All time world test XI selection

[Coronis]

Oldfield - the GOAT stumper.

Oldfield's piece de resistance was evidently the dismissal of Hobbs, when Ryder sent down an unexpectedly fast delivery that rose cap high: Hobbs, in avoiding the ball, moved momentarily out of his crease; Oldfield, meanwhile, in an amazing movement, had taken the ball and flicked a bail off.

 

[HookShot]

The best batsman according to Herbert Strudwick;

It is difficult to say who is the best batsman I have seen. So many have appealed to me at different times. I feel that I must give first place to Sir Jack Hobbs for his play on all wickets and against all types of bowling. He is the only batsman about whom I felt that he would not get out till he wanted to. Generally he threw his wicket away after scoring a century.

The best fast bowler;

Turning to bowlers, I regard Tom Richardson as the fastest and best of men of pace......I think J. M. Gregory and E. A. McDonald, the two fastest men from Australia I ever saw, were on a par with Richardson and Lockwood.

The best fast-medium bowlers;

Maurice Tate, Alec Bedser, G. G. Macaulay, C. Kelleway and F. R. Foster stand out among fast-medium bowlers. Foster, left-arm, was a bit faster than the others and very quick off the pitch.

The best medium bowler;

Sidney Barnes was the best of the medium-pace bowlers in my day, but the Australian W. J. O'Reilly followed him pretty closely.

The best slow bowlers;

As regards slow bowlers, there were so many as good as each other. There were the left-handers Rhodes, Blythe, Verity, Woolley and Parker and numerous right-handers, with Tich Freeman, of Kent, at the top.

 

[HookShot]

In the modern way of thinking I doubt a keeper with any less batting prowess than Healy will get in. Genuine high quality specialist keepers like Taylor, Bari, Grout aren’t part of a modern team. We’ll see Dhoni, Dujon and, God help us, Andy Flower instead.
JBMAC always extols the virtues of Farokh Engineer. He would be okay batting at 7.

Kapil Dev batted at No.7 When Syed Kirmani was keeping.

Ian Botham batted at No.7 when Bob Taylor was keeping.

Imran Khan batted at No.7 when Wasim Bari was keeping.

And if Bert Oldfield was around today then the selectors could bat Green at No.7 and play him as a front-line bowler as he is clearly good enough.

The problem with the modern game is the lack of great ‘balanced’ allrounders and really great wicket-keepers.

 

[The Sean]

Reading all that from Strudwick, you wonder how Australia ever even won a Test.

 

[Lillian Thomson]

Kapil Dev batted at No.7 When Syed Kirmani was keeping.

Ian Botham batted at No.7 when Bob Taylor was keeping.

Imran Khan batted at No.7 when Wasim Bari was keeping.

And if Bert Oldfield was around today then the selectors could bat Green at No.7 and play him as a front-line bowler as he is clearly good enough.

The problem with the modern game is the lack of great ‘balanced’ allrounders and really great wicket-keepers.

The point is there are no great keepers because since Gilchrist came along they have to score runs. It’s not a specialist position any longer.

 

[Coronis]

I like how he didn’t even mention Bradman.

 

[Red]

The point is there are no great keepers because since Gilchrist came along they have to score runs. It’s not a specialist position any longer.

I wonder if there’s a bit of golden nostalgia with older keepers also. I mean, I’m sure they were great, but Gilchrist was an outstanding keeper in addition to his batting. Keeping to Warne and MacGill was no easy task, and he had very few flaws.

If Gilchrist was even a bit sloppy, Aus could’ve easily batted him at 5 or 6 and bought in a better keeper. But there was never a need

 

[HookShot]

I like how he didn’t even mention Bradman.

Strudwick did mention Bradman;

Sir Don Bradman I consider the best run-getter of my time. He never seemed to tire, he had all the other batsmen's shots--and a few of his own. He was also the best fielder I have seen..... There have been lots of great batsmen from Australia, but never one as good.

But on ‘all wickets and against all types of bowling’ he considers Hobbs to be the better batsman.

 

[Lillian Thomson]

I wonder if there’s a bit of golden nostalgia with older keepers also. I mean, I’m sure they were great, but Gilchrist was an outstanding keeper in addition to his batting. Keeping to Warne and MacGill was no easy task, and he had very few flaws.

If Gilchrist was even a bit sloppy, Aus could’ve easily batted him at 5 or 6 and bought in a better keeper. But there was never a need

The fact that Gilchrist was a genuine Test class keeper as well as batsman is the main cause of the change in emphasis. He's a one off, but everyone wants one but can't find one. The runs have become more important than the keeping skills.

