Playing selector: Lets pick the best test XI of different eras

[Pothas]

Marshall - very unlucky to have been left out of the side.

 

[adharcric]

Wasim Akram

 

[bagapath]

Okay guys. Lets me assume that we have all had our say in selecting the team. It has been great fun. Here is the final team.

The Best XI: 1986 - 2005

1. Matthew Hayden
2. Saeed Anwar
3. Ricky Ponting
4. Sachin Tendulkar
5. Brian Lara
6. Imran Khan, Captain
7. Adam Gilchrist, Wicket Keeper
8. Shane Warne
9. Curtly Ambrose
10. Mutthiah Muralitharan
11. Glenn McGrath

12th Man: Wasim Akram

Would like to select best teams of 1946 - 1965 and 1966 - 1985 some time in future. And from these three teams we can select the best post-war XI. If you all had fun in this selection process we can use a similar method to select these teams as well. Myself and aussie tragic would love to hear from you to fine tune the process.

 

[Jamee999]

I think that Gary Pratt should have been 12th man...

 

[Matt79]

Roger Harper had the specialist fielder/12th man gig sewn up before Pratt was a twinkle in his father's eye!

 

[aussie tragic]

12th Man: Wasim Akram

I think you are a bit hasty on the 12th man as Akram has 5 votes vs Marshall's 4 and I'm sure a poll would have shown a different result with Waugh, Hadlee and Marshall all being voted above Akram IMO.

 

[aussie tragic]

Would like to select best teams of 1946 - 1965 and 1966 - 1985 some time in future. And from these three teams we can select the best post-war XI. If you all had fun in this selection process we can use a similar method to select these teams as well. Myself and aussie tragic would love to hear from you to fine tune the process.

Just an idea for the next team (1966-85) I propose we nominate a CW selector for each test playing country and they will be responsible to name a preliminary XI for that country. The final XI for each country will then be submitted by the nominated selector after listening (or not) to CW member comments received. We can then run the Polls with the players from the selected teams.

Note: This allows more input from the members and I'm sure these people will find it interesting as they research their best players from another era.

If this is okay, I nominate myself as Aussie Selector, while I'm sure Bagapath would want to be the Indian selector (and also remain Chairman of selectors to make dispute rulings).

Let us know and if acceptable I'll start a new thread for the 1966-85 Test XII, which will include the preliminary Aussie XI

 

[Matt79]

So what would the second eleven for 86-05 be?

I can't be bothered going back through all the threads to see the closest runners up for each position, but would hazard it would look something like this, assuming Wasim could be released from drink carrying duties by the 1st XI.

Sehwag
Slater
Dravid
Kallis
S. Waugh
Ul-Haq
Flower
Hadlee
Wasim
Marshall
Kumble.

It would be a corker match between the two, especially if the pitch DIDN'T assist spin. I think the one definate advantage of the first eleven is in the spin department but apart from that its pretty even, albeit the 2nd eleven's batsmen tend more towards the limpet/wall variety than the out-and-out match-winners like the 1st team. I think the 2nd teams pace attack is actually superior - not sure how we managed that!

 

[tadeusz]

The 2nd XI looks like:
Sehwag
Langer
Dravid
Border
S Waugh
Hadlee
Flower
Wasim Akram
Waqar Younis
Marshall
McGill

 

[Matt79]

Flower would bat ahead of Hadlee.

If MacGill beat Kumble in the poll, that's a bit of a turn up, because the consensus of the recent Kumble vs MacGill poll was that Kumble was the better bowler.

 

[nightprowler10]

The Best XI: 1986 - 2005

1. Matthew Hayden
2. Saeed Anwar
3. Ricky Ponting
4. Sachin Tendulkar
5. Brian Lara
6. Imran Khan, Captain
7. Adam Gilchrist, Wicket Keeper
8. Shane Warne
9. Curtly Ambrose
10. Mutthiah Muralitharan
11. Glenn McGrath

12th Man: Wasim Akram

One hell of a team. Well done.

 

[R_D]

Okay guys. Lets me assume that we have all had our say in selecting the team. It has been great fun. Here is the final team.

The Best XI: 1986 - 2005

1. Matthew Hayden
2. Saeed Anwar
3. Ricky Ponting
4. Sachin Tendulkar
5. Brian Lara
6. Imran Khan, Captain
7. Adam Gilchrist, Wicket Keeper
8. Shane Warne
9. Curtly Ambrose
10. Mutthiah Muralitharan
11. Glenn McGrath

12th Man: Wasim Akram

Would like to select best teams of 1946 - 1965 and 1966 - 1985 some time in future. And from these three teams we can select the best post-war XI. If you all had fun in this selection process we can use a similar method to select these teams as well. Myself and aussie tragic would love to hear from you to fine tune the process.

