-
Welcome to the Cricket Web forums, one of the biggest forums in the world dedicated to cricket.
You are currently viewing our boards as a guest which gives you limited access to view most discussions and access our other features. By joining our free community you will have access to post topics, respond to polls, upload content and access many other special features. Registration is fast, simple and absolutely free so please, join the Cricket Web community today!
If you have any problems with the registration process or your account login, please contact us.
Bagapath's Greatest XI
- Thread starter bagapath
- Start date
Furball
Evil Scotsman
Not really. Burgey's another one who speaks very highly of Garner IIRC.
ankitj
Hall of Fame Member
I know mate. I'm not saying he has made any wrong choice there.
The Battlers Prince
International Vice-Captain
Love the big bird call. He was a great bowler and I'm happy to see you've chosen him. Should be a good side coming IMO
Hooksey
Banned
I had the good fortune to meet Joel Garner in a pub years ago and he was gracious enough to have a chat with me for probably 15 minutes. Ripping bloke.
Hooksey
Banned
Will Ian Botham be captain??Ah! I just remembered it was Botham who once said that Garner would be the first fast bowler in his team. Wonder if you were influenced by that gentleman....
bagapath
International Captain
well... her name was lakshmi (luck-sh-me) ... she was a white beast and had some jersey blood in her.... our annual trips to the rural veterinary hospital across the river to get a local bull to mate with her pretty much shaped my take on love, ***, family and, in general, life in solar system... in short, we had to encourage the bull to be nice to her and then cajole her to comply with him and then ... don't ask me more.... i remember her delivering five male calves in nine years before deciding to retire from public life... till then she gave us 3 litres of milk in the morning and 2 in the evening... we would let the calf drink the rest...
lakshmi was tied up in our backyard by the well, not too far from the bathroom which was in a separate block in the garden cut off from the house... and in the village, if you are a kid and if you want to use the bathroom in the middle of the night, you will see the ghosts of all your ancestors blocking your way from the house to the loo... sometimes, when i had to had to go... i would stare into the darkness extending from our doorstep to the loo, take a deep breath and run straight to the bathroom and slam the door shut in flat three seconds... with lakshmi giving you silent company from 20 meters away, and reassuring you with her heavy breathing and shuffling of legs, i would somehow manage to pee quickly and rush to the water tank for a quick wash and run right back into the house... i am eternally thankful to her for just being there during those tense moments...
the milkman who thought his dad looked like Benaud was, like me and most South Indians, a dark skinned guy. his dad's skin tone was closer to clive lloyd's than richie's. and the old man was bucktoothed and bald. i don't know why his son thought he looked like an australian leg spinner.
bagapath
International Captain
My fourth selection is my No. 4 in the batting order Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar.
I believe the no.4 position should belong to the most technically sound batsman in the team. Well, the openers have to face the new ball and deal with the swing and bounce. And no.3 is considered, and rightly so, to be the most difficult position to bat in for he walks in when the bowler has just seen blood. But No.4 has its own significance. For my money, I would say the batsman who walks in after the fall of the second wicket will not just have to consolidate (like a no.3 is expected to do most of the time) but dictate terms through quick and bulk scoring, for it is his contribution that broadly defines the total ultimately. He will have to be adept at playing spin, for sure. Because it is around the same time of his arrival, the opposition's tweaker would be at his most menacing. We need a player who can step out, nullify spin and hit over the top or go back in the crease and defend with soft hands dropping the ball away from close in fielders. We need someone who can nudge singles and twos regularly and at the same time find gaps for boundaries every three overs. If the second new ball gets taken while he is still at the crease, he should be able to survive that with three slips waiting for him to make a mistake. Javed Miandad is the one I would have gone for if this team were chosen before 1997. But luckily for India, and for world cricket, Sachin Tendulkar has excelled in this position and made it his own.
As my idol Laxman Sivaramakrishnan would scream "Look at this!"
Mat Inns NO Runs HS Ave 100 50 6s Ct
198 327 33 15837 248* 53.86 51 67 69 115
We all know his stats. We all know his great knocks; and his famous battles. For me, his consistency around the globe (40+ average in all test playing nations) and against all opposition (42+ average against everyone) for 22 years clinch the deal. He scores against everyone, everywhere, and he scores fast. I can take him to Australia, England, South Africa, Sri Lanka... anywhere... and expect him to succeed in all conditions. I don't think that can be said about anyone else except Bradman. The God of Indian Cricket may not be my most favorite cricketer in the team, there are seven more above him, but he certainly is a prize catch.
