My top 50 greatest cricketers - 50 - 41
Shane Warne


So the countdown begins - and there are already a few shocks. At no 50 in my list of greats is a batsman who never played a test.

50
Jamie Siddons (Victoria)
First-class matches 160
Runs 11,587 at 44.91
Catches 206
As an all-round fielder, with a rocket arm, I rank him second behind Mark Waugh among Australians I have seen. He is recognised as one of our best batsmen not to have played Test cricket. I thought he was especially good against spin and have fond memories as he was in the Victoria team when I made my debut.

49
Darren Berry (Victoria)
First-class matches 153
Runs 4,273 at 21.58
Catches 552
Stumpings 51
Another Victorian to miss out on Test cricket. He is the purest wicketkeeper I have seen. The ball sounded extra-soft in his gloves. His catching was so reliable that first slip could stand wider and the cordon covered more ground. He once stumped David Boon down the leg side standing up to Paul Reiffel – a brilliantly executed plan.

48
Brian McMillan (South Africa)
Test matches 38
Runs 1,968 at 39.36
Wickets 75 at 33.82
For a big fellow, he did not hit the ball as hard as you would expect, but he could be a sharp bowler and a wonderful slip fielder. It helped that his hands were just enormous. He was a very tough guy to play against, especially when you were meeting him for the first time, but he was also an enjoyable opponent.

47
Chris Cairns (New Zealand)
Test matches 62
Runs 3,320 at 33.53
Wickets 218 at 29.40
He played the most incredible shot off my bowling during a game in Hamilton. Placing his left leg into the rough, he swivelled to face square leg and hit the turning ball over that area for a huge six. At one stage, he was probably the best all-rounder in the world, despite struggling with injuries.

46
Dilip Vengsarkar (India)
Test matches 116
Runs 6,868 at 42.13
The India side were starting to change in my early days with Australia, but Vengsarkar remained a very stylish, elegant batsman. In our dressing-room, he was held in the highest regard by those who saw him at his best in the Eighties. I’ve taken into account his record all over the world, including three hundreds at Lord’s.

45
Waqar Younis (Pakistan)
Test matches 87
Runs 1,010 at 10.20
Wickets 373 at 23.56
People may be surprised that Waqar doesn’t figure higher. His stats are excellent, but I always thought that he fed off Wasim Akram at the other end. Having said that, he was a fine one-day bowler with a devastating, fast yorker at the death. The pair of them formed a great new-ball partnership through the Nineties.

44
Alec Stewart (England)
Test matches 133
Runs 8,483 at 39.54
Catches 263
Stumpings 14
He did not have a great record against Australia, but I always admired Alec for his versatility. Over his career, he had to adjust from being a batsman to a batsman-keeper, then play as an opener, No 3 or in the middle order. From what I can gather, his preparation was always spot on.

43
Michael Atherton
Test matches 115
Runs 7,728 at 37.69
In a funny way I enjoyed watching him bat because he was one of the old school who just liked to grind down the opposition. At times, he held England together when they were going through a rough period. His concentration was incredible and I always enjoyed talking cricket with him. He has a good understanding of the game.

42
Ravi Shastri (India)
Test matches 80
Runs 3,830 at 35.79
Wickets 151 at 40.96.
Test cricket seemed impossibly hard when Ravi was belting a double hundred on my debut for Australia. By the time I had him caught – at deep cover, which tells its own story – I didn’t know where my second game would come from. He was a very effective player and a handy spin bowler for a captain to have up his sleeve.

41
Justin Langer (Australia)
Test matches 105
Runs 7,696 at 45.27
So many people wrote him off and there were more talented batsmen who did not play as often for Australia. But you need more than talent to succeed and “Alfie” worked his guts out to become the best player he could be. By the end, he had scored 23 Test hundreds and became an inspiration to youngsters everywhere.

The list in full

50 Jamie Siddons
49 Darren Berry
48 Brian McMillan
47 Chris Cairns
46 Dilip Vengsarkar
45 Waqar Younis
44 Alec Stewart
43 Michael Atherton
42 Ravi Shastri
41 Justin Langer
40 Kapil Dev
39 Stuart MacGill
38 Sanath Jayasuriya
37 Stephen Harmison
36 Andy Flower
35 Michael Vaughan
34 Bruce Reid
33 Allan Donald
32 Robin Smith
31 Tim May
30 Kevin Pietersen
29 Shoaib Akhtar / Craig McDermott
28 Saeed Anwar / Mohammad Yousuf
27 Jacques Kallis / Shaun Pollock
26 Steve Waugh
25 Darren Lehmann
24 Brett Lee
23 Stephen Fleming
22 Martin Crowe
21 David Boon
20 Adam Gilchrist
19 Aravinda de Silva
18 Merv Hughes
17 Matthew Hayden
16 Andrew Flintoff
15 Graham Gooch
14 Rahul Dravid
13 Anil Kumble
12 Mark Waugh
11 Courtney Walsh
10 Ian Healy
9 Mark Taylor
8 Ricky Ponting
7 Muttiah Muralitharan
6 Wasim Akram
5 Glenn McGrath
4 Allan Border
3 Curtly Ambrose
2 Brian Lara
1 Sachin Tendulkar


