Wisden 100

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The Wisden 100 is a set of lists created by Wisden 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 Test list was released in 2001 and the ODI list was released in 2002.

The ratings were calculated by scoring each individual batting and bowling performance in various criteria. Apart from the player's actual score or figures, criteria which were taken into account included the strength of the opposition players, the quality of the pitch, the result of the match, and what the player's contribution to this result was.[1][2] The maximum possible rating was 300.

Contents

[edit] Test cricket

Harbhajan, pictured here bowling in the nets, was one of only two players to have four bowling performances in the top 100.
Harbhajan, pictured here bowling in the nets, was one of only two players to have four bowling performances in the top 100.

The Wisden 100 list for Test cricket was released on 26 July 2001.

The top-rated batting performance was Donald Bradman's 270 for Australia against England at Melbourne in the 1936-37 Ashes series. 5 of Bradman's innings appeared in the top 100, more than any other batsman.

The top-rated bowling performance was Hugh Tayfield's 9/113 for South Africa against England at Johannesburg in the 1956-57 series. Curtly Ambrose and Harbhajan Singh each had 4 performances in the top 100, more than any other bowler.

[edit] Top 10 Batting performances

Rank Batsman Score For Against Venue Season Rating
1 Donald Bradman 270 Australia England Melbourne 1936-37 262.4
2 Brian Lara 153* West Indies Australia Bridgetown 1998-99 255.2
3 Graham Gooch 154* England West Indies Leeds 1991 252.0
4 Ian Botham 149* England Australia Leeds 1981 240.8
5 Donald Bradman 299* Australia South Africa Adelaide 1931-32 236.8
6 V. V. S. Laxman 281 India Australia Kolkata 2000-01 234.8
7 Clem Hill 188 Australia England Melbourne 1897-98 234.2
8 Azhar Mahmood 132 Pakistan South Africa Durban 1997-98 232.6
9 Kim Hughes 100* Australia West Indies Melbourne 1981-82 229.7
10 Brian Lara 375 West Indies England St. John's 1993-94 228.1

For the full list, see Top 100 Batsmen (Test) at Rediff.com.

[edit] Top 10 Bowling performances

Rank Bowler Figures For Against Venue Season Rating
1 Hugh Tayfield 9/113 South Africa England Johannesburg 1956-57 253.9
2 Anil Kumble 10/74 India Pakistan Delhi 1998-99 248.6
3 Jim Laker 10/53 England Australia Manchester 1956 241.7
4 Jack White 8/126 England Australia Adelaide 1928-29 238.8
5 Richard Hadlee 9/52 New Zealand Australia Brisbane 1985-86 237.1
6 Devon Malcolm 9/57 England South Africa The Oval, London 1994 234.4
7 Bob Willis 8/43 England Australia Leeds 1981 226.1
8 Hedley Verity 8/43 England Australia Lord's, London 1934 225.1
9 Bill O'Reilly 7/54 Australia England Trent Bridge 1934 224.3
10 Graham McKenzie 8/71 Australia West Indies Melbourne 1968-69 224.1

For the full list, see Top 100 Bowlers (Test) at Rediff.com.

[edit] Controversy

Despite his highly impressive career record, not one of Sachin Tendulkar's innings appeared in the top 100 batting performances. His omission was strongly criticised by fans and many sections of the media in India.[3] Wisden defended the list stating that performances which majorly contributed to victories received a much larger weighting than those in which the match was drawn or lost. Tendulkar's most important innings had usually come in draws and defeats which received a lower weighting.[4]

The list also received general criticism from a few leading sports editors.[5]

[edit] Updating the list

The list has had no official updated release since its inception. However, shortly after the list's release, Wisden stated that Mark Butcher's match-winning innings of 173* in the 4th Test of the 2001 Ashes series placed him in 48th place on the batting list with a rating of 200.8.[6]

[edit] ODI cricket

Following the success of the list for Test cricket, the Wisden 100 list for ODI cricket was released on 1 February 2002.

The top-rated batting performance was Viv Richards' 189* for West Indies against England at Manchester in 1984. 7 of Richards' innings appeared in the top 100, more than any other batsman.

The top-rated bowling performance was Gary Gilmour's 6/14 for Australia against England at Leeds in 1975. Waqar Younis appears 9 times in the top 100, more than any other player.

[edit] Top 10 Batting performances

Rank Batsman Score For Against Venue Year Rating
1 Viv Richards 189* West Indies England Manchester 1984 257.59
2 Viv Richards 138* West Indies England Lord's, London 1979 245.76
3 Sanath Jayasuriya 189 Sri Lanka India Sharjah 2000 245.33
4 Kapil Dev 175* India Zimbabwe Tunbridge Wells 1983 241.87
5 Saeed Anwar 194 Pakistan India Chennai 1997 225.62
6 David Gower 158 England New Zealand Brisbane 1983 219.84
7 Brian Lara 169 West Indies Sri Lanka Sharjah 1995 215.21
8 Aravinda de Silva 107* Sri Lanka Australia Lahore 1996 212.91
9 Clive Lloyd 102 West Indies Australia Lord's, London 1975 209.84
10 Brian Lara 153 West Indies Pakistan Sharjah 1993 204.46

For the full list, see Top 100 Batsmen (ODI) at Rediff.com.

