Cricket’s nearly men

A friend of mine recently wrote a blog about his favorite but unheralded cricketers (http://vatsap.blogspot.com/2008/06/back-to-cricket.html) and I have shamelessly decided to pinch his idea and come up with my own list of cricket’s nearly men. These are cricketers who are immensely talented but somehow did not make the impact commensurate with their talent. I have obviously not included the likes of V V Kumar, Bob Taylor, Sylvester Clarke for I haven’t watched them in action. So here goes my list in no particular order

1) Ian Bishop (West Indies)

Tall, well built and unbelievably quick- this Trinidadian could have delayed the inevitable decline of cricket in the caribbean. I love him even more for the fact that I don’t remember anyone troubling sachin tendulkar more than him. Any write up about Bish would be incomplete without a mention about his 6-40 at the WACA. Thanks to back injuries the world of cricket was deprived of a world class fast bowler.

2) Graeme Hick (England)

I have watched enough county cricket to be certain that he should have been in the same bracket as Lara’s and Tendulkar’s. The man has to be the archetype of unfulfilled talent. I don’t agree with the claims about him being “England’s answer to Bradman” only because I haven’t watched the Don enough. His innings of 405* against Somerset and his famous 309 in under seven hours against the Irish have been raved by everyone who has watched the game I have always thought Hick can be as good as he wants to be- and he turned out to be as good as he wanted. He never wanted it enough! His aversion to the limelight didn’t help his cause. A combination of Ambrose’s short pitched deliveries, Ray Illingworth being an idiot and Atherton’s infamous declaration wrecked a career that could have been so different.

3) Carl Hooper (West Indies)

As an avid supporter of the West Indian cricket and cricket in general there is nothing in modern cricket more frustrating than to see Hoopsy throw his wicket away. Till date the best players of spin bowling (that I have watched) have to be Lara and him. It is an absolute joy to watch him toy with the likes of Kumble and Warne. Cricket is the biggest loser as “Poor man’s Richards” hasn’t fulfilled his true potential.

4) Stuart Macgill (Australia)

Anybody who has picked up over 200 wickets in 44 test matches cannot be branded as unfulfilled potential. But, that explains what the world cricket has missed out on. It is an absolute shame that Stuey was born in the same era as the indomitable Warney. He would have been heralded as a modern great if he was playing for some other country. His inconsistency is unbelievable annoying but we have to bear in mind the fact that leg spin is the most difficult art to master in the world of cricket.

5) Vinod Kambli (India)

It is not out of contempt (towards Sachin) that I keep repeating that Kambli should have been a better batsman than tendulkar. He was prodigiously talented and the cricketing gods have wasted so much time in creating a player who was deemed not good enough for the Indian team Till date this has to be the biggest mistake the Indian cricket authorities have made- Not taking care of Kambli when he needed us most. His double centuries against England and Zimbabwe were the stuff of men against boys at the time when he was not old enough to grow a tasche’. Imagine if he had got the same support that Kaif and Yuvraj had from Ganguly and Dalmiya – he would have plundered attacks, given that he loves batting with Sachin.

6) Laxman Siva Ramakrishnan (India)

What makes the Kambli episode even more frustrating is the fact that we had a similar experience with Siva. Any bowler who can leave Javed Miandad stranded in the middle of the pitch with nonchalant ease has to be an outstanding spinner. The amount of wickets he purchased with full tosses and half volleys explains the dip that he’s got and is something Warne would have loved in his armory. The fact that Sachin wanted him to be his net bowler when he was planning the famous assault against Warne at time when Siva was coming back from his drug addiction is probably the biggest compliment someone can pay to him.

7) Basit Ali (Pakistan)

Basit Ali is the closest someone will ever get to the great Javed Miandad. If he had Javed’s temperament we would have been talking about a modern great and not of a nearly man. His unorthodox style and fearless batting made him one of the most difficult batsmen to bowl at. His 67 ball hundred against the Windies (second fastest then) was one of the best exhibitions of batting against fast bowlers in ODIs. Players like Basit and Kambli reiterate the need of professional set-up in cricket- What could have been?

8) Simon Jones (England)

I can hear you guys saying” One swallow doesn’t make a summer” but I really think this guys was the real deal. Freddie takes a lot of credit for the poms winning the ashes in 2005 but in my opinion it was Simon who made the difference. He was the unfashionable 4th seamer but he always did his job. I remember Boycott mentioning in an interview that he was watching jones bowl from behind the square he could hear the ball thudding into Geriant Jones’s gloves. He was deceptively quick and in my opinion the best exponent of reverse swing after Waqar Younis.

9) Darren Lehmann

Boof has to be one of the most intelligent one day cricketers of the modern era. Apart from his odd moment of brilliance and being one of the best team players his potential was largely unfulfilled. He has scored more than 10,000 runs in Aussie domestic league (which is one of the most competitive leagues and is not like England where every tom dick and harry can amass 10K runs if he plays 100 games) before making his test debut. Warne rates him as a better one day batsman than most of his contemporaries.

10) Shoaib Akthar

Cricket’s most popular bad boy had to make the list. If his will to succeed were as big as his ego or his desire to be in the limelight he would be entered the cricketing history books as one of the best fast bowlers in the modern era. Graham Gooch famously retorted to Ian Botham “Who writes your scripts?”- It would have been even more apt for Akthar- His every comeback is even more dramatic than his downfall. There is always a feeling that Akthar plays cricket for the Camera’s- Perfect for the IPL as my friend keeps reminding me.

Thank you gentle men – You guys have made the sport what it is today- What is sport without these nearly stories. Every time I watch the game I have silently prayed and hoped that this would be the game you will shed you nearly men image and prove to the world your real worth.

Cheers
S