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The ATG Teams General arguing/discussing thread

AndrewB

International Vice-Captain
I've no objection to picking Engineer instead of Ames, but not in a "deceased" XI. Maybe one of the SA keeper-batsmen (Cameron/Waite/Lindsay) should make the XI. (Or Clyde Walcott if you want a batsman-keeper).
 

_00_deathscar

International Regular
All Rounders only all time XI anyone? Will allow the definition to be slightly loose to pick some players - but not like Sachin. But Warne/Akram to be considered. Although if you can make a great team without then cool!
 

trundler

Request Your Custom Title Now!
Pretty sure I've done it but

Barlow/Katich
Mitchell
Hammond
Kallis
Sobers
Miller
Gilchrist
Shakib
Imran
Benaud
Hadlee
Lindwall

Went with Shakib because need a second frontline spinner. Botham or Kapil would be much of a muchness. Or maybe Faulkner gets in. Pollock ahead of Lindwall maybe but whilst he was possibly the better bowler, Lindwall was voted as the better bowler on here so I went with him because he'll be batting 10 or 11 anyway.
 

Red

The normal awards that everyone else has
Pretty sure I've done it but

Barlow/Katich
Mitchell
Hammond
Kallis
Sobers
Miller
Gilchrist
Shakib
Imran
Benaud
Hadlee
Lindwall

Went with Shakib because need a second frontline spinner. Botham or Kapil would be much of a muchness. Or maybe Faulkner gets in. Pollock ahead of Lindwall maybe but whilst he was possibly the better bowler, Lindwall was voted as the better bowler on here so I went with him because he'll be batting 10 or 11 anyway.
Grace
Simpson
Walcott
Waugh
Waugh
Stokes
Botham
Noble
Faulkner
Wasim
Pollock
 

Flem274*

123/5
Completely impractical irl, but a bit of fun.

NZ ODI 1st XI
Nathan Astle
Suzie Bates
Kane Williamson
Ross Taylor
Martin Crowe
Chris Cairns
Brendon McCullum
Amelia Kerr
Richard Hadlee
Shane Bond
Trent Boult

NZ ODI 2nd XI
Martin Guptill
Sophie Devine
Debbie Hockley
Amy Sattherwaite
Scott Styris
Grant Elliott
Rachel Priest
Daniel Vettori
Kyle Mills
Lockie Ferguson
Rachel Pullar

Also TIL NZ women have 125 test caps but haven't played a test since 2004. That's an entire golden generation of some of our best players without a single test match.
 

ataraxia

International Coach
Woodfull /
Warner /
Williamson /
Weekes /
Worrell* / o
S Waugh /
Watling + /
Wasim o /
Warne o
Waqar o
Walsh o

Wright /
Washbrook /
Walcott /
M Waugh /
Walters /
Woolley / o
Waite + /
Wardle o
Wagner o
Willis o
Wall o
 

HookShot

U19 Vice-Captain
1648012201499.jpeg

This is one of my favourite books; so I’ve also selected my top 100 ATGs and formed nine teams.

Unlike Armstrong who created teams that tend to be more bowler centric I’ve gone for more balanced teams that are more batsman centric. I haven’t selected anyone still playing Test cricket.....

FIRST XI
01. Jack Hobbs
02. Sunil Gavaskar
03. Don Bradman *
04. Sachin Tendulkar
05. Viv Richards
06. Garry Sobers
07. Adam Gilchrist +
08. Imran Khan
09. Shane Warne
10. Malcolm Marshall
11. Glenn McGrath


SECOND XI
01. Len Hutton
02. Herbert Sutcliffe
03. Kumar Sangakkara
04. Brian Lara
05. Walter Hammond
06. Allan Border *
07. Alan Knott +
08. Richard Hadlee
09. Dennis Lillee
10. Sydney Barnes
11. Muttiah Muralitheran


THIRD XI
01. Barry Richards
02. Gordon Greenidge
03. George Headley
04. Graeme Pollock
05. Greg Chappell *
06. Keith Miller
07. Ian Botham
08. Bert Oldfield +
09. Clarrie Grimmett
10. Bill O’Reilly
11. Curtly Ambrose


FOURTH XI
01. WG Grace
02. Bob Simpson
03. Ricky Ponting
04. Jacques Kallis
05. Everton Weekes
06. Clive Lloyd *
07. Kapil Dev
08. Godfrey Evans +
09. Wasim Akram
10. Jim Laker
11. Dale Steyn


FIFTH XI
01. Geoff Boycott
02. Victor Trumper
03. Rohan Kanhai
04. Ken Barrington
05. Denis Compton
06. Steve Waugh
07. Richie Benaud *
08. Don Tallon +
09. Ray Lindwall
10. Alan Davidson
11. Fred Spofforth


SIXTH XI
01. Bruce Mitchell
02. Virender Sehwag
03. Rahul Dravid
04. Dudley Nourse
05. Frank Worrall *
06. Clyde Walcott
07. Mike Procter
08. Syed Kirmani +
09. Anil Kumble
10. George Lohmann
11. Fred Trueman


