All-Time Test XIs

[kirksland]

How about some feedback guys, even with 49 players selected still so many Great ones omitted, Morris, Trumper, Harvey, Border, S.Waugh, Lindwall, Worrell, Walcott, Kanhai, Dujon, Roberts, Jayawardene, Sangakkara, Kumble, Gupte, Prasanna, Underwood, Barnes, Larwood,Pietersen, Miandad, Ul-Haq, Mahmood, S. Pollock, P.Pollock, Nourse, Tayfield & Procter.

With regard to my 4 teams selected still tinkering with the idea of replacing Ponting with Chappell in the 2nd Team, and Chappell with Pollock in the 3rd with Punter falling to the fourth, just one spot too few in the top 3 teams. Ideas?

 

[ZoraxDoom]

I like your First XI. Will look over the rest later.

 

[Symptom_Control]

I'd say you have Graeme Pollock too low and SF Barnes way too low, given that you're counting players you have not seen

 

[Shoaib87]

Now for my all time 11, with so many great players dont think its right to limit this exercise to just one team, plus they should have someone to play againts, so with that my top 4 all time teams with explainations for the first team.
4th Team (With alternates)
Gordon Greenidge/Virender Sehwag, Greame Smith, Everton Weekes, Graeme Pollock, Ken Barrington/Denis Compton, Denis Lindsay/John Waite, Ian Botham/Tony Greig, Allan Donald, Waqar Younis, Jim Laker, Joel Garner/Colin Croft.
3rd Team
Matthew Hayden, Herbert Sutcliffe, George Headley, Greg Chappell, Rahul Dravid, Les Ames, Keith Miller, Wasim Akram, Fred Trueman, Michael Holding, Bill O'Reilly.
2nd Team
Len Hutton, Barry Richards, Ricky Ponting, Vivian Richards, Walter Hammond, Jacques Kallis, Allan Knott, Richard Hadlee, Curtly Ambrose, Dennis Lillee, Mutiah Muralithran.
1st Team
Jack Hobbs (Greatest Ever Opener), Sunil Gavasker (34 test hundreds, larger body of work over B.Richards), Donald Bradman (99.94 avg.), Brian Lara (best left hander and player of spin brings better balance than Headley),Sachin Tendulkar (So great for so long, best after Bradman), Garfield Sobers (3rd best batsman and bowled 3 different ways), Adam Gilchrist (kept to Warne all those years, and garnered most dismissals, is underrated as keeper), Imran Khan (best bowling all-rounder, avg'd 50 and 20 2nd half of career), Malcolm Marshall (best fast bowler ever 20.94/46.7), Shane Warne (Didn't play on pitches made for him and had to share wickets, greates spinner, also great slip ffielder), Glen Mcgrath (most accurate and consistent of all, like Tendulkar, so great for so long, great compliment to the other bowlers, offers no respite).

Sobers bowled left arm wrist spin for not more than 5 tests and was as rubbish at it as with his finger spin(took 31 wickets @ 50 with 100+ S/R in his first 30 tests) but later on when he started bowling medium pace,his bowling improved but was mediocre at best & doesn't deserve a mention because he would not even get a single over to bowl in an alltime XI in presence of bowlers like Imran,Marshall,Hadlee,McGrath,Wasim,Ambrose,Barnes,Warne,Murali etc.He's one of the greatest batsmen & fielders ever but his bowling for half of his career was crap & was mediocreat best so he could be picked on his batting alone.Not forget that "Every player has to bat everyone doesn't have to bowl" Picking him for the allrounder spot would be a big injustice to Imran,Miller,S.A.Faulkner,Hadlee etc

 

[Symptom_Control]

and Tony Greig has no place in the 4th best 11 in my book, nor Jim Laker.

 

[sifter132]

^Disagree strongly with that. Tony Greig is in my opinion one of the most underrated all-rounders in history. He was good enough with bat to play in the top 6 unlike Botham, Dev and Imran (well until the last half of Imran's career), but his bowling was better than the much vaunted batting all-rounders like Kallis and Sobers. Depends what you are looking for in your XI, but I think people really miss a trick when they ignore Greigy.

