Wisden's best performances ever. (do you agree).?

Question

Wisden released a list of records which attempted to objectively rate the 100 best individual innings performances in Test and One Day International cricket in each of the disciplines of batting and bowling.

The best Batting perfomance in test history was (according to Wisden):

Don Bradman's 270 vs England in 1936.

VVS Laxman's match winning 281 vs Australia in Kolkatta came in 6th place behind such knocks as Ian Bothams 149 in the 1981 Ashes series.

For a full list of the records click on this link

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wisden_100#Test_cricket

My Question is, after looking through the records do you agree with the performances that Wisden ranked at the top??

(this was made in 2001)

Answer 1

Well no i dont really agree with the ratings..Where are Alan Border and Shane Warne's names?...

Yes i know they are on the all time listings but no mention in the top ten on batting or bowling?...

Yes i think maybe they do need to update the listings as there are a few names that are not on the list...

Answer 2

the thing is that the guys who vote in these wisden votings are from england ad australia.

they 'll obviously vote for botham and bradman.

laxman came just 'coz some indians voted.

u just ask the same quistion now and the answer will probably be laxman 'coz net users in india has been increased so much now!

and now sachin will come in the list if it was done these days!

thats it!

Answer 3

well starting with the bowling, i think Laker and Kumble should switch, and Willis 8/43 should be higher up Bob Massies 16 on debut would be higher up for me as would Lakers 9-for (25 is a joke people!!)

Batting, laras 375 above mahmood, sobers 365 being at 33 is an absolute joke!, andy flowers 199 not out while single handedly trying (and unfortunately failing) so save his team from defeat after making 142 and the first innings would have made my top 20 but isnt in the 100, also tendulkars hundred in perth when he was 18 would have made my 25 at least!

ODIs are to many to mention cos to much cricket has been played since then

Answer 4

It would seem a bit out of date KooKee! I see some people are upset given Sachin doesn't figure in it, but I'm sure that will change when the next  re-assessment is released by Wisden. However, I think that is a good & fair judgement for the timespan it covered then.

Answer 5

No. Not a single innings of Sachin Tendulkar! His 114 at Perth should have figured in the top 50 at least.

These lists are only meant for publicity. Each individual has his or her own opinion as to the best performances.

Answer 6

There has been lot of Good bowling and bating performances after 2001.

Like Gangulys 80+ match winning Inning agains SA recently.

Gillys 150+ in 2007 WC match.

Viru's quickest 300.

Saeed Anwars 194 back in 1997.

Brian Lara's 400*

there are many more good performances, if you look around.

Answer 7

It would be interesting to see an updated list - one including some of the best performances from the last 7 years.

Answer 8

As you said it is OK but in my opinion the best inning

was of Kapik dev in 1983 world cup 175 not out against

Zimababwe that time India was 6 wicket down on 30

to 40 run exactly I did not remember at that timr if India lost

that match India was out if tournament. After that India picked

up very well and won the world cup of 1983,

Answer 9

As i have not seen other innings i feel Laxman's 281 is the best innings for me..Rahul Dravid sydeny innings was also rated very high.

Answer 10

I can't disagree with that, though I am sure many will. We all have our favourites & I'm sure Wisden tell it the way they see it.

Answer 11

Not one of Sachin Tendulkar's so many great hundreds is in the top 100.

I am not saying 'TOP 10'.

It's 'TOP 100'

No way does Indian ire, in this direction, stem merely from the fact that we are peeved at Sachin Tendulkar's finding no placing in this prestigious Wisden listing. By contrast, Azhar Mahmood's 132 for Pakistan vs South Africa at Durban in 1997-98 wins All- Time no. 8 Wisden citation for its having been hit while that all- rounder ``seemed to be batting too low at no. 7'' against ``South Africa's pace attack'' having ``more depth than at any other time in their history: Allan Donald and Shaun Pollock supported by Fanie de Villiers and Lance Klusener''.

