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David Gower 50 greatest cricketers-great book and fair evaluation?

Harsh Thakor

By Harsh Thakor
in Cricket Talk

Who is the most unfairly ranked player in David Gower's 50 best?  

11 members have voted

  1. 1. Who is or are the most unfairly ranked players in David Gower's 50 best?

    • Gary Sobers
      0
    • Sachin Tendulkar
      0
    • Wasim Akram
      1
    • Imran Khan
      1
    • Viv Richards
      0
    • Shane Warne
      1
    • Kapil Dev
      5
    • Jacques Kallis
      0
    • Brian Lara
      0
    • Ricky Ponting
      1
    • Greg Chappell
      1
    • Glen Mcgrath
      3
    • Sunil Gavaskar
      1
    • Richard Hadlee
      1
    • Murlitharan
      3
    • Dale Steyn
      1
    • Adam Gilchrist
      2
    • Curtly Ambrose
      1

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Harsh Thakor Contributor

Harsh Thakor

Posted
Posted (edited)

I just bought an edition of David Gower's 50 Greatest cricketers of all time on my visit to London to see the world cup.Thus for the 1st time I could properly read or evaluate it.

No doubt it is written artistically in a flowing style,giving due respect to cricket history and different eras and possessing lively content.Generally has given all of them their due evaluating them with immaculate precision.A must read for all cricket lovers being a book I rank as outstanding.

One significant trend in his book distinct from other writers is his ranking of the more modern giants compared to legends of past eras.Unlike Cristopher Martin Jenkins,John Woodcock and Geoff Armstrong Gower has included must of his top 50 from the post 1968 era and generally re-ranked the post1970-players ahead of greats from previous decades.He has also favoured the great batsmen over the bowlers.Cricket fans here should be subjected to an important debate of the comparison of pre-1970 stars to post-1970 period.I particularly liked his appraisal of Viv,Lara,Sachin,Imran and Marshall.

Some most questionable or debatable rankings are his placing Andy Roberts ahead of Wasim Akram ,Glen Mcgrath and Curtly Ambrose who are in turn all rated above Dale Steyn.Ranking Javed Miandad and Alan Border above Ricky Ponting.Placing Adam Gilchrist at no 42 who generally makes the list of the top 10 cricketers.Places Murlitharan 26 places belwo compatriot Shane Warne and below likes of Ambrose..Ranks Barry Richards above Len Hutton and Sunil Gavaskar.Placing Greg Chappel too low at 37th place below Border,Minadad and Worrell,who was probably the best Australian batsmen after Bradman. And finally ranks the legends WG Grace and Jack Hobbs below Viv Richards,Lara and Tendulkar.

The most positive rankings are giving Jacques Kallis his fair due unlike other writers at 14th place.Though not a match winner he is statistically the best all -rounder of all time and was a giant considering his era.Also giving recognition to Joel Garner and Jeff Thomson unlike others.Recognizing the great prowess of Andy Roberts and Wasim Akram by ranking them ahead of statistically better pace bowlers.He thus respected the great prowess and verstality of the 2 craftsmen .Remember that Lillee ranked Andy as the most complete pacemen of his time and Gavaskar thought the hardest to face.Lara and Viv ranked Wasim the best pace bowler they ever faced.Accurately places Imran Khan and Botham in the top dozen bad fairly rating Imran ahead of Botham and Kallis because of his great qualities as a leader.Gives Walter Hammond the perfect place at no 8.Gives Malcolm Marshal and Dennis Lille their fair due with Marshall deservedly in the top 10 and Lillee at 16th place.Gave Marshall the nod over Sydney Barnes.I also like his ranking of Wasim,Mcgrath and Ambrose in that order and rating them all above Dale Steyn.Finally recognizes stature of AB Devilliers who was like a Viv Richards of his time and accurately ranks Sehwag.



It is all ultimately subject to debate but I feel the rankings of Cristopher martin Jenkins and Geoff Armstrong more analytical and fair,particularly to pre-1968 cricketers.Where did Barry Richard's record justify his ranking ahead of Len Hutton and Sunil Gavaskar even if he was more talented?Remember the staggering statistics of Huitton and Gavaskar against great bowling.Did Lara ,Viv or even Tendulkar equal Jack Hobbs's staggering aggregate on wet pitches or in al conditions or match the impact of WG Grace?Was not Greg Chappel morally almost in the Viv Richards class and ahead of Border and Ponting considering his great record against the best West Indies pace attack ever at home and in the Carribean.Greg was the best batsmen statistically in Kerry Packer wsc cricket where competitiveness and standard was at it's zenith.Was not Murlitharan stats wise the best of al bowlers and almost as impactful as Warne?

The most critical ranking is that of Adam Gichrist at no 42 who could well atleast be in the top dozen or 15 and Greg Chappell and Ponting behind Miandad.

The most unfair omission to me was that of Everton Weekes who in his lifetime plundered runs of batted like Bradman more than anyone.


