All-Time Test XIs

[kirksland]

Lets start with the selections that I disagree with. I personally think that Richards, Lillee and Akram are all a tad overrated, they are all great, just not 1st team great. I would like some one to explain to me how Akram is better than Khan, and how Richards is better than Lara. I understand why Lille was picked and that is because most of the selectors played in the 70's againts or with him. As one poster said his average or strike rate isnt good enough to justify the holes in his resume. To me Murali and Hadlee both had advantages that they never had competition for wickets and usually had the tail for themselves and played in condition taylor made for them. Gilly gets a bad rap because of his perceived weakness as a keeper, but to keep to Shane and Lee/Gilespie all those years was no mean feat, plus if you clain Knott was the best pure keeper, he wasnt even the best pure keeper England had during his career, he was though almost as good and a better bat. You want great keepers then look at Waite, Oldfield, Tallon, Marsh, D.Murray, Evans, B.Taylor or K.Andrew. If you want the total package Gilchrist is unchallenged.

kirksland added 8 Minutes and 3 Seconds later...

That being said heres my selections.

Hutton, Gavaskar, Sutcliffe
Richards, Hobbs, Greenidge
Bradman, Headley, Ponting
Lara, Hammond, Pollock
Tendulkar, Richards, G. Chappell
Sobers, Kallis, Faulkner
Gilchrist, Knott, Ames
Khan, Akram, Trueman
Marshall, Lillee, Holding
Warne, Muralitharan, O'Reilly
Mcgrath, Ambrose, Hadlee

Thats my top 33, and my ballott.

 

[Shoaib87]

I suppose you know more then those biased idiots that actually faced Sobers when he bowled and bowled at him.

Stats will always be less biased than humans.Thats for sure.

 

[Dare]

Stats will always be less biased than humans.Thats for sure.

And knowledge of those that actually played the game at the top level against the guys they are commenting on will always be greater then that of a internet expert.

 

[sifter132]

It's just hard to know how good the knowledge of the former players is. Jeff Thomson for example, I swear he'd pick an alltime XI of Bradman plus 10 guys from the 70s in it. And the number of former players sprouting rubbish in the commentary box these days doesn't help the argument either.

So you'd want to be careful who you pick as a jury and even then it's only 12 guys - should we be crowning it the best XI ever based on 12 opinions when there are thousands of former players?

 

[Bublu Bhuyan]

Bradman's All Time World XI
Benaud's All Time World XI
ESPNCricinfo's All Time World XI .........

All of them have one thing common. They all feature Tendulkar.

 

[shravi]

Bradman's All Time World XI
Benaud's All Time World XI
ESPNCricinfo's All Time World XI .........

All of them have one thing common. They all feature Tendulkar.

FYI, Sobers, Lillee and Bradman too .

 

[Cricketman]

Lillee...I just don't rate him that much. don't get me wrong, he's a fantastic bowler, but is he better than all of those WI quicks, Imran, McGrath etc? Idk..

 

[TumTum]

Lillee...I just don't rate him that much. don't get me wrong, he's a fantastic bowler, but is he better than all of those WI quicks, Imran, McGrath etc? Idk..

Well one thing is for sure, he was one of the most iconic fast bowlers in the game.

 

[kirksland]

But was he better than Mcgrath, Ambrose, Donald, Khan, Hadlee or Holding? And on that topic was Akram?

 

[kirksland]

Len Hutton
Sunil Gavaskar
Don Bradman
Sachin Tendulkar
Viv Richards
Gary Sobers
Ian Healy
Richard Hadlee
Shane Warne
Malcolm Marshall
Fred Trueman / Muttiah Muralitharan

 

[Shoaib87]

And knowledge of those that actually played the game at the top level against the guys they are commenting on will always be greater then that of a internet expert.

Their knowledge is definitely greater but they don't want to say the truth,because of their personal likes & dislikes.

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Well one thing is for sure, he was one of the most iconic fast bowlers in the game.

