What's new

ESPN Legends of Cricket - Top 25 Cricketers Of All Time

Yellow Submarine

Yellow Submarine

Tape Ball Regular
Joined
Feb 6, 2011
Runs
343
In 2001, ESPN, by forming an eminent panel of about 15 judges (mostly former greats like Hadlee, Benaud, Akram, Gavaskar, etc and about 2-3 cricket experts), made a list of the top 25 greatest cricketers of all time. They called the chapter 'ESPN Legends of Cricket'. Very recently, ESPN joined hands with Cricinfo and merged that chapter with it.

After naming the top 25 legends, for namesake they extended the list and named the next 25 (to make it a total of 50 players), just like Cricinfo recently made 2 teams in it's 'All Time Test World XI' chapter, one was the primary one, and the other for namesake.

Javed Miandad didn't find a place in the top 25 list. It was when that list was extended, he found the 44th spot.

What's interesting is that each one of his contemporaries in Viv Richards (3rd spot), Sunny Gavaskar (10th spot), Greg Chappell (17th spot) and Allan Border (25th spot) found a place in the top 25 list.

Here's the list -

1. Don Bradman
2. Gary Sobers
3. Viv Richards
4. Shane Warne
5. Jack Hobbs
6. Dennis Lillee
7. Sachin Tendulkar
8. Imran Khan
9. Wally Hammond
10. Sunny Gavaskar
11. Ian Botham
12. Richards Hadlee
13. Keith Miller
14. W.G. Grace
15. Graeme Pollock
16. Malcolm Marshall
17. Greg Chappell
18. George Headley
19. Frank Worrell
20. Len Hutton
21. Wasim Akram
22. Kapil Dev
23. Steve Waugh
24. Barry Richards
25. Allan Border
Click to expand...

Link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ESPN_Legends_of_Cricket


-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Why is that?


P.S. I've found the list of the judges that formed the panel -

Wasim Akram, Sunil Gavaskar, Richie Benaud, Sir Richard Hadlee, Dickie Bird, Michael Holding, Allan Border, John Knowles, Ian Botham, Robin Marlar, Ian Chappell, Christopher Martin-Jenkins, Tony Cozier, Mike Procter and Martin Crowe.
Click to expand...
 
Last edited:
Just two modern day players in Top Ten list , these oldies seriously over-rate the performances of the old times
 
Last edited:
I've found the list of the judges that formed the panel -

Wasim Akram, Sunil Gavaskar, Richie Benaud, Sir Richard Hadlee, Dickie Bird, Michael Holding, Allan Border, John Knowles, Ian Botham, Robin Marlar, Ian Chappell, Christopher Martin-Jenkins, Tony Cozier, Mike Procter and Martin Crowe.
Click to expand...
 
I remember the original programs they aired years ago, was fantastic, a real eye-opener.
 
AZ said:
I remember the original programs they aired years ago, was fantastic, a real eye-opener.
Click to expand...

You wouldn't believe it but PTV used to air only Wasim's episode of "Legends of Cricket". All forms of Imran were banned by Musharraf

It took me 3 hours to download Imran's legends of cricket episode on my dial-up but it was worth it. Watched it countless times :ik
 
Hmmm and no Waqar in the top 50? I wonder why Bedi is there :S
 
0tt0man said:
you wouldn't believe it but ptv used to air only wasim's episode of "legends of cricket". all forms of imran were banned by musharraf

it took me 3 hours to download imran's legends of cricket episode on my dial-up but it was worth it. Watched it countless times :ik
Click to expand...

What!!!!!!!
 
Barry Richards always gets way too high in these thingies.
 
what a crap list . I never knew that dennis lillee was this better than Wasim akram . Joke
 
i'm sorry but waqar younis has to make this list. there's no way that a bowler of his class can miss out.
 
Barry Richards should not be there for playing just 4 test matches...Miandad should replace him in the top 25...
 
cricnut said:
Just two modern day players in Top Ten list , these oldies seriously over-rate the performances of the old times
Click to expand...

Or maybe they have an historical perspective that youngsters lack.
 