SEVENTH XI
01. Graeme Smith *
02. Matthew Hayden
03. Younis Khan
04. Javed Miandad
05. AB de Villiers
06. Aubrey Faulkner
07. Les Ames +
08. Hedley Verity
09. Alec Bedser
10. Andy Roberts
11. Michael Holding


EIGHTH XI
01. Bill Lawry
02. AC MacLaren
03. Charlie Macartney
04. Peter May *
05. Neil Harvey
06. Monty Noble
07. Shaun Pollock
08. Ian Healy +
09. Wilfred Rhodes
10. Joel Garner
11. Allan Donald


NINTH XI
01. Graham Gooch
02. Eddie Barlow
03. Clem Hill
04. Stan McCabe
05. Andy Flower *
06. Kumar Ranjitsinhji
07. BJ Watling +
08. Hugh Tayfield
09. Harold Larwood
10. Charles Turner
11. Waqar Younis

100th John Snow




Attachment.png
 

bagapath

International Captain
All Rounders only all time XI anyone? Will allow the definition to be slightly loose to pick some players - but not like Sachin. But Warne/Akram to be considered. Although if you can make a great team without then cool!
Pre 1970

Wilfred Rhodes (7)
Vinoo Mankad (6)
George Aubrey Faulkner (8)
Walter Hammond (9)
Garfield Sobers (3)
Keith Miller (2)
Warwick Armstrong (10)
Les Ames +
Monty Noble (5)
Richie Benaud (4) *
Ray Lindwall (1)

Post 1970

Sanath Jayasuriya (9)
Shane Watson (10)
Jacques Kallis (6)
Tony Greig (8)
Imran Khan * (1)
Shakib Al Hasan (5)
Adam Gilchrist +
Ben Stokes (7)
Ian Botham (3)
Kapil Dev (2)
Shaun Pollock (4)
 

trundler

Request Your Custom Title Now!
Pre 1970

Wilfred Rhodes (7)
Vinoo Mankad (6)
George Aubrey Faulkner (8)
Walter Hammond (9)
Garfield Sobers (3)
Keith Miller (2)
Warwick Armstrong (10)
Les Ames +
Monty Noble (5)
Richie Benaud (4) *
Ray Lindwall (1)

Post 1970

Sanath Jayasuriya (9)
Shane Watson (10)
Jacques Kallis (6)
Tony Greig (8)
Imran Khan * (1)
Shakib Al Hasan (5)
Adam Gilchrist +
Ben Stokes (7)
Ian Botham (3)
Kapil Dev (2)
Shaun Pollock (4)
Bruce Mitchell in the first XI.
 

Fuller Pilch

Hall of Fame Member
Pre 1970

Wilfred Rhodes (7)
Vinoo Mankad (6)
George Aubrey Faulkner (8)
Walter Hammond (9)
Garfield Sobers (3)
Keith Miller (2)
Warwick Armstrong (10)
Les Ames +
Monty Noble (5)
Richie Benaud (4) *
Ray Lindwall (1)

Post 1970

Sanath Jayasuriya (9)
Shane Watson (10)
Jacques Kallis (6)
Tony Greig (8)
Imran Khan * (1)
Shakib Al Hasan (5)
Adam Gilchrist +
Ben Stokes (7)
Ian Botham (3)
Kapil Dev (2)
Shaun Pollock (4)
Why no Hadlee? Would improve your post 1970 pace attack.
 

jayjay

U19 Cricketer
My post WWII XI as posted in my thread is:

1. Greenidge /
2. Gavaskar /
3. Viv /
4. Lara /
5. Tendulkar /
6. Sobers o /
7. Khan* o /
8. Gilchrist + /
9. Akram o /
10. Murali o
11. McGrath o

A pre-WWII but still keeping it within the 20th century:

1. J. Hobbs
2. H. Sutcliffe
3. D. Bradman
4. W. Hammond
5. G. Headley
6. D. Jardine c
7. L. Ames wk
8. M. Noble ao
9. S. Barnes
10. C. Blythe
11. B. Vogler
 

Nikhil99.99

U19 Cricketer
My post WWII XI as posted in my thread is:

1. Greenidge /
2. Gavaskar /
3. Viv /
4. Lara /
5. Tendulkar /
6. Sobers o /
7. Khan* o /
8. Gilchrist + /
9. Akram o /
10. Murali o
11. McGrath o

A pre-WWII but still keeping it within the 20th century:

1. J. Hobbs
2. H. Sutcliffe
3. D. Bradman
4. W. Hammond
5. G. Headley
6. D. Jardine c
7. L. Ames wk
8. M. Noble ao
9. S. Barnes
10. C. Blythe
11. B. Vogler
No Bill O’Reilly???This is nonsense.Vogler and Blythe over grimmett or verity??
Wisden obituary

