Would Stuart Broad make the world's strongest XI?

[weldone]

Lol, no Michael Clarke. Always good for a laugh.

Whom would you take him for? All of Chanderpaul, AB, Kallis and Younis have been nothing short of exceptional in the last 1-2 years...Sangakkara and Clarke were close though - but dropping them for the first 4 isn't exactly laughable...

 

[Flem274*]

You could have just said that initially rather than try and downplay AB's achievements. You can think what you like but against a "proper" England attack in the last Ashes, Clarke struggled the entire series. The only teams he has really decimated are India and New Zealand, who both have poor attacks. So the facts don't support your judgements. I'd take AB every day of the week.

High scoring series from both sides that.

And lumping us in with India hurts. The batsmen yes, but the bowlers have been excellent this summer.

 

[Howe_zat]

I don't think Clarke disgraced himself during the Ashes when you consider that the whole team was getting destroyed, and even despite how well England bowled during that series, he still found ways to get himself out rather than allowing the bowlers to do it. It's fair enough to say he smashed a poor attack last summer, but that's hardly a criticism. There's evidence of him pulling the team through a tough situation too, like his knock at Galle last August.

Clarke has always been one where his own concentration has been as much a danger to him as the opposition (last over before stumps? I'll just have a nap, shall I) so I think it's fair to say he'd perform to a very similar standard on the next level up. Since his standard right now is averaging 50 in Tests and having unexplained magic powers as captain, I'll have him in.

 

[Manee]

Why is Broad so successful? He is fast-medium, not fantastically accurate (hardly probes away for more than a spell), quite tall and doesn't move the ball drastically like Steyn, Asif or even Hoggard. I have my own theories, but I'm interested in what CWers have to say.

 

[Prince EWS]

Why is Broad so successful? He is fast-medium, not fantastically accurate (hardly probes away for more than a spell), quite tall and doesn't move the ball drastically like Steyn, Asif or even Hoggard. I have my own theories, but I'm interested in what CWers have to say.

Length.

 

[NasserFan207]

Broad is also very mentally strong. He's a guy who keeps coming at batsmen, and is very hard to discourage. He also seems to get better as the day wears on. Was very impressed with him this last test. Noticed the same quality in the UAE.

 

[uvelocity]

I reckon Bell/Clarke/AB are all pretty similar in terms of quality, picking any one of them is just personal taste.

worst post on the internet

edit: I mean abcdvemeye is very, very good. And Bell has been less ****, but still miles behind. But Clarke, when you want to talk in terms of class, is far above

 

[Jono]

Clarke far above AB?

Classic case of a South African being underrated itbt.

 

[vic_orthdox]

No way on earth.

 

[BoyBrumby]

I'd probably lean towards AB de V using the traditional "did better versus my test side" thingy, but I don't think it'd be a travesty whichever way one went.

 

[Spark]

Why is Broad so successful? He is fast-medium, not fantastically accurate (hardly probes away for more than a spell), quite tall and doesn't move the ball drastically like Steyn, Asif or even Hoggard. I have my own theories, but I'm interested in what CWers have to say.

Only need to move it half a bat width to catch the edge.

 

[amanuensis]

de Villiers is sh*t at converting & not particularly convincing under real pressure - wonderful limited over batsman though. Bell isn't really a middle order batsman - he only plays there because various England managements tried to turn him into a number three too early in his test career.

 

[weeman27bob]

Does batting number five not count as the middle order?

 

[Uppercut]

Why is Broad so successful? He is fast-medium, not fantastically accurate (hardly probes away for more than a spell), quite tall and doesn't move the ball drastically like Steyn, Asif or even Hoggard. I have my own theories, but I'm interested in what CWers have to say.

He is a bit fantastically accurate. Can bowl on the stumps consistently without going for runs. Also he can find a bit of movement a lot more often than bowlers of other teams.

 

[amanuensis]

Does batting number five not count as the middle order?

Yes, but that's not my point.

 

[Agent Nationaux]

I would go with ABCD over Clarke and Bell.

Smith
Cook
Younis
Kallis
Chanderpaul
ABCD
Prior
Broad
Philander
Steyn
Ajmal

 

[Jacknife]

He is a bit fantastically accurate. Can bowl on the stumps consistently without going for runs. Also he can find a bit of movement a lot more often than bowlers of other teams.

Yes I was gonna say, he might not have been at his most accurate best against the WI but he's been a bit of a freak on the accuracy front against India and during the winter in the sub continent, add that to the length he's been bowling this past year and that's the answer.

 

[Sowester]

Not a bad shout really. He's not one of the best I've ever seen, but bowling seems to be going through a bit of a barren spell at the moment, and the fact that he's one of the best in the world really doesn't say all that much.

Other than Dale Steyn there isn't really a bowler in the world that would give batsmen sleepless nights. Were we just spoiled with the Warne, McGrath, Murali era?

 

[benchmark00]

Clarke's the best batsman in the world at the moment. So he's my first choice batsman. There's no doubt in my mind at all.

 

[Jacknife]

Really, he had a good series against India but so have loads have other people and he's played a special innings against SA but on the whole he's averaged 31 against WI ,42 against SA and 41 against SL. No doubt he's turned his form around since the Ashes but best batsman in the world, not for me.