Degrees of separation challenge

[Bedfordshire Bronco]

On a cricket forum someone managed to get from WG Grace's era to today by overlapping players who did or at least could have played at same time. E.g. Gary Sobers started in 1952 but overlapped with Botham who played into 1990s

 Anyone make a decent connection from the past to now of players playing top flight or internationals? Maybe from Billy Batten to now? Or at least Boston to now? I assume Gareth Ellis or Roby will be in most of them !

[Alan Robertson]

I'm guessing this is beatable but I think it's a decent starting point.

Billy Batten 1907-27, Jim Sullivan 1921-46, Ernie Ashcroft 1942-62, Alex Murphy 1956-75, Keith Mumby 1973-95, Keith Senior 1994-2011, James Roby 2004-

[Jughead]

James Roby 2004-

Chris Joynt 1992-2004

Bernard Dwyer 1984-1996

Graham Liptrot 1973-1988

Kel Coslett 1962-1976

Wilf Smith 1955-1969

Steve Llewelyn 1948-1957

Albert Butler 1933-1948

Bob Atkin 1922-1936

Harry Heaton 1911-1925

Jimmy Mavitty 1899-1913

Tom Foulkes 1895-1906

I only used Saints players and did it very quickly but that’s eleven steps between Saints’ first game in 1895 to James Roby. I’m going to attempt to do it in ten or less if I get time. 

[DavidM]

Gus Risman … Stanley Gene … Fuifui Moi Moi … Joseph Sua’ ali’i

[Wiltshire Warrior Dragon]

1 hour ago, DavidM said:

Gus Risman … Stanley Gene … Fuifui Moi Moi … Joseph Sua’ ali’i

Had the Northern Union clubs broken away from the RFU when Stanley Gene first came here to play?

[Alan Robertson]

5 hours ago, Alan Robertson said:

I'm guessing this is beatable but I think it's a decent starting point.

Billy Batten 1907-27, Jim Sullivan 1921-46, Ernie Ashcroft 1942-62, Alex Murphy 1956-75, Keith Mumby 1973-95, Keith Senior 1994-2011, James Roby 2004-

I've thought about it a bit more - I'm still not ruling it out but I'd now be surprised if you can go from Batten to a current player with fewer than 7 players (in total). 

 

Edit/Notes: Jeff Grayshon played a few more years than Keith Mumby and Adrian Morley played longer than Keith Senior but - assuming that Jim Sullivan is included - you'd need to find a player who played from 1946 to 1970 to use only 6 players.

[bobbruce]

1 hour ago, Alan Robertson said:

I've thought about it a bit more - I'm still not ruling it out but I'd now be surprised if you can go from Batten to a current player with fewer than 7 players (in total). 

 

Edit/Notes: Jeff Grayshon played a few more years than Keith Mumby and Adrian Morley played longer than Keith Senior but - assuming that Jim Sullivan is included - you'd need to find a player who played from 1946 to 1970 to use only 6 players.

Roby to Farrell takes you back to 91 which is a few years earlier than Senior. 

[bobbruce]

7 hours ago, Jughead said:

James Roby 2004-

Chris Joynt 1992-2004

Bernard Dwyer 1984-1996

Graham Liptrot 1973-1988

Kel Coslett 1962-1976

Wilf Smith 1955-1969

Steve Llewelyn 1948-1957

Albert Butler 1933-1948

Bob Atkin 1922-1936

Harry Heaton 1911-1925

Jimmy Mavitty 1899-1913

Tom Foulkes 1895-1906

I only used Saints players and did it very quickly but that’s eleven steps between Saints’ first game in 1895 to James Roby. I’m going to attempt to do it in ten or less if I get time. 

Roby Connolly Pinner would get you from 74 - today in 3 players then add in Murphy and you are back to 56 in 4 players. 

[Alan Robertson]

1 hour ago, bobbruce said:

Roby to Farrell takes you back to 91 which is a few years earlier than Senior. 

You're correct but you'd then/still need to cover 46 to 91 with only two players (to reduce to 6 overall).

[bobbruce]

5 hours ago, Alan Robertson said:

You're correct but you'd then/still need to cover 46 to 91 with only two players (to reduce to 6 overall).

Yeah seems so and if you use Mumby you still end up back at the same point. Seems like that is the minimum number 

[Jughead]

9 hours ago, bobbruce said:

Roby Connolly Pinner would get you from 74 - today in 3 players then add in Murphy and you are back to 56 in 4 players. 

Did Roby and Connolly play together for Great Britain, then? I’d only used players who had played for Saints together. 

[bobbruce]

6 hours ago, Jughead said:

Did Roby and Connolly play together for Great Britain, then? I’d only used players who had played for Saints together. 

Fair enough I’ve just looked at players who’s careers have overlapped. 

[The storm]

On 25/06/2022 at 16:48, Jughead said:

James Roby 2004-

Chris Joynt 1992-2004

Bernard Dwyer 1984-1996

Graham Liptrot 1973-1988

Kel Coslett 1962-1976

Wilf Smith 1955-1969

Steve Llewelyn 1948-1957

Albert Butler 1933-1948

Bob Atkin 1922-1936

Harry Heaton 1911-1925

Jimmy Mavitty 1899-1913

Tom Foulkes 1895-1906

I only used Saints players and did it very quickly but that’s eleven steps between Saints’ first game in 1895 to James Roby. I’m going to attempt to do it in ten or less if I get time. 

Now that is impressive