 

[Cricketman]

Here's my revised first XI:

Jack Hobbs
Sunil Gavaskar
Don Bradman
Sachin Tendulkar
Brian Lara/Graeme Pollock
Gary Sobers
Adam Gilchrist
Wasim Akram
Shane Warne
Glenn McGrath
Malcolm Marshall

I love it.

 

[kirksland]

I'd say you have Graeme Pollock too low and SF Barnes way too low, given that you're counting players you have not seen

On Pollock I agree, but found it hard to put him ahead of Chappell and Headley, and didnt want all three agressive batsmen in the team, so hence why Dravid is there, on merrit Pollock is third team.

Barnes on the other hand is harder to define, pace wise he was supposedly about O'Reilly's pace, so was he a fast bowler, medium pacer or spinner, more importantly he played on raised mould, far less unprepared pitches. All I can picture is an accurate slow medium trundler who got heaps of help from the pitches.

 

[Dare]

Here's my revised first XI:

Jack Hobbs
Sunil Gavaskar
Don Bradman
Sachin Tendulkar
Brian Lara/Graeme Pollock
Gary Sobers
Adam Gilchrist
Wasim Akram
Shane Warne
Glenn McGrath
Malcolm Marshall

I love it.

Malcolm Marshall bats above Warne and McGrath. He averaged 18.85 with the bat with a high score of 92 with 10 fifties. Also scored 7 first class centuries with 54 fifties.
And to be honest your other XI was better.

 

[kirksland]

Dont know if this is a tad pre-mature, but I have gone through the thread and used each 11 chosen as a vote for each player in that 11. Using that information I tabulated which players had the most selections/votes to formulate a consensus All Time 11. I am sure its no secret which player was unanimous and most would guess which players were next in line, but there were some surprises, at least for me. Notable in that fact that they had hardly any votes were Kallis, Hammond, Headley, Greg Chappell and Dravid and from the bowlers no Younis, Holding, Trueman or Donald were to be seen in the voting.

That being said here was a max total of 25 votes available, following is the Planetcricket forum team.

Jack Hobbs (23)
Sunil Gavaskar (10)
Donald Bradman (25)*
Viv Richards (17)
Sachin Tendulkar (13)
Garry Sobers (22)
Adam Gilchrist (17)
Wasim Akram (15)
Shane Warne (20)
Malcolm Marshall (18)
Glen McGrath (11)

 

[sifter132]

Very interesting mate - good compilation. The compilation XI is not the XI I'd pick, but still, that's the whole idea of having your opinion voiced.

And I guess it's no surprise that the consensus XI contains 'sexier' picks like Akram, Warne, Tendulkar and Viv Richards. Those guys are legends as much for their technique, style and skill as for their performances. I mean to me Richard Hadlee, Murali, Lara and Ken Barrington (or even Ponting) have performed just as well as those 4 I mentioned, they just aren't 'loved' as much.

 

[kirksland]

Now that we have a 1st 11, would it be too much to ask the members to start voting on a second 11. We probably wouldn't get as many votes, but hoping for a sample size in the 10-15 range.

kirksland added 6 Minutes and 8 Seconds later...

Since it was my idea I will go first

Barry Richards
Len Hutton
Wally Hammond
Brian Lara
Greg Chapppell
Imran Khan
Alan Knott
Richard Hadlee
Curtly Ambrose
Dennis Lillee
Muttiah Muralitharan

Hopefully after this if there is a good response we have a go at a third team to wrap up this exersise.

 

[ZoraxDoom]

Jack Hobbs
Herbert Sutcliffe
Don Bradman
Sachin Tendulkar
George Headley
Gary Sobers
Alan Knott (+)
Wasim Akram
Shane Warne (*)
Malcolm Marshall
Dennis Lillee

And just for fun, if I had to go for a squad of 16, my 5 substitutes would be:
Gavaskar (backup opener)
Gilchrist (backup keeper)
Murali (backup bowler)
Imran Khan (backup fast bowler/allrounder)
Viv Richards (backup middle order batsman)

So my second XI would have all of the 5 reserves.

I'll get around to picking the full second XI later on.

 

[shravi]

I'm just going to revise my first and second XIs. Hopefully for a final time because I've been so indecisive.

