Best Test XI from each nation (that you have seen)

[Biryani Pillow]

You clearly have the great good fortune to have not seen the Australian sides of the mid-80s. Hmmm, let me see what I can come up with.

Wayne Phillips (Victorian version)
Rick Darling
Andrew Hilditch
Greg Ritchie
Michael Veletta
Simon O'Donnell
Tim Zoehrer
Chris Matthews
Peter Sleep
Greg Campbell
Simon Davis

I think your side wins by an innings.

Some good (bad) calls there

Tim Zoehrer - why?
Greg "I ate the pies" Ritchie.

Tim Curtis gets a vote from me. Maybe Chris Smith from around that era too.

Agnew was pretty damn ordinary iirc.

Aggers sure wasn't great but he was a class above the seamers I named - and several above Ronnie Irani (I still shudder at the thought that he played).

Worst NZ XI

1.Rob Nicol
2.Peter Ingram
3.James Marshall
4.Peter Fulton
5.Grant Elliot
6.Chris Harris
7.Robbie Hart/Hopkins+
8.Tim Southee
9.Grant Bradburn
10.Brooke Walker/Paul Wiseman
11.Brent Arnel

Pretty tough picking a NZ side - competition would be far tougher than for the Best NZ team.

Mine would have to include Bruce Edgar, Murphy Sua, Jonathan Millmow, Dipak Patel, Martin Snedden and Jeff Crowe.

 

[wpdavid]

Aggers sure wasn't great but he was a class above the seamers I named - and several above Ronnie Irani (I still shudder at the thought that he played).

Just throwing names into the hat really. Others that spring to mind are Robin Jackman - not an appalling bowler, but well past it when he eventually played test cricket - and Ian Greig. Both were part of the shocking attack against Pakistan at Lord's in 1982 iirc.

 

[Biryani Pillow]

Just throwing names into the hat really. Others that spring to mind are Robin Jackman - not an appalling bowler, but well past it when he eventually played test cricket - and Ian Greig. Both were part of the shocking attack against Pakistan at Lord's in 1982 iirc.

Jackman was past his best when picked (but still did OK) and actually would have been pretty good in his prime. The problem he had was that he didn't look like a great bowler - he ran like he was in leg irons. Apparently batsmen said he was quicker than he looked and had a very good bouncer.

I'm convinced Ian Greig was picked to make Derek Pringle look good.

He failed to do so.......

 

[G.I.Joe]

Worst Indian XI

Vikram Rathour
MSK Prasad
Vijay Bhardwaj
Hrishikesh Kanitkar
Devang Gandhi
Ajay Ratra (WK)... in here because he scored one of the worst hundreds ive ever seen
Ajit Agarkar (all-rounder)
Paras Mhambrey
Dodda Ganesh
Abey Kuruvilla
David Johnson

Coach: Greg Chappel

Bit unfair on a couple there, like Kanitkar and Devang Gandhi, but honestly couldnt think of anyone worse. Choosing 4 bowlers from India's pool of amazing bowling riches was so difficult... Yohannan, Mohanty, Sanjeev Sharma all very lucky to miss out.

This is the greatest team ever.

 

[morgieb]

You clearly have the great good fortune to have not seen the Australian sides of the mid-80s. Hmmm, let me see what I can come up with.

Wayne Phillips (Victorian version)
Rick Darling
Andrew Hilditch
Greg Ritchie
Michael Veletta
Simon O'Donnell
Tim Zoehrer
Chris Matthews
Peter Sleep
Greg Campbell
Simon Davis

I think your side wins by an innings.

Haha, our bowlers are pretty mud at least. And I wasn't even a winkle in my dad's testicles in the 80's.

 

[vic_orthdox]

Worst Indian XI

Vikram Rathour
MSK Prasad
Vijay Bhardwaj
Hrishikesh Kanitkar
Devang Gandhi
Ajay Ratra (WK)... in here because he scored one of the worst hundreds ive ever seen
Ajit Agarkar (all-rounder)
Paras Mhambrey
Dodda Ganesh
Abey Kuruvilla
David Johnson

Coach: Greg Chappel

Bit unfair on a couple there, like Kanitkar and Devang Gandhi, but honestly couldnt think of anyone worse. Choosing 4 bowlers from India's pool of amazing bowling riches was so difficult... Yohannan, Mohanty, Sanjeev Sharma all very lucky to miss out.

