Ranking the Cricinfo All-Time XIs

[subshakerz]

A fun little exercise. Given that Cricinfo's completed their All-time XIs for the main international sides, I thought it would be interesting to see how they would rank based on all-round strength or who is more likely to beat the other teams in 5-match series both home and away. Here are the teams:

Australia
New Zealand
Pakistan
India
West Indies
South Africa
England
Sri Lanka

 

[subshakerz]

Here's my own reading of some of the top teams:

Australia - Probably the strongest all-round of the teams. The batting is class throughout, and having Bradman is like having two worldclass batsmen, while Gilchrist bats a 7. The bowling, with four all-time greats and a very good back up pace bowler in Miller, is capable of handling almost all conditions. Very tough to see how they can get beaten.

West Indies - Perhaps second only to Australia. The middle order of Richard, Headley, Lara and Sobers is frightening, while Marshall, Holding and Ambrose are as good a pace trio as any other team. They lose points with the inclusion of Gibbs, as having Gibbs and Sobers bowl after the pacers definitely lets some steam off. A battle between them and Australia would be a clash of the titans.

South Africa - Strong contenders for the top team. Four worldclass all-rounder gives them plenty of options. They have five dangerous bowlers plus Kallis and batting that runs till no.9. In Tayfield, they've covered the usual weakness of lacking a worldclass spinner. No real weak links then, but I think somehow a conservative approach may cost them against Australia.

Pakistan - Perhaps the best pace attack with four truly great pacers and captained by Imran they will be tough to beat. I think they lack compared to others in the middle order/lower order. Miandad, Inzi and Zaheer are superb but all of them have relatively weaker records against top teams of their times that suggests that runs may be an issue when facing Lillee, McGrath or Marshall.

England - It is hard to know where to place England. Putting Pietersen in the lineup seems foolish at this time, but the batting still is quite strong while the bowling attack has covered the bases. Difficult to read how good they will be.

 

[pasag]

KP

 

[Pothas]

Yeah that decision has got rather more ridiculous of late, hoping it will seem less so in a few months time.

Put Compton or even better Sutcliffe (yeah three openers but who cares) in and that side could challenge most.

 

[Days of Grace]

Peter May anyone?

 

[Sir Alex]

Ha ha KP what are you doing in that son

 

[BoyBrumby]

Suspect KP's been chucked in as a headline grabber. Or hope so anyway. Ranji, Dexter, Boycs, Hendren, Grace or even my choice for the AT XI's skipper, Lord Jardine of Mumbai, all better picks as well as those already mentioned.

 

[Matt79]

Was a popular poll wasn't it? I think England were done quite a while back.

 

[Xuhaib]

just one more good run can justify KP place in the side he is only 30 atm so still possible for him to have atleast one golden run before he hangs up.

 

[Himannv]

Australia: Good team all round. Fantastic bowling lineup and great batting as well. Not completely convinced by the choice of openers but definitely one of the best teams going around.

New Zealand: Decent side, but not fantastic or awe inspiring. The batting depends on a few key individuals and the bowling looks dependant on the pace attack. Hadlee is, of course, a matchwinner. Not completely convinced by Cowie, and Bond as always hasn't played nearly as much as he should have.

Pakistan: Fantastic pace attack and decent batting lineup as well. As with all teams with him in it, the balance of the team depends a lot on Imran. The batting is not the worst but pale in comparison to other more acomplished sides.

India: The top 4 batsmen are fantastic but the rest are slightly debatable comparatively. The pace attack is a bit iffy and they will probably rely on the spinners and the pitch for a bit of success. Decent team nonetheless but far from the best.

West Indies: Disappointed by the choice of Gibbs over Garner. I dont think West Indies need a spinner. They have Sobers anyway if they need that option. Excluding that, its an excellent team. No complaints at all about the batting. Some of the best batsmen in the world in there and natural match winners. Personally will place them as the best batting side of the lot. If they had played their customary 4 seamers I would have said the same for their bowling as well.

South Africa: I think this team is somewhat underrated as some of these players haven't spent too much time playing test cricket. Fantastic balance to the team and looks like a tough unit to face.

England: Fantastic bowling lineup and good batsmen as well. The only question mark is Kevin Pietersen of course. If they had the likes of Compton instead of him they would probably be on par with the likes of Australia and West Indies

Sri Lanka: The worst team of the lot so far. The batting is fairly decent I'd say but the bowling lacks more consistent and outstanding names. Compared to the other teams, they are new boys in the cricket scene though so it might be a while before we see this team consistently matching the others.

 

[Slifer]

Here's my own reading of some of the top teams:

Australia - Probably the strongest all-round of the teams. The batting is class throughout, and having Bradman is like having two worldclass batsmen, while Gilchrist bats a 7. The bowling, with four all-time greats and a very good back up pace bowler in Miller, is capable of handling almost all conditions. Very tough to see how they can get beaten.

West Indies - Perhaps second only to Australia. The middle order of Richard, Headley, Lara and Sobers is frightening, while Marshall, Holding and Ambrose are as good a pace trio as any other team. They lose points with the inclusion of Gibbs, as having Gibbs and Sobers bowl after the pacers definitely lets some steam off. A battle between them and Australia would be a clash of the titans.

South Africa - Strong contenders for the top team. Four worldclass all-rounder gives them plenty of options. They have five dangerous bowlers plus Kallis and batting that runs till no.9. In Tayfield, they've covered the usual weakness of lacking a worldclass spinner. No real weak links then, but I think somehow a conservative approach may cost them against Australia.

Pakistan - Perhaps the best pace attack with four truly great pacers and captained by Imran they will be tough to beat. I think they lack compared to others in the middle order/lower order. Miandad, Inzi and Zaheer are superb but all of them have relatively weaker records against top teams of their times that suggests that runs may be an issue when facing Lillee, McGrath or Marshall.

