The ATG Teams General arguing/discussing thread

[howitzer]

MSD is really the best captain you can have when you have limited resources at your disposal. He is like that guy who is an excellent manager of finances as a middle class person but is not really sure on how to manage his funds when he gets very rich.

I remember him beating Australia in 2008 2-0 in a 4 test series in India with an over the hill Kumble, darty Harbhajan and slower than slow Amit Mishra as the spin attack on some pretty flat tracks. The way he cajoled match winning performances on absolute feather beds out of those spinners along with Zaheer (granted at his peak mentally as a bowler though mostly past it physically) and Ishant 1.0 is something I am sure Virat will never be able to do. Its easy to let the perception of MSD's test captaincy be spoiled by 8-0 and his defensive mindset in SENA but he still got us wins around the world in tests and got us the mace with a very very limited attack, even if we did have an ATG batting line-up on paper.

I like this description.

 

[kyear2]

So what does Smith have to do to take Tendulkar's / Richards place in your AT team?

Think Tendulkar is greater, but a lot of that is due to longevity, but is he still better? And Smith brings ridiculous hands in the cordon.

 

[OverratedSanity]

Smith is very overrated as a slip fielder. He's dropped far too many for it to be a differentiating factor over Lara and Sachin. It doesn't matter because he's a better batsman than Tendulkar,Richards and Lara anyway imo.

 

[Spark]

Smith is a decent slip fielder IMO but he did have that one series in Pakistan where he basically couldn't catch a cold (then ended it by taking a blinder which effectively won the series, which shows how these things go). He's a better ring fielder, like many modern "great" fielders.

 

[OverratedSanity]

Smith is a decent slip fielder IMO but he did have that one series in Pakistan where he basically couldn't catch a cold (then ended it by taking a blinder which effectively won the series, which shows how these things go). He's a better ring fielder, like many modern "great" fielders.

He is fine. He is nowhere near good enough for it to be some tiebreaker between him and lara/Sachin imo. He has a good argument as batsman alone.

 

[capt_Luffy]

So what does Smith have to do to take Tendulkar's / Richards place in your AT team?

Think Tendulkar is greater, but a lot of that is due to longevity, but is he still better? And Smith brings ridiculous hands in the cordon.

Idk man, I am not placing him in the highest of tiers until he retiers.

 

[kyear2]

Smith is very overrated as a slip fielder. He's dropped far too many for it to be a differentiating factor over Lara and Sachin. It doesn't matter because he's a better batsman than Tendulkar,Richards and Lara anyway imo.

So for you he's already clearly surpassed them as batsmen.

 

[kyear2]

He is fine. He is nowhere near good enough for it to be some tiebreaker between him and lara/Sachin imo. He has a good argument as batsman alone.

He's passed Lara already in my mind, just not sure about Viv and Sachin quite as yet.

Sachin has his consistency and longevity, plus a technique I trust more. Viv is there for his ability to take over a match or series like few others ever had, and turn the tide in session.

And I'm not that concerned about the cordon for my first team, Sunny, Sobers and Richards are good enough for me, with Warne in the gully.

 

[kyear2]

Smith is a decent slip fielder IMO but he did have that one series in Pakistan where he basically couldn't catch a cold (then ended it by taking a blinder which effectively won the series, which shows how these things go). He's a better ring fielder, like many modern "great" fielders.

My memory isn't the best, but don't recall any drops in the last ashes or this series. The consistency seems to be improving the last year plus?

 

[TheJediBrah]

Smith is a decent slip fielder IMO but he did have that one series in Pakistan where he basically couldn't catch a cold (then ended it by taking a blinder which effectively won the series, which shows how these things go). He's a better ring fielder, like many modern "great" fielders.

he's such a good ring fielder kind of a shame he's wasted in the slips

 

[Spark]

My memory isn't the best, but don't recall any drops in the last ashes or this series. The consistency seems to be improving the last year plus?

He definitely dropped at least one and maybe two at the Oval, which turned out in general to be a terminal day of catching for the team.

 

[Coronis]

ATG Bazball XI

Sehwag
Warner
Bradman*
Richards
Trumper
Gilchrist+
Botham
Shakib
Kapil
Starc
Southee

Team bats deep, bats fast and eh, bowls ok. Perfectly Bazball. (cbf searching for great bowlers who were aggressive bats too).

Bradman the clear weak link with a SR of 61.

 

[ataraxia]

ATG Bazball XI

Sehwag
Warner
Bradman*
Richards
Trumper
Gilchrist+
Botham
Shakib
Kapil
Starc
Southee

Team bats deep, bats fast and eh, bowls ok. Perfectly Bazball. (cbf searching for great bowlers who were aggressive bats too).

Bradman the clear weak link with a SR of 61.

Crawley would get picked

 

[howitzer]

ATG Bazball XI

Sehwag
Warner
Bradman*
Richards
Trumper
Gilchrist+
Botham
Shakib
Kapil
Starc
Southee

Team bats deep, bats fast and eh, bowls ok. Perfectly Bazball. (cbf searching for great bowlers who were aggressive bats too).

Bradman the clear weak link with a SR of 61.

Warne and Jessop for Shakib and Southee.

 

[TheJediBrah]

ATG Bazball XI

Sehwag
Warner
Bradman*
Richards
Trumper
Gilchrist+
Botham
Shakib
Kapil
Starc
Southee

Team bats deep, bats fast and eh, bowls ok. Perfectly Bazball. (cbf searching for great bowlers who were aggressive bats too).

Bradman the clear weak link with a SR of 61.

Why Shakib? Aggressive behaviour?

 

[howitzer]

Why Shakib? Aggressive behaviour?

Needs a nutsack grab here and there

 

[Coronis]

Why Shakib? Aggressive behaviour?

Can spin a ball, SR of 61.7

 

[howitzer]

Can spin a ball, SR of 61.7

In an era where strike rates are the lowest there's ever been. That same strikerate compares to 80 odd 50 years ago and 90-100 for the couple of decades before that.

 

[Starfighter]

In an era where strike rates are the lowest there's ever been. That same strikerate compares to 80 odd 50 years ago and 90-100 for the couple of decades before that.

I think he might mean batting strike rate. But not sure as his actual test strike rates are 61.95 batting and 63.4 bowling.

 

[Coronis]

I think he might mean batting strike rate. But not sure as his actual test strike rates are 61.95 batting and 63.4 bowling.

Yeah just mistyped a different player’s. Knew it around that.