Winning numbers

20 Australians in Warne’s favourite 50 (53 as it turned out). There are eight Englishmen, six Indians, five Pakistanis, four South Africans, three New Zealanders, three Sri Lankans, three West Indians and a Zimbabwean.

4,615 Test caps won by Warne’s elite, making an average of 87 each

18 Ashes winners for Australia

5 Ashes winners for England (Harmison, Vaughan, Pietersen, Flintoff and Gooch)

20 Members of a World Cup-winning squad. Three for India in 1983 (Vengsarkar, Shastri, Dev); six for Australia in 1987 (Reid, May, McDermott, S Waugh, Boon, Border); one for Pakistan in 1992 (Wasim Akram); three for Sri Lanka in 1996 (Jayasuriya, De Silva, Muralitharan) and seven for Australia in 1999, 2003 and/or 2007 (Lehmann, Lee, Gilchrist, McGrath, Hayden, Ponting and M Waugh).

I think Ganguly should have been in the list.
Not having Inzamam is okay as I think Inzy was well below average when he played against Warne and the Aussies.

THE REASON WARNE SAID SACHIN IS BETTER I FIND LITTLE LUDICROUS. I AM GIVING ONE EXPAMPLE JUST FOR THE SAHKE OF ANOLOGY NOT FOR THE SHAKE OF ARGUMENT.

Warne said " I place sachin very slightly ahead of Lara because I found him slightly tougher mentally. It is such a close call, but here is an example of what I mean: in Australia in 2003-04 he was worried about getting out cover driving so he decided to cut out the shot."

I am sorry to say. That 241 was one of the most sorry, painful and slow double hundred i have ever seen. Sachin failed all the series and then made a double hundred scoring almost all the run on the leg side .

TAKE THIS ANOLOGY.

SIMILAR to Sachin, lara failed initail tests against australia in 2005-2006 ( needless to say 3 out of four times previously he was given out wrongly by his nemesis Rudi Koertzen of South Africa) . SIMILAR TO SACHIN, even he makes doulbe hundred in last test. Only difference is Lara, completely dominated the australian bowling bringing his double hundred in a one day style with the run rate of almost 5 runs an over with breathtaking array of strokeplay. he also broke record of Alan border on the process and also become second highest scorer of double hundred after Don Bradman.


FROM THIS ANALOGY IT IS CLEAR THAT UNDER SIMILAR CIRCUMSTANCES LARA CLEARLY OUTDID SACHIN. I JUST WISHED WARNE HAD A BETTER EXPLANATION THEN WHAT HE GAVE. ANYWAY IT IS HIS OWN RATING.

ALSO SEEING 5 AUSTRALIAN PLAYERS IN TOP 10 IS HARD TO COMPREHEND.

No_quiero,
good analogy ..the double hundred that Tendulkar made in that series was resilient no doubt but certainly NOT an example to put him ahead of Lara..........

Tendulkar tops Warne's greatest cricketers list (http://content-usa.cricinfo.com/australia/content/current/story/309178.html)

September 1, 2007

Sachin Tendulkar topped Shane Warne's countdown of greatest cricketers edging out Brian Lara, who was placed second. Curtly Ambrose, Allan Border and Glenn McGrath rounded out the top five in Warne's Times column.

Warne rated Tendulkar ahead of Lara on account of his mental toughness and hailed him as a "great player and a great man". He wrote, "Outside grounds [in India], people wait until he [Tendulkar] goes in before paying to enter. They seem to want a wicket to fall even though it is their own side that will suffer ... He [Tendulkar] grew up under incredible weight of expectation and never buckled once - not under poor umpiring decisions or anything else."

Warne and Tendulkar clashed several times on the field, but their most most famous battles were on Australia's tour to India in 1997-98. Warne struck the first salvo, dismissing Tendulkar for 4 in the first Test, but was then taken apart in the second, going for 122 runs in 30 overs as Tendulkar smashed a matchwinning unbeaten 155. Tendulkar finished the series with an average of 111, while Warne's ten wickets cost him 54 apiece.

