end.

Do any of them come out of it well?

[Levin]

As a family we didn't hold Gower or Alec Stewart in very high regard. Gower because he didn't seem to do any of the hard, scratchy work and would just waft out early and Alec Stewart as he wasn't a very good batsman and we felt that the home counties had undue prominence in England teams.

On the wicket keeping note I was reading wikipedia about one off and unusual tests and was surprised to see that Alan Knott batted at 8. Who was the last pure wicketkeeper to play for a national team?

Finally, Kallicharran made my list purely for his Warks appearances. From appearances for the West Indies I admired Dujon and Ambrose.

[Kevin S]

You know how the Pro Evolution Soccer games had (haven't played one in years so they may still have) teams like Classic Netherlands which would include Cruijff, Van Basten, Overmars... i.e. all time greats from across the years in a country...? Can't help but think a Cricket version would be fantastic.

[Kevin S]

Anyway, may be unfashionable but I have to go with Freddie. The 2005 Ashes may never be bettered as a sporting contest and Flintoff is just all over them.

[diggedy derek]

Yes, I think he is if anything underrated these days. His career averages are deceptive and distorted by years of growing pains where he was more or less a bits and pieces player, but by the early to mid 2000s, he was magnificent, in the top three bowlers in the world plus an explosive cameo batman. I often think of him as a little like Ronaldinho – a long and variable career but for perhaps 18 months or so, probably the best in the world.

[Etienne]

Bob Taylor who succeeded Knott batted at 9 usually. Knott was actually a pretty good batsman. Taylor was replaced by Downtown and after that keepers were always expected to bat. I think Jack Russell and Chris Read were both the best keepers in the country but could bat as well. I'd say Read or Foster would be the last English keeper picked for their keeping.

My favourite player was Aravinda de Silva.