I believe the no.4 position should belong to the most technically sound batsman in the team. Well, the openers have to face the new ball and deal with the swing and bounce. And no.3 is considered, and rightly so, to be the most difficult position to bat in for he walks in when the bowler has just seen blood. But No.4 has its own significance. For my money, I would say the batsman who walks in after the fall of the second wicket will not just have to consolidate (like a no.3 is expected to do most of the time) but dictate terms through quick and bulk scoring, for it is his contribution that broadly defines the total ultimately. He will have to be adept at playing spin, for sure. Because it is around the same time of his arrival, the opposition's tweaker would be at his most menacing. We need a player who can step out, nullify spin and hit over the top or go back in the crease and defend with soft hands dropping the ball away from close in fielders. We need someone who can nudge singles and twos regularly and at the same time find gaps for boundaries every three overs. If the second new ball gets taken while he is still at the crease, he should be able to survive that with three slips waiting for him to make a mistake. Javed Miandad is the one I would have gone for if this team were chosen before 1997. But luckily for India, and for world cricket, Sachin Tendulkar has excelled in this position and made it his own.
As my idol Laxman Sivaramakrishnan would scream "Look at this!"
Mat Inns NO Runs HS Ave 100 50 6s Ct
198 327 33 15837 248* 53.86 51 67 69 115
We all know his stats. We all know his great knocks; and his famous battles. For me, his consistency around the globe (40+ average in all test playing nations) and against all opposition (42+ average against everyone) for 22 years clinch the deal. He scores against everyone, everywhere, and he scores fast. I can take him to Australia, England, South Africa, Sri Lanka... anywhere... and expect him to succeed in all conditions. I don't think that can be said about anyone else except Bradman. The God of Indian Cricket may not be my most favorite cricketer in the team, there are seven more above him, but he certainly is a prize catch.
benchmark00
Request Your Custom Title Now!
bagapath
International Captain
My fifth selection kinda completes the first phase of this process. I had to think through these five positions in depth and take the final call after much deliberation. The remaining six, on the other hand, are sure shots in any of my XIs. For example, the spinner of my choice here is Shane Warne.
Arguably the greatest spin bowler of all time, Warne looks like a certainty in everyone's all-time XI. Honestly, he shouldn't be. Murali is his equal in every way, and if you look at cold stats, he is probably superior to Shane. We should see Murali's name in half of these dream teams. But we don't.
I select Warne for the same reasons as others. He had bucket loads of match winning quality, a sense of theater, that beautiful-beautiful bowling action, the never say die spirit, and a sharp cricketing brain that plotted the batsman's downfall many overs in advance.
This doesn't mean his stats are bad.
Mat Inns Balls Runs Wkts BBI BBM Ave Econ SR 4w 5w 10
145 273 40705 17995 708 8/71 12/128 25.41 2.65 57.4 48 37 10
Except against India anywhere and versus West Indies in West Indies, Warne excelled against all other opposition. He was a great strategist and a useful lower order bat. And he seems to be a good guy to have with you in post-match festivities.
Arguably the greatest spin bowler of all time, Warne looks like a certainty in everyone's all-time XI. Honestly, he shouldn't be. Murali is his equal in every way, and if you look at cold stats, he is probably superior to Shane. We should see Murali's name in half of these dream teams. But we don't.
I select Warne for the same reasons as others. He had bucket loads of match winning quality, a sense of theater, that beautiful-beautiful bowling action, the never say die spirit, and a sharp cricketing brain that plotted the batsman's downfall many overs in advance.
This doesn't mean his stats are bad.
Mat Inns Balls Runs Wkts BBI BBM Ave Econ SR 4w 5w 10
145 273 40705 17995 708 8/71 12/128 25.41 2.65 57.4 48 37 10
Except against India anywhere and versus West Indies in West Indies, Warne excelled against all other opposition. He was a great strategist and a useful lower order bat. And he seems to be a good guy to have with you in post-match festivities.
Last edited:
Ikki
Hall of Fame Member
Actually, it's just India. Warne's figures in WI are ruined because of 1 series at time when he had trouble bowling at all. Apart from that, he didn't have a problem with them home or away.
Surprised you went with Warne though; thought you were gonna pick Murali. Maybe both?
Surprised you went with Warne though; thought you were gonna pick Murali. Maybe both?
Last edited:
bagapath
International Captain
As explained earlier, my next two selections are among the six dead-cert selections in my dream XIs.
Not just me, but millions would vouch for the fact that Brian Lara and Adam Gilchrist are among the greatest stroke makers of all time. They for me, have epitomised the very purpose of sport. Their commitment to deliver the best effort possible every time they are posed a challenge, rally around their teammates through good times and bad times alike, and accept failure and success with equal dignity say so much about their personal philosophies in life. It is difficult to describe how much pleasure I have derived from their cricketing styles.