 

[HookShot]

I wonder if there’s a bit of golden nostalgia with older keepers also. I mean, I’m sure they were great, but Gilchrist was an outstanding keeper in addition to his batting. Keeping to Warne and MacGill was no easy task, and he had very few flaws.

If Gilchrist was even a bit sloppy, Aus could’ve easily batted him at 5 or 6 and bought in a better keeper. But there was never a need

I don’t think you can use Gilchrist as a comparison as he was a freak of nature, and a once in a life-time player like Bradman, Sobers or Marshall.

But realistically, can you imagine Tim Paine standing-up to Alec Bedser like Godfrey Evans or Strudwick himself standing-up to Frank Foster. Then there’s Kirmani and Chandra, and so on.

These guys were geniuses.

 

[HookShot]

Here is a pic from the Sydney Test, 1924 - Herbie Collins, caught Hendren bowled Tate for 114. Bert Strudrick is the keeper with the slips a mile back.

I could be wrong (probably am), but I doubt that contemporary keepers would be capable of standing-up to Maurice Tate.

 

[Fuller Pilch]

I don’t think you can use Gilchrist as a comparison as he was a freak of nature, and a once in a life-time player like Bradman, Sobers or Marshall.

But realistically, can you imagine Tim Paine standing-up to Alec Bedser like Godfrey Evans or Strudwick himself standing-up to Frank Foster. Then there’s Kirmani and Chandra, and so on.

These guys were geniuses.

What about Prasanna Jayawardene? In terms of actual wicletkeeping he'd be the best of the 21st century. Okay batting too.

 

[Red]

I don’t think you can use Gilchrist as a comparison as he was a freak of nature, and a once in a life-time player like Bradman, Sobers or Marshall.

But realistically, can you imagine Tim Paine standing-up to Alec Bedser like Godfrey Evans or Strudwick himself standing-up to Frank Foster. Then there’s Kirmani and Chandra, and so on.

These guys were geniuses.

See that’s the thing, I have no issue imaging Paine or Carey standing up to an accurate medium pacer. It’s not that difficult (at their level).

It’s actually a lot easier than keeping to spin, esp leggies.

The reason keepers don’t keep up to the stumps anymore isnt deficient skill. It’s percentages.

 

[Himannv]

Barrington
Evans

 

[Nikhil99.99]

Strudwick did mention Bradman;

Did he really consider Bradman to be the best fielder of all time till then?
Bit surprised ,always knew Don was really good fielder but to be the best fielder that Strudwick saw makes me appreciate bradman more as a fielder.
I find his writing on hobbs really good.Hobbs certainly threw his wicket in f.c and other matches after reaching century.don’t think hobbs ever did it in internationals or especially against Australia tho.

 

[The Sean]

Did he really consider Bradman to be the best fielder of all time till then?
Bit surprised ,always knew Don was really good fielder but to be the greatest fielder that Strudwick saw makes me appreciate bradman more as a fielder.

I'm not surprised Strudwick says that - Bradman's freakish runscoring dominated what was said and written about him to the extent that there wasn't much time for anything else, but it seems he was indeed also an absolutely brilliant fieldsman. From the Wisden tribute essay on his retirement by R.C. Robertson-Glasgow:

"Statistics cannot record the number of runs he carried with him to each innings. But, in a country of great fieldsmen, he stood out pre-eminent. His gathering and throwing approached perfection."

 

[Red]

First XI

Jack Hobbs
Len Hutton
Don Bradman (c)
Sachin Tendulkar
Viv Richards
Garry Sobers
Adam Gilchrist +
Imran Khan
Malcolm Marshall
Shane Warne
Glenn McGrath


Second XI

Sunil Gavaskar
Herbert Sutcliffe
Brian Lara
Wally Hammond (c)
Jaques Kallis
Steve Smith
Alan Knott +
Richard Hadlee
Dale Steyn
Curtly Ambrose
Muttiah Muralitharan


Third XI

Geoffrey Boycott
Bob Simpson (c)
George Headley
Kumar Sangakkara
Greg Chappell
Keith Miller
Les Ames +
Wasim Akram
Dennis Lillee
Bill OReilly
Fred Trueman


Fourth XI

Gordon Greenidge
Graeme Smith
Ricky Ponting
Graeme Pollock
Allan Border (c)
Ian Botham
BJ Watling +
Ray Lindwall
Jim Laker
Joel Garner
Allan Donald


Fifth XI

Matthew Hayden
Virender Sehwag
Rahul Dravid
-
-
-
Ian Healy +
Alan Davidson
-
-
Waqar Younis

 

[Red]

Fifth XI

- select a number 4 batsman

- select a spin bowler

 

[ataraxia]

Weekes
Grimmett

 

[CricAddict]

Ken Barrington

Ravindra Jadeja