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What is your ranking of all Country's ATG XIs?
- Thread starter subshakerz
- Start date
Red_Ink_Squid
Global Moderator
I'd pick 4 of them. (Apologies to Barrington and Compton.)
Hobbs
Sutcliffe
Hutton
Grace
Hammond
Root
Botham
Knott
Trueman
Laker
Barnes
ataraxia
International Coach
Hobbs
Sutcliffe
Hammond
Root
Grace
Hutton
Knott
Botham
Verity
Trueman
Barnes
there we go
Dendarii
International Debutant
Yep, this batting line-up is quite possibly the deepest batting one ever fielded in a test: https://www.espncricinfo.com/series...vs-south-africa-3rd-test-63780/full-scorecard
But it's not just the 90s. Besides Faulkner and Procter, who are popular picks for for the South African ATG side, there's also been Barlow, Goddard, and Rice. And Tony Greig is South African even though he never played for them.
TheJediBrah
Request Your Custom Title Now!
If your 6 best batsman are all openers, pick all 6. If they're going to do better at no.6 than whoever you're best middle-order bat is then that's the right selection
subshakerz
Hall of Fame Member
Someone who averages 50 odd as opener is likely to do just as well if not better down the order. Moving up the order is more difficult.
subshakerz
Hall of Fame Member
a really killer top four
bagapath
International Captain
Why not Federer or Messi at 3? Same number of innings as Hutton in that position, anyway.
srbhkshk
International Captain
Hutton's not gonna forget how to bat just because he did not come out in the first over. Batting at 1 vs 3 are not whole different sports.
Slifer
International Captain
I agree with you here. A team like the WI had Viv open a few times and ditto Lara, Worrell etc. So we can realistically pick a team that looks like this:
Viv
Worrell*
Headley
Lara
Weekes
Sobers
Walcott+
Marshall
Ambrose
Garner
Holding
It'll take a hell of a bowling attack to melt through that batting lineup, especially in the Caribbean. Fwiw though, I will say it's probably easier for an opener to bat down the order, than for a middle order batsman to open.
Slifer
International Captain
No. The most flexible side is Australia imo. Having too many all rounders in one's team either dilutes the bowling or batting quality. Example:
Smith
Kirsten
Kallis
Pollock
Nourse
Wicket keeper
A bunch of all all rounders
I'm not considering Proctor for the same reasons I don't consider Sylvester Clark for the WI, not near enough tests. Assuming you pick ARs for the remaining positions and with the likes of Pollock, Faulkner, Klusner, Hansie, etc you are diluting the bowling quality relative to other Atg teams.
_00_deathscar
International Regular
What if it’s someone like Root who’s basically been opening for the last few years?
CricAddict
Cricketer Of The Year
Opening is a specialist position and those who have really opened and done it deserve to be there instead of force fitting all these middle order batsmen to opening position.
Same way, I don't believe in having openers in middle order as well. Like bagapath said, it is just cheating.
It is like slotting an atg spinner in a pacer's slot and asking him to bowl pace because he was a successful spinner.
Same way, I don't believe in having openers in middle order as well. Like bagapath said, it is just cheating.
It is like slotting an atg spinner in a pacer's slot and asking him to bowl pace because he was a successful spinner.
srbhkshk
International Captain
How is it even remotely like that?
CricAddict
Cricketer Of The Year
Yes, that was exaggerated. But the point is, opening is quite a specialist position. There is a reason why very few great openers are there at present in this bowling area while quite a few great batsmen are there in the middle order.
CricAddict
Cricketer Of The Year
Laxman failed quite a lot as opener while he mastered batting in the middle order.
CricAddict
Cricketer Of The Year
And when you have players in your team in a position which they have never played in their lives, it is quite similar to asking a spinner to bowl pace. Both never happened.
