i agree. but would like to know who you would go for if pressed to choose two specialist openers.
also, g chappell retired just before you were born. so in the context of the thread you should try to nominate a replacement for him
Yes, that is true. He retired in January, while I was born in June.
So that makes it really really tough. No one person is the obvious choice, but I am going to go with:
- Gavaskar
- Gooch
- Waugh
- Tendulkar
- Lara
- Border
- Gilchrist
- Imran
- Marshall
- Ambrose
- McGrath
Gooch averaged 46 between 1985-1995, and I've always liked him, so he makes it to the top of the list with several people close behind. I also redid my middle order a little bit. I don't think I need Kallis, I'm going to go with Border there - I'm happy with a four man attack. And I want someone who will piss people off, so I'm going to go with Steve Waugh at #3.
Nice XI, but no spinner at all?
I knew from your sig you wouldn't pick Shane or Murali, but no Kumble either to give some variation on turning or variable wickets?
If I was going to pick a spinner, it would be Warne or Murali. I think both of them are overrated as bowlers, but as spinners they are far ahead of everyone else. Kumble and others are definitely second tier spinners, and I'm a huge Kumble fan - I consider him the most valuable Indian cricketer of the last twenty years. Out of Warne and Murali, It would probably be Warne due to his batting and captaincy, but I really don't see a need to pick them with the quality and quantity of fast bowlers we have here.
Silent Striker has a virulent hatred of all slow bowlers.
I make fun of that, but I don't think that's true. I enjoy watching them if they are bowling real well, but I think people place too much importance in them for Test match cricket. They are more useful in a format like T20. The liability they add to the bowling in the majority of the Test match, and even at majority of venues does not make up for their usefulness late in the match and in a minority of venues. Obviously, if I had to pick a Warne/Murali vs. a simply good fast bowler, I'd pick the spinner. But the choice is between Warne/Murali and some of the
greatest fast bowlers the world has ever seen, so I'd have to go with them. They tend to be useful in more places, at all times in a match, in a more consistant manner. They also tend to be harder to dominate - as shown by McGrath and Marshall against the best batsmen of the era, vs. Warne and Murali vs the best batsmen of their era.
on the end of my comment.