Five Australians were placed in the top ten, including three of Warne's captains - Border, Ricky Ponting and Mark Taylor. Ian Healy, tenth on the list, was described as the best wicketkeeper he'd ever seen.

Muttiah Muralitharan, who needs nine more wickets to go past Warne's record haul of Test victims, was the highest rated spinner - at seven.

"He has helped to turn Sri Lanka into a formidable side at home. It is also worth remembering the work he did in the aftermath of the tsunami when he gave so much hope to people in despair."

Wasim Akram, who was sixth, was Pakistan's only representative in the top ten. Warne's complete list (of 53 cricketers) was dominated by Australia, with 20 players, though none were named among the top three.

Comments

Shane Warne was a great cricketer but he simply doesn't know how to judge greatness. First and foremost Tendulkar is not even close to Brian Lara in terms of greatness. Lara is the greatest batsman ever. Yes even with Bradman around. Secondly Murli is the best spinner I have ever seen and no Tendulkar could tame him, only Lara. And as for Warne he would not call Lara the greatest because Lara has battered him so many times. Tendulkar is 23 on my list. And in my top twenty only Mgrath and Ware features. Ricky Ponting is yet to play a test macth against a really decent bowling attack. He will not be on my list untill I see him against a great attack.
Posted by analyst on September 01 2007, 20:41 PM GMT

It is generally great to see how great cricketers rate other great cricketers. If I'm not mistaken there have been a few such lists for various countries by Toni Cozier, Greg Chappell and Toney Greg who do not have organic brain pathology. No doubt that Sir Garry Sobers was the greatest and the most gifted to ever to play the game even after a bottle of Rum. He would list in my top 10 even if he batted right handed. How about Late Malcom M (gretest fast bowler), Viv R, Joel G, Sir Don, Michel H, Dennis L. Perhaps Shane Warne plans to go down to minus ten.
Posted by Narli on September 01 2007, 20:08 PM GMT

Even though Warney's ranking has created a lot of controversies, one should understant that it is based on the impact made by the players on him. But it would be intersting to know where he would rank himself in that tall order because it is obvious that warne's name will be present in the list of great cricketers not only of the last two decades, but also of all time.
Posted by danarkii on September 01 2007, 18:46 PM GMT

justifying tenulkar position as 1 comapard to lara- Tendulkar also bowls well and took about 150 ODI wickets and 42 test wickets. Again the test average and ODI averages are far better than Lara. (54 and 44 tenulkar a, 50 and 40 for lara repectively) Shane warne must be knowing that tendulkar turns balls sometimes more than him and Muralidharan. Lara is unique and is no doubt a genious.
Posted by cricketfan on September 01 2007, 18:28 PM GMT

Has whoever posted the comment from Cricket4life deliberately spelt grammar wrongly in a feeble attempt to make a point or does he not know any better?
Posted by owdmon on September 01 2007, 17:41 PM GMT

That is the most rubbish I have ever graced upon. Viv Richards, Desmond Haynes(I reckon he played against them), nor Shivnarine Chanderpaul made this list. Brian Lara is not number 1. Ian Healy is at number 10. Total nonsense in my opinion, but again it is Warne's choice.
Posted by GQSilk on September 01 2007, 17:14 PM GMT

People, this is a list of people that Warne things are not only great great cricketers but are also great human beings, and that is from his first hand experience. They are not based on your individual experiences, or stat books, so let it be and appreciate the fact that a great cricketer has noticed the other great ones. As for the names I read above: Inzi is good but is surely not to the level of Sachin, Lara, & Ponting; Javed M. is infact related to an underworld Don, and finally Bradman, well, his name does not need to be mentioned, he is by default the greatest. Oh and not more things, before being a critic of Warne's list, PLEASE be one for your grammer and spellings.
Posted by cricket4life on September 01 2007, 16:51 PM GMT

i think so there are many problems in his ranking becoz he has forgotten many other great players who is more deserved in the rankings one of them are javed miandad, inzaman,imran khan,and many other players and is looking like shuffled from the deserving ranking
Posted by mohammed_ameen on September 01 2007, 15:46 PM GMT

There is no doubt about shane warnes cricket.He was a great cricketer. But to be a great critic he has to watch a lot of matches.It is better not to publish such poor openions which can be hurted great cricketers
Posted by Vinodudma on September 01 2007, 15:45 PM GMT

Naren: Of course it shows his bias. Wouldn't your top 50 cricketer list show *your* bias? Interesting read, to see how Warnie rates people. But people are taking it entirely too seriously.
Posted by Justin on September 01 2007, 15:44 PM GMT

rahul dravid should be rated higher