Technically, the best I’ve seen is Tendulkar, says David Lloyd
London: David Lloyd, who scored a superb unbeaten 214 against India, in his debut series (1974), and later coached England, spoke to The Telegraph on Friday afternoon. Lloyd, now 64, is among the more popular commentators on the circuit. The following are excerpts
Q Who would you name as your five top batsmen, the ones you’ve seen play?
A Brian Lara, Sachin Tendulkar, (Sir) Vivian Richards, Javed Miandad and (Sir) Garry Sobers.
Some words on each of them…
Sobers remains the best cricketer I have seen, an all-round player, a fantastic performer. He hit the ball unbelievably hard. Viv was totally destructive, there was an arrogance about his play. Lara was just a heavy scorer and so beautiful to watch. Tendulkar is a run machine, technically perfect with great powers of concentration and an incredible appetite for the game. Miandad was the box-office type… A street fighter. I loved watching him. He didn’t care too much about playing by the book, but a real battler.
Technically, then, Sachin at the top?
Yes, Technically, the best I’ve seen is Tendulkar.
You must be disappointed that Sachin has just got one fifty to show in this series?
I think Tendulkar will get a hundred here (at The Oval) Yeah, I’m sure of that... Mark my words.
