Only 3

[shortpitched713]

Having Sobers and Kallis at once kind of defeats the purpose of both to some degree, surely.

Both kind of decent players, handy with a bat, iirc.

 

[subshakerz]

Would be more interesting and accurate if you removed Bradman whose a given.

 

[subshakerz]

Bradman, Imran and Hadlee form the nucleus of my team.

Bradman - batting ace.

Hadlee and Imran - best new and old ball options, sufficient lower order batting strength to compensate for any other weaknesses in batting order, and Imran as a great captain.

Even if the rest of the lineup is poor, the above three will ensure they win most games against most lineups.

 

[kyear2]

Bradman, Sobers, Marshall.

Best batsman, bowler and all rounder.

Bradman at 3, Sobers to be the no. 4 batsman, 4th seamer / 2nd spinner and 2nd slip and Marshall to open the attack.

2nd choice would be either of Bradman or Sobers and Marshall and McGrath.

 

[capt_Luffy]

I think the poll would had been better without Bradman.

 

[ataraxia]

Take it this way. The team we form is made up of these 3 and then novices like Dwayne Smith, Rubel Hossain, you, me etc as the remaining 8. In that case, I will prefer to maximize my team strength and make 3 decent batsmen as well as 3 decent bowlers out of the 3 options I have.

Not so:

If you could only choose 3 players to form the nucleus of your team for a decade, which 3 are you choosing. Let's assume the other guys are at or above the mean.

And no I don't expect anyone to chose the 3 that I did, just made me wonder whom everyone would come up with. Though I do have some kind of idea.

 

[kyear2]

I think the poll would had been better without Bradman.

Doesn't stop us from ignoring the option

 

[HeathDavisSpeed]

Doesn't stop is from ignoring the option

 

[capt_Luffy]

Doesn't stop us from ignoring the option

Ignoring the Don; I would take Sobers, Imran and Hadlee.

 

[subshakerz]

Bradman, Sobers, Marshall.

Best batsman, bowler and all rounder.

Bradman at 3, Sobers to be the no. 4 batsman, 4th seamer / 2nd spinner and 2nd slip and Marshall to open the attack.

2nd choice would be either of Bradman or Sobers and Marshall and McGrath.

Respectfully if you only had to pick only three then picking any regular bat after Bradman is overkill. Far better to pick two bowlers who can win you games.

 

[kyear2]

Respectfully if you only had to pick only three then picking any regular bat after Bradman is overkill. Far better to pick two bowlers who can win you games.

Takes one ball to dismiss a batsman and even the Don can have a bad series.

Sobers for me is a must, 2nd best player of all time and offers near unparalleled versatility.

 

[subshakerz]

Takes one ball to dismiss a batsman and even the Don can have a bad series.

Sobers for me is a must, 2nd best player of all time and offers near unparalleled versatility.

By that logic, even Marshall can have a bad series. Then what?

Assume aside from these three the rest of the players are all minnow level.

Would you rather have only one ATG pacer and far superior batting or the opposite?

 

[OverratedSanity]

Sobers' value lessens here because of Bradman.

 

[reyrey]

Sobers' value lessens here because of Bradman.

If playing a one off game or series then I'd have a bias towards bowling picks, but the original mandate was to form the nucleus of a team for the decade ahead.

Making them difficult to beat (stronger bias towards batting) would be more my priority. The thinking is average players and there are 8 of them here, are more likely to over perform if their is less pressure on them.

So Sobers is an automatic pick here for me.

 

[kyear2]

Sobers' value lessens here because of Bradman.

This is where everyone would disagree with me. In a stacked ATG XI, Sobers for me has more value than Bradman.

He's arguably the 2nd best batsman who could bat anywhere from 3 - 6 and could hunker down or counter attack as well as anyone, allows selection flexibility with the bowlers (can be your 2nd spinner in a turner, 4th quick on a seaming track), and your elite 2nd slip vs the seams and 1st slip for Warne, both critical positions.

He wasn't going to fail in all three areas and at worse he and Warne would provide invaluable rest for the quicks in tough conditions.

 

[subshakerz]

This is where everyone would disagree with me. In a stacked ATG XI, Sobers for me has more value than Bradman.

He's arguably the 2nd best batsman who could bat anywhere from 3 - 6 and could hunker down or counter attack as well as anyone, allows selection flexibility with the bowlers (can be your 2nd spinner in a turner, 4th quick on a seaming track), and your elite 2nd slip vs the seams and 1st slip for Warne, both critical positions.

He wasn't going to fail in all three areas and at worse he and Warne would provide invaluable rest for the quicks in tough conditions.

You're again flipping your usual position where you extra value bowlers to team success.

 

[Burgey]

Bradman
Sobers
McGrath

Poll asked for three to be your nucleus, not for a 3 a side selection. If it was the latter I'd have gone with Bradman, Sobers and another all rounder. Very nearly went Marshall (Malcolm, not Hamish) over McGrath but the latter deserves some kudos for the amount of brilliant bowling he did on feather beds.

 

[kyear2]

Bradman
Sobers
McGrath

Poll asked for three to be your nucleus, not for a 3 a side selection. If it was the latter I'd have gone with Bradman, Sobers and another all rounder. Very nearly went Marshall (Malcolm, not Hamish) over McGrath but the latter deserves some kudos for the amount of brilliant bowling he did on feather beds.

Malcolm did some tremendous work on feather beds as well

 

[kyear2]

You're again flipping your usual position where you extra value bowlers to team success.

Malcolm is there, and I've also said I was close to either Bradman / Sobers and Marshall & McGrath. It's a coin flip.

 

[ankitj]

There are many ways to approach this poll, most of them valid with some exceptions.