Your favourite very good/great cricketers who weren't superstars

[hk031992]

In today's era, guys like Smith, Kohli, Stokes etc are genuine stars. When i was growing up, there were many like Twndulkar, Ponting, Gilchrist, Warne etc.

Who are your all time favourite cricketers who weren't necessarily "superstars" but whom you would consider very good/great?

Mine:

Damien Martyn- wonderful elegant player. His batting in spin friendly places like India and Sri Lanka was superb. Equally good in tests and odi's. Good vs pace as well. A great contributor to a great Australian side.

Jason Gillespie- often so good that guys couldn't even get bat on ball. A little unlucky not to pick up more wickets. He was especially brilliant in India in 04 when IMO he was their best bowler in that series. Like Martyn, he was a great contributor to Australia.

Neil Wagner- quite an overachiever IMO. I think he will go down as one of the finest fast bowlers of this era as well as a NZ great. His relentlessness and refusal to quit is amazing. How a guy bowling short balls at 135 kph is able to dominate so many quality batsmen is beyond me.

Jonty Rhodes- i would pay just to watch him field. He was a fine batsmen too. A terrific overall player.

VVS Laxman- scored runs when it mattered the most. Very elegant too. I would probably pick him in an all time Indian XI.

 

[pillionrider]

I consider the Fab 5 + Yuvraj (in ODIs) superstars, so:
India - Ajit Agarkar , Javagal Srinath, Irfan Pathan, Anil Kumble, Zaheer Khan, Suresh Raina, Vinod Kambli, Azharuddin, Dinesh Karthik.

Australia: Jason Gillespie, Mark Waugh, Michael Slater, Andrew Symonds, Phil Hughes.

Pakistan: Ijaz Ahmed, Mohammad Sami, Mohammad Asif, Imran Nazir, Umar Akmal, Abdul Razzaq

England: Darren Gough, Steve Harmison, Marcus Trescothick, Alec Stewart, Ian Bell

West Indies: Marlon Samuels, Ricardo Powell, Dwayne Smith

New Zealand: Shane Bond, Jessie Ryder

South Africa: Herschelle Gibbs, Lance Klusener (probably a superstar, so doesn't count)

Sri Lanka: Aravinda de Silva (Superstar in his country i suppose)

Bangladesh: Mohammad Ashraful

Zimbabwe: Heath Streak

 

[Robert]

England: Willis, Edmonds, Gatting, Gower, Dilley, Cowans, Fraser, Caddick, Stewart

WI: Desi Haynes

Australia: David Hookes, Wayne Phillips

NZ: Jeremy Coney, Lance Cairns

Sri Lanka: Siddath Wettimuny

India: Vengsarkar, Srikkanth, Binny, Maninder

SA: Gary Kirsten

Pakistan: Mudassar Nazar

 

[Ab Fan]

Herschelle Gibbs although he can be termed as superstar. Really loved watching him bat and field.

 

[hitthestump]

What is the definition of superstar?

 

[Hyperion66]

I consider the Fab 5 + Yuvraj (in ODIs) superstars, so:
India - Ajit Agarkar , Javagal Srinath, Irfan Pathan, Anil Kumble, Zaheer Khan, Suresh Raina, Vinod Kambli, Azharuddin, Dinesh Karthik.

Australia: Jason Gillespie, Mark Waugh, Michael Slater, Andrew Symonds, Phil Hughes.

Pakistan: Ijaz Ahmed, Mohammad Sami, Mohammad Asif, Imran Nazir, Umar Akmal, Abdul Razzaq

England: Darren Gough, Steve Harmison, Marcus Trescothick, Alec Stewart, Ian Bell

West Indies: Marlon Samuels, Ricardo Powell, Dwayne Smith

New Zealand: Shane Bond, Jessie Ryder

South Africa: Herschelle Gibbs, Lance Klusener (probably a superstar, so doesn't count)

Sri Lanka: Aravinda de Silva (Superstar in his country i suppose)

Bangladesh: Mohammad Ashraful

Zimbabwe: Heath Streak

Sami, Nazir, Dwayne Smith very good/great cricketers? Also not sure if Gibbs, Waugh and Symonds fit the profile, they were actually pretty big names.