The hardest choice was who was overall ahead between Marshall and Imran,between Greg Chapell,Border and Ponting and bewteen Miller,Botham and Kallis.Also a whisker between Sobers,Bradman and Grace in my opinion.

I admire Gower for not displaying as much as a pro- British bias as John Woodcok or Cristopher Martin Jenkins who rated several great English cricketers in my view unfairly ahead of greats from other cricketing nations.I also appreciate hsi not just giving consideration to statistics but moral performance.Perhaps he is justified in ranking modern stars ahead with the game becoming more competitive from the 1970's.It also proves that not more than a margin of a whisker seperates different cricketers.

. Don Bradman
2. Garry Sobers
3. Sachin Tendulkar
4. Shane Warne
5. Viv Richards
6. Brian Lara
7. Jack Hobbs
8. Wally Hammond
9. Malcolm Marshall
10. W.G. Grace
11. Imran Khan
12. Ian Botham
13. Sydney Barnes
14. Jacques Kallis
15. Barry Richards
16. Dennis Lillee
17. Len Hutton
18. Wilfred Rhodes
19. Richie Benaud
20. Denis Compton
21. Keith Miller
22. Bill O' Reilly
23. Andy Roberts
24. Richard Hadlee
25. Graeme Pollock
26. Sunil Gavaskar
27. Wasim Akram
28. Allan Border
29. Glenn McGrath
30. Muttiah Muralitharan
31. George Headley
32. Curtley Ambrose
33. Javed Miandad
34. Ricky Ponting
35. Frank Worrell
36. Herbert Sutcliffe
37. Greg Chappell
38. Fred Trueman
39. AB De Villiers
40. Dale Steyn
41. Kumar Sangakkara
42. Adam Gilchrist
43. Ray Lindwall
44. Harold Larwood
45. Joel Harner
46. Virender Sehwag
47. Kevin Pietersen
48. Kapil Dev
49. Jeff Thomson
50. Alan Knott

Edited by Harsh Thakor
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Vijy Grand Master

Vijy

Posted
Posted
2 hours ago, rkt.india said:

WG Grace should not be anywhere near top 50 or 100 cricketers of all time.

Not possible for us to gauge his cricketing ability if he was born and trained in this era. of course, if he was just transported from that era to now, he would do badly because cricket has advanced so much.

 

reason why most people put Grace in their lists, despite no one alive seeing him, is because he was the sport's first superstar and he introduced many of the first innovations in batting (and a few in bowling).

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rkt.india Grand Master

rkt.india

Posted
Posted
32 minutes ago, Vijy said:

Not possible for us to gauge his cricketing ability if he was born and trained in this era. of course, if he was just transported from that era to now, he would do badly because cricket has advanced so much.

 

reason why most people put Grace in their lists, despite no one alive seeing him, is because he was the sport's first superstar and he introduced many of the first innovations in batting (and a few in bowling).

He started playing at 32 and played till 51.  we are not talking about veterans game.

Link to comment
Vijy Grand Master

Vijy

Posted
Posted
48 minutes ago, rkt.india said:

He started playing at 32 and played till 51.  we are not talking about veterans game.

the first test he could have played was at 29 because test cricket started only in 1877. he started playing FC at 17.

Link to comment
Vijy Grand Master

Vijy

Posted
Posted
14 hours ago, Harsh Thakor said:

I just bought an edition of David Gower's 50 Greatest cricketers of all time on my visit to London to see the world cup.Thus for the 1st time I could properly read or evaluate it.

No doubt it is written artistically in a flowing style,giving due respect to cricket history and different eras and possessing lively content.Generally has given all of them their due evaluating them with immaculate precision.A must read for all cricket lovers being a book I rank as outstanding.

One significant trend in his book distinct from other writers is his ranking of the more modern giants compared to legends of past eras.Unlike Cristopher Martin Jenkins,John Woodcock and Geoff Armstrong Gower has included must of his top 50 from the post 1968 era and generally re-ranked the post1970-players ahead of greats from previous decades.He has also favoured the great batsmen over the bowlers.Cricket fans here should be subjected to an important debate of the comparison of pre-1970 stars to post-1970 period.I particularly liked his appraisal of Viv,Lara,Sachin,Imran and Marshall.

Some most questionable or debatable rankings are his placing Andy Roberts ahead of Wasim Akram ,Glen Mcgrath and Curtly Ambrose who are in turn all rated above Dale Steyn.Ranking Javed Miandad and Alan Border above Ricky Ponting.Placing Adam Gilchrist at no 42 who generally makes the list of the top 10 cricketers.Places Murlitharan 26 places belwo compatriot Shane Warne and below likes of Ambrose..Ranks Barry Richards above Len Hutton and Sunil Gavaskar.Placing Greg Chappel too low at 37th place below Border,Minadad and Worrell,who was probably the best Australian batsmen after Bradman. And finally ranks the legends WG Grace and Jack Hobbs below Viv Richards,Lara and Tendulkar.