[edit] Top 10 Bowling performances

Rank Bowler Figures For Against Venue Year Rating
1 Gary Gilmour 6/14 Australia England Leeds 1975 205.56
2 Aaqib Javed 7/37 Pakistan India Sharjah 1991 202.25
3 Waqar Younis 7/36 Pakistan England Leeds 2001 181.34
4 Chaminda Vaas 8/19 Sri Lanka Zimbabwe Colombo 2001 174.94
5 Chaminda Vaas 5/14 Sri Lanka India Sharjah 2000 173.93
6 Joel Garner 5/38 West Indies England Lord's, London 1979 172.78
7 Sunil Joshi 5/6 India South Africa Nairobi 1999 170.66
8 Shaun Pollock 5/36 South Africa Australia Birmingham 1999 161.99
9 Muttiah Muralitharan 7/30 Sri Lanka India Sharjah 2000 160.02
10 Madan Lal 3/31 India West Indies Lord's, London 1983 158.50

For the full list, see Top 100 Bowlers (ODI) at Rediff.com.

[edit] Updating the list

As with the Test cricket list, this list has had no official updated release since its inception. However, Wisden stated that Ricky Ponting's 140* against India in the 2003 World Cup final placed him 2nd on the batting list.[7]

[edit] All-time lists

Following the launch of the top Test and ODI performances lists, Wisden received many requests asking whether it was possible to create a ranking list of all-time great players by using the same formula and examining the average rating each player received per innings. Including a weighting for players with longer careers, Wisden arrived at the lists below.[8] In Tests, Donald Bradman was the clear leader in the batting category and Malcolm Marshall as ranked as the top bowler. In the ODI section, Viv Richards and Wasim Akram were the top-ranked players.

[edit] Top 5 Test batsmen

Rank Batsman Rating
1 Flag of Australia Donald Bradman 1349.0
2 Flag of the West Indies Cricket Board Garfield Sobers 921.5
3 Flag of England Walter Hammond 913.9
4 Flag of the West Indies Cricket Board Vivian Richards 912.0
5 Flag of England Jack Hobbs 911.2

[edit] Top 5 Test bowlers

Rank Bowler Rating
1 Flag of the West Indies Cricket Board Malcolm Marshall 1320.4
2 Flag of Australia Dennis Lillee 1232.9
3 Flag of Australia Shane Warne 1209.3
4 Flag of Australia Bill O'reilly 1195.8
5 Flag of New Zealand Richard Hadlee 1184.8

For the full Top 10 list for Test cricket, see All-time W100 Test Top 10s at Cricinfo.com.

[edit] Top 5 ODI batsmen

Rank Batsman Rating
1 Flag of the West Indies Cricket Board Viv Richards 1137.3
2 Flag of Australia Michael Bevan 1132.5
3 Flag of India Sachin Tendulkar 1040.9
4 Flag of Australia Ricky Ponting 1022.1
5 Flag of the West Indies Cricket Board Brian Lara 1019.9

[edit] Top 5 ODI bowlers

Rank Bowler Rating
1 Flag of Pakistan Wasim Akram 1223.5
2 Flag of South Africa Allan Donald 1180.1
3 Flag of Pakistan Waqar Younis 1167.1
4 Flag of Australia Glenn McGrath 1165.9
5 Flag of the West Indies Cricket Board Joel Garner 1160.7

For the full Top 10 list for ODI cricket, see All-time W100 ODI Top 10s at Cricinfo.com.

[edit] Other lists

The same methodology was used to rank each player's overall performance in the 2003 Cricket World Cup. In this list, the top batsman was Sachin Tendulkar[9] and the top bowler was Glenn McGrath.[10]

[edit] References

  1. ^ The Selection Criteria (Test). Rediff.com.
  2. ^ The Selection Criteria (ODI). Rediff.com.
  3. ^ "India miffed as Wisden snubs Tendulkar", Thatscricket, 2001-07-27. Retrieved on 2006-12-11. 
  4. ^ "Tendulkar rumpus: our man responds", Cricinfo.com, 2001-08-01. Retrieved on 2006-12-11. 
  5. ^ "Wisden Online or Offline?", The Hindu, 2001-08-14. Retrieved on 2007-01-05. 
  6. ^ "Butcher storms the top 50", Cricinfo.com, 2001-08-21. Retrieved on 2006-12-11. 
  7. ^ "Ponting powers to the top", Cricinfo.com, 2003-03-24. Retrieved on 2007-01-05. 
  8. ^ "The best of the best", Cricinfo.com, 2002-12-10. Retrieved on 2007-01-05. 
  9. ^ "WC 2002-03 rankings - batting", Cricinfo.com, 2003-03-25. Retrieved on 2007-01-05. 
  10. ^ "WC 2002-03 rankings - bowling", Cricinfo.com, 2003-03-25. Retrieved on 2007-01-05. 

[edit] External links