Potentially GOAT pacer, master of reverse swing who reinvented himself as a batsman, an uphill skier and a fat tub of lard who bashed minnowsAll 4 of the 80s allrounders have quite unique and fascinating aspects of their career.
No other west Indian is in the top 8?? Ever heard of Curtly Curtly Ambrose ?? Imo I'd only rank Hadlee, Marshall, McGrath and maybe Steyn above him (Imran as well).European descent XI:
Hobbs - ENG
Grace* - ENG/6
Bradman - AUS
Smith - AUS
Pollock/Kallis/Trumper - SA/SA/AUS
Hammond - ENG/5
Gilchrist + AUS
Hadlee - NZ/1
Warne - AUS/4
Barnes - ENG/2
McGrath - AUS/3
O'Reilly - AUS/12th
Non-European:
Gavaskar - IND
Dravid - IND
Headley - WI
Tendulkar - IND
Richards - WI
Sobers - WI/5
Walcott + WI
Imran - PAK/1
Wasim - PAK/3
Marshall - WI/2
Murathaliran - SL/4
Ashwin - IND/12th
Two XIs, one dominated by Australia and the other by the West Indies.
W. G. Grace is an unusual pick around here for ATG XIs, so here is my reasoning for picking him: His first-class batting average is 39.5, and first-class bowling average 18. He's someone who would nowadays average 31-32 with the ball (the Kallis/Hammond type). If his batting average extrapolates the same way to what was done to his bowling average then it becomes 69. Even with a bit of leeway, that is an incredible average, thus why I pick him over Hutton, Richards and Sutcliffe regularly.
I can't really decide between Graeme Pollock and Jacques Kallis with the bat (Kallis' bowling is unneeded IMO), and add Victor Trumper's huge average at 5 to the equation and I'm really unsure. Dravid had to be picked, I can't really let Hanif or Sehwag play around at this level. Second choice for that position is Frank Worrell.
Walcott is my personal choice for keeper, beating out Sangakkara for his batting average as keeper. I don't consider the other options good enough. Feels weird having only one West Indian bowler in this lineup but aside from Marshall no WI bowler is in the top tier of 8.
Surely Ambrose is?Feels weird having only one West Indian bowler in this lineup but aside from Marshall no WI bowler is in the top tier of 8.
He is, I believe milenko just had a lil oversight. No harm no foul...Surely Ambrose is?
Hmm maybe not a million miles, but not so close. He is a better ODI player but thats a tougher XI to get into tbf.Oof, forgot about Sean Ervine. Definitely worth a shout. On that note, Sean Williams isn't a million miles away from making the team either imo.
Yeah, you can have Akram in the team over Ambrose. But you said Ambrose is not in the top tier of 8. That is definitely an oversight.I prefer Akram over Ambrose for his batting but just my personal preference. I'm fine with Ambrose.
At that time I was thinking of (in no particular order) Barnes, Hadlee, Marshall, Imran, McGrath, Akram, Warne, and Mura. I get Akram being swapped out for Ambrose now; didn't realise his average was so high in a strong era of batting.Yeah, you can have Akram in the team over Ambrose. But you said Ambrose is not in the top tier of 8. That is definitely an oversight.
Marshall, McGrath, Murali, Warne, Barnes, Hadlee, Imran, Steyn..Yeah he did mention top 8 bowlers not just pacers. Can definitely argue for around 10 bowlers marginally better than ambrose.
Marshall, McGrath, Steyn, Warne, Hadlee, Muralitharan, Ambrose, Trueman, Barnes, O'Reilly.Marshall, McGrath, Murali, Warne, Barnes, Hadlee, Imran, Steyn..
Cant think of any others tbh
O'Reilly, Lillee, Trueman, Akram, Donald have argumentsMarshall, McGrath, Murali, Warne, Barnes, Hadlee, Imran, Steyn..
Cant think of any others tbh
We're talking about a non European XI therefore only the likes of akram, imran, waqar, murali etc are in contention. Only really Marshall, imran and Murali could be rated above Ambrose. And if we're going up against a European XI unless I'm mistaken Ambrose has a better record vs SENA teams than akram.O'Reilly, Lillee, Trueman, Akram, Donald have arguments
This I can rollO'Reilly, Siddle, Trueman, Akram, Donald have arguments