The most positive rankings are giving Jacques Kallis his fair due unlike other writers at 14th place.Though not a match winner he is statistically the best all -rounder of all time and was a giant considering his era.Also giving recognition to Joel Garner and Jeff Thomson unlike others.Recognizing the great prowess of Andy Roberts and Wasim Akram by ranking them ahead of statistically better pace bowlers.He thus respected the great prowess and verstality of the 2 craftsmen .Remember that Lillee ranked Andy as the most complete pacemen of his time and Gavaskar thought the hardest to face.Lara and Viv ranked Wasim the best pace bowler they ever faced.Accurately places Imran Khan and Botham in the top dozen bad fairly rating Imran ahead of Botham and Kallis because of his great qualities as a leader.Gives Walter Hammond the perfect place at no 8.Gives Malcolm Marshal and Dennis Lille their fair due with Marshall deservedly in the top 10 and Lillee at 16th place.Gave Marshall the nod over Sydney Barnes.I also like his ranking of Wasim,Mcgrath and Ambrose in that order and rating them all above Dale Steyn.Finally recognizes stature of AB Devilliers who was like a Viv Richards of his time and accurately ranks Sehwag.



It is all ultimately subject to debate but I feel the rankings of Cristopher martin Jenkins and Geoff Armstrong more analytical and fair,particularly to pre-1968 cricketers.Where did Barry Richard's record justify his ranking ahead of Len Hutton and Sunil Gavaskar even if he was more talented?Remember the staggering statistics of Huitton and Gavaskar against great bowling.Did Lara ,Viv or even Tendulkar equal Jack Hobbs's staggering aggregate on wet pitches or in al conditions or match the impact of WG Grace?Was not Greg Chappel morally almost in the Viv Richards class and ahead of Border and Ponting considering his great record against the best West Indies pace attack ever at home and in the Carribean.Greg was the best batsmen statistically in Kerry Packer wsc cricket where competitiveness and standard was at it's zenith.Was not Murlitharan stats wise the best of al bowlers and almost as impactful as Warne?

The most critical ranking is that of Adam Gichrist at no 42 who could well atleast be in the top dozen or 15 and Greg Chappell and Ponting behind Miandad.

The most unfair omission to me was that of Everton Weekes who in his lifetime plundered runs of batted like Bradman more than anyone.


The hardest choice was who was overall ahead between Marshall and Imran,between Greg Chapell,Border and Ponting and bewteen Miller,Botham and Kallis.Also a whisker between Sobers,Bradman and Grace in my opinion.

I admire Gower for not displaying as much as a pro- British bias as John Woodcok or Cristopher Martin Jenkins who rated several great English cricketers in my view unfairly ahead of greats from other cricketing nations.I also appreciate hsi not just giving consideration to statistics but moral performance.Perhaps he is justified in ranking modern stars ahead with the game becoming more competitive from the 1970's.It also proves that not more than a margin of a whisker seperates different cricketers.

. Don Bradman
2. Garry Sobers
3. Sachin Tendulkar
4. Shane Warne
5. Viv Richards
6. Brian Lara
7. Jack Hobbs
8. Wally Hammond
9. Malcolm Marshall
10. W.G. Grace
11. Imran Khan
12. Ian Botham
13. Sydney Barnes
14. Jacques Kallis
15. Barry Richards
16. Dennis Lillee
17. Len Hutton
18. Wilfred Rhodes
19. Richie Benaud
20. Denis Compton
21. Keith Miller
22. Bill O' Reilly
23. Andy Roberts
24. Richard Hadlee
25. Graeme Pollock
26. Sunil Gavaskar
27. Wasim Akram
28. Allan Border
29. Glenn McGrath
30. Muttiah Muralitharan
31. George Headley
32. Curtley Ambrose
33. Javed Miandad
34. Ricky Ponting
35. Frank Worrell
36. Herbert Sutcliffe
37. Greg Chappell
38. Fred Trueman
39. AB De Villiers
40. Dale Steyn
41. Kumar Sangakkara
42. Adam Gilchrist
43. Ray Lindwall
44. Harold Larwood
45. Joel Harner
46. Virender Sehwag
47. Kevin Pietersen
48. Kapil Dev
49. Jeff Thomson
50. Alan Knott

Where. Is. The. Greatest. Ever. Cricketer. To. Have. Ever. Played. In. The. Entire. Multiverse -- Majid Khan!! Atrocious selection by Gower.

Link to comment
Tattieboy Collaborator

Tattieboy

Posted
Posted

I am wondering if you have just bought David Gowers book published 2015 at the World Cup in England 2019 and just read it and now critique it WHY did you critique it on 26th August 2015 at 23.26 then gave your order of 50 greatest cricketers ??

I believe this site called Passion is a Pakistani Cricket Forum ??

One click of a mouse to confirm year of publication and hey presto Harsh Thakor appears giving confirmation to the guys on here that whilst trying to act sensible is really just a bit of a fraud .:facepalm::biggrin:

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