It's not always about statistics though, Fairbrother's importance to the side was far more than just his own runs contribution in terms of when he scored runs and of course his second to none fielding.
And "all time XIs" don't really have much scope for potential which is a part of your argument for Morgan, it should be based on what the player has done at the time of picking.
And of course Morgan is playing in a time of powerplays and flat tracks, in that regard the averages of Knight and Fairbrother are way above and beyond awesome (in their day 250-270 was a good total)
Firstly yes its not all about stats. Morgan importance to current England ODI worth more than his runs as well. So im certainly not just basing it on blind stats. As i said i saw about 90% of Fairborther's ODI career in the 90s & all of Morgan's career to date & i'd rate Morgan higher easily. Plus if you take out Morgan's record for Ireland, his average reaches 40 as well in 20 less games than uncle Neil.
Secondly. My "potential" argument for Morgan is based on his future career outcomes. As i mentioned for England he already averages more than uncle neil in 30 odd less games. He will likely unless he has a horrendous dip in form, play ODIs for ENG for 10 more years, play 200+ ODIs & will be one of our leading in ODI batsmen in ENGs history.
Thirdly fair point about Fairbrother playing in an era where 250-270 was seen as a good score. But to be fair to modern players, i'd say ODIs have certainly advanced thanks to T20 in the last decade. A proper/par ODI score against a top-class ODI bowling attack today on a fair wicket would be around 280-290
Another one for his own personal stats, I go for TEAM myself and Pietersen has his own agenda all too often.
Pietersen for his own personal stats & agenda??. Whoaa!, thats a bit of an outlandish theory my friend, which isn't proven by facts.
KP at his batting peak in ODIs from that debut tour in S Africa 04/05 to the 2007 world cup, averaged an outstanding
56. That is the most outstanding batting peak any England ODI batsmen has ever accomplished & given all-time XIs you are picking players @ their peaks, that makes KP a must pick, even if he never gets to that level again for whatever reason.
His average has dropped to 40 now given he has averaged a poor
30 since the 2007 WC.
I understood why Hick was left out of the Test side, he was wrongly dropped from the ODI side and could easily have bolstered our 2003 and 2007 World Cup campaigns.
I dont remember the exact circumstances in which Hick was dropped from the ODI side. But i do remember him looking really crap the last time for ENG in both tests & ODI during that famous winter series wins in Pakistan & SRI 2001.
The batsman i'd say England's 2003 WC campaign missed was Graham Thorpe.
While in 2007, i struggle to see how a 41 year old Hick would have made much of a difference. England where just horribly crap in ODIs circa 2007, no excuses. Thank god KP was in legendary form back then.
I think spinners would have worked him out like they kinda have with Pietersen, another reason not to pick the peanut
Ha well Smith best role would have been opening. So if picked his probable problems vs spin may not have been exposed much.
Funny how you recognise the difference between eras here, but not with regard picking Pietersen and Morgan ahead of Fairbrother and Hick
I don't want to leave Gooch out, but your side has FOUR openers (including Stewart) in it, you should really pick two from Gooch, Knight and Trescothick, especially as you've put Knight at three who played just eight innings there (albeit his average was about the same, still not enough innings to justify it)
I suppose you could include Gooch for his captaincy and leadership from the front, but I would be hard pressed to drop Knight or Trescothick. I'd have to put Trescothick in the reserves and drop the peanut altogether. No room in my XI/squad for egos like his
Well in Gooch's case i think he is better old days player than Fairbrother. Which is why i pick him. No bias.
On Knight yes of course he never batted much @ 3. But i think he is versatile enough to bat @ 3 to play their in the ENG ATXI. His style of batting is very similar to role Trott has been playing @ 3 recently.
Stewart also although he can open is very versatile. He can bat anywhere in the top 7 for me depending on match situation. For eg:
1. Lets say some early wickets fall batting first, i'd send him up to bat in the top 5.
2. But if its a big chase, i'd having him low down @ # 8 & allow Botham & Flintoff to go up the order.
