Favorite XI's?

[PY]

Re: Best XI

arguably the best batsman of all time (Stephen Waugh)

 

[Eclipse]

thats good to here about Matsikenyeri I hope he can cement a place for himself.

 

[Mr Mxyzptlk]

With him and Masakadza, Zimbabwe cetainly have some good talent for the future.

 

[Eclipse]

Vermulean as well. He need's to work on his techneque but I can see the talent's there. He can really play some fantastic backfoot shots.

And whats going on with Masakadza is he injured or what?

 

[Mr Mxyzptlk]

Masakadza is at University.

 

[iamdavid]

Re: Best XI

arguably the best batsman of all time (Stephen Waugh)

Sir Donald George Bradman is the best batsman of all time , no arguability about that , after him it's really a matter of opinion.
IMO you could argue a case for Waugh being , say one of the greatest 20 batsman of all time , along with the likes of Tendulkar , Sobers , Hutton , Richards , Chappell , Lara , Headley , Boycott , the list goes on.
However to rank him above all these players is IMO just a tad arrogant , there will only ever be one numero uno , so dont try compare him with The Don.

 

[gibbsnsmith]

have i missed something has Steve Waugh just managed to score thousands of runs in the past day???

since when did he become the best batsman currently, let alone of all time.

He is quality but come on!!!

Aussies really do remind me of American, believe that they are the best at everything, and blah blah...


*points out his eye is hurting so he may have misread that comment about S.Waugh and him being the best of all time*

im gonna wash my eye now...

 

[Langeveldt]

I wouldnt even rate S Waugh as the best batsman of his time... Let alone of all time...

With guys like Tendulkar, Lara, Hayden, Ponting, Dravid even Vaughan and Andy Flower around in S Waughs day, there is hot competition for even that award...

For all time... D Bradman followed by Barry Richards

 

[Neil Pickup]

Bradman

(large chasm)

Rest

 

[Richard]

Re: Best XI

arguably the best batsman of all time (Stephen Waugh)

A trifle on the optimistic side, mefeels.
Stephen Waugh is a fantastic player, the best to come out of Australia since Greg Chappell IMO (though Border's not a massive distance behind), but a few points:
1, there simply cannot be any questioning of Sir Donald's status. It's just not possible to argue with the fact that he averaged more than twice what a good batsman today aims for and the wickets in his day were far worse than they are now. How anyone can dispute that he was the best ever is completely beyond me.
2, SRT and BCL, IMO, are just a little better than SRW.
3, him and Border are easily the most durable batsmen ever and that does count for a little (if he'd been injured less and not been dropped for a short period he'd have a serious chance of playing 200 Tests) but not too much.

 

[Richard]

I can comment only on those I have seen, and seen for more than a few games:
GC Smith (flicking and pulling unrivalled. Don't quite know why but I just love the guy and every time he bats I have a hunger for runs unrivalled for anyone except Aravinda. He's not the most beautiful on the drive but he can unquestionably play it)
MS Atapattu (technical close-to-perfection and well combined with good-looking strokeplay. Just a shame he's so inconsistent)
N Hussain (already gone-through countless times)
PA de Silva (quite simply, the most awesome combiner of elegance and proficiency I've ever seen)
DJ Cullinan (already mentioned too)
AJ Stewart (not too many better pullers, plays all the shots nicely and obviously keeps wicket)
RT Ponting (every shot perfunctionary. Prefer to have him batting seven so I've got something to look forward to)
C White (brilliant all-rounder, batting not always pretty but capable of being so)
DG Cork (unplayable in the right conditions when bowling to his top standards, offers useful, sometimes comical, runs)
WPUJC Vaas (favourite bowler, ever, including Corkie. Don't ask me why; simply, as with Smith, the first time I ever saw him I just loved him. He's a brilliant bowler when he gets it right, mainly, but just horribly inconisistent)
M Muralitharan (to go through what he's had to and still bowl like no-one has ever bowled before [like Warne of the opposite stock-ball, and that unorthodoxy just gives him the edge] is just incredible)

 

[marc71178]

Re: Re: Best XI

him and Border are easily the most durable batsmen ever and that does count for a little (if he'd been injured less and not been dropped for a short period he'd have a serious chance of playing 200 Tests) but not too much.

Surely if injured, he's not that durable!

 

[Mr. P]

GC Smith (flicking and pulling unrivalled. Don't quite know why but I just love the guy and every time he bats I have a hunger for runs unrivalled for anyone except Aravinda. He's not the most beautiful on the drive but he can unquestionably play it)

I think if you go down to number 7 in your order you will find that someone does rival his pull, and better it.

 

[Richard]

I think if you go down to number 7 in your order you will find that someone does rival his pull, and better it.

In looks, just maybe, but not in effect. Ponting pulled Harmison (at 85.2 mph) over mid-wicket on the fastest WACA wicket for 15 years or so, Graeme pulled him through mid-wicket, straighish mid-wicket and mid-on in three consecutive deliveries (86.2, 90.1 and 90.9 mph) on a quickish, uneven (fifth-day) Edgbaston surface.
I'd love to see Lee trying his short rubbish at Graeme next series, though not for 2 years. Graeme'd tear him apart. Whereas most batsmen just sway out of the way.

 

[Eclipse]

I dont agree I have never seen anyone pull with quite as much power as Ponting consistantly does.

I have seen him pull Shoaib Akhtar for some huge sixes two in Sharja and one at the MCG that almost went into the top deck and all balls were well over 90mhp.

I have seen Smith's pull shots they are also fantasticly powerfull but I still have not seen them hit with ether the power or controll that Ponting has.

 

[Craig]

Even though he has retired, I must include Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis, Brian Lara, Ronnie Sarwan (or Ramnarash, I just called him by his middle name), Greame Smith, Boeta Dippenaar (IMO he is a very talented cricketer who hasnt fullfilled his potential), Nathan Astle, Mark Waugh, Michael Slater, SRT, Michael Vaughan, Marcus Trescothick, Chris Gayle, Rahul Dravid, Darren Gough, Graham Thorpe, Mahela Jayawardene, Shane Warne, Shane Bond, Daryl Tuffey, Muttiah Muralitharan etc.

I have seen some highlights of Hadlee, but i cant really put him in though.

 

[Chubb]

My favorite players

Vaughan
Smith
Vermeulen
Thorpe
Matsikenyeri
Flintoff
Taibu
Streak
Blignaut
Price
Andrew Clarke (Essex)

 

[Richard]

Andrew Clarke (Essex)

 

[Richard]

I dont agree I have never seen anyone pull with quite as much power as Ponting consistantly does.

I have seen him pull Shoaib Akhtar for some huge sixes two in Sharja and one at the MCG that almost went into the top deck and all balls were well over 90mhp.

I have seen Smith's pull shots they are also fantasticly powerfull but I still have not seen them hit with ether the power or controll that Ponting has.

Smith doesn't hit them as hard as Ponting (ie he doesn't take such a big swing) but for me he controls them better, and makes them look far, far easier, just no-fuss, bat straight through ball, as if every ball was 70 mph.
Ponting plays it more regularly - Smith lets bowlers get away with the short ones more often than I feel he could. Ponting rarely lets anything around his ribcage go without being scored off.

 

[Chubb]

Look, I had to include Andrew Clarke... I've known him for years. I know he's just a county bowler but he is a friend of my family's. For this reason he's one of my favourite players.