England - It is hard to know where to place England. Putting Pietersen in the lineup seems foolish at this time, but the batting still is quite strong while the bowling attack has covered the bases. Difficult to read how good they will be.

Agreed.

Australia: Best batting line up by far and best balanced bowling attack. Im so jealous of the embarassment of riches Oz have at their disposal. They truly can claim to have the absolute best at each position.

Best batsman Bradman, fast bowler Lillee/Mcgrath (Davisdon for Left hand), Spinners : Grimmett, Oreilley, Warne, AR Miller, keeper-batsman Gilchirst

 

[Xuhaib]

there should have been a minimum criteria of 20 test matches for selection.The NZL team selection is a joke if Vinod Kambli had been a Kiwi he would have made their all time Xi on this criteria.

 

[Flem274*]

Vinod Kambli was a proven screw up though wasn't he? Our early blokes didn't play a lot of tests anyway, and they were spaced over quite a few years.

Even Bond's were.

So I think they should stand.

I disagree with that team anyway though. No way should Vettori be in there, though when he's all finished up he could get in as an allrounder if he keeps batting the way he's batting.

 

[Xuhaib]

Vinod Kambli was a proven screw up though wasn't he? Our early blokes didn't play a lot of tests anyway, and they were spaced over quite a few years.

Even Bond's were.

So I think they should stand.

I disagree with that team anyway though. No way should Vettori be in there, though when he's all finished up he could get in as an allrounder if he keeps batting the way he's batting.

does not matter whether they were spaced out or not there will always be question marks on cricketers who played so little cricket had Mathew Sincliar retired after 13 tests he would have been a strong contender for the side.Bond can be debated he did play enough ODI cricket that one can argue he would have maintained his excellent test cricket though keep in mind he has no fiver against Aus,SA,India the 3 best batting line ups during his playing career.

I feel this team does a great disservice to guys like Cairns,Chatfeld, Wright who have done far more for NZL cricket then some of the players in this side.

 

[Flem274*]

does not matter whether they were spaced out or not there will always be question marks on cricketers who played so little cricket had Mathew Sincliar retired after 13 tests he would have been a strong contender for the side.Bond can be debated he did play enough ODI cricket that one can argue he would have maintained his excellent test cricket though keep in mind he has no fiver against Aus,SA,India the 3 best batting line ups during his playing career.

I feel this team does a great disservice to guys like Cairns,Chatfeld, Wright who have done far more for NZL cricket then some of the players in this side.

Sinclair's tests were all in quick succession though, so things like form come into it. Sinclair isn't the greatest example anyway, because depending on who you talk to you will get a different view on why he didn't succeed.

I'm inclined to trust the judgement of guys who saw these blokes play. I doubt people were calling Sinclair Ponting's deputy.

 

[smash84]

Here's my own reading of some of the top teams:

Australia - Probably the strongest all-round of the teams. The batting is class throughout, and having Bradman is like having two worldclass batsmen, while Gilchrist bats a 7. The bowling, with four all-time greats and a very good back up pace bowler in Miller, is capable of handling almost all conditions. Very tough to see how they can get beaten.

West Indies - Perhaps second only to Australia. The middle order of Richard, Headley, Lara and Sobers is frightening, while Marshall, Holding and Ambrose are as good a pace trio as any other team. They lose points with the inclusion of Gibbs, as having Gibbs and Sobers bowl after the pacers definitely lets some steam off. A battle between them and Australia would be a clash of the titans.

South Africa - Strong contenders for the top team. Four worldclass all-rounder gives them plenty of options. They have five dangerous bowlers plus Kallis and batting that runs till no.9. In Tayfield, they've covered the usual weakness of lacking a worldclass spinner. No real weak links then, but I think somehow a conservative approach may cost them against Australia.

Pakistan - Perhaps the best pace attack with four truly great pacers and captained by Imran they will be tough to beat. I think they lack compared to others in the middle order/lower order. Miandad, Inzi and Zaheer are superb but all of them have relatively weaker records against top teams of their times that suggests that runs may be an issue when facing Lillee, McGrath or Marshall.

England - It is hard to know where to place England. Putting Pietersen in the lineup seems foolish at this time, but the batting still is quite strong while the bowling attack has covered the bases. Difficult to read how good they will be.

A very good analysis. I think it will be a tough competition between Australia and the West Indies with Pakistan coming in at number 3 due to a superb (arguably the best) bowling attack. Australian batting might be the best but only just. Imagine a middle order with Lara, Sobers, Richards, and Headley. Enough firepower to face any attack under any conditions.

India probably has a batting line-up good enough to rival these two but I am not sure how they will cope with real pace on truer pitches than the ones found in the sub-continent.

 

[weldone]

India probably has a batting line-up good enough to rival these two but I am not sure how they will cope with real pace on truer pitches than the ones found in the sub-continent.

...with the help of Gavaskar, Dravid, Sachin....No?

 

[Slifer]

With all due respect WI batting vs Indian batting against pace, Adv WI easily

 

[vcs]

Meh... India somehow kept blundering on and fluking results against the likes of the ATG Australian side at their peak.

But yeah, we're a bunch of flat-track bullies who can't beat an egg outside the subcontinent.

 

[Sir Alex]

With all due respect WI batting vs Indian batting against pace, Adv WI easily

Would be a great contest... Gav vs Holding is something I'd pay for... an unstoppable force vs an immovable object...

Would back Sachin to do well against Marshall and the likes, but yeah overall would give WI a better chance...

However the same holds reverse also... would anyday back the Indian spinners to run through the best batting lineups Aus, WI , SA could put up in a typical subc pitch...