Personally would have Ames if I wanted an wicketkeeper batsman.England XI:
Hutton (c)
Hobbs
Barrington
Hammond
May
Botham
Prior (wk)
Larwood
Trueman
Laker
Barnes
This is based off my ratings, with one wildcard (Larwood) thrown in.
I can choose any keeper I want, and I've gone for Prior, since Botham is a bit high at no.6 for an alltime team, and the tail is quite long. Really think Prior will be solid enough behind the stumps. The bowling attack covers all bases. A speedster to intimidate, a great allround fast bowler, a third-seamer with the knack of picking up wickets and who can run in all day, a classical off-spinner, and Barnes, who probably spun them away from the right-hander.
Murali being top of the Wisden list doesn't surprise me. Most of the ESPN surveys have Murali as No.1, or at least in the top 3, no matter what different angle the statistician is taking. For example;Wisden names Murali best bowler ever - The Times of India
Has this list ever been updated by Wisden?
....Murali being top of the Wisden list doesn't surprise me. Most of the ESPN surveys have Murali as No.1, or at least in the top 3, no matter what different angle the statistician is taking. For example;
It Figures | Cricket Blogs | ESPN Cricinfo
It Figures | Cricket Blogs | ESPN Cricinfo
Yeah mine too at the top end really but if it wasn't like that then Philander would probably be in the top ten. Need to make a more complex equation for how it deals with different amounts of longevity as how I and most other people view it isn't exactly linear.Too much emphasis on longevity for my liking.
And Kumble coming in as 5th best ever spinner is a bit how's yer father.Bill Johnston gets in the spinners list - I mean I appreciate he did bowl a bit of slow left arm but how many wickets did it take - a dozen?
and then Abdul Qadir doesn't - his methodology doesn't appear totally absurd, but I am struggling to take those lists seriously
Donald above Steyn..... RIDICULOUS!!
it's out of date now anyway, pretty sure Steyn would actually be aheadDonald above Steyn..... RIDICULOUS!!
It would be interesting to see the most recent version of this list - particularly after you've solved the conundrum of over-weighting longevity.
Also saw Bruce Mitchell ahead of Herb Sutcliffe.I noticed in those lists Ian Bell is rated above Hashim Amla
May be time for a tweak