The ATG Teams General arguing/discussing thread

[SachinFan]

Kim Hughes is one of the most exciting batsmen I've ever seen, which was the theme of the XI. In regards to spinners, Sobers is definitely enough given the 4-prong pace attack + Viv and the Chappells as part-timers (WI seemed to do well without a spinner). As for Ian Chappell, he batted at 3 his whole career so opening shouldn't be a huge difference (I originally had Warner, but needed Chappelli in the team to captain).

Hmm. Cricinfo, in its list of greatest test innings of all time, had a century by Kim Hughes in top 25. Is Ian Chappell that great as captain to walk in into this elite team, in spite of being marginally decent as a batsman? I could imagine that for someone like Mike Brearley.

 

[SachinFan]

WTH? How come my new thread came into this decade old thread?

 

[Prince EWS]

WTH? How come my new thread came into this decade old thread?

Because we were still posting it in less than a week ago. If every poster in here started a new thread every time they wanted to post an all-time Test XI the front page would be massively clogged up with the stuff. We have a perfectly good thread for this topic.

 

[SachinFan]

Because we were still posting it in less than a week ago. If every poster in here started a new thread every time they wanted to post an all-time Test XI the front page would be massively clogged up with the stuff. We have a perfectly good thread for this topic.

Aha. Okay. Interesting.

 

[aussie tragic]

Hmm. Cricinfo, in its list of greatest test innings of all time, had a century by Kim Hughes in top 25. Is Ian Chappell that great as captain to walk in into this elite team, in spite of being marginally decent as a batsman? I could imagine that for someone like Mike Brearley.

Ian Chappell is regarded as one of the best captains Australia has ever had. He captained 30 tests for 15 wins and 5 losses in an era when draws were much more common. I believe he never lost a series as captain and he's on record as saying he only stepped down so he wouldn't be sacked liked his mate Bill Lawry was (was very outspoken against the cricket board and Bradman especially).

 

[SachinFan]

Ian Chappell is regarded as one of the best captains Australia has ever had. He captained 30 tests for 15 wins and 5 losses in an era when draws were much more common. I believe he never lost a series as captain and he's on record as saying he only stepped down so he wouldn't be sacked liked his mate Bill Lawry was (was very outspoken against the cricket board and Bradman especially).

Fair enough. Gavaskar spoke very highly of him in Idols. Lot of young people in India, particularly in Mumbai, in the 70s tried to emulate Ian Chappell by having long hair like him!

 

[Red]

Mine:

Jack Hobbs
Len Hutton
Don Bradman (captain)
Sachin Tendulkar
Brian Lara
Gary Sobers (vice captain)
Kumara Sangakkara (wicket-keeper)
Imran Khan
Glenn Mcgrath
Allan Donald
Shane Warne

Some callouts - wherever there are possible equals, I choose the player from an under-represented team than an over-represented one. For example, I can choose Adam Gilchrist as keeper, but given that there are many from Australia and none from Lanka in the team, I went for Sangakkara. Same for Donald in lieu of Lillee or Marshall.

Sorry NZ (not that anyone cares), if Shane Bond had gone on to have a long career, I am sure he would have eclipsed Mcgrath, Lillee, Donald et al. as one the greatest fast bowler of all times.

What a shame NZ never had a fast bowler who:

was the leading wicket taker in test cricket
took 431 test wickets
was the first bowler to 400 test wickets
took over 5 wickets per test
was better than handy with the bat.

 

[aussie tragic]

What a shame NZ never had a fast bowler who:

was the leading wicket taker in test cricket
took 431 test wickets
was the first bowler to 400 test wickets
took over 5 wickets per test
was better than handy with the bat.

He's in my XI after I saw him destroy Australia at the Gabba

 

[Red]

My team, today:

Len Hutton
Barry Richards
Don Bradman
Viv Richards
Keith Miller *
Garry Sobers
Aubrey Faulkner
Adam Gilchrist +
Richard Hadlee
Malcolm Marshall
Shane Warne

 

[Burgey]

Rationale behind choosing Border in lieu of Tendulkar or Lara? Both seem to be a far better test batsman than Border, everything considered.

