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All time world test XI selection

kyear2

kyear2

International Coach
Days of Grace said:
Fair point. I hate it when openers are picked as middle-order bats just to shoehorn them into the XI. But, for me, a middle order player should be able to bat anywhere from 3 to 6 in most cases.

Thus,

Viv Richards

Don Bradman

Lara and Smith were very close. But I don't think anyone bar Bradman dominated bowlers over a sustained period of time like Viv in his prime. And can you imagine a 5-7 of Viv, Sobers, and Gilchrist? ****ing hell.
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True, but a cordon of Richards, Sobers and Warne is less than inspiring, especially Warne at 3rd.

Lara or Smith being equally brilliant with the bat, just brings more in the cordon than Richards and Tendulkar, especially taking this attack into account.
 
trundler

trundler

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Hmm, Hammond or Lara - who is better suited to this lineup? Given we're selecting a #6, I'll take Lara for his credibility against spin and high SR. Smith needs a few more years and Viv just missed out imo.

Bradman to captain
 
Coronis

Coronis

International Coach
trundler said:
Hmm, Hammond or Lara - who is better suited to this lineup? Given we're selecting a #6, I'll take Lara for his credibility against spin and high SR. Smith needs a few more years and Viv just missed out imo.

Bradman to captain
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Can be 5 or 6, Sobers can swap to accomodate.
 
kyear2

kyear2

International Coach
Bradman running away with the captaincy vote.

Richards and Lara tied with 6 voted each.
 
kyear2

kyear2

International Coach
A great team, as this one obviously is, should be well rounded and complete in every way. Along with having a strong batting order and bowling attack, it should have at the very least a decent or competent 5th bowler and some batting depth in the tail. But it also needs to have a good fielding team ,especially a great cordon to fully complement and take advantage of the assembled attack.

I know that apart from myself that only TJB and a few others really pushes the importance of having specialists catchers in these teams, but it really is as important as having a competent tail and or batsman who can turn their arms over for a few overs or break partnerships.
 
S

subshakerz

Hall of Fame Member
kyear2 said:
A great team, as this one obviously is, should be well rounded and complete in every way. Along with having a strong batting order and bowling attack, it should have at the very least a decent or competent 5th bowler and some batting depth in the tail. But it also needs to have a good fielding team ,especially a great cordon to fully complement and take advantage of the assembled attack.

I know that apart from myself that only TJB and a few others really pushes the importance of having specialists catchers in these teams, but it really is as important as having a competent tail and or batsman who can turn their arms over for a few overs or break partnerships.
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Like Viv?

Specialist catchers seems a stretch honestly. Certainly not a big enough factor to decide over someone with greater skill in their core discipline.
 
S

subshakerz

Hall of Fame Member
trundler said:
Hmm, Hammond or Lara - who is better suited to this lineup? Given we're selecting a #6, I'll take Lara for his credibility against spin and high SR. Smith needs a few more years and Viv just missed out imo.

Bradman to captain
Click to expand...
What's the point of Lara when you already have a flamboyant West Indian lefthander in Sobers who was arguably even better?
 
kyear2

kyear2

International Coach
subshakerz said:
Like Viv?

Specialist catchers seems a stretch honestly. Certainly not a big enough factor to decide over someone with greater skill in their core discipline.
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Haven't suggested players with different skill levels.

For instance

Tendulkar vs Smith, similar to the McGrath vs Hadlee argument. Not talking about dropping below the every highest tier to select a less talented batsman. All of these mentioned are in the very small best after Bradman category.
And we do it for the bowling, I rate Ambrose, Steyn and a few others over Imran purely as bowlers, but with McGrath in the team, a stronger batsman at 8 would be ideal and also the bowler wouldn't be getting the new ball and as such a old ball specialist again should be preferred. But unlike Smith or Lara, Imran isn't in my absolute top tier, but just below. So that is the only instance where "greater skilled players" would be overlooked.
And with regards to specialists catchers being a stretch, you don't see a difference in quality between for instance Lara, Sobers, Smith and Richards, Sobers, Warne?

With regards to VIv, he was solid but from watching him he never stood out to me the way Lloyd, Richardson, Hooper, Lara etc did. But that could be the fault of my recollections tbh.
 
trundler

trundler

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subshakerz said:
What's the point of Lara when you already have a flamboyant West Indian lefthander in Sobers who was arguably even better?
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Can't have too much of a good thing. Both #5 and #6 being left handed and quick scorers doesn't matter at all to me. I'd be happy to compromise on any of the alternatives obviously but my reasoning leads me to believe that Lara is the best fit for this particular side. His ability to destroy spinners and perform miracles makes Lara the best choice IMO. Hammond is more suited to #3/4 and I think Lara > Richards slightly. More relevantly, Lara came good against better quality spin.
 
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