All-time Test XI with a twist

[Teja.]

David Gower is too over-qualified a bowler(Bowling average of 20) to be selected.

EDIT:-I'm fully aware that he is a Batsman, just a statistical loophole I had to point out.

 

[bagapath]

england

gooch (c)
edrich
ranji
cowdrey
thorpe
botham
evans (wk)
gough
fraser
d.allen
voce

gower left out for reasons given by teja

 

[bagapath]

sticking to post WW2 cricketers;

gordon greenidge
sanath jayasuriya
ian chappell (c)
martin crowe
aravinda desilva
ian botham
kapil dev
rod marsh (wk)
chaminda vaas
jeff thompson
bs chandrasekar

EDIT: including pre war cricketers....

trumper
greenidge
ranji
martin crowe
ian chappell (c)
botham
kapil dev
healy (wk)
chaminda vaas
jeff thompson
bs chandrasekar

 

[Jezroy]

magnificently long batting lineup that and means inclusion for one of NZ's more underrated test cricketers, Dion Nash !

Couldn't agree with this more - 10 years of fit Nash would have been a godsend for us.

 

[Pothas]

england

gooch (c)
edrich
ranji
cowdrey
thorpe
botham
evans (wk)
gough
fraser
d.allen
voce

gower left out for reasons given by teja

No Larwood?

 

[bagapath]

No Larwood?

missed him. gough out. larwood in.

 

[Zinzan]

I'll have a crack at Pakistan's....

Hanif Mohammad
Saeed Anwar
Shoaib Mohammad
Zaheer Abbas
Asif Iqbal
Mushtaq Mohammad
Rashid Latif
Sarfraz Nawaz
Saqlain Mushtaq
Mohammad Aamer
Abdul Qadir

 

[morgieb]

Trumper
Grace
Gooch
Crowe
Gower
Botham
Healy
Kumble
McDermott
Thomson
Larwood

 

[M0rphin3]

Mohammad Azharuddin [ c ]

 

[Zinzan]

Bumped this thread from 3 years ago. Interested to see if people pick the likes of Anderson, Broad, Morkel & Zaheer given they are amongst the best pace bowlers of the past 3-4 years and average more than 26 with the ball.

 

[The Battlers Prince]

Great thread, that's fun doing that

1.Victor Trumper
2.Roy Fredericks
3. Dean Jones
4.Martin Crowe
5.Clive Lloyd*
6.VVS Laxman
7.Andrew Symonds
8.Freddie Flintoff
9.Junior Murray+
10.Jeff Thomson
11.Lance Gibbs

 

[Dan]

1. Victor Trumper
2. Gordon Greenidge
3. Charles Macartney
4. Martin Crowe
5. Mark Waugh
6. Aravinda de Silva
7. Ian Botham
8. Godfrey Evans +
9. Harold Larwood
10. James Anderson
11. Stuart MacGill

Not only a good team, but how bloody good would they be to watch? Trumper and Greenidge blasting away at the top, followed by the unorthodox and hyperaggressive Macartney. Then a touch of classy elegance in Crowe, Waugh and Aravinda. Then Botham to be a top-quality #7.

Bowling-wise, Anderson's classy swing goes with Larwood's brutal pace, Botham backs them both up and MacGill turns it all over the place. Aravinda, Waugh and Macartney to provide some part-time spin (in Macartney's case, better than part time) if partnerships develop. And then Evans behind the stumps diving all over the place.

 

[The Battlers Prince]

1. Victor Trumper
2. Gordon Greenidge
3. Charles Macartney
4. Martin Crowe
5. Mark Waugh
6. Aravinda de Silva
7. Ian Botham
8. Godfrey Evans +
9. Harold Larwood
10. James Anderson
11. Stuart MacGill

.

Great team allround, I love that this lets people chose those who aren't often thought of for ATG sides. 3 in particular for this side I really like as outside choices are McCartney, MacGill and Aravinda. Love those guys

 

[Howe_zat]

The batting seems to be an awful lot better than the bowling in these sides.

 

[The Battlers Prince]

I don't think alful is a fair assessment, but under the rules, 28 I a bit further percentage away from 24 bowling average, than 46 to 50 for a great batting average.

 

[Howe_zat]

It's also because people are batting keeper-batsmen low down and so subbing their allrounders in for bowlers rather than batsmen.

 

[Zinzan]

I don't think alful is a fair assessment, but under the rules, 28 I a bit further percentage away from 24 bowling average, than 46 to 50 for a great batting average.

Nah, for me a batting average of 50 = 25 with the ball and a brilliant batting average of 55 = 22 with the ball. Hence 46 being equivalent 27 feels about right.

 

[The Battlers Prince]

I don't think the bowlers are bad compared to the batsmen, just trying to reason out why they may seem that way.

 

[Dan]

It's also because people are batting keeper-batsmen low down and so subbing their allrounders in for bowlers rather than batsmen.

Yeah, I think that's pretty much it. I mean, in an ATG XI scenario you want your #7 to be averaging around the 33-34 mark at worst, so its a bit hard to justify a wicketkeeper averaging <30 there followed by 4 bowlers who presumably average less than the 'keeper with the bat. Makes for a very long tail.

In my team, I figured picking Botham gives me as good a 3rd seamer as any other I'd get with the criteria and means that the lower order has at least some strength to it - the rule that you can't pick a wicketkeeper who could bat as well means that bowling all-rounders who can bat 7 become a precious commodity here.

 

[Howe_zat]

Averaging 30 is pretty much fine for a keeper-batsman though, especially one who played before 21st-century batting averages. Post-Gilchrist ones who average 40 are the exception.