Imran Khan vs Shane Warne (as bowlers)

[The Sean]

Bad record against WI on fast pitches.

Do you mean Border? His series in the Caribbean in 1984 gives a lot of credit against other shortcomings IMO - that was all-time level batting against peak Marshall and Garner, and still bloody good Holding.

 

[subshakerz]

Despite the best coordinated, coercive, almost bullying responses that one receives when even mentioning the name of the great one, none of the contrived explanations have ever made sense to or convinced me.

Maybe he was that damn good on those pitches.

 

[honestbharani]

I dont think the cricket posts were the issue with Ikki.

 

[BazBall21]

Do you mean Border? His series in the Caribbean in 1984 gives a lot of credit against other shortcomings IMO - that was all-time level batting against peak Marshall and Garner, and still bloody good Holding.

Yeah. No fifty against WI in Brisbane, Perth or Barbados. Has one in Jamaica.
Adelaide, Trinidad and Antigua, where the bulk of his solid work against WI came, tend to be slower surfaces but QPO also tends to be difficult for batting due to the uneven bounce so that marathon in Trinidad was still an ATG effort.

 

[Prince EWS]

1. Bradman
2. Imran
3. Sobers
4. Miller
5. Hadlee
6. Marshall
7. Hammond
8. Gilchrist
9. Warne
10. Hobbs

Actually Kallis should probably be at 6 or 7, missed him.

I made this list in about 5 minutes (did it so much off the top of my head that I managed to leave Kallis out for a couple of hours until I corrected) but I've been thinking about it a lot lately, in particular some of the players that I'd never consider for an ATWXI but who might actually add more to the median Test team than the specialists we pick in that fantasy lineup. In particular: Faulkner, Goddard, Sanga and Davidson.

I quickly ruled Sanga out because very few if any teams actually had a batting lineup strong enough to make him keep. One of the few that might have had Gilchrist anyway. So his keeping would add no real value to real-life teams, and he's not better than Hobbs as a batsman.

I thought about Goddard, but ultimately I don't think he'd add more value to a team than Warne or Gilchrist who I've got at the bottom of the list there, particularly given how defensive he was a bowler and little he actually went big as a batsman. A truly awesome utility player but most teams in history would get more out of Warne or Gilly given he wasn't actually elite at any one skill.

Faulkner though, I really do think he's underappreciated and should be included. I think most teams in history would benefit more from him than Warne or Gilchrist. He was an even better batsman than his raw stats suggest - very very close to ATG on that discipline alone IMO - and a proper frontline bowler similar in standard to Kumble. I'm going to include him, and I'm also going to swap Warne and Gilchrist now that I've thought about it more.

1. Bradman
2. Imran
3. Sobers
4. Miller
5. Hadlee
6. Marshall
7. Kallis
8. Hammond
9. Faulkner
10. Warne

Close: Gilchrist, Hobbs, Murali, Davidson, Goddard

 

[Adorable Asshole]

I made this list in about 5 minutes (did it so much off the top of my head that I managed to leave Kallis out for a couple of hours until I corrected) but I've been thinking about it a lot lately, in particular some of the players that I'd never consider for an ATWXI but who might actually add more to the median Test team than the specialists we pick in that fantasy lineup. In particular: Faulkner, Goddard, Sanga and Davidson.

I quickly ruled Sanga out because very few if any teams actually had a batting lineup strong enough to make him keep. One of the few that might have had Gilchrist anyway. So his keeping would add no real value to real-life teams, and he's not better than Hobbs as a batsman.

I thought about Goddard, but ultimately I don't think he'd add more value to a team than Warne or Gilchrist who I've got at the bottom of the list there, particularly given how defensive he was a bowler and little he actually went big as a batsman. A truly awesome utility player but most teams in history would get more out of Warne or Gilly given he wasn't actually elite at any one skill.

Faulkner though, I really do think he's underappreciated and should be included. I think most teams in history would benefit more from him than Warne or Gilchrist. He was an even better batsman than his raw stats suggest - very very close to ATG on that discipline alone IMO - and a proper frontline bowler similar in standard to Kumble. I'm going to include him, and I'm also going to swap Warne and Gilchrist now that I've thought about it more.

1. Bradman
2. Imran
3. Sobers
4. Miller
5. Hadlee
6. Marshall
7. Kallis
8. Hammond
9. Faulkner
10. Warne

Close: Gilchrist, Hobbs, Murali, Davidson, Goddard

Lol at picking Hammond over Gilchrist.