Worst England Test team?

[Owzat]

Cook
Carberry
Bell
Pietersen
Ballance
Stokes
Bairstow (wk)
Borthwick
Broad
Anderson
Rankin

Pretty ropey looking line up, albeit three debutants, but with Carberry now dropping his average into the upper 20s, Bairstow not a keeper and Stokes yet to make a match changing contribution, it made me wonder how many worse XIs there have been.

I doubt this is it, I'll have a look through a few contenders, but thought this might make for an interesting discussion

 

[Owzat]

Ok, let's try a few nominations :

vs New Zealand (2nd Test, 1999)

Butcher
Stewart
Hussain
Thorpe
RAMPRAKASH
HABIB
READ
Caddick
HEADLEY
Mullally
Tufnell

Butcher, Read, Mullally and Tufnell arguably run of the mill Test players, but Headley, Habib and Ramprakash in there as well with Read at seven and Caddick at eight makes it look a pretty woeful side, no wonder England lost that series.

Of course it got "better", Giddins, Such, Maddy and Irani also came in towards the bitter end. Of course for weak selections you could look at the South Africa tour of 99/00 with Adams and Hamilton included.

I must try and remember the Test where England batted Stewart at six and the tail began at seven, pretty sure England made 300 exactly in the 1st innings. England fielded one against South Africa with 7-11 being Cork, Croft, Giles, Gough, Fraser. How on earth did England win that 1998 series?!?!? (narrowly is the answer, skin of teeth)

How about this one ?

vs Australia (5th Test, 1997)

Atherton
Stewart
CRAWLEY
Hussain
Thorpe
HOLLIOAKE (A)
HOLLIOAKE (B)
CROFT
Caddick
HEADLEY
MALCOLM

Way too many poor selections

 

[War]

Ha up to this day i don't know how ENG beat S Africa in 1998, similarly to how they draw with them @ home in 1994. ENG were crappy in the 90s but somehow managed to avoid S Africa embarrassing us like how AUS, WI generally did.

But ye those 90s teams that had Ed Giddins in it was very daft & certainly the 99 home summer vs NZ.

This one from in S Africa 95 was bad too with Mike Watkinson & Peter Martin in the team -
5th Test: South Africa v England at Cape Town, Jan 2-4, 1996 | Cricket Scorecard | ESPN Cricinfo

Also i can't remember the exact names, but some of XI England played in Ashes 93 or home to Pakistan 1992 would have been horrendous too.

 

[cricket_icon]

Definitely NOT the worst XI ever, growing up in the 90s, I saw far worse. This team still has some good to great batsmen and world class bowlers...who just aren't playing well. Stokes has proven his worth too.

 

[Dutch]

Definitely NOT the worst XI ever, growing up in the 90s, I saw far worse. This team still has some good to great batsmen and world class bowlers...who just aren't playing well. Stokes has proven his worth too.

Absolutely agree. Hate people hauling these guys undeservedly through the mud. They have performed brilliantly at other times. Yes it is a shambles at the moment and something aint quite right but on the other hand it needs to be balanced. There are some incredibly talented and brilliant cricketers in the England team who have proven again and again to be world class. I sure hope Mitchell Johnson enjoys his little moment in the limelight. He above all should understand what it can be like when it aint going good. I dont mind him taking all those wickets but I sure as hell would like to rip that mustache of his face and shove it right up his Kerry Packer.

 

[Haarithan]

Stokes has been the only positive beacon of light throughout this debacle, so I'm not sure why Owzat still holds an agenda against him. Pretty sure you'd further be ripping him to shreds had he not made that 'insignificant' hundred at the WACA and instead failed getting out 20/30 odd

Basic fact is the England top order haven't even bothered giving a fight, so for him to come out at #6 each and every innings with the game completely done and dusted by then, means his contributions were always going to be 'insignificant', when in truth there's absolutely nothing he could have done to change that. Try giving him credit when it's due, because quite frankly speaking, he's deserved every bit of it in this tour.

 

[karolkarol]

Nowhere near the worst England team as people have said. Changes are needed though, that is for sure:

Partner for Cook ? I defended Carberry through the Ashes and still believe he was the best option of what was available. Other options are the considerably younger Robson and Root.

First drop ? For me this is a no brainer, if Trott isnt fit to play then it should be Compton.

Four ? Pietersen. Needs to get his head in the game but not worthy of dropping (yet)

Five ? Bell. The position he feels most comfortable and if that brings runs then fair enough.

Six ? Stokes. Shown more than enough to warrant a run in the side. Other options are Ballance for pure batting ability and Moeen for a more rounded approach.

WK ? Still Prior for me. Bairstow did the square root of nothing when given the chance and I don?t think anybody else on the county scene is putting their hand up just quite high enough to warrant inclusion.

Seam ? Broad. A complete arse but good bowler who can tonk a few late runs. Other option is Bresnan despite being awful during the Ashes. About 18 months ago I would have included Woakes here but he seems to have lost his outswinger in the pursuit of pace. Shame.

Seam ? Anderson. Still got it despite terrible Ashes. Needs to recharge the batteries. The backup to Anderson should ALWAYS be Onions.

Seam ? Toss a coin. In my opinion the third seam position, especially if you have a capable allrounder should be reserved for a wildcard up and coming bowler. It should have been Finn for the last 18 months but he has been so dicked about with that he has gone backwards at a rate of knots. Rankin in my opinion (having seen a significant amount of him for Ireland) is nowhere near good enough. I would be more inclined to go for express pace like Overton/Mills or just bloody stick with Finn for a period of time.

Spin ? Probably Panesar. Tredwell?s recent FC record has been worse than woeful. England need to do some serious work trying to locate someone good enough. Briggs and Kerrigan I suppose would be the two more obvious candidates.

I really don?t think English cricket is in as bad a state as the Ashes made out, simultaneously I don?t think the Aussies are world beaters either, we just made them look like that. We have some good young up and coming players which need to be integrated into and around the squad. Also, I think its imperative that the management need to eat some serious humble pie with Compton and Onions.