OK then, which is the stronger 'middle-order'?Yeah, separating #3 and the middle order is a cheat. I'm not having any of that. Lump them together and pick one country.
I think that the more countries represented the merrier; and therefore suggest the following make-up as the strongest;IMO,
English Openers
Australian Middle Order
OR
Australian Top Order
West Indies/Australian Middle Order, depending on Sobers vs Miller.
Bradman makes whichever group he's in non-negotiable, IMO.
Still prefer Lillee-McGrath-Lindwall over Donald-Procter-SteynIf you want all different countries, class Proctor as a fast bowler and have:
Hobbs
Hutton
Hammond
Lara
Richards
Sobers
Gilchrist
Proctor
Steyn
Muralitharan
Donald
Pretty damn good team.One player from each country (plus Bradman)
1. Hobbs
2. Gavaskar
3. Bradman
4. Kallis
5. Flower
6. Sobers
7. Gilchrist
8. Imran
9. Shakib
10. Hadlee
11. Muralitharan
Think Gilly offers so much more than Waite. Plus, Proctor and Steyn are right up there, for me at least, amongst top fast bowlers. Proctor adds quite a bit with the batting depth too.Still prefer Lillee-McGrath-Lindwall over Donald-Procter-Steyn
Waite kept 'flawlessly' to Adcock, Heine, and Tayfield and is at least Gilchrist's equal behind the stumps. Possibly more so. He was also good enough with the bat to score centuries against Tyson, Bedser and Lock in Manchester, and also against Davidson, Kline, and Benaud in Durban.Pretty damn good team.
Think Gilly offers so much more than Waite. Plus, Proctor and Steyn are right up there, for me at least, amongst top fast bowlers. Proctor adds quite a bit with the batting depth too.
No ProblemYeah, separating #3 and the middle order is a cheat. I'm not having any of that. Lump them together and pick one country.
This one isn't bad at all. Better cordon than mine as well. Still prefer Headley as a No. 3 over Hammond though.I think that the more countries represented the merrier; and therefore suggest the following make-up as the strongest;
a. English Top-Order
b. West Indian Middle-Order
c. South African Keeper
d. Australian Quicks
e. Sri Lankan Spinner
Which gives;
01. Jack Hobbs
02. Len Hutton
03. Walter Hammond
04. Brian Lara
05. Viv Richards
06. Garry Sobers
07. John Waite
08. Ray Lindwall
09. Dennis Lillee
10. Murali
11. Glenn McGrath
Hobbs and Hutton are significantly stronger than Morris and Trumper, and Lara-Richards-Sobers cannot be ignored. I think that there is enough compensation in those 5 batsman for the absence of Bradman. Plus Hammond was no fool with the bat + ball and is worth a place.
No one is twice the batsman Lara is, but you are entitled to you opnion. Also it's more of a direct comparrison btwn Bradman and Headley, and he wasn't twice the batsman George was either.Australian middle order is far stronger with Don being twice the batsman Lara is and I will take their fast bowling unit over WI for the variety it offers.
Davidson should definitely be in there imo. Always seems to be underrated in these types of discussions though.Confused? Nah. McGrath and Lillee are arguably the greatest bowlers of all time and Davidson was the best left armer. Then you have Miller.
As I have been saying of late, Australia would be better served with this squad, a final XI ofDavidson should definitely be in there imo. Always seems to be underrated in these types of discussions though.
Nope. You've already picked Sobers as the all-rounder at no.6 so his batting superiority over Miller or anyone else is utterly irrelevant to the selection of the 3-4-5 middle-order block. The actual comparison is Bradman-Chappell-Border vs Headley-Richards-Lara.No Problem
Jack Hobbs
Len Hutton
George Headley
Viv Richards
Brian Lara
Garry Sobers
Adam Gilchrist
Malcolm Marshall
Shane Warne
Curtly Ambrose
Michael Holding
No way Bradman, Chappell, Border, Miller is a better unit than Headley, Richards, Lara, Sobers. The W.I lineup has four of the top seven batsmen of All Time IMHO, better as a unit overall. Was separating them as Benaud when he was selecting his team had them separated as openers, no. 3, middle order and all rounder. But this was is fine as well.