FazSpin King Warne reveals top 100
September 29th 2008 20:31
Australian Cricket great Shane Warne has revealed his top 100 Test cricketers in a new book called Shane Warne's Century.
The retired Australian spinning legend released an almost identical list in The Times last year and was criticised back home for not including the likes of Adam Gilchrist and Steve Waugh in his top 10.
The duo once again didn't make the grade for the top 10 and Warne says he didn't base his list on statistics.
"I apologise if I've forgotten anyone," Warne told The Times ahead of the book's release.
"It was very hard but it was not about statistics, I don't worry about averages."
On his decision to include Mark Waugh ahead of his brother Steve, Warne said: "Steve's numbers are better, but Mark is graceful and I'd rather watch him.
"I can't be wrong. It's my opinion."
Indian batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar kept his place as Warne's No 1 cricketer.
West Indies duo Brian Lara and Curtly Ambrose and Australia's Allan Border and Glenn McGrath complete the top five.
"Tendulkar has a touch of genius about him," Warne wrote. "But I wonder if people appreciate the amount of time he spends working on his game.
Sachin plans well before every tour. Before our tour to India in 1998, he had the nets deliberately roughed up outside leg stump so that the practice bowlers would be able to replicate my spin from around the wicket."
Graham Gooch is the highest-ranked Englishman at No 14 while current England captain Kevin Pietersen comes in at No 33.
"There is no doubt in my mind that Kevin Pietersen can become the best batsman in the world," Warne wrote.
"There will be no doubt in his mind, either. He's not far away now! He has bags of confidence, and, let's be honest, he has a lot to be confident about. Not many batsmen can average almost 50 in Test cricket but still look as though they are capable of better."
South Africa skipper Graeme Smith, who wasn't included in the previous Top 50, features at No 44.
"You can know an opponent as a cricketer but you only start to know him as a bloke when you play in the same side. As it turned out, the Graeme Smith I played alongside for the Rajasthan Royals in 2008 was different to the Graeme Smith I faced in the Test arena.
"At Test level, I reckon Smith could now be on the verge of something pretty special. South Africa have the makings of a side that can challenge Australia. "
Shane Warne's top 100
100 Jamie Siddons
99 Andrew Caddick
98 Graham Thorpe
97 Shahid Afridi
96 Sourav Ganguly
95 Moin Khan
94 Devon Malcolm
93 Arjuna Ranatunga
92 Monty Panesar
91 Graeme Hick
90 Inzamam-ul-Haq
89 Jack Russell
88 Mushtaq Ahmed
87 Gary Kirsten
86 Ian Bishop
85 Chris Gayle
84 Simon Jones
83 Paul Reiffel
82 Craig McMillan
81 Greg Matthews
80 Darren Berry
79 Mark Boucher
78 Stuart Clark
77 VVS Laxman
76 Shane Watson
75 Mahela Jayawardene
74 Shane Bond
73 Mike Gatting
72 John Wright
71 Darren Gough
70 Richie Richardson
69 Alec Stewart
68 Jonty Rhodes
67 Harbhajan Singh
66 Hansie Cronje
65 Carl Hooper
64 Shivnarine Chanderpaul
63 Daniel Vettori
62 Mike Atherton
61 Desmond Haynes
60 Mike Hussey
59 Craig McDermott
58 Andrew Symonds
57 Tim May
56 Damien Martyn
55 Mohammad Azharuddin
54 Michael Vaughan
53 Mohammad Yousuf
52 Brian McMillan
51 Chris Cairns
50 Stephen Harmison
49 Dilip Vengsarkar
48 Dean Jones
47 Robin Smith
46 Justin Langer
45 Ravi Shastri
44 Graeme Smith
43 Kapil Dev
42 Stuart MacGill
41 Sanath Jayasuriya
40 Stephen Fleming
39 Michael Slater
38 Michael Clarke
37 Bruce Reid
36 Allan Donald
35 Virender Sehwag
34 Shoaib Akhtar
33 Kevin Pietersen
32 Darren Lehmann
31 Waqar Younis
30 Andrew Flintoff
29 Saeed Anwar
28 Shaun Pollock
27 Jason Gillespie
26 Steve Waugh
25 Andy Flower
24 Brett Lee
23 Kumar Sangakkara
22 Martin Crowe
21 David Boon
20 Rahul Dravid
19 Aravinda de Silva
18 Merv Hughes
17 Jacques Kallis
16 Adam Gilchrist
15 Matthew Hayden
14 Graham Gooch
13 Anil Kumble
12 Mark Taylor
11 Courtney Walsh
10 Ian Healy
9 Mark Waugh
8 Ricky Ponting
7 Muttiah Muralitharan
6 Wasim Akram
5 Glenn McGrath
4 Allan Border
3 Curtly Ambrose
2 Brian Lara
1 Sachin Tendulkar
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Comment by Lady Henrietta Muddling
Potter in a Harry
To even put Healey in the Top 20, let alone rank him above Glichrist? Sour grapes don't make for a good bottle of wine? Or a good read of a wine label? Unless you're into botyritis and branch rot?
Gilchrist changed the way wicket-keeper/batsman approach the game in much the same way as Warnie changed the way spinners approach the game. Warnie needs to learn to give credit where it's due.
He was and still is a great cricketer, but he's as big a dickhead when it comes to lists as he is in his off-field life. He's probably rank some English phone slut ahead of his wife and mother of his children.
Comment by Anonymous
Strong words mate. Indeed Gilchrist does deserve a big mention for the way he not only played the game, but the way he entertained the people around him in the process.
One thinks Warnie and Gilly are not the best mates though. Why?