Finding out the best decade for test cricket: The tournament thread! 12 ATG XIs duke it out.

[mr_mister]

So we're gonna use the randomiser for every match. I don't want to do any kind of seeding system because I'm worried it'l lead to arguments/affect what voters think they should vote for

Round 1 is gonna be 4 groups of 3 with the top 2 advancing to a final 8, from then we will have 1v1 QFs, SFs and a final.

Firstly, all the teams:

1870s/80s/90s:

WG Grace* 6
Bobby Abel
Arthur Shrewsbury
KS Ranji
Billy Murdoch
AG Steel 5
Jack Blackham +
Bobby Peel 4
George Lohmann 2
Charlie Turner 3
Fred Spofforth 1

1900s/1910s:

Jack Hobbs
Victor Trumper
Clem Hill
Aubrey Faulkner 5
Stanley Jackson *
Monty Noble 6
Frank Foster 2
Dick Lilley +
Tibby Cotter 3
Sydney Barnes 1
Colin Blythe 4

1920s:

Jack Hobbs
Herb Sutcliffe
Charlie Macartney 7
Wally Hammond 5
Herbie Taylor *
Frank Woolley 6
Jack Gregory 2
Maurice Tate 1
Bert Oldfield +
Clarrie Grimmett 4
Ted Mcdonald 3

1930s:

Len Hutton
Bruce Mitchell
Don Bradman *
George Headley
Wally Hammond 5
Stan McCabe 6
Les Ames +
Harold Larwood 1
Hedley Verity 4
Bill O'Reilly 3
Manny Martindale 2

1940s:

Len Hutton
Arthur Morris
Don Bradman *
Denis Compton 5
Dudley Nourse
Everton Weekes
Keith Miller 2
Don Tallon+
Ray Lindwall 1
Jack Cowie 3
Bill Johnston 4

1950s:

Len Hutton *
Hanif Mohammad
Neil Harvey
Everton Weekes
Clyde Walcott
Gary Sobers 5
John Waite +
Allan Davidson 3
Jim Laker 4
Alec Bedser 2
Fred Trueman 1

1960s:

Bob Simpson * 6
Bill Lawry
Ken Barrington
Graeme Pollock
Rohan Kanhai
Gary Sobers 5
Denis Lindsay +
Allan Davidson 2
Peter Pollock 3
Fred Trueman 1
Lance Gibbs 4

1970s:

Geoff Boycott
Sunil Gavaskar
Viv Richards
Greg Chappell *
Javed Miandad
Ian Botham 5
Allan Knott +
Derek Underwood 4
Dennis Lillee 1
Andy Roberts 2
Jeff Thomson 3


1980s:

Sunil Gavaskar
Gordon Greenidge
Viv Richards
Javed Miandad
Allan Border
Imran Khan 3 *
Jeff Dujon +
Kapil Dev 5
RichardHadlee 2
Malcolm Marshall 1
Joel Garner 4

1990s:

Graham Gooch *
Saeed Anwar
Brian Lara
Sachin Tendaulker
Steve Waugh 5
Aravinda De Silva 6
Ian Healy +
Wasim Akram 2
Shane Warne 4
Curtley Ambrose 1
Allan Donald 3

2000s:

Matthew Hayden
Graeme Smith *
Ricky Ponting
Rahul Dravid
Jacques Kallis 5
Kumar Sangakkarra
Adam Gilchrist +
Shaun Pollock 3
Dale Steyn 2
Muttiah Muralitharan 4
Glen McGrath 1

2010s:

Alistair Cook
Dave Warner
Kane Williamson
Steve Smith
Virat Kohli *
Shakib Al Hasan 5
BJ Watling +
Ravi Ashwin 4
Pat Cummins 3
Dale Steyn 1
Jimmy Anderson 2

 

[mr_mister]

Round 1, Heat 1:

The randomiser has spat out

1. 1920s
2. 1940s
3. 2000s

So vote for 2 of these 3 teams:


1920s:

Jack Hobbs
Herb Sutcliffe
Charlie Macartney 7
Wally Hammond 5
Herbie Taylor *
Frank Woolley 6
Jack Gregory 2
Maurice Tate 1
Bert Oldfield +
Clarrie Grimmett 4
Ted Mcdonald 3

1940s:

Len Hutton
Arthur Morris
Don Bradman *
Denis Compton 5
Dudley Nourse
Everton Weekes
Keith Miller 2
Don Tallon+
Ray Lindwall 1
Jack Cowie 3
Bill Johnston 4

2000s:

Matthew Hayden
Graeme Smith *
Ricky Ponting
Rahul Dravid
Jacques Kallis 5
Kumar Sangakkarra
Adam Gilchrist +
Shaun Pollock 3
Dale Steyn 2
Muttiah Muralitharan 4
Glen McGrath 1

 

[mr_mister]

I actually think the 20s side has a decent shot here against the 40s as it has a full time spinner and slightly better openers... but i'm gonna vote for the 40s and 00s. Hard to ignore Bradman

 

[sunilz]

40, 00

Don't see anyone comfortable against McGrath + Murali combo except Bradman

 

[honestbharani]

40s and noughties

 

[271 & 16/166]

20s and 40s

Want to back in the old boys of the 20s with the four all rounders including Gregory at seven, Hobbs & Sutcliffe to open and Tate & McDonald the opening attack, the experts of the day and decades past rated them exceptional

 

[stephen]

40s, 00s.

Honestly think 40s should be the top seeded/favourite myself. Better than the 30s side and I think a Bradman based side should be favourite.

 

[Fuller Pilch]

Very tough tournament! The 1920s is a great great team, but the 40s and 00s are ATG teams, so they get my votes.

 

[trundler]

40s and 00s

 

[a massive zebra]

20s and 40s.

 

[ankitj]

They say don't compare players across eras. And we are comparing whole teams lol

Honestly no idea on what basis I should be voting. ?

 

[CricAddict]

20s and 100s of those 20s

 

[mr_mister]

They say don't compare players across eras. And we are comparing whole teams lol

Honestly no idea on what basis I should be voting. ?

listen to your heart

 

[sunilz]

Does anyone know how to run a simulation game between these sides ?

 

[mr_mister]

All the teams can be made on the latest cricket captain game, as they added a feature to make up a test series between any players in history. I've downloaded it but I dunno it's just gonna use raw averages to decide the results so the Bradman teams will win as he's such an outlier

 

[Red_Ink_Squid]

20s and 00s.

Man for man the 40s may be better than either but the balance of the team seems a little off. Not sure I like Miller in a 4 man attack with no proper spinner.

 

[ma1978]

40s and 00s

 

[The Sean]

1940s and 2000s.

Shows how good these sides are when I have to drop a team as brilliant as that 1920s combination at the first hurdle...

 

[Coronis]

I can’t vote against Hobbs and Sutcliffe. Not to mention Hammond and Grimmett.

20’s 00’s

 

[Victor Ian]

Bummer. I thought this part was going to be simmed. I was hoping each playoff would be a series of 5 tests so I could watch Bradman rack up the runs

40s and 00s.

Against the 20s Bradman scored 823 runs including a new world record 434no.

Against the 00s he made 925 and has 6 centuries from 15 innings so far. He was heard making a quip to Hobbs and Grace that these modern pitches are too easy, and they all laughed.