I am bunching these two jewels together in my team selection, but not in batting order, for a reason I will be able to explain only later in this thread.
Statistics say this much about Lara:
Mat Inns NO Runs HS Ave BF SR 100 50 4s 6s Ct
131 232 6 11953 400* 52.88 19753 60.51 34 48 1559 88 164
What they don't describe are his exquisite timing, the ***iest follow through in the game, ability to produce boundary shots from perfectly good deliveries, uncanny knack of piercing the field and an insatiable hunger for big scores. He is batting out of position here, which also has my own logic to it. We will cross that bridge later.
Adam Gilchrist was a fantastic wicket keeper. It is important to say that sentence once again; because, he was a superb wicket keeper. But we tend to compare him unfavorably with that master technician Healy and pull him down. Also, Gilchrist was such a crack-shot batsman that we gloss over his other job conveniently. I need him in this team to stand up to Shane Warne, mainly. In addition to that, the swing and pace of my fast bowlers will demand some serious acrobatics behind the stumps, which we can expect Gilly to perform without fail at every opportunity.
Mat Inns NO Runs HS Ave BF SR 100 50 4s 6s Ct St
96 137 20 5570 204* 47.60 6796 81.95 17 26 677 100 379 37
In front of the wicket, it is the job of his opposition to do the diving and ducking. There was never a more devastating No.7 in history who batted with such class and aggression over such a long career. Forget his scorching sixers and thumping cuts which by themselves would be worth the cost of a ticket to any test ground. Think back on his ability to bat with the tail, his special skill in building partnerships - not massive ones but the most effective 30-40 runs for lower order wickets, and that frantic running between the wickets supplemented by that long reach of his bat wielding hand touching the crease before turning back for another run. Gilly was fast but never furious. He was all class and energy. In that way, he is aptly bunched here with the greatest stylist of the modern era.
Not just me, but millions would vouch for the fact that Brian Lara and Adam Gilchrist are among the greatest stroke makers of all time. They for me, have epitomised the very purpose of sport. Their commitment to deliver the best effort possible every time they are posed a challenge, rally around their teammates through good times and bad times alike, and accept failure and success with equal dignity say so much about their personal philosophies in life. It is difficult to describe how much pleasure I have derived from their cricketing styles.
I am bunching these two jewels together in my team selection, but not in batting order, for a reason I will be able to explain only later in this thread.
Statistics say this much about Lara:
Mat Inns NO Runs HS Ave BF SR 100 50 4s 6s Ct
131 232 6 11953 400* 52.88 19753 60.51 34 48 1559 88 164
What they don't describe are his exquisite timing, the ***iest follow through in the game, ability to produce boundary shots from perfectly good deliveries, uncanny knack of piercing the field and an insatiable hunger for big scores. He is batting out of position here, which also has my own logic to it. We will cross that bridge later.
Adam Gilchrist was a fantastic wicket keeper. It is important to say that sentence once again; because, he was a superb wicket keeper. But we tend to compare him unfavorably with that master technician Healy and pull him down. Also, Gilchrist was such a crack-shot batsman that we gloss over his other job conveniently. I need him in this team to stand up to Shane Warne, mainly. In addition to that, the swing and pace of my fast bowlers will demand some serious acrobatics behind the stumps, which we can expect Gilly to perform without fail at every opportunity.
Mat Inns NO Runs HS Ave BF SR 100 50 4s 6s Ct St
96 137 20 5570 204* 47.60 6796 81.95 17 26 677 100 379 37
In front of the wicket, it is the job of his opposition to do the diving and ducking. There was never a more devastating No.7 in history who batted with such class and aggression over such a long career. Forget his scorching sixers and thumping cuts which by themselves would be worth the cost of a ticket to any test ground. Think back on his ability to bat with the tail, his special skill in building partnerships - not massive ones but the most effective 30-40 runs for lower order wickets, and that frantic running between the wickets supplemented by that long reach of his bat wielding hand touching the crease before turning back for another run. Gilly was fast but never furious. He was all class and energy. In that way, he is aptly bunched here with the greatest stylist of the modern era.
Last edited:
benchmark00
Request Your Custom Title Now!
****, how much a gun **** was Brian Lara. Cricket lost so much when he left. Techniques are too text booky now.
And you don't see many batsmen (Afridi doesn't count because he's not a batsman) use their own bat brand:
And you don't see many batsmen (Afridi doesn't count because he's not a batsman) use their own bat brand:
Last edited:
