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The ATG Teams General arguing/discussing thread

AndrewB

International Vice-Captain
It's interesting how Barrington now seems to be an automatic pick for the all-time England XI. Pretty sure when I was reading cricket books and magazines in the 80s he barely got a look in - think people then tended to rate the Ashes-winning batsmen of the 50s (Compton/May/Edrich/Cowdrey) ahead of Barrington (maybe putting style ahead of substance).
 

trundler

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It's interesting how Barrington now seems to be an automatic pick for the all-time England XI. Pretty sure when I was reading cricket books and magazines in the 80s he barely got a look in - think people then tended to rate the Ashes-winning batsmen of the 50s (Compton/May/Edrich/Cowdrey) ahead of Barrington (maybe putting style ahead of substance).
I have attempted to dig up some fatal statistical flaw that would justify this seemingly grave injustice and failed. Exceptional record in and against Australia as well as in and outside England. Low 40s Strike rate was on par with more celebrated contemporaries like Dexter and May. The innings against NZ is often brought up as a criticism but he was most likely depressed and mentally fatigued. Of course nobody gave a **** in the 60s. Have heard that he didn't like facing up to Hall and Griffith but England-WI series of his time were marred by excessive hostility arising from chucking allegations. Did struggle against the West Indies but hey, everybody's got a hole. Compton and May averaged significantly less away.

Here's the article that talks about Barrington's demons.

https://www.thecricketmonthly.com/story/1220189/ken-barrington-s-demons
 
Last edited:

Coronis

International Coach
You have a strange habit of bringing up Sutcliffe then ignoring why Hobbs and Hutton were better.
Personally I’ve always felt that the gap between Sutcliffe/Hutton and the likes of May, Compton and Pietersen was large enough to justify having both in the XI.

e.g
Hobbs
Sutcliffe
Hutton
Hammond
Barrington
Botham
Knott+
Bowlers
 

Red

The normal awards that everyone else has
People have a strange habit of ignoring Sutcliffe here.
How would you select the XI? If you are going to include all of Hutton, Hobbs and Sutcliffe, one of them has to bat out of position.

IMO Hutton is the greatest opener of all time, and Hobbs may very well be the second best. Hobbs was certainly the best between Grace and Bradman, and everyone who saw Hobbs and Sutcliffe acknowledge that Hobbs was better, in spite of the stats. As good as Sutcliffe was, there are definite reasons against including him in the XI if you are only selecting two openers.
 

Howe_zat

Audio File
Jack Hobbs
Len Hutton
George Headley
Wally Hammond
Neil Harvey
Vijay Hazare
Brad Haddin
Richard Hadlee
Ryan Harris
Rangana Herath
Wes Hall

You could play 5 bowlers and pick Holder or Hirst. Don’t think I can find room for Nasser Hussain. Eligibility of Shakib al Hasan questionable.
 

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