CW Decides The XI of the Decade

[Burgey]

I’m picking Stokes or Shakib for the last spot tbh. Difficult to separate them for this side.

 

[Athlai]

Shakib or Stokes both deserve it.

So I'm going to dodge making that difficult decision entirely and go Colin de Grandhomme for the meme value.

 

[ataraxia]

Shakib or Stokes both deserve it.

So I'm going to dodge making that difficult decision entirely and go Colin de Grandhomme for the meme value.

Was considering that.

 

[stephen]

Aussie attack of Cummins, Hazlewood, Starc and Lyon appears stronger overall than the decade attack.

I think this is what happens when you to try to pick a specialist first change bowler rather than just your best 3 quicks

Steyn and Herath are ahead of Cummins and Lyon at this point. I also don't think Philander is behind either Hazlewood or Starc. Anderson certainly is behind both Hazlewood and Starc in unfriendly conditions though. So overall the decade attack wins.

 

[stephen]

Steyn aside, you'd like to face that attack for a living ,wouldn't you? Certainly one of the poorer "Team of" bowling line ups I've seen, which is kind of odd, as I think bowling overall is better now than it has been at any time since the late 90s.

Most of those new terrific bowlers have come along in the last few years, or operate as part of a very strong attack.

Here is a question, which is the better English attack, the Anderson + Broad attacks of this decade or the Flintoff/Hoggard/Harmison/SiJo attack of 2005?

 

[NZTailender]

Anderson and Broad, because they stayed on the park and have done the business overseas.

As much as the 2005 was good, it's been vastly overrated as part of the Aus-Eng Ashes hegemony

 

[jimmy101]

The whole "recommended players" aspect to this exercise has sprouted a rather unusual team.

 

[CricAddict]

Ben Stokes for the last spot. His skills will complement the side nicely.

 

[morgieb]

I think we have better bowling teams now, whereas a lot of countries (Australia excluded) tended to have one star plus 2-3 also rans making up the XI in the previous decade.

Yeah only really Steyn's in the same class as Warne/Murali/McGrath from the 2000's even but there's far more "good" bowlers than what there was 10-15 years ago.

It also doesn't help that a lot of the guys that might be ATG's are a bit questionable regarding longetivity (Cummins, Rabada)

Kind of regretting picking Philander now, tbh.

 

[Prince EWS]

Yeah world bowling stocks are in a really good place right now but that doesn't mean it's been so for the whole decade. This is definitely more of a proper team of the decade than a team of the best players who played this decade.

The attack is certainly a bit unbalanced though with Philander bowling at first change. AT said this has been a result of trying to pick a specialist first change instead of picking the three best seamers but I actually think it's the complete opposite of that tbh. Philander's left the third biggest footprint on the decade for a seamer but almost exclusively opened the bowling and was pretty reliant on wickets with the new rock as well. If we picked a specialist third seamer it wouldn't have been him.

 

[NUFAN]

Ill go Jadeja at 7 just because I dont feel good that only 1 Indian made it vs 3 from Eng if Stokes makes it. I actually thought ABDV had a chance, but again 3 SAFS and i guess the team needs extra bowling because there is a fear this attack might struggle for wickets in some situations. Situations that Jadeja probably cant improve haha.

Still, in summary, Jadeja.

 

[Fuller Pilch]

Mitchell Marsh to bat 6 - he's the new Keith Miller.

I'm picking Stokes will edge AB for this spot, but I think the bowling attack is all wrong. I love Herath but his lack of batting really affects the side's balance

This would be better for a 5 man attack:

Steyn
Anderson/Philander
Holder/Wagner
Ashwin
Jadeja/Shakib/Stokes (depending on conditions)

 

[ataraxia]

Mitchell Marsh to bat 6 - he's the new Keith Miller.

I'm picking Stokes will edge AB for this spot, but I think the bowling attack is all wrong. I love Herath but his lack of batting really affects the side's balance

This would be better for a 5 man attack:

Steyn
Anderson/Philander
Holder/Wagner
Ashwin
Jadeja/Shakib/Stokes (depending on conditions)

If he was Keith Miller he'd have to be at 5 tho.

 

[Bahnz]

Tend to go with Stokes, there aren't really any decent 5th bowler options in the top 5 now that Kane has had his action straightened.

 

[morgieb]

Mitchell Marsh to bat 6 - he's the new Keith Miller.

I'm picking Stokes will edge AB for this spot, but I think the bowling attack is all wrong. I love Herath but his lack of batting really affects the side's balance

This would be better for a 5 man attack:

Steyn
Anderson/Philander
Holder/Wagner
Ashwin
Jadeja/Shakib/Stokes (depending on conditions)

Yeah if we'd picked Ashwin it would make picking a Wagner or a Morkel (or maybe even Johnson - who in hindsight I'd have picked instead) more viable.

Here I guess I'll go for Stokes as I think we might need another bowler.

 

[honestbharani]

Marc is right though, the guy who is selected in a team of the decade should surely have kept wicket in that decade. Sanga wasn't selected as the designated keeper even once in the decade.

His point was right, but his post was still stupid.

 

[Spark]

Yeah world bowling stocks are in a really good place right now but that doesn't mean it's been so for the whole decade. This is definitely more of a proper team of the decade than a team of the best players who played this decade.

The attack is certainly a bit unbalanced though with Philander bowling at first change. AT said this has been a result of trying to pick a specialist first change instead of picking the three best seamers but I actually think it's the complete opposite of that tbh. Philander's left the third biggest footprint on the decade for a seamer but almost exclusively opened the bowling and was pretty reliant on wickets with the new rock as well. If we picked a specialist third seamer it wouldn't have been him.

Yeah actually picking the most appropriate first change bowler is precisely why I picked Morkel and flat-out did not consider Philander in my own thinking.

 

[ataraxia]

And this is why CDG was optimal and still is.

 

[Fuller Pilch]

If Angelo Mathews had bowled more he would've been perfect. Average of 45 with the bat and mostly a no 6.

 

[Cabinet96]

AB de Villiers