Colin Croft's Picks - Best Performers Colin Croft - 29 May 1999 Best bowler For me, there are probably four bowlers, all incidentally faster bowlers, who have captured the imagination so far in the World Cup. Three are left-handed and one right-handed. They are:
After taking everything into consideration, and allowing for the only requirement being that of bowler, Courtney Walsh has been the best so far in the competition, winning by a short head from Wasim Akram. Best batsman In my mind, India has the two contestants for this position.
I like left-handed batsmen because they always look so very elegant, so my vote goes to Saurav Ganguly. Best wicket-keeper West Indies wicket-keeper, Ridley Jacobs easily takes this position. Already he has 13 dismissals and even features highly in the batting stakes, averaging 78 with his aggregate of 156 runs from four games. The nearest competitor is probably England's Alec Stewart, who has seven dismissals so far and 123 runs aggregate. Stewart's captaincy has not been bad, but from a purely wicket-keeping perspective, Jacobs is tops. Best all-rounder Pakistan's Wasim Akram again comes to mind here. He has a batting strike rate of 155, averaging around 45 runs per innings. His bowling is dynamic, with a strike rate of around 23 balls per wicket and an economy rate of 3.46 runs per over and an average of 15.25 runs per wicket for his 8 wickets in three games. South Africa' Lance Klusener has also had a great impact on the competition. Already, in four games, he has 12 wickets at an average of 10.33 runs per wicket. He also has an aggregate of healthy lower order hitting of 112 runs. He has not yet been dismissed. What a plus he has been for South Africa. So, my best all-rounder is Lance Klusener. Special note: Wasim Akram MUST be the very best overall cricketer at the 1999 Cricket World Cup. While he is not the exact best in any specific category, he features in the very top echelons in the bowling, batting and all-rounder stakes. Therefore, Wasim Akram is obviously the best overall player at the 1999 Cricket World Cup.
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