Your dream World XI

[strongmanmike]

I've been having fun watching a few You tube videos of famous cricketers picking their World XI cricket team, using players of their era they had played with or against or those playing now. So I thought I'd try and pick a Test World XI, made up of players I have watched since I started watching cricket in 1979, so over the last 40 odd years. It was pretty hard and I couldn't fit in an Englishman or New Zealander so I made it a squad of 15:

1) Desmond Haynes
2) Mathew Hayden
3) Ricki Ponting
4) Sachin Tendulka
5) Brian Lara
6) Jacques Kallis
7) Adam Gilchrist
8) Shane Warne
9) Wasim Akram
10) Curtly Ambrose
11) Glen MacGrath

Rest of the squad :)
12) Ian Botham
13) Steve Smith
14) Richard Hadley
15) Denis Lillee

What would your squad of 15 look like?

[DarkArts]

Well, I think I'd have Michael Holding instead of Curtley Ambrose. And I'd shoe-horn Viv Richards in there somewhere.

I'd be partial to Allan Border in place of Ricki Ponting ... but I'd check the stats to be sure. Maybe my memories are growing too fond with age ...

I'd have to say I think Steve Smith would make the starting eleven.

Can we have an A and B side? It's too hard to choose only 15!

[AndyG]

Easy.
Chuck Norris.
It's hard to catch a ball after being slogged out of the stratosphere, having enjoyed becoming all 4 states of matter.

[GrahamL]

No Thomo?.. he used to live opposite a good friend early 80s
And my friends birthday was x mass eve .. if around he would always come over for a beer or 3.. really nice guy ..
Swim in his pool (allegedly ) when away was also possible.


https://www.cricketcountry.com/articles/jeff-thomson-17-facts-about-one-of-the-fastest-bowlers-in-cricket-history-507089

[Matt Wastell]

G'day Mike - hope you are well.

Test, ODI or T20? (we probably started watching at a similar time - no T20 back then, but I do recall one dayers had begun).

I suspect your 11 would not be beaten.... unless we bring in the guys from before our viewing time.

[astroron]

What No Bradman?:eyepop:
99.4
Cheers:thumbsup:

[strongmanmike]

It's a hard task actually, I wanted to include Steve Smith in my starting 11 but after um'ing and ah'ing I went with Ponting, who in his prime and like Mathew Hayden, was an utterly fantastic batsman to watch, so for me, this pipped Smith.

Yes Michael Holding was on my mind too as was Thomo and Joel Garner, but as is the nature of these silly exercises, it is hard to choose, can't have everyone :)

Ron, I was only picking from the eras I have watched, ie. from about 1979, an all time team would obviously include Bradman (oh and it was 99.94 ave) :thumbsup:

Matt, should have said, Test team :thumbsup:

All a bit of fun imagining :thumbsup:

Mike

[ausastronomer]

Great post Mike and of course there is no right answer.

Unfortunately or fortunately, depending on how you look at it, I started watching cricket in the mid to late 1960's, which makes me fortunate in having watched some of the great cricketers through the 1960's and 1970's which you missed. Unfortunately, I am likely to end up in a Rosewood Box long before you :)

I have been an avid cricket follower for well over 50 years. 3 of the greatest cricketers to have ever lived were denied the opportunity to fulfill their test cricket careers because of apartheid, namely:-

Graeme Pollock
Barry Richards
Mike Procter

The South African side of the late 1960's when they were all young blokes and in their prime, was probably more dominant and unbeatable in World Cricket at the time than the Australian Side of the mid 1970's and the West Indies Sides of the late 1970's and 1980's. Unfortunately apartheid caused the 1970 South African Tour to be cancelled and by the time South Africa re entered the test arena these 3 guys had long retired.

Graeme Pollock played 23 test matches and finished with a test average of 60.97. 22 of Pollocks 23 Tests were against Australia or England. The other was against New Zealand. Todays modern batsmen in my opinion (including Ponting) have their statistics slightly "padded" because of the number of games played against 2nd tier test playing nations. Pollock averaged 60.97 playing only against the very best. Ian Chappell rates Graeme Pollock as the 2nd best batsman he has ever seen or played against, behind Gary Sobers.

Barry Richards only played 4 tests. Against Australia in 1970. He scored 2 Centuries and 2 1/2 centuries to finish with a test average of 72.57. Barry Richards played a season of Sheffield Shield cricket in 1970-71 (when it was strong and meant something) for South Australia. In the match against Western Australia he made 325 on the first day against a bowling attack which included Dennis Lillee, Graeme MCKenzie and Tony Lock (49 tests for England)

Statistics don't tell the full story. It's how these 2 guys played that set them apart. Graeme Pollock was just sheer power and smashed the ball to all parts of the ground and totally dominated the best attacks that he faced. Barry Richards was a "prettier" very classy looking player (in the Greg Chapell mould). The thing that set Barry Richards apart was the amount of time he seemed to have to play his shots. He was never hurried and against the worlds fastest bowlers he always seemed in position early to play his shot and was waiting for the ball to get to him. I haven't seen anyone since with the same ability to pick up the ball so early.

