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Loading ...You’ve got an amazing team right there. Thank you for including Michael Bevan, the true One Day Finisher.
Eleven pioneers of one-day cricket
By Ian last year, at the end of April Leave a comment on this post
When you get too many cricket nuts sat round a table, it doesn’t take long before you start picking the greatest teams of all time.
And so it was last night. Our goal was slightly different, in that it was not a question of results, figures etc, but rather picking which eleven players had most altered ODI l cricket for the better. Those whose skill, style, attitude and innovation added new expectations to those players that followed them. As a result, batsmen like Ponting, Tendulkar, Lara, Pietersen don’t get a look in, nor do bowlers like McGrath or Murali, as others set the bench mark, which they would later raise further. No doubt, there are players we’ve missed out! Surely there is an Indian or two…
1. Adam Gilchrist 2. Sanath Jayasuriya 3. Viv Richards 4. Mark Waugh 5. Clive Lloyd 6. Michael Bevan 7. Jonty Rhodes 8. Lance Klusener 9. Wasim Akram 10. Shane Warne 11. Waqar Younis
Thoughts?
Ian Valentine is a freelance journalist blogging his diary of the World Cup for The Corridor
Tags: 2007-world-cup, one-day-cricket, one-day-pioneers |
15 Responses to “Eleven pioneers of one-day cricket”
April 22nd, 2007 at 12.51 am
April 22nd, 2007 at 5.03 am
Great Post! An interesting concept and a very well thought out team.
I would have Steve Waugh in there though as much for his bowling as his batting. Arguably the first medium pacer to develop a full array of slower balls he was definitely an innovator.
April 22nd, 2007 at 6.27 am
An excellent team. If I had to pick the greatest team of all time (rather than the greatest innovators) mine would be as follows: 1. Sachin Tendulkar 2. Mark Waugh 3. Brian Lara 4. Sir Vivian Richards 5. Adam Gilchrist 6. Lance Klusener 7. Jonty Rhodes/Michael Hussey 8. Saqlain Mushtaq 9. Dennis Lillee 10. Joel Garner 11. Allan Donald. Certainly, every player in your team changed the game for the better and raised the benchmark ever higher.
April 22nd, 2007 at 6.02 pm
Interesting team you’ve got there…but one can only fully comment on this when you explain the rationale behind these choices….so…waiting to see why you picked the team you picked.some are obvious,like sanath and bevan.but not everyone.waiting for your explanations 
April 22nd, 2007 at 6.16 pm
i think that this is a great team.. however, i just have one question.. in what way is mark waugh a pioneer or something? he was a very good one day opening batsmen, but surely, there ar ea couple of others who were as good, if not better, and had as much style as him.. otherwise a great selection of players…
April 23rd, 2007 at 12.18 am
Somehow I’d have to find room for Ponting in the list. Maybe, reluctantly, at the expense of Mark Waugh. And I’d find an excuse. Hmmmm….pioneering? Well, he was one of the first players to step up in a World Cup final to personally dismantle an opponent, i.e. 2003 against India. One of the most completely dominant and ruthless innings I’ve watched. And he must be in a very short list of candidates for best fieldsman in the history of the game.
Opponents would be too petrified to leave their creases with Ponting, Richards, and Rhodes patrolling the infield.
Not a bad list.
April 23rd, 2007 at 2.33 am
Based on innovation alone:
Innovation in shots. Jayasuriya. See his lofted cuts to fast bowlers over third man and point that go for six. Tendulkar, Gilchrist, and Sehwag excel in these nowadays.
The art of placement. Tendulkar. See also his power sweep that is played fine, and his chip over short fine leg. The latter is becoming more popular these days.
The blueprint for batting long innings. Tendulkar. Hit out in the first fifteen, keep it ticking over till about 40 overs are up, then hit out again. Of course, the Australians don’t follow this blueprint much these days.
Outsized heavy bats. Tendulkar?
The art of finishing. Bevan.
The art of fielding. Jonty.
The doosra. Saqlain.
The flipper. Kumble, Warne.
The slower one. Steve Waugh.
Itsy-bitsy bowling. Adam Hollioake or perhaps Chris Harris? How can anyone leave out this innovation!
Wasim Akram and Younis: reverse swing.
This is not an exhaustive list of innovations, and a single player can hardly be an innovator—it is a process of evolution. More likely, the above players made innovations get noted by people. However, these things and these players come to mind immediately.
Mark Waugh and Klusener are in the team for which innovations? I can hardly think of any. Viv Richards and Lloyd I don’t remember much about.
And one way or another, you can’t keep Tendulkar out.
Amit.
April 23rd, 2007 at 2.39 am
If innovation’s a factor, maybe swap out one of Wasim and Waqar, and swap in either Imran or Sarfraz Narwaz. Those guys are where reverse swing starts, and Imran coached the two Ws in it.
Nice to see Lance Klusener in there.
April 23rd, 2007 at 1.44 pm
arjuna ranatunga…
April 23rd, 2007 at 6.27 pm
I would put in Martin Crowe and Arjuna Ranatunga in there too, for their innovations in the 1992 and 1996 world cups respectively.
How about one of those two great runners of the quick single - Asif Iqbal and Javed Miandad.
And lastly, Bob Woolmer as coach?
April 23rd, 2007 at 7.20 pm
I was going to mention Asif Iqbal too. His fielding and running between the wickets elevated the Kent side of the early 70’s into a tremendous force.
April 25th, 2007 at 11.11 am
never underestimate south africa against australia, i bet my life saying these “south africa are wounded badly and they are the underdogs, watch as they the prove the say of ‘n boer maak n plan’ which means in any trouble a south african will find a plan” these will be a greatest victory in world cup.
April 27th, 2007 at 4.43 am
I’d definitely have Curtly Ambrose/Ian Bishop/Darren Gough in that team. Mark Waugh, Michael Bevan, Jonty Rhodes and Lance Klusener are excellent choices. What about players like Chris Cairns, Nathan Astle, Stephen Fleming, Allan Donald, Hansie Cronje?
April 29th, 2007 at 9.17 am
Good looking XI for a nice theme. However I reckon Michael Bevan should miss out on same grounds as McGrath; he perfect the skill of building on singles and keeping abreast with the run rate right till the slog without taking risks, a skill that was brought to the fore by Javed Miandad and followed by Arjuna Ranatunga.
I agree with Shariq on Steve Waugh’s contribution to the slower ball getting a place ahead of his brother’s skills. What an invaluable bit of armoury he handed over to hapless bowlers of the future (i.e today). Would also like to see Joel Garner getting the pioneering rights for McGrath’s art but then it is cruel to suggest Waqar going out to make way for ANYONE just because his skills had something in common to senior Wasim.
Undisputed selections: Jonty, Wasim, Gilchrist, Jayasuriya, Viv and Klusener.
April 29th, 2007 at 9.34 am
What about Zimbabwe’s Douglas Merrilier? He patented the lofted lap shot over short fine leg against McGrath - of all people - in 2001. Come World Cup 2007 and we have seen at least three quality players in Ashraful, Ravi Bopara and Shane Watson looking to play the low percentage shot off a full delivery on off stump as readily as Sunny Gavaskar playing a stump shattering straight drive to it.
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