Which country's All Time XI is the strongest?

[Logan]

Australia

Greatest Batsman

Greatest WK Batsman

Arguably Greatest Spinner

 

[MrPrez]

Aus
WI
Eng
SA

imo.

 

[_00_deathscar]

Australia’s middle order is ridiculous.

Bradman
Smith
Waugh
Border
Chappell
Ponting

And can’t play them all, so the second team is going to be crazy strong too.
The likes of Clarke probably don’t even make the second team.

 

[stephen]

Australia’s middle order is ridiculous.

Bradman
Smith
Waugh
Border
Chappell
Ponting

And can’t play them all, so the second team is going to be crazy strong too.
The likes of Clarke probably don’t even make the second team.

I think Clarke tends to be quite underrated. Lived in the shadow of Ponting for many years and then his back cut his career short. Was genuinely Bradmanesque around 2012. And I really enjoyed watching him bat. Quite aesthetically pleasing technique, though I think Ambrose would have bowled him a few times like he did to Hayden as a youngster.

 

[trundler]

Australia

Greatest Batsman

Greatest WK Batsman

Arguably Greatest Spinner

Greatest pace bowler too..

 

[Gob]

Australia’s middle order is ridiculous.

Bradman
Smith
Waugh
Border
Chappell
Ponting

And can’t play them all, so the second team is going to be crazy strong too.
The likes of Clarke probably don’t even make the second team.

As good as it is, Headley, Richards, Lara, Sobers were better

 

[Coronis]

Greatest pace bowler too..

Once again, arguably.

 

[OverratedSanity]

As good as it is, Headley, Richards, Lara, Sobers were better

The 3 Ws usually don't even make the xi which is crazy considering how great they were.

 

[Slifer]

Australia’s middle order is ridiculous.

Bradman
Smith
Waugh
Border
Chappell
Ponting

And can’t play them all, so the second team is going to be crazy strong too.
The likes of Clarke probably don’t even make the second team.

Hence why I ranked their B team after wi, eng, oak and rsa first xi.

 

[Coronis]

As good as it is, Headley, Richards, Lara, Sobers were better

I mean, no, Bradman makes it a better middle order.

 

[Slifer]

Greatest pace bowler too..

Umm arguably. They also arguably have the best left handed bowler as well.

 

[SillyCowCorner1]

About 5 years ago, India's ATG XI was top heavy.

 

[mr_mister]

The only thing we don't have an arguable case for best ever is a GOAT opener

 

[Slifer]

I mean, no, Bradman makes it a better middle order.

Yeah Bradman gives Australia's middle order the definitive edge over any of the other contenders. And if that weren't bad enough, they have Gilchrist coming in at 7!!!

 

[Slifer]

The only thing we don't have an arguable case for best ever is a GOAT opener

Let's see

Best batsman: Bradman
Best fast bowler (arguably): McGrath
Best spinner (arguably): Oreilly, Warne
Best all rounder (arguably): Miller
Wk/batsman : Gilchrist
Pure keeper (arguably): marsh, Healey, talon
Left arm fast bowler (arguably) : Davidson

Yup except for openers, Australia have pretty much all their bases covered.

 

[mr_mister]

I always thought Bert Oldfield was a genuine shout for GOAT pure keeper, moreso than Marsh at least. His cricinfo write up certainly paints him as a master behind the stumps. His batting largely ineffectual however so maybe that affects his reputation

 

[aussie tragic]

Yup except for openers, Australia have pretty much all their bases covered.

Pretty harsh on Hayden, Simpson, Ponsford and Woodfull who all averaged over 50 as Aussie openers

 

[mr_mister]

Pretty harsh on Hayden, Simpson, Ponsford and Woodfull who all averaged over 50 as Aussie openers

Yeah but they're not in the Hobbs-Hutton class

 

[mr_mister]

Also interestingly, Bruce Mitchell averaged 56.9(higher than everyone bar Sutcliffe) as an opener from 48 digs. His slightly less impressive career average of 48 comes from occasionally batting 3/4 and not doing so well there

 

[trundler]

Ponsford is pretty underrated. Second only to Bradman for a brief period. Had a knack for going big too. Australia may not have GOAT openers but they're as good as the respective pairs from WI, SA or India. England obviously have the best openers but their middle order lacks a truly alpha batsman like Richards, Pollock or Smith. Excluding Bradman here obvs. England do have Hammond but I'm not sure if he was a true alpha since he slowed down a lot as his career went on. WI have the most alpha middle other with Richards, Lara AND Sobers.