The ATG Teams General arguing/discussing thread

[h_hurricane]

hand shandies don’t count mate.

Oh yes, and you would know better than me

 

[Burgey]

Look, I know more than you about everything. I’m not saying that to brag btw. It’s a very low bar. But it’s true.

 

[Coronis]

Reading an old thread (2012) with a lot of Grace and era discussions in it so the early days are on my mind.

Pre WW1 XI

WG Grace
Victor Trumper
KS Ranjitsinhji
Clem Hill
Aubrey Faulkner
Monty Noble*
Jack Blackham+
George Lohmann
Charlie Turner
Fred Spofforth
Sydney Barnes

I excluded Hobbs and others who played both sides of the war, Noble might have to give up the captaincy to get the best out of Grace however. The tail is pretty long, but then again all 4 bowlers average under 20, plus you have Faulkner, Noble and Grace to back them up.

Actually thinking about it this side might be better balanced.

Grace*
Trumper
Ranji
Hill
FS Jackson
Faulkner
Noble
Blackham+
Turner
Spofforth
Barnes

 

[Ymaxxx]

Who are these folklore creature named wg grace and barnes

 

[bagapath]

would be very interesting if these people actually turn up now and play with the modern day cricketers and it is revealed that barnes is as good as pushpakumara and grace is the equivalent of Collingwood and Spofforth actually bowls like ishant sharma.

nah. they'll be more like mcgrath and botham and ambrose.

 

[harsh.ag]

Grace would be Sobers, not Botham

 

[ataraxia]

Faulkner actually played both sides of WWI but it's absolutely fair to lump him in with the pre-WWI crowd.

Both sides given by Coronis look pretty good but in the second one I'd replace Jackson with Shrewsbury.

 

[honestbharani]

would be very interesting if these people actually turn up now and play with the modern day cricketers and it is revealed that barnes is as good as pushpakumara and grace is the equivalent of Collingwood and Spofforth actually bowls like ishant sharma.

nah. they'll be more like mcgrath and botham and ambrose.

Shardul will still be The Lord.

 

[TheJediBrah]

would be very interesting if these people actually turn up now and play with the modern day cricketers and it is revealed that barnes is as good as pushpakumara and grace is the equivalent of Collingwood and Spofforth actually bowls like ishant sharma.

A lot of people already believe and accept this as it is, and it's not an unfair opinion

 

[Coronis]

Faulkner actually played both sides of WWI but it's absolutely fair to lump him in with the pre-WWI crowd.

Both sides given by Coronis look pretty good but in the second one I'd replace Jackson with Shrewsbury.

Completely forgot he played a test in 1924, I’m sure he would’ve rather forgot too.

 

[Flem274*]

A lot of people already believe and accept this as it is, and it's not an unfair opinion

yep. i think even a lot of 70s and 80s bowlers in particular would cop a rude awakening if they had to bowl at modern batsmen with helmets and the white ball mindset.

conversely modern batsmen would not enjoy uncovered pitches or all of a sudden having to bat with no helmet, even if the fastest bowlers of the old days turned out to be 135kph or something.

 

[bagapath]

Grace would be Sobers, not Botham

grace was a right hander. so had to choose the closest modern version.

 

[Gob]

So India are fast emerging as the toughest place to visit in my life time of watching cricket (post 1995). What's your team to take on the best of India in that period?

Cook *
Hayden
Amla
Younis
Smith
Martyn
Flower +
Wasim
Saqlain
Steyn
McGrath

Very hard leaving out Gillespie but opted for Wasim for variety. They'll take on

Sehwag
Dravid
Laxman
Tendulkar
Kohli
Pant
Jadeja ew
Ashwin
Kumble
Zaheer
Bumrah

 

[Migara]

Mahela J has one damn good record in india.

Here is the list

 

[Migara]

Amla
McKenzie
Khan
Aravinda
Flower
Misbah
Kallis
Wasim
Steyn
Saqlain / Swann
McGrath

I'd love to have PJ and MJ somewhere there too. They are best players of Indian spin on Indian tracks.

 

[ankitj]

So India are fast emerging as the toughest place to visit in my life time of watching cricket (post 1995). What's your team to take on the best of India in that period?

Cook *
Hayden
Amla
Younis
Smith
Martyn
Flower +
Wasim
Saqlain
Steyn
McGrath

Very hard leaving out Gillespie but opted for Wasim for variety. They'll take on

Sehwag
Dravid
Laxman
Tendulkar
Kohli
Pant
Jadeja ew
Ashwin
Kumble
Zaheer
Bumrah

Visiting team is nearly perfect. Home team should play Shami for sure in place of Bumrah who has just played 3 games in India where Ashwin and Axar weren't leaving anything for pacers to do.

 

[Daemon]

I think Smith played in the most challenging conditions against the best bowling attack, so while Jayawardene and Amla's records are impressive, I'd put them behind Smith who'd then be behind Younis Khan.

 

[_00_deathscar]

So India are fast emerging as the toughest place to visit in my life time of watching cricket (post 1995). What's your team to take on the best of India in that period?

Cook *
Hayden
Amla
Younis
Smith
Martyn
Flower +
Wasim
Saqlain
Steyn
McGrath

Very hard leaving out Gillespie but opted for Wasim for variety. They'll take on

Sehwag
Dravid
Laxman
Tendulkar
Kohli
Pant
Jadeja ew
Ashwin
Kumble
Zaheer
Bumrah

Who would be an option for 2nd spinner for the overseas team? ATG attack but if the wickets are like the first 2-3 tests vs England then the pacemen are dead unless they get everyone out in the first ~30 overs.

For India, as much as I love Pant and I'd already pick him away and I'm sure he'll replace Dhoni in the future, for home games it has to be Dhoni for now.
Siddhu/Rohit Sharma also have a claim for opening so that top order might need rejigging.

 

[Victor Ian]

I'm not a keen fan on picking people to tour India based on a few games. I mean seriously... Flower?

It's the same as not including someone based on a few games.

 

[srbhkshk]

Flower was really good against India VI, felt like a blessing the few times we managed to get him out.