 

[Mesozoic]

Daniel Vettori

 

[ishtiaq_ctg]

Aus: Steve Waugh, Mike hussey
Eng: Thorpe, Trott,
Ind: VVS, Robin Singh
Pak: Misbah(everyone else acts as superstars)
Lanka: Vaas
Bangla: Mahmudullah (Everyone else a superstar like Pakistan)
SA: Kirsten, Philander, Morkel
WI: Chanderpaul,
NZ: Chris Cairns(Was he a superstar?)

 

[andy0204]

S.A-Pollock,Ashwell Prince,Andrew Hall,Daryll Cullinan.

Aus-Bichel,Kasprowicz,Hogg.

Srilanka-Attapatu, Chandimal

Pakistan-Yousuf,Azhar Mahmood.

England-Matthew Hoggard,Graham Thorpe,Michael Atherton.

Nz-Fleming,Nathan Astle,Vettori.

India-Murali Vijay, Sreesanth,Srinath,VVS.

WI-Carl Hooper, Courtney Walsh, Chanderpaul, Jerome Taylor

 

[Ab Fan]

Herschelle Gibbs although he can be termed as superstar. Really loved watching him bat and field.

Herschelle Gibbs is also Virat Kohli's favourite player.

 

[Hitman]

Was a big fan of Damien Martyn. Liked him more than Ponting at one point.

 

[Hitman]

Mark Waugh is another player I liked a lot.

 

[ElRaja]

abdur rehman - underrated spinner, supported saeed ajmal really well and rarely bowled bad spells
simon jones - injury ruined his career, but at his peak he was the kinda bowler i wish pak produced
thilan samaraweera - underrated test batsmen who had sanga and mahela steal the limelight more often than not
justin langer and gary kirsten, tough as nails and old school gritty opening batsmen

 

[Firebat]

Was Hashim Amla ever a superstar? Maybe, but if not, I'd certainly choose him. Felt he never reached that same superstar status that others in his side did, like Kallis, G Smith, ABdV, Steyn.

 

[MHN1293]

Tim southee.

 

[SpiritOf1903]

Nathan Astle,McMillan

 

[Hitman]

Nathan Astle,McMillan

Loved watching him bat. In my opinion, he underachieved.

 

[Rohan]

Shoaib Akhtar the cricketer, not the analyst or youtuber

 

[Rana]

Shoaib Akhtar the cricketer, not the analyst or youtuber

Shoaib was a superstar.

 

[Suleiman]

Courtney Walsh.

Idk if he’s ATG or not, but probably not in the same class as other West Indian pace legends.

Great personality and attitude. He was aggressive and intimidating without trying to come off macho. Also my favorite bowling action along with Wasim Akram.

 

[RajBan]

India - VVS for playing some ATG knocks while not getting same attention as Sachin, Dravid , Ganguly, Sehwag
Pakistan - Moin Khan , always think he has been a very gritty player among all the Anwars , Inzamam, Akrams

 

[happydavy]

Graeme Smith

 

[King_Kohli]

Herschelle Gibbs although he can be termed as superstar. Really loved watching him bat and field.

Agree.
What a player he was.

 

[King_Kohli]

Adding few more...

Atapattu
Carl Hooper
Hafeez
Collingwood

 

[rhony]

Although he was a superstar, he was never considered as great as Sachin or Painting or Lara. My absolute fav was Sanath Jayasuriya. The man who defined ODI opening batting. He absolutely destroyed the bowing attacks and was very very entertaining. In the age of a single after a boundary was considered "sensible batting", he would just steam roll opponents ball after ball was just fascinating.

 

[pillionrider]

Sami, Nazir, Dwayne Smith very good/great cricketers? Also not sure if Gibbs, Waugh and Symonds fit the profile, they were actually pretty big names.

The OP allowed for favorite players. Else Ricardo Powell surely can't be there as a great in my view

To me, Brett Lee was a superstar. Mark Waugh was a fan favourite, but not a superstar.

 

[Chrish]

Vvs

 

[Mamoon]

It is a bit difficult to decide who qualifies as a superstar and who doesn’t. I want to name Gibbs but he was a superstar in his time by some measure. He was very popular.

Loved the likes of Martyn, Kirsten, Langer, Bell, Srinath, Carl Hooper etc. Too many to name I guess.

 

[Mamoon]

At the moment, Van Der Dussen easily. I think he is a phenomenal player.

 

[PakLFC]

Abdur Razzaq at his peak.

