CW All-Time XI Middle Order

[NUFAN]

And maybe one of the people that didn't vote Bradman in their top 25 is revealed....as you voted 4 batsmen here, but not Bradman

You got me. In fairness, the thread doesn't mention how many we are supposed to vote for and if we are voting for the best batsman or what?

 

[Spark]

You got me. In fairness, the thread doesn't mention how many we are supposed to vote for and if we are voting for the best batsman or what?

The OP said vote for three

 

[Jager]

Voted for Weekes, Neil Harvey and Graeme Pollock. Not liking the fact our XI is identical to the team selected by Cricinfo so far :'(

 

[smash84]

About as interesting as my left nut due to

.

 

[ankitj]

No sobers in this category So we are not likely to get a five man attack then.

I will vote for Bradman, Viv Richards and G. Pollock. This is complete annihilation waiting to happen for the bowlers.

 

[ankitj]

Don't think I left out anyone major this time I hope.

Dudley Nourse, especially if Kanhai and Lloyd are on the list.

 

[Debris]

No sobers in this category So we are not likely to get a five man attack then.

I will vote for Bradman, Viv Richards and G. Pollock. This is complete annihilation waiting to happen for the bowlers.

Just occurred to me that pretty much everyone will vote in Sobers as one of the 2 all-rounders and most would have picked him as one of the 4 batsmen as well so the whole argument over composition may be moot.

 

[Spark]

I don't think the concern is so much Sobers as possibly only being able to pick one of Imran/Hadlee/Miller.

 

[weldone]

Just occurred to me that pretty much everyone will vote in Sobers as one of the 2 all-rounders and most would have picked him as one of the 4 batsmen as well so the whole argument over composition may be moot.

I think someone like Hadlee may get out due to this composition.

 

[Debris]

I don't think the concern is so much Sobers as possibly only being able to pick one of Imran/Hadlee/Miller.

Ah ok. Not an issue for me as I would not pick any of them. I generally think of them as bowlers and there are better picks for me.

 

[kyear2]

Can one of the Mods please edit the poll as I was rushing through the door to work. My apologies to the Neil Harvey fans. Lloyd was the last name included as he was included in our top 50 players last week.

 

[watson]

As a reminder, here was Bradman's selection.

Barry Richards - South Africa
Arthur Morris - Australia
Don Bradman - Australia (Captain)
Sachin Tendulkar - India
Gary Sobers - West Indies
Don Tallon - Australia
Ray Lindwall - Australia
Dennis Lillee - Australia
Alec Bedser - England
Bill O'Reilly - Australia
Clarrie Grimmett - Australia

It seems as though Bradman has chosen Sobers primarily as a batsman because the team already includes 5 dedicated bowlers. I guess he MAY have been thinking - "why do I need more than 5 world class batsmen in my side if I can blast the opposition out for not much anyway with all that fire-power. Far more efficient and entertaining that way."

Sobers should have been a choice for the top 5 batting spots given the abundance of brilliant and entertaining all-rounders available. After all, do you really need Sobers coming in at 6 if the team is already 300 for 4 wickets? Bit of a waste. Even if the second half of the batting order fails completely you could still feel pretty relaxed about defending 300 because (for example) Lillee + Marshall would be opening the attack and Imran + Hadlee would be taking over when they got a bit tired. And if the test reached a 5th day then Warne/Murali and Sobers would be more than handful on a turning wicket.

 

[weldone]

Playing Sobers @ # 4 or 5 is really a good idea, and he had quite some success in those positions in test cricket.

 

[Debris]

As a reminder, here was Bradman's selection.