Several very respected cricket people, including Ian Chappell, Tony Greig and English Umpire "Dickie Bird" rate Graeme Pollock and Barry Richards as 2 of the greatest players to have ever played the game.

Mike Proctor was one of the greatest "All Rounders" to ever play the game. He only played 7 tests and averaged 25.11 with the bat and 15.02 with the ball. His first class record stands alongside Gary Sobers. He played 401 First class games for 48 centuries and 109 1/2 centuries for a batting average of 36.01 with a highest score of 254. As a bowler he took 1417 wickets at an average of 19.53. Anyone who has a batting average almost "double" his bowling average after > 400 games can seriously play the game.

Gary Sobers is the first player picked in any "best of" side picked in any era IMO. I recall watching every ball of the 254 Gary Sobers made at the MCG playing for the "Rest of the World" against Australia in 1971/72. He absolutely tore the Australian attack apart (which included Dennis Lillee, Bob Massie, Terry Jenner and Kerry O'Keefe) All the Aussies did for the day was ran to the fence and threw the ball back. Sir Donald Bradman described this innings by Sobers as "the greatest cricket innings I have ever witnessed". In addition to being one of the greatest batsman ever Sobers was a brilliant field and an excellent versatile bowler. Sobers could take the new bowl and bowl pretty brisk swing and cutters, he could bowl orthodox left arm spin and he could also bowl wrist spin and chinamen. There have only been 15 instances in test cricket history where a player has scored 300 runs and taken 20 wickets in a series. Keith Miller did it twice, amongst others Kapil Dev, Imran Khan, Richard Hadlee, Ian Botham and Shaun Pollock have done it once each. Sobers did it 3 times between 1961 and 1968 when was at his best as a bowler. Sir Donald Bradman stands alone as the greatest batsman of all time, but Gary Sobers is IMO without question "the greatest cricketer" that has ever lived.

Just a comment on Sir Richard Hadlee. His Test Career ended with 431 wickets at an average of 22.29.

You need to look further than the statistics. He was usually playing in a beaten side, where quite often the other side didn't need to bat twice, or the game was over with the other side only a couple of wickets down in their 2nd dig. He played in a side where the batsmen were pretty ordinary and the bowlers at the other end were pretty ordinary. Batsman could just play him out and score from the bowlers at the other end. Had Richard Hadlee played in the Australian side through the mid 1970's early 1980's; or the West Indies side from the same era (both of which he played against) he would have finished with 1,000 test wickets. He had one of the most beautiful bowling actions a fast bowler could hope for and he could cut and swing the ball both ways. One of the greatest fast bowlers to have ever played the game and a batsman of sorts and almost good enough to be classed as an "all rounder".

Anyway, enough of the rambling and down to the First 11 (in batting order) with 4 on the bench:-

1) Sunil Gavaskar
2) Barry Richards
3) Viv Richards
4) Sachin Tendulkar
5) Graeme Pollock
6) Gary Sobers
7) Adam Gilchrist
8) Shane Warne
9) Richard Hadlee
10) Dennis Lillee
11) Curtly Ambrose

On the bench:-

Ricky Ponting
Jaques Kallis
Mike Proctor
Glen McGrath

You might wonder how anyone could leave out the likes of Ponting and Jaques Kallis from the first 11. If Graeme Pollock or Gary Sobers batted like Kallis or Ponting they would still be batting, they wouldn't have got out yet :)

Cheers
John B

[strongmanmike]

Some good and very interesting reasoning there John and a mighty fine team you have put together using it...fun to imagine this stuff huh? :thumbsup:

Mike

[ausastronomer]

It is fun to think about these things and funny when you consider some of the players you have to leave out because there is only 11 in a side. Further you are limited by basic side structure and the restriction to bat people in or close to their correct position in the batting order.

I went with 6 specialist batsman. Sobers ability as an excellent bowler and Richard Hadlee's ability of sorts with the bat are added bonuses. Gilchrist's ability with the bat changed cricket and the way sides are picked and the way wicket keepers are perceived. Gone are the days when a wicket keeper who cannot bat well would be selected to play test cricket.

Some might consider it sacrilege to leave out someone like Brian Lara from any "best of side". Well if you said to me is Brian Lara a better batsman than Sunil Gavaskar? My answer would be, "yes on every day of the week", but Lara doesn't open and wouldn't be effective there. Having seen Viv Richards, Graeme Pollock, Gary Sobers and Sachin Tendulkar at their best, I couldn't put Lara ahead of them in the middle order, notwithstanding that statistics might suggest otherwise.

Similarly, its difficult to leave someone like Ian Botham out of any side, but Gary Sobers and Adam Gilchrist go in ahead of him and Richard Hadlee was without question a far better bowler than Ian Botham IMO.

The side I picked bats to #9, with a tail of only 2. Has 4 strike bowlers, with Sobers as a 5th bowler and Tendulkar and Richards to operate as change spin bowlers. It would be a tough side to beat. However, I can guarantee you that the "Second XI" would be a very strong side also, with the quality players who missed the cut :)

All good discussion!

Cheers
John B