Yes iconic but supporting wickets only.

 

[cricket_icon]

just came across this article. a great read. my all time world XI (it sometimes varies a little but this is how i would go):

1. Tendulkar
2. Hobbs/Hutton
3. Bradman
4. V Richards
5. Sobers
6. I Khan
7. Gilchrist
8. Akram
9. Warne
10. Murali
11. Marshall

the last spot could have gone to lillee, waqar, holding, mcgrath, may be even akhtar or lee but marshall it is.

both warne and murali the two greatest spinners of all time have to be in the team the same reason for khan and sobers.

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on the topic of lillee. his iconic but i would never rate him better than akram, khan, holding, marshall, ambrose and that other great australian mcgrath. lillee neevr had the variety of the likes of marshall, akram or khan of the number of wickets and average of mcgrath or ambrose. just cant see how he can be rated as the most complete fast bowler ever.

 

[spooony]

Greenidge
Barry Richards
Bradman
G. Pollock
Lara
Sobers
Gilchrist
Proctor
Warne
Wasim Akram
McGrath

12th man: Kapil Dev

----------

just came across this article. a great read. my all time world XI (it sometimes varies a little but this is how i would go):

1. Tendulkar
2. Hobbs/Hutton
3. Bradman
4. V Richards
5. Sobers
6. I Khan
7. Gilchrist
8. Akram
9. Warne
10. Murali
11. Marshall

the last spot could have gone to lillee, waqar, holding, mcgrath, may be even akhtar or lee but marshall it is.

both warne and murali the two greatest spinners of all time have to be in the team the same reason for khan and sobers.

----------

on the topic of lillee. his iconic but i would never rate him better than akram, khan, holding, marshall, ambrose and that other great australian mcgrath. lillee neevr had the variety of the likes of marshall, akram or khan of the number of wickets and average of mcgrath or ambrose. just cant see how he can be rated as the most complete fast bowler ever.

Geez Lillee got his 355 wickets in 70 matches how? By tampering with the ball like *cough cough Akr... or slow bowl at 10 overs a hour and a half at the batsman face on gravel tracks? He was frighting fast and accurate. Fast enough to bowl Viv Richards a couple of times

 

[spooony]

Thats because he's overrated.And I've already explained in my previous post why he was not as good a batsman as he's made out to be because of his average of 57.

From cricinfo article:The bowling positions were all decided by handsome margins. Three of cricket's most highly rated fast bowlers - Dennis Lillee, leading with 48 points, Wasim Akram and Malcolm Marshall (in addition to Sobers, who could bowl left-arm fast, spin and chinamen) - accompany Warne.

So Sobers is there because he "could" bowl three types,not because he was good at them.So even the biased idiots at cricinfo are accepting it.Those so called journalists & panel of bised selectors probaly don't even know that Sobers didn't bowl chinamen for more than 5 matches.And as a spin bowler,he always averaged above 50.

When we already have the 5 of the greatest batsmen at the top then Gilly to follow after the allrounder,I don't think there is any need of Sobers in the side.Imran is not only the greatest allrounder but also one of the greatest bowlers & captains ever.He should've been there as an allrounder.

Imran Khan was a much better bowler than Wasim & Lillee and was as good as Marshall,if not better.So,not selecting him is beyond me.Its not just me,just look how much cricinfo visitors from the world have been offended at non-selection of Imran.And they are not just fanboys but have convincing reasons why he should've been in the team.If you don't belive me,just check people's views below their article.

Cricinfo:You & your jury are a bunch of biased idiots.

On one point I have to agree with you. When Sobers scored his huge score against Pakistan it was against a Pakistani attack who had all but one of their bowlers injured. The Pakastani fast bowler was reported bowled more overs ever seen by a paceman.

