Warne, Mcgrath & Langer....

[Lurker]

Alrighty lets change the track a little bit now. Most of us have followed India-Saffers game with greater interest,quite rightly so too, but it is also a sad day in cricket when 3 of the all-time greats retire. So what are your favorite moment of these cricketers? Anything you learned or appreciated about these players? Please feel free to add here. Here are my thoughts: 1) Justine Langer: A dogged batsman who was half-responsible(along with Hayden) to make sure Aussies got good starts almost always. A very determined cricketer who would keep getting beaten(on the wicket as also his head!) but would never give his wicket easily. Greatest innings was when he had that partnership with Gilchrist against Pakistan at Hobart 1999-2000. Aussies were 126/5 chasing 369 against Akram/Waqar/Akhtar/Saqlain and went on to win by 4 wickets. One of the truly greatest innings played. http://www.cricinfo.com/db/ARCHIVE/1999-2000/PAK_IN_AUS/SCORECARDS/PAK_AUS_T2_18-22NOV1999.html 2) Glenn Mcgrath: After Fred Trueman had broken the world record for most wickets in Test cricket, he is rumored to have said, "Whoever breaks this would be bloody tired". Well his record(307 off 67 Tests) has now been broken by a dozen and a half people, all of them peerless but perhaps none so precise a bowling machine as Mcgrath. 563 wickets in 124 Tests @21 has been one huge reasons why Aussies were invincibles. People always suggested that Mcgrath was one track bowler. A bowler who bowls with one speed, at one spot with slight deviation either way. Well here is the deal - try bowling with your usual run-up for 6 deliveries and see how difficult it is to land the ball at the same speed(forget the line/length and deviation). Mcgrath would bowl 100 deliveries a day and could bowl 100 of them at exact 130-132 kmph. He just knew and controlled his body so very well...and he would use it to control others. Best bowling - 1st Ashes Test at Lords 2005. Aussies were dismissed for 190 before tea on the first day, their captain bloodied by Harmisson. England reached tea with about 10-12 on the scoreboard. We all gushed if we were witnessing the unthinkable. And then Mcgrath hit! In a stellar piece of pace bowling he takes out Strauss, Tresco, Bell, Vaughan and then Flintoff. England are 5/21 and would go on to lose the match. Next game Mcgrath would get injured...and so Australia chances in the Ashes. http://www.cricinfo.com/db/ARCHIVE/2005/AUS_IN_ENG/SCORECARDS/AUS_ENG_T1_21-25JUL2005.html 3) Shane Warne: An admission first. I have never been a Warne fan. Maybe because of his lifestyle or maybe because he never clicked against India. Plus we had Kumble. Maybe I just did not want to admit that he was greatest leg spin bowler ahead of the likes of Gupte/Chandra/Kumble from India. Then he announced his retirement and I felt an unexplainable sadness. It was the kind that I felt when the great all-rounders retired one by one. I always beleived Kapil Dev was the best(still do!) but in that chase of appreciation for Kapil I had not appreciated Imran and then one day when Imran retired I knew my loss. Shane Warne is now gone..no more would we see the roly poly figure making ball move yards Best bowling: 1999 WC semi finals. Saffers are chasing a small Australian total of 213 and are cruising at 40 plus for no loss. Getting closer to the target each second. Waugh tries Mcgrath, Fleming Reiffel and then tosses over the ball to Warne perhaps muttering "Get these buggers out, will you?". Amidst the familar chants of "Bowled Shane" by Gilchrist, Warne weaves his spell, pun intentional. Kirsten is bowled as is Gibbs, then best Saffie player of spin Cronje is scalped too! In the proceeding harakiri Cullinan seeks refuge in pavillion by getting run-out. Warne has taken 3 wickets in 2 overs, would end up with 4/29 in 10 overs, Aussies go on to win the match and the cup. http://www.cricinfo.com/db/ARCHIVE/WORLD_CUPS/WC99/SCORECARDS/FINALS/AUS_RSA_WC99_ODI-SEMI2_17JUN1999.html xxxx

[yoda]

Re: Warne, Mcgrath & Langer.... Langer: Getting hit on the helmet by Shoaib Akhtar McGrath: Crapping all over kolkatta in 2001 Warne: Crapping all over Kolkatta in 2001

[The Outsider]

Re: Warne, Mcgrath & Langer.... Top post Lurker. My favourite Warne match is the '96 SF at Mohali which I saw at the stadium. For McGrath, any spell of his at Lords. Langer, when he outscored Pakistan in both innings at Perth.

