Warnie's Top 50

As everyone is surely now aware, Shane Warne has named the 50 greatest cricketers that he's played with or against. As these lists (and Warnie himself) always do, it is bound create discussion and controversy. Here are a few points I found interesting about the list.

1. Two non test cricketers make the list in Jamie Siddons and Darren Berry. No surprise that they are both Victorians. I think Warnie has let personal biases influence some of his rankings, which he is perfectly entitled to do......... it is his list. During his playing career Siddons was thought to be the best player in Australia not to have played test cricket. He did play one ODI though. Berry was the Chris Read of Australian cricket, regarded as the best gloveman in the country, but his batting let him down. I saw the leg side stumping from Reiffel and rate it as possibly the single most brilliant thing I've seen on a cricket field........big call I know.

2. Waqar Younis at number 45 and Merv Hughes at 18...........please! This is another example of Warnie's personal bias. No one doubts that Merv (another Victorian) was an excellent bowler but he shouldn't be on the same page as Waqar, let alone 27 places ahead of him.

3. He rates Tim May better than Stuart MacGill. Few people would be better placed to make this judgement than Warne, having bowled many long spells in tandem with each of them, but I disagree.

4. Gilchrist at 20, Healy at 10. There is no doubt that Heals was a better gloveman the Gilly, but as a cricketer, surely Gilly's batting gives him the edge. Not just the number of runs he scores, but the way he scores them. Also, I think Gilly's glovework is under rated.

5. I'm also a little surprised that Ponting is as low as 8. Though to be fair, all seven above him are quality cricketers, so I'll let that one pass.

6. I think the one that has caused the most discussion (in Australia at least) is the ranking of Steve Waugh at 26, behind such names as Darren Lehman and Stephen Fleming. I heard someone mention on a talk back radio show that Warne has held a grudge against Waugh ever since he was dropped in favour of MacGill for a test in the Caribbean in 1999. I have no idea if there is any truth to this, but it seems strange for Waugh to be so low on the list. Also Warnie's explanation that Waugh was a match saver rather than a match winner just doesn't wash. There are numerous occasions when Waugh has won Australia matches, and really, how often was Australia in a situation where he was required to bat out a day to save a match.

Anyone else have any comments on the list?