Battle of the ROWs

[subshakerz]

Which of these teams wins in a battle in a five test match series in Australia:

ROW 1971 XI:
Gavaskar
Engineer
Zaheer Abbas
Kanhai
G Pollock
Lloyd
Sobers
Tony Greig
Intikhab Alam
Peter Pollock
Bishen Bedi


2005 ROW XI:
G Smith
Sehwag
Dravid
Lara
Kallis
Inzi
Flintoff
Boucher
Vettori
Harmison
Murali

 

[The Sean]

Which of these teams wins in a battle in a five test match series in Australia:

ROW 1971 XI:
Gavaskar
Engineer
Zaheer Abbas
G Pollock
Lloyd
Sobers
Tony Greig
Intikhab Alam
Peter Pollock
Bishen Bedi


2005 ROW XI:
G Smith
Sehwag
Dravid
Lara
Kallis
Inzi
Flintoff
Boucher
Vettori
Harmison
Murali

Once again, the first of these teams has only ten players. Must be the day for it.

 

[subshakerz]

Once again, the first of these teams has only ten players. Must be the day for it.

Corrected

 

[capt_Luffy]

Peak or at time they played?? Like by 71 Sobers was past his best and Gavaskar wasn't there yet, etc.

 

[capt_Luffy]

Well, don't think matters that much. The 1st team is a pacer short and unless played on an absolute rank turner, they aren't winning here.

 

[The Sean]

I suppose we could argue that the team in 1971/72 actually did win the five Test series they played in Australia, whereas the 2005 side were hammered in the one match they got.

 

[subshakerz]

Well, don't think matters that much. The 1st team is a pacer short and unless played on an absolute rank turner, they aren't winning here.

Sobers and Pollock are the pacers.

 

[capt_Luffy]

I suppose we could argue that the team in 1971/72 actually did win the five Test series they played in Australia, whereas the 2005 side were hammered in the one match they got.

But then again, the latter Australia was way stronger.

 

[capt_Luffy]

Sobers and Pollock are the pacers.

Yeah that's the problem. Would really have liked a pacer, really most Test standard ones, for Alam there. Bedi and Greig and Sobers if needed is more than enough.

 

[subshakerz]

Well, don't think matters that much. The 1st team is a pacer short and unless played on an absolute rank turner, they aren't winning here.

The 2nd team has bowlers who are horrible in Aus though.

 

[capt_Luffy]

The 2nd team has bowlers who are horrible in Aus though.

That's true but they are still better. Give Murali a whole 5 match series against the Australian team Bedi played against in similar pitches, and I will be really shocked if he atleast doesn't deliver comparable output. Also re the 1st team bowlers, not sure how they will do on a flatter Aussie pitch than they played in. Think only Pollock can be expected to perform consistently.

 

[subshakerz]

That's true but they are still better. Give Murali a whole 5 match series against the Australian team Bedi played against in similar pitches, and I will be really shocked if he atleast doesn't deliver comparable output. Also re the 1st team bowlers, not sure how they will do on a flatter Aussie pitch than they played in. Think only Pollock can be expected to perform consistently.

Pollock is the only truly class paceman here and the 71 teams bats deep. Will be a high scoring series.

 

[capt_Luffy]

Pollock is the only truly class paceman here and the 71 teams bats deep. Will be a high scoring series.

Honestly, both the bowlings looks weak.

 

[The Sean]

Oh hang on, I've just realised that you don't mean which team would beat Australia in a five Test series. You mean who would win a five Test series in Australia if these two teams played each other! Haha, I'm a bit slow.

 

[Coronis]

Peak or at time they played?? Like by 71 Sobers was past his best and Gavaskar wasn't there yet, etc.

People seem to say this about Sobers in the early 70’s often. Then again, people also want to include his RoW stats from that time period which were pretty high quality. Its a bit odd.

 

[capt_Luffy]

People seem to say this about Sobers in the early 70’s often. Then again, people also want to include his RoW stats from that time period which were pretty high quality. Its a bit odd.

Yeah actually was thinking the same. Sobers completely slapped that RoW series, scored a bazillion runs to India and scored a **** ton in the English RoW tour as well. Think his decline came in 72ish

 

[Johan]

There was no real decline, in 73 he made 300+ runs in just 5 innings against a world class English lineup, effortlessly smashed apart Arnold/Willis/Underwood while showing up drunk.

 

[The Sean]

Yeah, I think Sobers was still the best cricketer in the world at the dawn of the 1970s - he dominated that 1970 RoW series with both bat and ball.

He actually had a very poor series with RoW in Australia in 1971/72, with the obvious exception of his extraordinary 254 at the MCG. Outside of that innings, he made 87 runs at 14.5 and took 9 wickets at 48.33!

 

[capt_Luffy]

Yeah, I think Sobers was still the best cricketer in the world at the dawn of the 1970s - he dominated that 1970 RoW series with both bat and ball.

He actually had a very poor series with RoW in Australia in 1971/72, with the obvious exception of his extraordinary 254 at the MCG. Outside of that innings, he made 87 runs at 14.5 and took 9 wickets at 48.33!

Yeah but 254 actually makes him the Highest overall run getter IIRC. Mostly no one scored that much that series.

 

[Coronis]

And yeah re: the bowling - all the bowlers in the ICC XI were generally poor in Australia, Flintoff actually being the best of them. (and the only one who could be called decent)

I’d have a bit more faith in the 71 attack, slightly.