It's like the exact team that International Cricket Captain (the original) used to roll out.

 

[Sparkley]

From players I've seen.

Aus

1 Langer
2 Hayden
3 Punter
4 G Chappell
5 Border
6 S Waugh
7 Gilly
8 Warne
9 Gillespie
10Lillee
11McGrath

Looks like a World XI!

Eng

1 Tresco
2 Cook
3 Trott
4 KP
5 Thorpe
6 Bell
7 Botham
8 Knott
9 Underwood
10Willis
11Anderson

 

[Sparkley]

NZ

1 Richardson
2 Vincent
3 Fleming
4 Astle
5 Crowe
6 B.McCullum (just ahead of Parore)
7 Cairns
8 Vettori
9 Hadlee
10Bond
11Martin

 

[Sparkley]

WI

1 Greenidge
2 Haynes
3 Viv
4 Lara
5 Sobers
6 Chanderpaul
7 Jacobs
8 Marshall
9 Garner
10 Ambrose
11 Walsh

 

[otagoman]

New Zealand

1) Mark Richardson
2) John Wright
3) Andrew Jones
4) Martin Crowe
5) Stephen Fleming
6) Chris Cairns
7) Adam Parore
8) Daniel Vettori
9) Richard Hadlee
10) Shane Bond
11) Ewen Chatfield

Squad Players
Nathan Astle
John Bracewell
Danny Morrison

 

[otagoman]

Worst New Zealand

1) Blair Pocock
2) Blair Hartland
3) Peter Ingram
4) James Marshall
5) Justin Vaughan
6) Chris Kuggeleijn
7) Gareth Hopkins
8) Grant Bradburn
9) Murphy Su'a
10) Robert Kennedy
11) David Sewell

Squad
Darrin Murray
Brent Arnel
Brooke Walker

 

[smash84]

The best Pak XI that I have seen play

Saeed Anwar
Shoaib Mohammad (one of the slowest bats ever)
Younis Khan
Javed Miandad
Inzamam ul Haq
Mohammad Yousuf
Imran Khan
Rashid Latif
Wasim Akram
Waqar Younis
Saqlain Mushtaq

Reserves Shoaib AKhtar, Mushtaq Ahmed, Abdul Qadir, Amir Sohail

 

[grecian]

Think I need to change my Windies team:

West Indies

Greenidge
Haynes
Lara
Richards
Chanderpaul
Lloyd (cap)
Dujon
Marshall
Holding
Ambrose
Garner

 

[smash84]

really?

Chanders in an ATXI for the WI?

 

[grecian]

really?

Chanders in an ATXI for the WI?

Yes, that I have seen, think Sobers may sneak in otherwise

 

[wpdavid]

really?

Chanders in an ATXI for the WI?

Makes sense unless you're old enough to have seen them before the early 1970s. Even the great sides had Logie or Gomes to clean up the occasional mess, and Chanders is better than either. His record is extraordinary, and he's done it when all around him are failing.

 

[grecian]

Makes sense unless you're old enough to have seen them before the early 1970s. Even the great sides had Logie or Gomes to clean up the occasional mess, and Chanders is better than either. His record is extraordinary, and he's done it when all around him are failing.

Yeah, I was going to make the comparison with Gomes, but I was too lazy. It does actually look similar to the eighties side in construction, with added Lara, Ambrose and now Shiv. No spinner of course, unless you count Viv's tweaks, but that was the way of the team that dominated for so long.

 

[smash84]

Richie Richardson in place of Chanders?

 

[grecian]

Richie Richardson in place of Chanders?

That's who I had in the first place, but I think Chanders has done enough now to be placed above Richardson.

 

[9for52]

Worst NZ XI:

B Pocock
P Ingram
Sinclair
K Rutherford
J Vaughan
G Hopkins
S OConnor
R Kennedy
De Groen
M Sua
Loveridge

Best XI: See below