0tt0man said:
You wouldn't believe it but PTV used to air only Wasim's episode of "Legends of Cricket". All forms of Imran were banned by Musharraf

It took me 3 hours to download Imran's legends of cricket episode on my dial-up but it was worth it. Watched it countless times :ik
Click to expand...

he believed, so he made Pakistan believe... yeah remember Michele holding saying that :)
 
Never knew u can be a nominee and a judge. Doesn't make any sense.
 
FWIW I think DKL is too high and Marshall too low.
 
I think Wasim Akram is too low considering his longevity in Tests and ODIs. It's really hard as a fast bowler to play both forms of the game for such a long time and excel at it consistently as well. I don't think he gets enough credit on that aspect. It's certainly easier to only play one form of the game.
 
Barry Richards has some sort of myth around him, always rated higher than he should be. Akram should definitely be higher. Richard Hadlee should be higher too. Hadlee and Akram were just such beautiful seam bowlers. The total packages.
 
wasim shd be higher as shd be imran..along with miandad and zaheer finding places in top 25...
shane warne shdnt be in legends coz he was a cheat and continued on playing test, quiting onedayers coz of his drugs issues.........
 
Robert said:
Or maybe they have an historical perspective that youngsters lack.
Click to expand...

Or maybe they have a 'everything was better back in my day' kinda perspective.
Anyways this list is very outdated. A new one needs to be made.

Also with ANY list made, there will be many people disagreeing with it, so don't stress too much people
 
Last edited:
Saad Hasan said:
Yes DKL shouldn't be even in the list, let alone that high...
Click to expand...

He should be on the list. He was leading test wicket taker at one time. Adding the 80 wickets he got in Packer Supertests would have put him on 430. He also had a brilliant ODI record.
 
Wheres Murli?
How can he not be in the top 20 when a guy like Shane Warne is at number 4.
This is absloute Absurd
 
Why is Don Bradman there? The worst cricketer ever. Have you seen his disgusting average?

Waqar Younis deserves to be there.
 
And if you want to include W. G. Grace then where are Syd Barnes, Victor Trumper etc in the list.!
 
Robert said:
He should be on the list. He was leading test wicket taker at one time. Adding the 80 wickets he got in Packer Supertests would have put him on 430. He also had a brilliant ODI record.
Click to expand...

Yeah, if matches played only in Australia and England counted...

He was massively over rated and played almost all of his cricket in bowler friendly conditions...was an abject failure outside Australia and England...certainly not a top 5 bowler of all time...

Your argument about leading wicket taker would then propel Murali into a unparalleled category as nobody will ever surpass his tally...
 
I can't see Brian Lara on the list, but for some reason can see Sachin Tendulkar.
 
Saad Hasan said:
Your argument about leading wicket taker would then propel Murali into a unparalleled category as nobody will ever surpass his tally...
Click to expand...

Murali bowled illegal deliveries in a test match and was no-balled, but instead of banning him like they do with everyone else, they actually changed the rules so his non-modified bowling action became legal. Even being permitted to bowl with a suspect action thereafter, he still managed to rack up some pretty poxy bowling figures in India and Australia. 500 of Murali's wickets came at home in Sri Lanka anyway. Not a bowler really...ahem cough definitely not a top five bowler either way.
 
Last edited:
DENNIS LILLEE?! :)))

My God, seriously? Lillee over Miandad, Lara, Ponting? I mean come on. Some of these oldie picks I respect, they did amazing things for their time (Hobbs and co.), but this list is a little overboard with them. Old is not always gold.

Shocking to see Lillee higher than the likes of Imran and SRT too. I mean, seriously?!
 
Saad Hasan said:
Yeah, if matches played only in Australia and England counted...

He was massively over rated and played almost all of his cricket in bowler friendly conditions...was an abject failure outside Australia and England...certainly not a top 5 bowler of all time...
Click to expand...

