Country's all-time teams (Test)...

[ZoraxDoom]

Wasim Bari at 8, deep batting lineup

 

[irottev]

LMAO!!! I just read what happened on wikipedia. McGrath got owned.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eddo_Brandes.

LOL

Thanks. That was funny!

 

[nightprowler10]

Wasim Bari at 8, deep batting lineup

Batting wise, either Imtiaz Ahmed or Kamran Akmal, but from what I've heard Bari was the best with the gloves.

 

[puddleduck]

Batting wise, either Imtiaz Ahmed or Kamran Akmal, but from what I've heard Bari was the best with the gloves.

Not to mention that Akmal has hardly built on his excellent start to his career yet...

 

[nightprowler10]

Not to mention that Akmal has hardly built on his excellent start to his career yet...

None of our keepers have ever been consistently good batsmen tbh. Akmal actually stands out. He has made a few match saving tons in both forms of the game. But with the gloves, even taking into account his early form, I think he's a bit mediocre compared to the rest.

 

[Ponting_14]

Yes I did miss your second team, sorry. But you still picked Richards as captain instead of Sobers or Walcott, which is wrong in my opinion. And not to take anything away from Walsh, but stats are not the only thing that make a great cricketer, son. I will take Holding over Walsh any time, no matter what the pitch what the conditions and who the opposition.

Well the captaincy was a bit of a guess because no one really knows who was the better captain at the end of the day. And Im not to sure why you rate Sobers and Walcott over Richards and Lloyd as captains. I never saw any of them play so I don't really know, but can you tell me why? Judging by there records they were not to bad (and yes I know they had great players on there teams).

So your saying Holding should get into the team over Walsh and by saying that your saying Walsh should not get into the team at all? So your picking Marshall, Ambrose, Garner and Holding all over Walsh?

Now I know this was going to be hard picking there 4-man pace attack with players like this to pick from...

Malcolm Marshall
Curtly Ambrose
Joel Garner
Courtney Walsh
Michael Holding
Andy Roberts
Colin Croft
Ian Bishop

But some guys are going to miss out. But I don't think Walsh should be one of them IMO.

 

[aussie_ben91]

Llyod would be the captain for me. But Some people on this forum consider Gary Sobers the greatest cricketer to ever live. Even more so then Bradman but I disagree. For me, the epitome of a great batsman has a batting average in the mid-high 50s and the epitome of a bowler has a bowling average of the low 20s. Sobers had a great batting average but a bowling average of 34 isn't or atleast shouldn't be considered world-class even if he is a good pace and spin bowler. It's not as incredible as having a batting average of 100.

 

[puddleduck]

Llyod would be the captain for me. But Some people on this forum consider Gary Sobers the greatest cricketer to ever live. Even more so then Bradman but I disagree. For me, the epitome of a great batsman has a batting average in the mid-high 50s and the epitome of a bowler has a bowling average of the low 20s. Sobers had a great batting average but a bowling average of 34 isn't or atleast shouldn't be considered world-class even if he is a good pace and spin bowler. It's not as incredible as having a batting average of 100.

Whilst technically true, bare in mind that Sobers more often than not took himself off when bowling to tail-enders, they were beneath him

If you were going for a captain for the Windies side, Lloyd should probably be the man, I believe he was the first captain to win 25 test matches.

 

[Ponting_14]

Who do you guys think should be the captain in my team?

Greenidge, Haynes, Headley, Lara, Richards, Sobers, Walcott, Marshall, Ambrose,Garner and Walsh.

 

[Michaelf7777777]

AT New Zealand

1. G.Turner
2. B.Suttcliffe
3. A.Jones
4. M.Crowe
5. J.Reid
6. J.Coney (C)
7. C.Cairns
8. R.Hadlee
9. D.Vettori
10. I.Smith (WK)
11. J.Cowie

AT Australia

1. A.Morris
2. S.Barnes
3. D.Bradman (C)
4. C.Macartney
5. S.Waugh
6. K.Miller
7. A.Gilchrist (WK)
8. R.Lindwall
9. S.Warne/ C.Grimmett
10. D.Lillee
11. B.O'Reilly

AT England

1. L.Hutton
2. J.Hobbs
3. WG Grace (C)
4. W.Hammond
5. K.Barrington
6. I.Botham
7. G.Evans (WK)
8. F.Trueman
9. H.Verity
10. A.Bedser
11. S.Barnes

AT West Indies

1. G.Greenidge/ D.Haynes
2. V.Richards
3. E.Weekes
4. G.Headley
5. G.Sobers
6. F.Worrell (C)
7. J.Dujon (WK)
8. L.Constantine
9. M.Marshall
10. C.Ambrose
11. W.Hall

AT South Africa

1. B.Richards
2. H.Taylor
3. D.Nourse
4. G.Pollock
5. C.Rice (C)
6. A.Faulkner
7. S.Pollock
8. M.Procter
9. M.Boucher (WK)
10. A.Donald
11. A.Voegler

AT India

1. S.Gavaskar
2. V.Sehwag
3. G.Viswanath
4. S.Tendulkar
5. R.Dravid (C)
6. Kapil Dev
7. S.Kirmani (WK)
8. A.Kumble
9. B.Bedi
10. A.Singh
11. B.Chandrasarker

AT Pakistan

1. Hanif Mohommad
2. Zaheer Abbas
3. Javed Miandad
4. Mohommad Yousef
5. Inzaman ul-Haq
6. Imran Kahn (C)
7. Wasim Akram
8. Wasim Bari (WK)
9. Waqar Younis
10. Abdul Qadir
11. Fazal Mahmood

 

[Almost_Austwick]

Llyod would be the captain for me. But Some people on this forum consider Gary Sobers the greatest cricketer to ever live. Even more so then Bradman but I disagree. For me, the epitome of a great batsman has a batting average in the mid-high 50s and the epitome of a bowler has a bowling average of the low 20s. Sobers had a great batting average but a bowling average of 34 isn't or atleast shouldn't be considered world-class even if he is a good pace and spin bowler. It's not as incredible as having a batting average of 100.