Pretty good team but still wonder whether Ponting's done enough in last 3 or 4 years to be conisdered better than Steve Waugh. Anyways everyone's had their say and thats one damn fine team

 

[Sanz]

Why bother, just pick the Aussie team under Tugga that won 17 Tests in a row. Also electing best players doesn't necessarily mean that they are the best team as was shown in the super series.

 

[Perm]

Damn good team, looking forward to doing the best teams of 1946-1965 and 1966-1985 if that gets going.

 

[aussie tragic]

Baga, decide if you want to continue this thread or start another thread for the 1966-85 selection.

Either way, you can use the following preliminary names for Aussie and WI teams of that era.

Australia

Redpath
Lawry
I. Chappell
G. Chappell
Border
Walters
Marsh
Walker
Lillee
Thomson
Mallett

West Indies

Greenidge
Haynes
Richards
Kallicharran
LLoyd
Sobers
Dujon
Marshall
Garner
Holding
Gibbs

 

[LongHopCassidy]

Ones to consider:

Australia
Ian Chappell, Greg Chappell, Doug Walters, Rod Marsh, McKenzie, Lillee, Thomson, Mallett

West Indies
Richards, Lloyd, Sobers, Marshall, Garner, Roberts, Holding, Gibbs, Greenidge, Haynes, Dujon

Pakistan
Mushtaq Mohammed, Zaheer Abbas, Javed Miandad, Sarfraz Nawaz, Abdul Qadir, Imran Khan

England
Boycott, Brearley (captaincy alone), Willis, Botham, Barrington, Underwood, Greig, Knott

India
Gavaskar, Kapil Dev, Bedi, Prasanna, Chandrasekhar, Vengsarkar, Viswanath

South Africa
Richards, Graeme Pollock, Peter Pollock, Procter, Mitchell, Barlow, Rice, Bacher

New Zealand
Turner, Crowe, Hadlee

 

[bagapath]

Baga, decide if you want to continue this thread or start another thread for the 1966-85 selection.

hey aussie tragic. quite a few guys seem to like the idea of going ahead with the other teams as well. we can go with the 1966 - 1985 team next. also, we can continue in this thread and keep coming back after the polls. lets see how long this thread gets before we end up with the best post war XI

long hop cassidy has given some names to consider. i just want to add mohinder amarnath to the list of indians. i also wonder if mudassar nasser would qualify for pak. and as far as playing a prelim selector, if we decide to go that way, i would like someone like sjs who has seen more cricket in this era to suggest more possible names. otherwise, we can expand your list and long hop's list before we start the polls.

 

[aussie tragic]

Taking Longhops selections as a basis, I’ve added a few more and omitted some that may not qualify

Australia
Lawry, Redpath , Ian Chappell, Greg Chappell, Border, Walters, Marsh, McKenzie, Walker, Hogg, , Lillee, Thomson, Mallett

West Indies
Greenidge, Haynes, Richards, Kallicharran, Kanhai, Rowe, Fredericks, Lloyd, Sobers, Dujon, Marshall, Garner, Roberts, Holding, Gibbs, Croft

Pakistan
Mushtaq Mohammed, Zaheer Abbas, Javed Miandad, Sarfraz Nawaz, Abdul Qadir, Imran Khan, Asif Iqbal, Wasim Raja, Mudasser Nazar

England
Boycott, Amiss, Gower, Barrington, Botham, Greig, Knott, Willis, Underwood, Dilley, Edmonds, Embury, Old, Hendrick, Snow [Brearley omitted]

India
Gavaskar, Kapil Dev, Armanath, Bedi, Prasanna, Chandrasekhar, Vengsarkar, Viswanath, Doshi, Kirmani

South Africa
Richards, Graeme Pollock, Peter Pollock, Procter, Barlow [Mitchell, Rice, Bacher omitted]

New Zealand
Turner, Hadlee [Omitted Crowe]

 

[bagapath]

hey. Mudassar would make the cut

Mudassar Nazar [Player Page] - RHB; RM
Born: 1956-04-06 (present age: 50y 188d)

Tests: Pakistan 1976/77 - 1988/89 (20y 262d - 32y 328d)
Also: ODI Player 1977/78 - 1988/89.

Filter: in matches that ended by 1985-12-31.
Sort order: chronological.

Mat Runs HS BatAv 100 50 W BB BowlAv 5w Ct St

unfiltered 76 4114 231 38.09 10 17 66 6/32 38.36 1 48 0
filtered 55 3352 231 42.43 8 15 49 6/32 38.04 1 38 0

 

[aussie tragic]

hey. Mudassar would make the cut

Never heard of him, but I amended my post above to include him