 

[Finisher]

Brendan Taylor
Shaiman Anwar
Rana Navid
Herschelle Gibbs
Heath Streak
Darren Gough
Graham Thorpe
Makhaya Ntini
Sreesanth
Chris Cairns

 

[Super Santi]

Suresh Raina - Played a lot of good ODI knocks for India, good S/R. Unselfish, seemed like a good team-mate.
BJ Watling - Played lots of gritty and important knocks for NZ.
Vernon Philander - Loved watching him bowl, also very talented with the bat.
Morne Morkel - Better than his stats suggest. Quick, got bounce, awkward to play, beat the bat a lot.
Jason Holder - Good all-rounder, seems like a nice guy and a decent captain.
Darren Sammy - Liked his personality and also a good captain.
Samaraweera - Good support for Sangakkara and Jayawardene
Ishant - Good fitness levels, never stops running in, also slightly better than his stats suggest.
Trescothick - Liked his aggression, good 2005 Ashes performance.
Mohamed Asif - Loved watching him bowl, waste of a career.
Van der Dussen - Always looks good when he bats, seems like an underachiever.
Chris Rogers - Did very well despite coming into the Australian team when old.

Asad Shafique - Enjoyed watching him bat, thought he had talent. Thought he would have had a more successful career.

 

[wajid]

Yasir Hameed while he lasted was very good and pleasing. Especially he start. Same with shabbir ahmed.

Daren gough, Lance klusner, srinath,

 

[Hasan123]

Faf Du Plesies
Ian Bell
Justin Langer
Michael Atherton
Stephen Fleming
Misbah Ul Haq
Azhar Ali
Michael Clarke

 

[sshakir411]

Thilan Samaraweera
Saurav Ganguly
Darren Lehman
Wavell Hinds

 

[Bigboii]

Current Player
Hasan Ali
Neesham

 

[Bilal_103]

Andrew symonds

 

[andy0204]

Mark Taylor

 

[Kingpin786]

Current Player
Hasan Ali
Neesham

Muhammad Shami

 

[AAli98]

Boeta Dippenaar Anwar Ali

 

[Amirforpresident]

Evan Lewis

 

[Gullycricket]

Stephen Fleming
Michael Vaughan
Brad Hogg
Salman Butt
Strauss

 

[Shoaibbtt]

Taufeeq Umar

 

[Mamoon]

I was amazed to see Neil Johnson open the batting and bowling for Zimbabwe in the 99 World Cup.

I was very young then and he became my favorite cricketer for a very period.

I also enjoyed watching Adam Parore play, but McCullum made people forget about his existence.

 

[Kaka4pope]

Yousuf, not a superstar though had tremendous pedigree, no one made even dabbing the ball into gaps for singles look so good. Surely the most watchable batsman of his era.

 

[Rayyman]

Ryan Ten Doeschate

 

[shujaatraza]

Imran Nazir

 

[JibranAnsari]

sachin tendulker , an unnderrated player. Definitely deserved to be a superstar.

 

[hoshiarpurexpress]

Neil Johnson .. Really good allrounder.. Had he played for England/Australia he would have been a top draw.

Vinod Kambli- Destructive batsman who self destructed his career.

Yousuf Youhana - Really classy player. Loved watching him bat.

Vaas - Tried to copy his action a lot even as right hander.

Astle - What a destructive batsman.

But my first memories of watching cricket on TV was 1996 WC and New Zealand vs Australia game, and this guy named Chris Harris was batting and then bowling.. and i fell in love with his bowling action.
Man.. a true dibbly dobbly and what an action to copy...
played so many school games with hard ball with that action and got some wickets too... lots of swing in winter mornings..

 

[Last Monetarist]

Robin Smith.

 

[sa88]

VVS Laxman. What a player!
Also honourable mentions for Mike Atherton and Alec Stewart.

 

[Bilal7]

From non-Pakistani players:

Shane Bond. The world lost a genuinely great bowler to injury. If I was to be a fast bowler, I'd model my bowling after this guy. Pace, swing, seam, bounce, accuracy, variations and charisma; Bond had it all. If he was a Pakistani bowler, Pakpassion would still be filled with threads bemoaning his loss.

Moeen Ali is another who I feel is very underrated. For someone who has been shifted up and down the batting order and played a variety of roles with the ball, it's no wonder his stats are underwhelming. However, anyone who has followed his career knows that he is a very good player and a great person.

 

[sajjad786]

Ijaz Ahmed

 

[last_knight]

Darren Gough

Mushtaq Ahmed
Ashley Giles