YesssssssYou could always dispense with O'Reilly and take Border's left armers. I think if he had chosen to early, he could have been TOTAB with the ball as well.
Border could have been TOTAB with the ball as well.
That would be Alec Bedser, thank you.Yesssssss
Why do you say that?Apparently Neil Harvey was a big fan of Neil Harvey as well.
Dale thenWho are the 'great' bowlers Smith has made his runs against in favourable conditions?
The only 'great' bowler of the last decade has been Dale Steyn, most supporters would say.
As much as I love the bloke, lets just wait a little longerI think Border could be said to be the second picked batsman against an AT bowling lineup because he was the best batsman in the world while actually having to face attacks filled with ATG bowlers.
That said, the number of ATG bowlers in Waugh's pomp was the same but they were distributed between more countries (WI, SA, Aus, Pak all had two or more ATG bowlers in that era) as opposed to the 80s where they were concentrated in the WI with Botham and Hadlee the only others of note in the era.
Ponting, great though he was never had to conquer an attack like that during his prime. It's unfortunate because he had the skills to handle them (as seen by some of his early knocks) but he never really sorted out his off-field issues until most of the greats were going or gone. Then his 50 test peak happened.
What makes Smith's current run so remarkable is that he was done it everywhere against some great bowlers in favorable conditions. Right now he's fighting it out for the #4 spot in my AT Aus XI with G Chappell.
Hayden
Trumper
Bradman
G Chappell / S Smith
S Waugh
Border
Gilchrist
Davidson
Warne
Lillee
McGrath
When I pick them I pick them with the state sides I associate them with (which is also the ones they played the most with).I'm pretty sure that Bradman would be a better pick than McCabe for an AT NSW side.
Which is strange because I associate Lindwall with Queensland.When I pick them I pick them with the state sides I associate them with (which is also the ones they played the most with).
Hence Bradman is a South Australian, and Border is a Qld'er, and Gilly is a WA'ian.
All technically could qualify for NSW but I consider them to belong to other states.
I'd be surprised if the ODI side lost tbh. Their batting looks as good as if not better than the test side and the bowling is only slightly worse (with Pollock being the "weak" link).Post 1975 Best Test XI vs Best ODI XI to play three tests and six ODIs against each other
TEST XI
Gavaskar
Greenidge
Lara
Kallis
Border
Imran (c)
Knott (wk)
Hadlee
Marshall
Warne
Lillee
ODI XI
Gilchrist (wk)
Tendulkar
Ponting
Viv Richards
AB De Villiers
Dhoni (c)
S.Pollock
Akram
Garner
Murali
McGrath
The ODI XI will lose all tests and may be one ODI, and finally win the series 5-4
Why is Wasim Akram not in the Flair XI?Test XIs to compete on turners:
Flair XI
Virender Sehwag
Matthew Hayden
Brian Lara
Sachin Tendulkar
Kevin Pietersen
Steve Smith
MS Dhoni
Shakib al Hasan
Malcolm Marshall
Dale Steyn
Saqlain Mushtaq
Blocky McBlockface XI
Sunil Gavaskar
Alastair Cook
Rahul Dravid
Steve Waugh
Andy Flower
VVS Laxman
Thilan Samaraweera
Wasim Akram
Anil Kumble
Graeme Swann
Glenn McGrath