Establishing the best decade for cricket: Finding the ATG XI from 12 decades of test cricket - then having a KO tourney to decide the best

[CricAddict]

Rohan Kanhai

 

[The Sean]

I think I've woken up a grumpy bastard this morning, but are the people voting for Kanhai to bat at 5 doing so because they actually think he should bat there or because they assume he'll just get slotted in at 3 (the only place it actually makes sense for him to bat), thus rendering the previous number 3 vote meaningless?

 

[mr_mister]

Simpson
Lawry
Barrington
G Pollock
Kanhai
-
-
Davidson
-
Trueman
Gibbs


Choose the number 6
Choose the wicket keeper
Choose the 3rd bowler

 

[mr_mister]

I've think I've woken up a grumpy bastard this morning, but are the people voting for Kanhai to bat at 5 doing so because they actually think he should bat there or because they assume he'll just get slotted in at 3 (the only place it actually makes sense for him to bat), thus rendering the previous number 3 vote meaningless?

i think it's a case of people think he's in the top 4 batsmen of the decade and he should be able to adjust to 5

must admit i've been a bit busy the past few days and didn't research this choice too much. Walters does have a pretty good record in the 60s

 

[Coronis]

Sobers
Engineer
Pollock

 

[morgieb]

Sobers
Engineer
Hall

 

[a massive zebra]

Garry Sobers
Denis Lindsay
Derek Underwood

 

[The Sean]

No one really stands out for the number 6/all-rounder slot. I guess Sobers will have to do.

I'm going to make a throwback selection for wicketkeeper, meaning I'm going to pick the bloke who would have been selected for this team back in the 1960s (i.e. the best 'keeper) as opposed to the bloke who'll probably get picked now (the best batsman), so it's Wally Grout.

And for the final bowler, it will probably come down to Pollock or Hall based on previous voting trends, but I want at least one vote to go to big Graham McKenzie, a lionhearted quick who led the Australian attack in the years between Davo and Lillee, often with little support.

Sobers
Grout
McKenzie

 

[Line and Length]

Sobers (obvious)
Knott (a certainty for the '70s but made an impression in the late '60s)
McKenzie (too often overlooked)

 

[Fuller Pilch]

Garfield Sobers
Denis Lindsay
Bruce Taylor
(Strong 6-7-8)

 

[ma1978]

Sobers
Engineer
Hall

 

[271 & 16/166]

- Sobers, little miffed with Walters missing out but number six must be Sir Garry
- Grout, even as outstanding Lindsay is as a batsman, Wally is the gloveman of the decade
- McKenzie, absolute workhorse with 238@28

 

[Michaelf7777777]

Garfield Sobers
Denis Lindsay
Peter Pollock

 

[stephen]

Fair to say McKenzie is the McDermott of the 60s?

 

[The Sean]

Fair to say McKenzie is the McDermott of the 60s?

Ha, yes - and in fact I wrote a post years ago (replicated below in all its glory) making that comparison, in a thread about underrated players.

Two outstanding, Scottish-monikered Australian pacemen - Graham McKenzie and Craig McDermott might almost fit into this thread. Perhaps they're not strictly underrated, but IMO they definitely suffer a little from Paul Ince Syndrome in that they were excellent performers for their teams while having the misfortune to be preceeded and succeeded by blokes who were even better.

Big Garth McKenzie, after a few years being partnered by Davidson, carried the Australian pace attack on his shoulders for most of the 1960s, and as happened to Kapil Dev two decades later, this burden saw his average and strike rate suffer relative to his quality. This didn't diminish his performances though, and he was rightly considered a top class, big-hearted champion. Unfortunately, he not only came straight after the era of such legends as Lindwall, Miller and Davidson but was then followed by one DK Lillee and, a couple of years later, by Thommo as well. Suddenly McKenzie (and other fine Australian pacemen of the '60s such as Connolly and Hawke) looked rather tame by comparison.

Craig McDermott shared a similar fate. While he can't have been said to carry quite the same burden that Big Garth did, due to the quality of men like Lawson, Alderman, Reid and especially Merv Hughes alongside him over the course of his career, he was Australia's outstanding paceman from the mid-80s to the mid-90s and a genuinely world class performer at his peak. Like McKenzie, however, his career was sandwiched between the careers of blokes who were even greater, in this case Lillee immediately before and then McGrath immediately after and so once again you could argue for McDermott to be a little overlooked and underappreciated.

 

[trundler]

Sobers
Lindsay
Pollock

Shootout to Mushtaq Mo and Underwood

 

[The Sean]

Shoutout to Mushtaq Mo and Underwood

I'd like to pick both for my 1970s team. (Though both of them - Mushtaq in particular - have some bloody stiff competition)

 

[miscer]

90s should win. By far the best bowling 3/5 best fast bowlers ever (Ambrose, McG, Akram), 2/2 greatest spinners ever (Warne, Murali), best wicketkeeper ever (Gilchrist), 2/5 best bats ever (Lara/Tendulkar). Opening is weak but:

Anwar
[???]
Dravid
Tendulkar
Lara
Waugh
Gilchrist
Warne
McGrath
Ambrose
Murali

No attack has this balance and you can easily replace a spinner with akram if needed. Could even throw in Imran Khan (tail end of career) or Hadlee (8 wickets in his last test in 1990).

Taking 1980s, the batting is weaker and bowling is same to weaker (no spin options). Taking 2000s bowling significantly weaker and batting not much better (really just replacing dravid/waugh with similar quality players and weaker tendulkar/lara). Better openers in 00s though hayden/smith.

 

[Fuller Pilch]

90s should win. By far the best bowling 3/5 best fast bowlers ever (Ambrose, McG, Akram), 2/2 greatest spinners ever (Warne, Murali), best wicketkeeper ever (Gilchrist), 2/5 best bats ever (Lara/Tendulkar). Opening is weak but:

Anwar
[???]
Dravid
Tendulkar
Lara
Waugh
Gilchrist
Warne
McGrath
Ambrose
Murali

No attack has this balance and you can easily replace a spinner with akram if needed. Could even throw in Imran Khan (tail end of career) or Hadlee (8 wickets in his last test in 1990).

Taking 1980s, the batting is weaker and bowling is same to weaker (no spin options). Taking 2000s bowling significantly weaker and batting not much better (really just replacing dravid/waugh with similar quality players and weaker tendulkar/lara). Better openers in 00s though hayden/smith.

Gooch would open. Gilchrist only played 5 tests in 1999 so Healy would be keeper ahead of Moin Khan and Alec Stewart for those who wanted a batting keeper. Dravid didn't play enough in the 90s, so Lara at 3, Tendulkar 4, and Aravinda at 5. I wouldn't pick Murali either. I'd rather have a 7-11 of Brian MacMillan, Healy, Warne, McGrath/Wasim?, Ambrose especially as Steve Waugh's bowling was decent in the 90s.

 

[Fuller Pilch]

Taking 2000s bowling significantly weaker and batting not much better (really just replacing dravid/waugh with similar quality players and weaker tendulkar/lara). Better openers in 00s though hayden/smith.

I wouldn't call a 2000s' attack of McGrath, Steyn, Kallis, Warne, Murali significantly weaker. Also 2000s will have Gilchrist, while 90s won't.