You should also remember that Sobers was an amazing close fielder which adds to his all round status. Yes, his bowling average is on the high side but he meets the all rounder criteria as its lower than his batting average (and by quite a bit).

Correct me if I'm wrong but great as batsman as he was Bradman was no lover of fielding.

So to sum up, Bradman is (and probably always will be) the greatest batsman but he's certainly not the greatest cricketer just for the fact that he wasn't able to perform highly in all 3 disciplines (ignoring the art of captaincy) although he still ranks highly on this list due to his immense batting skill.

And just to stay on topic my Post War England XI:

Len Hutton (capt)
Graham Gooch
Peter May
Denis Compton
Ken Barrington
Ian Botham
Alan Knott (wkt)
Jim Laker
Fred Trueman
Alec Bedser
Derek Underwood

It's a tough call between Boycott and Gooch but I'm giving it to Gooch, well, because I can. There are also about another 30 players I could of stuck in but lets just say that they're all in the touring squad.

 

[Iron-Haggis]

Murray Goodwin? Eddo Brandes? Henry Olonga? These three should surely be there.
Haven't heard much of David Brain, how good was he?

I knew I was missing someone good. Yes Murray Goodwin should have been there, my mistake thanks for pointing it out I will edit my team. Brandes and Olonga weren't anything exceptional, like most Zimbabwean players and it comes down to opinion. Although I believe if Olonga was still playing for Zimbabwe he would have improved enough to be a top bowler, but unfortunately that isn't the case.

I'm not too convinced on Neil Johnson being picked for best Zimbabwe Test team. He didn't have much success in the Test arena, although is one of the best ODI players Zimbabwe have produced.

In terms of spinners you can always give Andy Flower the gloves and bowl Tatenda Taibu.

 

[adthomp]

Yeah, an average of 72 in 4 games. Quick, let's go add Mike Hussey into our Australian XI. :

I thought about that, but Bruce Mitchell averaged 56 as an opener and played more matches then him while Kirsten had the same average over a much longer period.


When's Inzy ever averaged 100 in a calendar year? Miandad is debateable but I'd take Yousuf over Inzy anyday.

did you happen to see Barry Richards First class Career as well??

he could have been anything imagine what he would have had after 40 tets we will never know

its like saying Mcgrath is better then Lilliee because he has taken more wickets well lets see if Lillee played the amount of tests Mcgrath did and play teams like Zimb and Bangladesh what he would have done same goes for Ray Lindwall and Alan Davidson

i would rather have Yousuf in there than Younis, yea Younis might be a better #3 but hes not a better batsman. if anything Miandad would be my #3 and Yousuf or Inzi 4 and 5.

you guys have totally overlooked one of the greatest Pakistan batsman of all time Zahrerr Abbas

 

[Ponting_14]

Oh by the way Sir Everton Weekes is my 12th man if anyone wanted to know.

1 Gordon Greenidge
2 Desmond Haynes
3 George Headley
4 Brian Lara
5 Sir Viv Richards (C)
6 Sir Garry Sobers
7 Sir Clyde Walcott (WK)
8 Malcolm Marshall
9 Curtly Ambrose
10 Joel Garner
11 Courtney Walsh

12 Sir Everton Weekes

 

[aussie_ben91]

did you happen to see Barry Richards First class Career as well??

he could have been anything imagine what he would have had after 40 tets we will never know

its like saying Mcgrath is better then Lilliee because he has taken more wickets well lets see if Lillee played the amount of tests Mcgrath did and play teams like Zimb and Bangladesh what he would have done same goes for Ray Lindwall and Alan Davidson

Yeah I did, quite impressive. Would you put Hussey in you're Australian XI? Similar situation. He has much more solider stats then everyone else in the team that everyone seems to have picked (apart from Bradman) and really, he has proved all the credentials over his short career why he should state claim but there is still that little bit of doubt that if he plays longer then those stats and techinque could crack for a period of time and a few weaknesses could be shown. In all honesty that average could've dropped down to 30s in a matter of several innings. The likes of Kirsten, Smith, Mitchell, Gibbs, Pollock have proven that over a longer that their worthy candidates. They've been many players who've averaged in the 50s in FC but have failed at the higher level.

You should also remember that Sobers was an amazing close fielder which adds to his all round status. Yes, his bowling average is on the high side but he meets the all rounder criteria as its lower than his batting average (and by quite a bit).

Correct me if I'm wrong but great as batsman as he was Bradman was no lover of fielding.

So to sum up, Bradman is (and probably always will be) the greatest batsman but he's certainly not the greatest cricketer just for the fact that he wasn't able to perform highly in all 3 disciplines (ignoring the art of captaincy) although he still ranks highly on this list due to his immense batting skill.

I've never heard anything wrong about Bradman's fielding.

Jacques Kallis has equal as good as stats as Sobers and is a fine fieldsmen. Maybe he should come into contention of the greatest cricketer of all time?

They've been a few allrounders who could state claim that they were better then Bradman but judging by me, I don't think they've done enough to overshadow Bradman's acchievements and success as a better cricketer.