Imran on Lillee:


The bowler who really stands out is Dennis Lillee, and I
had the the great fortune to play against him when he was at
his best, in 1976-7, on my first trip to Australia.
The first Test was played on a very slow pitch at
Adelaide, and I was immediately impressed by Lillee, who
kept on bowling long spells even though he was getting
nothing out of the wicket. Early on he lost his opening
partner, Jeff Thomson, who injured himself in the field, and
from then on, he had to carry the attack. When he realised
that there was no alternative but for him to keep on
bowling, he cut his run up and started varying his pace: he
would try anything to take wickets. In the second innings of
that match, he bowled nearly fifty eight ball overs, taking
5 for 163. I thought very highly of his single-minded
attitude, he was always attacking, and trying to think of
ways to get the batsman out.
The next test was played at Melbourne. By the end of the
first day, I felt depressed in that I had bowled really
badly on a helpful pitch. Conditions were excellent for
swing bowling, and there was some moisture and movement off
the seam as well, yet I had sprayed the ball all over the
place. Australia eventually scored 517 for 8, with Greg
Chappell and Gary Cosier making centuries, and I ended up
taking no wickets for 115 from 22 unimpressive overs. Lillee
sensed my dejection and came over to speak to me afterwards.
To my surprise he sympathised with me: he realised that
whereas I had bowled at Adelaide on an unhelpful pitch, this
time, I had got excited at seeing the ball move about and
had tried to do too much. It's a mistake that many young
fast bowlers make, and it was encouraging that someone like
Lillee should come over and discuss the problem. After this
we became good friends, and I began to bowl better as well:
in the final test at Sydney I took 12 wickets and we won the
match.
I don't think that Lillee was as much of a natural athlete
as some of the other great fast bowlers of my time, like
Thomson, Holding or Marshall. He has a much stronger
physique than the others, but he was not as loose limbed,
and he had to work to keep fit. When I first saw him on
television in 1972, his action was that of a real tearaway
fast bowlerr - it was obvious that he was putting immense
strain on his body. Not surprisingly, he soon went down
with an injury, which turned out to be a stress fracture in
his back. This threatened to end his career, but he fought
back, remodelled his action and, through sheer guts and
determination became an even greater bowler. I can probably
appreciate the problems he faced better than most, because
of suffering a similar stress injury later in my career.
Lillee's greatest asset was that he would rise to the
occasion, especially in front of those huge crowds at the
Melbourne Cricket Ground, getting life out of the dreadful
pitches they had there at the time. His determination showed
through against Pakistan at Sydney in 1972-3, when there was
obviously something wrong with his back: he insisted on
bowling, and backed up by the inexperienced Max Walker,
bowled Pakistan out when we looked like winning. Most other
bowlers in this situation would have given up, and his
refusal to do so makes Lillee number one in my book.
 
Robert said:
Imran on Lillee:


The bowler who really stands out is Dennis Lillee, and I
had the the great fortune to play against him when he was at
his best, in 1976-7, on my first trip to Australia.
The first Test was played on a very slow pitch at
Adelaide, and I was immediately impressed by Lillee, who
kept on bowling long spells even though he was getting
nothing out of the wicket. Early on he lost his opening
partner, Jeff Thomson, who injured himself in the field, and
from then on, he had to carry the attack. When he realised
that there was no alternative but for him to keep on
bowling, he cut his run up and started varying his pace: he
would try anything to take wickets. In the second innings of
that match, he bowled nearly fifty eight ball overs, taking
5 for 163. I thought very highly of his single-minded
attitude, he was always attacking, and trying to think of
ways to get the batsman out.
The next test was played at Melbourne. By the end of the
first day, I felt depressed in that I had bowled really
badly on a helpful pitch. Conditions were excellent for
swing bowling, and there was some moisture and movement off
the seam as well, yet I had sprayed the ball all over the
place. Australia eventually scored 517 for 8, with Greg
Chappell and Gary Cosier making centuries, and I ended up
taking no wickets for 115 from 22 unimpressive overs. Lillee
sensed my dejection and came over to speak to me afterwards.
To my surprise he sympathised with me: he realised that
whereas I had bowled at Adelaide on an unhelpful pitch, this
time, I had got excited at seeing the ball move about and
had tried to do too much. It's a mistake that many young
fast bowlers make, and it was encouraging that someone like
Lillee should come over and discuss the problem. After this
we became good friends, and I began to bowl better as well:
in the final test at Sydney I took 12 wickets and we won the
match.
I don't think that Lillee was as much of a natural athlete
as some of the other great fast bowlers of my time, like
Thomson, Holding or Marshall. He has a much stronger
physique than the others, but he was not as loose limbed,
and he had to work to keep fit. When I first saw him on
television in 1972, his action was that of a real tearaway
fast bowlerr - it was obvious that he was putting immense
strain on his body. Not surprisingly, he soon went down
with an injury, which turned out to be a stress fracture in
his back. This threatened to end his career, but he fought
back, remodelled his action and, through sheer guts and
determination became an even greater bowler. I can probably
appreciate the problems he faced better than most, because
of suffering a similar stress injury later in my career.
Lillee's greatest asset was that he would rise to the
occasion, especially in front of those huge crowds at the
Melbourne Cricket Ground, getting life out of the dreadful
pitches they had there at the time. His determination showed
through against Pakistan at Sydney in 1972-3, when there was
obviously something wrong with his back: he insisted on
bowling, and backed up by the inexperienced Max Walker,
bowled Pakistan out when we looked like winning. Most other
bowlers in this situation would have given up, and his
refusal to do so makes Lillee number one in my book.
Click to expand...