Sir Jack Hobbs- No brainer for me. This guy was a run machine and could still make runs with relative ease when he was much older.
Sunil Gavaskar- Everyone talks about Sachin, but in my opinion, Gavaskar is the true father of Indian batting. He was the first to fearlessly and more importantly, successfully take on (successfully) some of the most fearsome bowling attacks to have graced the game. His record against West Indies alone should get him into this XI. He faced stiff competition from Len Hutton but I went for Gavaskar simply because of his impact on Indian cricket although they are both equals.
Sir Donald Bradman- No explanation needed.
Sachin Tendulkar- Some may question his inclusion but the sheer weight of runs is just too hard to ignore with Tendulkar. He has simply scored too many runs and scored too many centuries not to be included.
Sir Garfield Sobers- Greatest all rounder ever but could get in as a batsman alone. Was probably the second best batsman in the history of the game after The Don.
Adam Gilchrist- Destructive batsman who could take the game away from the hands of the opposition in a single session. He was also a very good wicketkeeper. His batting average may have tailed off in the second half of his career but I think that he has had such an impact on the game that he cannot be ignored. He has (albeit with the help of Kumar Sangakkara and Andy Flower) almost single-handedly changed changed team's keeping requirements from a keeper who can bat a little bit to a player who can perform with tasks with equal ability.
Imran Khan- I felt I was doing a disservice by leaving him out the first time. He was an inspirational leader and a fantastic all rounder who is the face of Pakistan cricket. I think he was Pakistan's greatest bowler, above Wasim. He could carry the team on his shoulders and this was a feat in itself as he couldn't bowl at the age when almost all fast bowlers peak. As a captain, he lead from the front and instilled confidence and belief into his players. He was not only a great leader, but a great player as shown by the fact that he averaged 50 with the bat and 20 with the ball as captain. He thrived on pressure and on responsibility.
Malcolm Marshall- Greatest fast bowler ever in my opinion. All he needed was a ball in hand, the rest wasn't important- weather, pitch, opposition. He could perform no matter what obstacle was placed in front of him.
Shane Warne- A true genius and in my opinion, the greatest spinner in the history of cricket. He was an artist, more than a cricketer and doesn't get in merely on stats, but because of aesthetics. He beautified the art of leg spin, and spin in general.
Dennis Lillee- He was a master of the art of bowling. His story is an inspiration to all aspiring fast bowlers. He came back from a serious injury and was still able to be just as destructive because he worked so damn hard on his game and most importantly, he knew what worked. He could read the game like a book and was just a very intelligent cricketer.
Glenn McGrath- This man was a robot. He could land the ball on the same spot 24/7. It was unbelievable how much control he had. Like Marshall, he had the ability to succeed in any conditions given to him. His partnership with Warne would also prove to be invaluable in this hypothetical XI (unfortunate that I couldn't fit in Marsh for Lillee ).

2nd XI
Sir Leonard Hutton
Herbert Sutcliffe
Ricky Ponting
Sir Vivian Richards
Graeme Pollock
Jacques Kallis
+ Andy Flower
Wasim Akram
Curtly Ambrose
Michael Holding
Muttiah Muralitharan

3rd XI
Gordon Greenidge
Barry Richards
Wally Hammond
Ken Barrington
Brian Lara
+ Alan Knott
Keith Miller
Sir Richard Hadlee
Fred Trueman
Joel Garner
Bill O'Reilly

4th XI
Matthew Hayden
Virender Sehwag
George Headley/Rahul Dravid
Greg Chappell
Sir Everton Weekes
+ Kumar Sangakkara
Aubrey Faulkner
Jim Laker
Allan Donald
Harold Larwood
Waqar Younis

 

[pcfan123]

I have a slight off-topic question.

People always say Wasim Akram was one of the best left arm Test fast bowlers. I struggle to name another one who comes close in any aspect. In wicket tally, maybe Chaminda Vaas but he was no Wasim Akram. Has there ever been another person who bowled Left arm pace as well has him? Moving it both ways at will and decent pace

My question is, who is this mystery person who is challenging Wasim for the Best Left Arm Fast bowler in Test cricket history title?