[Gambit]

Re: Warne, Mcgrath & Langer.... Good post Lurker. I don't think Langer is an all time great though.

[King]

Re: Warne, Mcgrath & Langer.... Good one Lurker. Langer : I believe Langer although was not a great player was one of the pillars of this century for Australia particularly at home. Hayden had one or two good years at the top but this fellas played really well for abouot 5 years during this century and could have gone on for a while but did the right thing in calling it time at the right time. What better occassion to retire than when you have beaten your arch rivals 5-0? Not one of those pleasing players to watch but was the one that could most of the times provide Australia with a great start. Over the years he became more aggressive and this positive batting set up games for Australia at the top quite nicely. Langer's hundred against Pakistan in 1999 was helped by the umpires as he was clearly got caught behind but the umpires ruled him not out otherwise I would reckon that was his best knock ever. I pick his 191 in the first inning and 97 in the second innings against Pakistan at Perth in the first test in 2004 as a fantastic effort. http://nz.cricinfo.com/db/ARCHIVE/2004-05/PAK_IN_AUS/SCORECARDS/PAK_AUS_T1_16-20DEC2004.html 2. McGrath : I need to confess I've always been a fan of this fella. Although single dimension some would say it doesn't matter in the end as long as he picked wickets at the top to set up a victory. I think McGrath by far was the best bowler produced by Australia in my opinion as he struck early and also ensure he picked the big wickets at the right time. 1999 WC comes to mind when he picked up both Tendulkar and Lara in crucial games. Again in the ICC trophy recently he picked both of them up for nothing. It is not easy to perform like this so consistently and I believe he is the best fast bowler ever produced. Wasim Akram IMO was probably the best as far as skills and variety goes but McGrath is the one I would pick any day as my best pacemen if I have to put down 11 players. This guy has performed everywhere and was always happy to keep bowling. Bigger the stage bigger this fella performs and I' really going to miss watching him quite a bit . 3. Shane Warnie : I like his skills but never liked his methods. I still condemn his match fixing traits and the way the ACB fine him just about few thousand dollars. Warnie made a huge hue and cry accusing Malik of offering him money to throw away a game but the end result was Australia lost that game by 1 wicket with Healy missing the stumping off Warnie. I have no reason to believe he didn't fix few games for some quick bucks. Popular people get away with a lot of wrong doings just because they are popular. ACB could not have banned him for his involvement in match fixing as he was one of the popular players in Australia along with Mark Waugh. Gibbs was rightly banned and not many people speak about his involvement for this reason. Unfortunately Warnie got away scot free. I never liked the way he treated the umpires and bullied them non stop. I may sound bitter but his tally of 700 wickets will include about 50-100 wickets that were not outs. I'm happy to acknowledge his talent though. A fantastic spinner of the ball, great variations and a big match performer. I wouldn't say he resurrected leg spin bowling as the Aussies say, there were quite a few that were sensational like Quadir, Mushtaq Ahmed and Kumble in his own style. While Anil Kumble is the McGrath of leg spin bowling, Warnie is like Wasim Akram. Whom you pick as the better one is one's personal opinion and I wouldn't rate Warnie as the best spinner in the world. I have far too many good spells by Warnie to list really but the WC'99 semis and finals performance is at the top of the list.

[theguyinallblue]

Re: Warne, Mcgrath & Langer.... Nice work there Lurker and Ravi...enjoyed ....reading this.....