Atherton all praise for the modern Ws
ESPNcricinfo staff
25-Feb-2013
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Speaking to Tony Becca in the Jamaica Gleaner, former England captain Michael Atherton says Shane Warne was "the outstanding cricketer of my generation".
He mastered the very difficult art of leg-spin bowling, right-arm leg-spin that is, and I believe, based on what he did with the ball, he is the greatest spin bowler that ever lived. I remember the Ashes series in 2005, how brilliantly he bowled. As a great player, he rose to the occasion while some others who were regarded as great players, their performances went down a notch. You knew, whenever you scored runs against him, that you had to be at the top of the game. Apart from his skills, he worked batsmen out. He was a master. He was he a clever bowler, he was a great cricketer. On top of that, he knew the game. In fact, I believe he would have made a great captain.
On the best fast bowlers of his generation, Atherton, who played some great bowlers through his career, says:
Curtly and Courtney were fast, they were accurate and they were difficult to bat against; but I believe, generally, that Waqar and Wasim were the best of the lot, the best of my time.
Mathew Varghese is sub-editor (stats) at Cricinfo