Richards, Warne the greatest I've seen: Bucknor

West Indies umpire Steve Bucknor has said that legendary batsman Sir Vivian Richards and Australian spin wizard Shane Warne are the greatest players he has ever seen in his umpiring career.

Bucknor says Richards, the West Indies master batsman of the 1970s and '80s, was the most "dangerous" to bowlers, while Warne, considered by experts to be the top wrist spinner of all time, was beyond compare when it came to dominating batsmen.

"Viv Richards was the batsman who was the most dangerous, the most explosive," Bucknor was quoted as saying by The Jamaica Observer.

Richards scored 8,540 runs in 121 Tests at an average of 50.23. In 187 one-dayers, he scored 6,721 runs for an average of 47.

"In terms of technique, he wasn't as gifted as some of those playing today. But Sir Viv Richards would have been the batsman that I rated as the one who could destroy any bowling in front of him and he knew how to do it and he did very, very well. It's a pity that I didn't see more of him from 22 yards, but he is the person I rate," said Bucknor.

"I am not saying that he was the best batsman, but he was the most dangerous of them all. He could change a game and he was never playing for statistics, not trying to get to this milestone or that milestone. He tried to give his team a chance of winning. He was there to get runs to get his team to victory, and not sitting around waiting for milestones."

And of Warne, who retired from international cricket in January with a world record 708 Test wickets, Bucknor said that the Australian is "simply the best bowler" he has ever seen.

"On any pitch he can get wickets. He got wickets even when the pitches were fixed against him; he got wickets because of his cricket brain," said Bucknor.

"He (Warne) was the master craftsman, he would literally set the batsman up, set him up and then give him that delivery that could be regarded as unplayable. The one that the batsman just doesn't expect."

A chuckling Bucknor recalled that often Warne would talk about what he planned to do next, loud enough for the umpire to hear.

"Sometimes he says 'come on Shane, get it straight, get it straight', meaning that the next ball is going to be the flipper. Whether or not he is saying to me that he is going to bowl a flipper, or he wants me to know that it is a straight one, I can't say," recalled Bucknor.

"But he bowls so many leg breaks and now he wants to get the ball straight because the batsman is now ready, ready to be had, and then he says to himself come on Shane get it straight. If he gets it right and it hits the pad, he is asking for that leg before decision."

Warne, who retired from one-day internationals more than a year before his exit from Test cricket, took 293 wickets in 194 one-dayers for an average of 25.73 and an economy rate of 4.25.

(IANS)

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