Two greats of the modern era clash in our round of 64 - who gets your vote?
ODI GOAT: Bond v Ambrose
The #ODIGOAT is cricket.com.au's knockout competition to determine the greatest ODI player of all time. We've selected our top 64 ODI players and now we're asking YOU to do the hard work – that is, narrow it down to one. Set up in much the same way as a tennis tournament, each day you'll see head-to-head match-ups, with the winner of those progressing to the next round to square off with their next challenger. From 64, we'll go to 32, to 16, 8, 4 and ultimately our final. So cast your VOTE and decide just who is the greatest ODI player in history!
SHANE BOND (NEW ZEALAND)
The numbers: Matches: 82 | Wickets: 147 | Average: 20.88 | SR: 29.2 | Economy: 4.28 | BB: 6-19 | 5fa's: 4
Why he makes the list: The only thing more devastating than a Shane Bond yorker was the injury toll the speedster suffered throughout his stop-start international career. While he spent more time off the park than he did on it, when we was at the top of his mark with a white ball in his hand there were few better in the world. He was a dream bowler in almost every regard; lightning fast, hostile and insatiably hungry for wickets. Bond had a license to thrill and thrill he did, using his strong action and extreme pace to regularly cause top-order chaos. He was at his best against his trans-Tasman rivals, taking 44 wickets at 16 against Australia. His strike rate of 29.2 is up there with the best of all time, and his duel with his contemporary Brett Lee lit up the 2003 World Cup. Bond was the finest Black Caps bowler since Richard Hadlee, but back, knees and feet injuries prevented him from fulfilling his potential. What we did see, though, was pure genius.
Performance we loved: Bond was at his peak in the 2003 World Cup. He clocked his fastest ball ever during the tournament, a 156.4kph bullet as New Zealand's spearhead. Up against a rampant Australia, who were yet to lose a match by the Super Six stage, Bond produced a career-best 6-23. The vicious right-arme annihilated Australia's top order, dismissing the likes of Gilchrist, Hayden and Ponting in a furious first act. It was an inspired spell which restricted Ponting's men to 9-208 from 50 overs. At that point 22 of Bond's 47 ODI victims were Australians, striking every 15.5 deliveries and costing 10.45 runs each. But his stunning performance would be in vain, as Lee responded to the gauntlet thrown down by Bond, taking the last five wickets in 15 balls to deliver a crushing 96-run loss.
CURTLY AMBROSE (WEST INDIES)
The numbers: Matches: 176 | Wickets: 225 | Average: 23.52 | SR: 41.5 | Economy: 3.48 | BB: 5-17 | 5fa's: 4
Why he makes the list: Few fast bowlers in world cricket have possessed the intimidation factor of Curtly Ambrose. Standing over his foes like an executioner ready to swing the axe, Ambrose was a terrifying prospect for batsman hoping to first survive then, if they could, dare to score. Delivering his thunderbolts from close to 10ft, it was not just the steepling bounce that made him such a difficult opponent, but the accuracy and dexterity to have the ball on a string. His first year, 1988, was his most lethal, taking 28 wickets in only 15 matches at 15. As the years went on the pace and nip slowly started to face, but when the mood struck, he could flick a switch and return to the brilliant best of his youth.
Performance we loved: It's best not to wake a sleeping lion, but that's what Dean Jones did when he asked Ambrose to take off his white wristbands at the SCG in 1993. Jones thought Ambrose was "trying some sort of camouflage". The six-foot-seven West Indian didn’t see it that way, and was outraged. Ambrose roared to life, destroying the Australians with 5-32, and was particularly savage to Jones, going more after the batsman than his wicket. The towering failed to dismiss his man, but his ferocious spell inspired the Windies to a 25-run win. Nobody ever asked Ambrose to remove his wristbands again.
#ODIGOAT First Round: Tendulkar v Sharma
#ODIGOAT First Round: Akram v Starc
#ODIGOAT First Round: Garner v Donald
#ODIGOAT First Round: Richards v de Silva
#ODIGOAT First Round: Azharuddin v Miandad
#ODIGOAT First Round: Dev v Vettori
#ODIGOAT First Round: Lloyd v Border
#ODIGOAT First Round: Jones v Clarke
#ODIGOAT First Round: Waqar v Johnson
#ODIGOAT First Round: Warne v Kumble
#ODIGOAT First Round: Hooper v S. Waugh
#ODIGOAT First Round: Imran v Hadlee
#ODIGOAT First Round: Lee v Akhtar
#ODIGOAT First Round: M. Waugh v Jayasuriya
#ODIGOAT First Round: De Villiers v Boucher
#ODIGOAT First Round: Lara v Amla
#ODIGOAT First Round: Gilchrist v McCullum
#ODIGOAT First Round: Gayle v Haynes
#ODIGOAT First Round: McGrath v Pollock
#ODIGOAT First Round: Anwar v Ganguly
#ODIGOAT First Round: Sehwag v Greenidge
#ODIGOAT First Round: Ponting v Gibbs
#ODIGOAT First Round: Dhoni v Sangakkara
#ODIGOAT First Round: Inzamam v Kallis
#ODIGOAT First Round: Murali v Hogg
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