Imran Khan can have his opinion but stats don't lie, Lillee was mediocre outside of Australia, New Zealand and England. He managed just 6 wickets in 8 innings outside of those countries.

He's the bowling equivalent of a flat track bully.
 
Sir Richard Hadlee: "Dennis Lillee is my hero."
 
Fawad said:
Imran Khan can have his opinion but stats don't lie, Lillee was mediocre outside of Australia, New Zealand and England. He managed just 6 wickets in 8 innings outside of those countries.
Click to expand...

Statistically insignificant, then. It's interesting to note that on DKL's three-test series in Pakistan, the first test was a raging bunsen so he didn't bowl much, and the second and third were flat decks where Australia racked up 600 twice in spite of Imram (who also did very little in the series).

It's also interesting to note that the great Sir Viv Richards averaged a good deal less against Australia than overall, mainly because DKL kept getting him out. Like McGrath after him, DKL had a fantastic record against the very best batters.
 
Robert you’re being such a hypocrite.

You’re (trying) to make Lillee look good by quoting ex cricketers and whatnot, yet in ‘that other thread’, you insist on rating (certain?) players only by their stats. What’s up with that?
 
It's just their view doesn't mean anything.

Murali should be there and WG Grace is just laughable.
 
Express Pace said:
I can't see Brian Lara on the list, but for some reason can see Sachin Tendulkar.
Click to expand...

Thats the way it has been on every list ever made by anyone from cricinfo to Wisden to Don Bradman. Wonder why
 
duostyle said:
Robert you’re being such a hypocrite.

You’re (trying) to make Lillee look good by quoting ex cricketers and whatnot, yet in ‘that other thread’, you insist on rating (certain?) players only by their stats. What’s up with that?
Click to expand...

True , was about to say that.

Robest is backing his views with stats while claiming that Ambrose/Waqar/Imran were better bowlers as compared to Wasim whereas here he is quoting texts from past cricketers and refuting the stats to justify the high ranking of Dennis Lille
 
Dennis was an excellent bowler in conditions that were favourable to him like in Aus and England but he was utter failure n subcontinent conditions . There were stories of him faking injuries just to avoid tours to the subcontinent ( Especially India).

Lilee never played a single test in India , averaged 101 with the ball in Pakistan and 35 against Sri Lanka who were Minnows of that time .

His stats give the blatant indication that he was a very one-dimensional bowler and has no chance of being ranked in the Top10 legends of All-Time leave along being ranked above Imran
 
Last edited:
duostyle said:
Robert you’re being such a hypocrite.

You’re (trying) to make Lillee look good by quoting ex cricketers and whatnot, yet in ‘that other thread’, you insist on rating (certain?) players only by their stats. What’s up with that?
Click to expand...

Actually I did employ stats first re: Lillee (355 + 80 wickets).

But the stats argument didn't work seem to work, so I decided to quote Imran instead.

In any event, stats have to be taken in context.

If you look up you will see that I think Lillee is too high on the list. But then other posters started trashing him altogether, which I cannot accept. I saw the man and he was a killer bowler. The "helpful tracks" argument doesn't wash, because of what Imran says: many tracks DK played on in Australia were dead slow, while the English tracks in the seventies helped medium pacer seamers more than flat-out quicks.
 
Last edited:
Fair enough. I still believe we can't rate a player by looking at just their stats. Which is evident looking at some of those 'rankings'.