All else in this crushing defeat for Pakistan was overshadowed by the feat of Garfield Sobers, the West Indies 21-year-old left-hander, in beating the Test record individual score, 364 by Sir Leonard Hutton, made for England against Australia at The Oval nearly twenty years previously. Sobers passed that by one run and was still unbeaten when West Indies declared at the vast total of 790 for three. So elated were the crowd of 20,000 at Sabina Park that they swarmed over the field and the pitch became so damaged that the umpires ordered repairs and the last fifty-five minutes of the fourth day could not be played.

Sobers' monumental innings was his first century in Test cricket. On a perfect pitch he made strokes freely throughout, hitting thirty-eight 4's and batting for ten hours eight minutes, compared with thirteen hours twenty minutes by Hutton. Two factors greatly helped Sobers: the sadly depleted nature of the Pakistan attack, and the splendid support of Hunte, who helped him in a second wicket stand of 446. This, the second highest stand in Test cricket, fell only five runs short of the record for any wicket, 451 by Sir Donald Bradman and W. H. Ponsford for Australia against England at The Oval in 1934.

Kardar, Pakistan's captain, went into the match with a broken finger on his left hand, yet he bowled 37 overs of his left-arm spinners against doctor's orders. Mahmood Hussain pulled a thigh muscle after only five balls in the first over of the innings, and did not bowl again; Nasim-ul-Ghani, another left-arm bowler, fractured a thumb quite early in the long West Indies' innings. So Fazal Mahmood, who sent down a phenomenal number of overs for a bowler of his pace, and Khan Mohammad were left as the only two fit regular bowlers. Sound batting by Imtiaz Ahmed, Saeed Ahmed and Wallis Mathias gave Pakistan a good start on the first day, but a shower next day helped the seam bowlers E. Atkinson and Dewdney, who brought about a collapse. Wazir Mohammad batted gallantly in a bid to stave off defeat in the second innings, but with Mahmood Hussain and Nasim-ul-Ghani unable to bat West Indies secured victory after only forty minutes' play on the last day.

Wisden - WEST INDIES v PAKISTAN 1957-58

Lets look at a number of facts. Firstly

20,000 at Sabina Park

It is a well known fact that Sabina Park is as small as a postage stamp. Small boundaries then to add a perfect pitch

On a perfect pitch he made strokes freely throughout, hitting thirty-eight 4's and batting for ten hours eight minutes, compared with thirteen hours twenty minutes by Hutton.

Lets not forget the Pakistan depleted bowling attack. One guy who bowled against doctors orders with a broken thumb and 2 bowlers having to bowl for 3 or 4 days with a fielder short. MMM sounds fishy to me and takes away some of the "greatness" of it

His 226 vs England

Over six days only eighteen wickets fell on a pitch which gave bowlers not the slightest help and reduced the match to an exercise in patience and stamina for batsmen. Even at the end of the game the ball scarcely turned. Statham, who slipped and fell in the rain at the end of the Barbados game, damaged a hamstring muscle and could not play. Allen received his first chance for England; Watson and Scarlett made their debuts for West Indies.

Wisden - West Indies v England

Over six days of a flat wicket where only 18 wickets fell? Another flat table.

His 198 vs India? Anyone can tell me how the Indian attack were in 1958? Like Bradman slogging a average school grade attack round in the 20's and 30's where SA had 1 batsman and he was the main bowler.

To cut this short how did Sobers do against NZ? Did anyone check how he failed in NZ miserably?

 

[kirksland]

All Time XI
Sir Jack Hobbs
Sir Leonard Hutton
Sir Donald Bradman*
Sir I.V.A. Richards^
Sachin Tendulkar
Sir Garfield Sobers^(5)
Adam Gilchrist+
Imran Khan (3)
Malcolm Marshall (1)
Shane Warne^(4)
Glenn McGrath (2)

Team to watch and play for the planet

Barry Richards^
Jack Hobbs
Don Bradman*
Viv Richards
Sachin Tendulkar
Garry Sobers^
Adam Gilchrist+
Wasim Akram
Malcolm Marshall
Shane Warne^
Dennis Lillee