If that pace attack be the criterion, one does feel that Sachin Tendulkar's `going to Cape Town' with 169 (on Saturday, January 4, in the new-year season of 1997) - on a no less temperament- testing Newlands wicket against the quicksilver pace of Allan Donald and Shaun Pollock, Brian McMillan and Lance Klusener - deserved similar Wisden acknowledgment. (If necessary, after drawing Barry Richards' attention to this 169 knock's sustained Test quality on a truly lively pitch abroad, not at home!) After all, in the teeth of South Africa's having put up a total of 529 for 7 (decl.) against 0-1-down India in that January 1997 `core' second Test of the series at Cape Town, Sachin came up with his smash-hit 169 (26 fours; 254 balls), staying right up to the final whistle in our spirited 359 rejoinder staving off the follow-on, ultimately being undone only by the most sensational of boundary-line catches (Adam Bacher). This after Sachin's India (in its response to South Africa's 500-plus) had nosedived to 58 for 5. At this do-or-bye point, Sachin - his technique challenged by some of the most tempestuous pace we have viewed on sophisticated TV - had first, displaying an old head on young shoulders, to rebuild the innings. Thus only after passing his own innings-stabilising 50 could Sachin make bold to unfold the full array of shots in his quiver. How he did that is South African TV history but, evidently, it left Wisden not impressed enough.

An 18 year old guy(Tendulkar) scored a magnificent test hundred against Australian bowlers at Perth.

Wisden hasn't even rated this knock.

No respect for the 119 he scored against England at Old Trafford in 1990 when he was just 17 years old.

How many 17 year old sub-continental batsmen have scored a hundred in England?

Wisden is a joke.

If they have no respect for Sachin Tendulkar then i have no respect for them.

Answer 12

most of the records are before my birth and VVS knock I have seen it to believe.

Answer 13

It takes  all matches played since ages  into account

I have only read about Bradman's gr8 batting,Garry Sobers,

Viv Richards,.......

So,statistically the list  is correct.

Answer 14

Good question Kookee.

Although I cannot comment, but I was surprised to note that there was such a resource. However, strangely I couldnt find Imran Khans (or Wasim bhais)  mention anywhere. Yes, also Inzy and Miandad.

Rehman of Multan

Answer 15

Interesting - that is how Wisden wants define the best one-off

performances, I cannot argue with them. But I am not a great

fan of one-time performances, even though they may be really

great performances. I have seen some of the great

performances like Laxman's 281, Botham's 149, Kapil's 175

and Sunil Joshi's 5/6 and many others. Have not seen any of

the Bradman's innings and only read about them. So my

problem with these one-off are follows:

1. It was a one-off. Nothing to say about other career

performances.

2. It only highlights these one-off, even though other players

may have done more in their careers.

Hence I disagree with the kind of measurement stick they

used in doing so.

To contradict them, let me give the examples of Sunil Joshi.

Even though his 5/6 performance is recognized, what he has

he done in his career. He was an OK bowler and pathetic

fielder and batsman. Mind you that he comes from the same

state that I come from. It is so amazing that none of the 39

test 100s and 42 ODI 100s make the top 100. But if one looks

at his career and see how many runs, 100s he has made

and yet he does not make the Wisden list, where as a player

of Sunil Joshi does. Sorry I am not fan of Wisden.

I wish I could find many more problems, but if I do, I will edit

my answer.

Answer 16

I don't know much about the two Bradman innings, but Lara's 153, where he single handedly defeated Australia in 1999, and Gooch's 154 at Headingley in 1991, are certainly two of the greatest innings ever. Lara's 375 at St John's in 1994 is a bit of a surprise for the top 10 however, as it was done on a flat track in a dead rubber against an already demoralised bowling attack.

Some notable absentee's: Mike Atherton's 185 to save the game in 1995-6 at Johannesburg, and his 98 not out at Nottingham in 1998; Denis Compton's 145 against the rampant Aussies in 1948, blow to the head and all; Eddie Paynter's 1932 Brisbane knock, having arrived at the ground in a taxi from the hospital....and these are just some of my personal favourites!

The thing with these lists, and we see them all the time, not just in cricket, but also the 100 Gretest films/musicals/comedies/sportsmen....the... are all open to debate, and each of us has his own opinion.

Good question (the sort I would ask!)