Pet obsession. But check out his away record pretty much everywhere

 

[Burgey]

Ian Chappell is regarded as one of the best captains Australia has ever had. He captained 30 tests for 15 wins and 5 losses in an era when draws were much more common. I believe he never lost a series as captain and he's on record as saying he only stepped down so he wouldn't be sacked liked his mate Bill Lawry was (was very outspoken against the cricket board and Bradman especially).

Chappell’s Average as skipper went through the roof too. Always famous for his predilection for booking and pulling, but he was a great player of spin too.

 

[Burgey]

Kim Hughes is one of the most exciting batsmen I've ever seen, which was the theme of the XI. In regards to spinners, Sobers is definitely enough given the 4-prong pace attack + Viv and the Chappells as part-timers (WI seemed to do well without a spinner). As for Ian Chappell, he batted at 3 his whole career so opening shouldn't be a huge difference (I originally had Warner, but needed Chappelli in the team for his aggressive captaincy).

Tbf, given the openers Australia had after Lawrry and Stackpole, he virtually opened half the time anyway

 

[TheJediBrah]

My team, today:

Len Hutton
Barry Richards
Don Bradman
Viv Richards
Keith Miller *
Garry Sobers
Aubrey Faulkner
Adam Gilchrist +
Richard Hadlee
Malcolm Marshall
Shane Warne

Keith Miller as captain interesting choice

Always famous for his predilection for booking and pulling

Thought you were talking about Hanse here, but not sure how he did with the ladies tbh

 

[Red]

Keith Miller as captain interesting choice

Should have been Aust captain, Aust mistakenly chose Johnson.

 

[Red]

Rationale behind choosing Border in lieu of Tendulkar or Lara? Both seem to be a far better test batsman than Border, everything considered.

Give a few coherent reasons why Tendulkar or Lara are "far better test batsmen that Border, everything considered".

 

[TheJediBrah]

Give a few coherent reasons why Tendulkar or Lara are "far better test batsmen that Border, everything considered".

1. because his username isn't "BorderFan"

 

[h_hurricane]

I stand by the XI I had in mind 15 years back. Nothing has changed.

Hobbs
Hutton
Bradman
Tendulkar
Richards
Sobers
Gilchrist
Imran
Hadlee
Marshall
Warne

 

[h_hurricane]

Rationale behind choosing Border in lieu of Tendulkar or Lara? Both seem to be a far better test batsman than Border, everything considered.

If you have been here for a good amount of time, you would have realized that Burgey always picks Border and then 10 others. A lot better than England picking Hussain and then their 10 best players though.

 

[Burgey]

I stand by the XI I had in mind 15 years back. Nothing has changed.

Hobbs
Hutton
Bradman
Tendulkar
Richards
Sobers
Gilchrist
Imran
Hadlee
Marshall
Warne

This is a very good side imho. Might have slightly different views on one or two but can honestly say there isn't a bloke in that XI who imo does not belong in the argument.

I think it's interesting that there's starting to develop a bit of a consensus surrounding the openers among a fair few people. There's no shortage of great openers from the modern era, but those two really endure.

If it was only player's I've seen live, my XI would be:

Gavaskar
Boycott
Ponting
Tendulkar
Richards
Border (c)
Gilchrist
Imran
Warne
Marshall
McGrath

Again, the likes of Lara, Greenidge, Kallis, Dravid, Ambrose, Crowe, Hadlee, Murali, Sanga, Lillee, Chappell all very unlucky. Picked Ponting basically on his peak and because he and Viv are the best players of raw pace I've seen. And how you've played pace has always been a big deal for me because of the physical threat, rather than looking nice as you dance down the deck like a ballerina to a rubbish finger spinner. I realize people will disagree, particularly regarding TOTAB, but my views on him are well known and not subject to compromise.

 

[harsh.ag]

Barry Richards
Viv Richards
Don Bradman
Brian Lara
AB de Villiers
Garry Sobers
Adam Gilchrist
Wasim Akram
Malcolm Marshall
Shane Warne
Glenn McGrath