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Viv Richards is the ODI GOAT, not Sangakkara

Kumar Sangakkara was named as the best ODI player of all-time in a recent Cricket Australia poll. (AFP Photo/William West)
Expert
19th May, 2016
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2338 Reads

Sri Lankan champion Kumar Sangakkara was this week named the greatest ODI player of all-time in a huge poll on the Cricket Australia website. As extraordinary a player as he was, Sangakkara wouldn’t get my vote.

In fact, I wouldn’t even rate him the best keeper-batsman in the game’s history – he’d trail both India’s MS Dhoni and Australian Adam Gilchrist in that regard.

The cricket.com.au poll produced some strange results. Formatted as a knockout tournament, with pairs of players pitted against each other, it saw Sangakkara win the final against Indian maestro Sachin Tendulkar.

Quite bizarrely, Sri Lankan Sanath Jayasuriya pushed into the semi-finals, making it deeper than up to a dozen patently superior ODI players. Only one Australian qualified for the final eight, with Shane Warne losing that contest to Sangakkara after knocking out fellow spinner Muttiah Muralitharan in the previous round.

Warne’s win prompted an outcry from Muralitharan fans who argued that his ODI record was far superior, as evidenced by his career bowling average of 23 compared to Warne’s mark of 26.

But here’s the thing – Murali’s bowling averages in both ODIs and Tests are misleading. They are skewed significantly by the huge amount of cricket he played against very weak opposition and the way he dominated in those matches.

Take Murali’s ODI career, for example. Against minnow nations Bermuda, Canada, Ireland, UAE, Zimbabwe, Bangladesh, Kenya and the Netherlands, Muralitharan ran amok, reaping 120 wickets at an average of 13.

Warne had far fewer matches against minnows, taking just 29 wickets at 21. We get a much more accurate picture of their careers by removing these minnow hauls, which leaves both players with a career average of 26, Murali’s from 403 wickets and Warne’s from 264 wickets.

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It’s the same story when it comes to their Test records. Remove Murali’s 176 wickets at 15 against easybeats Zimbabwe and Bangladesh and his record is 619 wickets at 25, compared to Warne’s 691 wickets at 25.

Anyway, that’s a bit of a statistical diversion. I want to get back to Sangakkara who won ahead of the man who I would pick as my ODI GOAT – Sir Viv Richards.

First, let’s consider Richards’ all-round ability. He is considered one of the greatest fielders cricket has seen, possessed of agility, pace, safe hands and a deadly arm. He also was a very useful off-spinner, taking 118 wickets at 36, while offering variety to the pace-heavy Windies attack.

But, of course, it was his ballistic batsmanship which stood out. His career record of 6721 runs at an average of 47 and a strike rate of 90 look fantastic at first glance. Considered in proper context, however, they are utterly extraordinary – equivalent to a modern-day batsman averaging 55 at a strike rate of 115.

How is it equivalent? Well, that is just a rough estimation, admittedly. But in Richards’ era – from 1975 to 1991 – run-scoring was nowhere near as prolific. A batting average of 40 was considered absolutely elite, whereas today the best players average in the high 40s to early 50s.

Richards’ strike rate also was a true outlier. Compare his strike rate of 90 to other leading batsmen of that era – Desmond Haynes (63), Ramiz Raja (63), Richie Richardson (64), Gordon Greenidge (65), David Boon (65), Javed Miandad (67), Allan Border (71) and Dean Jones (72). For his strike rate to be so far above these outstanding batsmen is indicative of what a freak Richards was.

Here are my top ten ODI players of all time:

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1. Viv Richards (West Indies)
2. Wasim Akram (Pakistan)
3. Sachin Tendulkar (India)
4. Imran Khan (Pakistan)
5. AB de Villiers (South Africa)
6. Adam Gilchrist (Australia)
7. MS Dhoni (India)
8. Jacques Kallis (South Africa)
9. Kumar Sangakkara (Sri Lanka)
10. Glenn McGrath (Australia)

My all-time World ODI XI:

1. Sachin Tendulkar (India)
2. Adam Gilchrist (Australia)
3. Virat Kohli (India)
4. Viv Richards (West Indies)
5. AB de Villiers (South Africa)
6. Michael Bevan (Australia)
7. Imran Khan (Pakistan)
8. Wasim Akram (Pakistan)
9. Shane Warne (Australia)
10. Waqar Younis (Pakistan)
11. Glenn McGrath (Australia)

Closest misses: Jacques Kallis (South Africa), Joel Garner (West Indies), Muttiah Muralitharan (Sri Lanka), MS Dhoni (India).

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