Barry Richards - South Africa
Arthur Morris - Australia
Don Bradman - Australia (Captain)
Sachin Tendulkar - India
Gary Sobers - West Indies
Don Tallon - Australia
Ray Lindwall - Australia
Dennis Lillee - Australia
Alec Bedser - England
Bill O'Reilly - Australia
Clarrie Grimmett - Australia

It seems as though Bradman has chosen Sobers primarily as a batsman because the team already includes 5 dedicated bowlers. I guess he MAY have been thinking - "why do I need more than 5 world class batsmen in my side if I can blast the opposition out for not much anyway with all that fire-power. Far more efficient and entertaining that way."

Sobers should have been a choice for the top 5 batting spots given the abundance of brilliant and entertaining all-rounders available. After all, do you really need Sobers coming in at 6 if the team is already 300 for 4 wickets? Bit of a waste. Even if the second half of the batting order fails completely you could still feel pretty relaxed about defending 300 because (for example) Lillee + Marshall would be opening the attack and Imran + Hadlee would be taking over when they got a bit tired. And if the test reached a 5th day then Warne/Murali and Sobers would be more than handful on a turning wicket.

This side was either a practical joke or just Bradman trying to cram his favourite players into a side. I can't believe that Bradman seriously thought this would be the best side to pick in reality.

 

[Howe_zat]

As a reminder, here was Bradman's selection.

Barry Richards - South Africa
Arthur Morris - Australia
Don Bradman - Australia (Captain)
Sachin Tendulkar - India
Gary Sobers - West Indies
Don Tallon - Australia
Ray Lindwall - Australia
Dennis Lillee - Australia
Alec Bedser - England
Bill O'Reilly - Australia
Clarrie Grimmett - Australia

It seems as though Bradman has chosen Sobers primarily as a batsman because the team already includes 5 dedicated bowlers. I guess he MAY have been thinking - "why do I need more than 5 world class batsmen in my side if I can blast the opposition out for not much anyway with all that fire-power. Far more efficient and entertaining that way."

Sobers should have been a choice for the top 5 batting spots given the abundance of brilliant and entertaining all-rounders available. After all, do you really need Sobers coming in at 6 if the team is already 300 for 4 wickets? Bit of a waste. Even if the second half of the batting order fails completely you could still feel pretty relaxed about defending 300 because (for example) Lillee + Marshall would be opening the attack and Imran + Hadlee would be taking over when they got a bit tired. And if the test reached a 5th day then Warne/Murali and Sobers would be more than handful on a turning wicket.

You could say that exact same thing the other way around though. Why do you Grimmett at third change when your first four bowlers can blast them out for nothing? Why do you need Tallon's keeping when there'll be a chance a minute?

Never mind that a lower order that gets your side from 400 to 600 is going to be far more useful than an amazing 5th bowler who's twiddling his thumbs at fine leg.

Or, maybe selection based around assuming you're bound to do perfectly isn't the best idea.

 

[kingkallis]

Don
Wally
Charles

 

[Jager]

I don't see what's wrong with Bradman's list. He has six specialist batsmen.

 

[zaremba]

no, he has 5 batsmen, 5 bowlers (bit of a pinch to call Lindwall an all-rounder) and a keeper with a Test average of 17 batting at 6.

 

[Prince EWS]

Reckon we should start up a thread after this with a whole range of possible team compositions based on who was most popular in these threads.

I've never run one of these, but I always felt the best idea was to pick more than we needed of some positions, and then vote for eleven out of squad at the end.

So we'd pick - for example - two openers, four specialist middle order batsmen, a wicket keeper, two allrounders, four specialist fast bowlers and two specialist spinners. Then we could have a poll at the end after we'd picked that squad of fifteen as to which balance we'd go with in the eleven. Obviously the two openers, three of the middle order bats, two of the fast bowlers, one of the spinners and the keeper would make the side, so the poll would just be different combinations of the fourth specialist middle order batsman, the two allrounders, the second spinner and the third and fourth fast bowlers - after we already knew who those players were.

I've always intended to do exactly that, but I'm never the one who thinks up the idea after we haven't done it in a while. ;p

 

[silentstriker]

I would go in with all fast bowlers, so I don't know if it's 'obvious'.