Anyhow, in my opinion in a sport like cricket, it's almost impossible to say who the greatest cricketer(s) was without being totally unbiased. So I'd rather look at this list as the best 25 in no particular order, just simply 25 great players.
 
Robert said:
Statistically insignificant, then. It's interesting to note that on DKL's three-test series in Pakistan, the first test was a raging bunsen so he didn't bowl much, and the second and third were flat decks where Australia racked up 600 twice in spite of Imram (who also did very little in the series).

It's also interesting to note that the great Sir Viv Richards averaged a good deal less against Australia than overall, mainly because DKL kept getting him out. Like McGrath after him, DKL had a fantastic record against the very best batters.
Click to expand...

Imran averaged 21 against the great West Indians, Lillee averaged 27, Imran wins hands down.
 
Express Pace said:
I can't see Brian Lara on the list, but for some reason can see Sachin Tendulkar.
Click to expand...

Lara used to average 48 odd at that point, while Tendulkar almost 59. Lara had a brilliant 2001, but he really started to get his head back in the game consistently since 2003, and since then scored more than 1000 runs/year every year (bar 2006).

If this list were to be recreated now, I bet Lara would find a place. Same is the case with the great McGrath. I would have picked Ponting as well if not for his extemely average run of scores since 2007.
 
Last edited:
LowkeyP said:
DENNIS LILLEE?! :)))

My God, seriously? Lillee over Miandad, Lara, Ponting? I mean come on. Some of these oldie picks I respect, they did amazing things for their time (Hobbs and co.), but this list is a little overboard with them. Old is not always gold.

Shocking to see Lillee higher than the likes of Imran and SRT too. I mean, seriously?!
Click to expand...

Where does Ponting come into the picture? This list was made in 2001.
 
I made this thread to know the opinion of posters on the Miandad issue that I brought up early in the original thread posy. But people seem to be rather debating about how Akram, Imran, etc should be so much ahead.
 
Last edited:
Yellow Submarine said:
I made this thread to know the opinion of posters on the Miandad issue that I brought up early in the original thread posy. But people seem to be rather debating about how Akram, Imran, etc should be so much ahead.
Click to expand...

Miandad is an underrated legend of Pakistan cricket, I guess people don't mind him not being there because the other modern batters were either heavily devastating (Viv) or accumulated a bucketload of runs (SRT).

But when it comes to bowlers? We know we're top class.

Javed should be there though, had a great cricket brain too. His average never dipped below 50, ever. Not to mention he won us a WC too.
 
AZ said:
I remember the original programs they aired years ago, was fantastic, a real eye-opener.
Click to expand...

yeah, loved em... was so proud and happy at Imran and Wasim's shows, and of course appreciating so many greats of the game

Robert said:
Or maybe they have an historical perspective that youngsters lack.
Click to expand...

haha, quality

engineer said:
Murli, kalis,kumble,
Click to expand...

yeah, true, Kalis would be in that list hands down. Even though I hate the guy (for non cricketing reasons), he is truly great and an amazing record... but we know the list was drawn up a decade ago... agree that the likes of Lara, Waqar should be on there... Murali...contreversial.... where did Kumble come from!! (albeit, his big wicket haul)
 
Lara, Kallis, Inzy & the Lankan 'spinner' should be there in an updated version.
 
perhaps, but this era has so many 50 plus avg batsmen, kinda hard to put them all in there.
 
Yellow Submarine said:
Where does Ponting come into the picture? This list was made in 2001.
Click to expand...

I would put Ponting well below his Aussie postwar contemporaries Chappell, Border and Waugh. He turned into a run machine only after W&W, Ambrose, Walsh and Donald retired. Like Hayden, he was a murderer of average bowling in a flat-track era.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Unbiased-Fan
Australia's 2nd All Time Test XI is better than most of team's regular All Time XI.
Replies
14
Views
799
Ab Fan
Ab Fan
T
Your Top 10 Test all-rounders of all-time
Replies
10
Views
398
Bhaijaan
Bhaijaan
MenInG
POTW: Corridor of Uncertainty
Replies
6
Views
915
James
James
H
5 most intelligent fast or fast-medium bowlers of all time?
Replies
27
Views
2K
sweep_shot
S
T
  • Poll
Test Draft - which of these teams is most likely to win a Test in India?
2 3 4
Replies
300
Views
26K
amit
amit
Back
Top