SA's best pre-isolation XI, isolation XI, and post-isolation XI

[Marius]

Reading the comments agree that Faulkner should be in the pre-isolation XI, can't believe I left him out and I must been having a stroke when I did the post-isolation XI list to leave out Donald.

 

[Dendarii]

Yeah, Jennings will bat at 8 in that XI, and he had an FC average of 23 or so, which is fine for your number 8. And Jennings wasn't a Gilchrist but he wasn't a complete mug with the bat.

It was also perfectly acceptable for a wicketkeeper in that era to have that sort of average. It's a much more recent thing to expect the keeper to be comparable to a specialist batsmen.

 

[Migara]

Post-isolation XI:
Graeme Smith
Hashim Amla
Jacques Kallis
Darryl Cullinan
Hansie Cronje
AB de Villiers
QDK
Shaun Pollock
Kagiso Rabada
Dale Steyn
Allan Donald

 

[Coronis]

Whats with all the people putting van der Bijl ahead of Le Roux in their batting order….

 

[trundler]

Bruce Mitchell
Trevor Goddard
Herbie Taylor
Graeme Pollock
Dudley Nourse
Jackie McGlew
Aubrey Faulkner
John Waite
Peter Pollock
Hugh Tayfield
Neil Adcock

Barry Richards
Jimmy Cook
Peter Kirsten
Ken McEwan
Lee Irvine
Clive Rice
Mike Procter
Ray Jennings
Garth Le Roux
Denys Hobson
Vintcent Van Der Bijl

Gary Kirsten
Graeme Smith
Hashim Amla
Jacques Kallis
Darryl Cullinan
AB De Villiers
Quinton De Kock
Shaun Pollock
Keshav Maharaj
Dale Steyn
Allan Donald

Less confident in the Isolation XI than I am the others. Funky balance for 2 sides but that's fitting for SA teams. Post Isolation wins imo.

 

[Coronis]

Honestly this thread reminds me of how much insane talent SA produced in the 25 odd years post isolation, sadly for now they seem to be falling apart but wow. The only exceptional player they didn’t manage to produce was a spinner.