Bill O'Reilly, who died in a Sydney hospital on October 6, 1992, aged 86, was probably the greatest spin bowler the game has ever produced. Bill Tiger O'Reilly was unquestionably one of cricket's great figures: as a player, as a character and later as a writer on the game. His cricket was proof that spin bowling was not necessarily a gentle art. He was 6ft 2in tall, gripped the ball in his enormous right hand and released it at a pace that could be almost fast-medium. It would then bounce ferociously on the hard pitches of his time and, on occasion, knock wicket-keepers off their feet. He bowled leg-breaks and, especially, top-spinners and googlies, backed up by an intimidating manner. Jack Fingleton said he was a flurry of limbs, fire and steel-edged temper. It has been suggested that his action and the general commotion before delivery were born of a deep sense of frustration at not being able to bowl fast enough to knock the batsman down. Off the field, his gruffness was mitigated by his intelligence, erudition, wit and twinkling eyes.

He played 27 Test matches and took 144 wickets - 102 of them Englishmen and the vital wicket of Walter Hammond ten times - averaging 22.59. But his figures have to be judged by the fact that all but one of his Tests came in the 1930s, when other bowlers were dominated by batsmen.No one ever dominated O'Reilly. Even when England made 903 at The Oval in 1938, he bowled 85 overs and finished with figures of three for 178. And before that, he had secured the Ashes by taking five for 66 and five for 56 at Headingley.

O'Reilly was born in White Cliffs in the New South Wales bush into a large Irish family on December 20, 1905. His father was a small-town schoolmaster and young Bill was above average at several sports, including tennis, athletics and rugby. Cricket was harder to arrange. According to Jack Fingleton in Cricket crisis, the four O'Reilly brothers played with a gum-wood bat and a piece of banksia root chiselled down to make a ball. Since the others were older, Bill inevitably bowled more than he batted. The brothers also cuffed him a lot, possibly because he was starting to show them up. In 1917 the family moved to Wingello. When he played his first match for Wingello Juniors, the team walked to the opposition's ground seven miles away in Tallong, with their dogs chasing rabbits along the way. In 1919, he went to the high school in the larger town of Goulburn, where he concentrated on his athletics as much as his cricket. And when he went to the teachers' college at Sydney University in his late teens he was more interested in such events as the hop, step and jump, in which he held the state record. According to Fingleton's account he would probably have been lost to cricket had he not been asked to make up the numbers in a Sydney junior match and, with a method that at first made everyone giggle, whipped out the opposition.

In the summer of 1925-26, the young O'Reilly, by now an undergraduate at the teachers' college in Sydney University, met the man whose destiny was to be linked with his for ever. O'Reilly's own account of this remains a classic. He was passing through Bowral Station on his way home to Wingello for his summer holiday when he heard his name being called down the platform. He put his head out of the carriage window and was told to get out at once: Wingello were playing at Bowral and needed him.

How was I to know that I was about to cross swords with the greatest cricketer that ever set foot on a cricket field ? He didn't have it all his own way, let me tell you. Well, not for the first couple of overs, anyway. By the close of play, 17-year-old Don Bradman was 234 not out. The match resumed a week later, according to the local custom. The sun shone, the birds sang sweetly and the flowers bloomed as never before. I bowled him first ball with a leg-break which came from the leg stump to hit the off bail. Suddenly cricket was the best game in the whole wide world.

In 1926-27 O'Reilly was chosen for the New South Wales state practice squad on the strength of one match for North Sydney. A year later he made his first-class début against the New Zealanders. But teachers in New South Wales work for the state rather than an individual school and the newly-qualified O'Reilly was despatched to three different bush towns. This may have cost him the chance of a Test against England in 1928-29 and, very probably, a tour in 1930. He was transferred back to Sydney in time for the 1931-32 season and after four more matches made his début for Australia. He performed quietly in a match in which Bradman scored 299 not out and Grimmett took 14 wickets, but he had arrived.

In the 1932-33 Bodyline series he took 27 wickets, without anyone noticing much, given what else was happening. In the series in England in 1934 he took 28 wickets, including seven in an innings twice. At Trent Bridge he won the match with seven for 54, achieved by what Wisden called clever variation in flight and pace combined with spin off the worn turf. In blazing heat at Old Trafford, he transformed the game in an over which England began at 68 for no wicket. Walters was caught at forward short leg off the first ball, Wyatt bowled middle stump by the second and Hammond, after glancing a four off the third, was bowled by the fourth. Hendren and Leyland recaptured the initiative and England declared at 627 for nine but O'Reilly finished with seven for 189. He took 109 wickets on the tour, including nine for 38 against Somerset. He went back to Australia and suddenly announced his retirement. He had married in 1933, had a daughter and was anxious about his teaching career. However, Sydney Grammar School offered him a job that enabled him to play on. He toured South Africa in 1935-36 and took 27 wickets again, 25 in the great series against England in 1936-37 and 22 back in England in 1938, despite the unforgiving wickets ( dosed up to the eyeballs, said O'Reilly) of Trent Bridge and The Oval.

He played only one more Test, the one-off game against New Zealand at Wellington in March 1946 when he was already 40. The opposition barely beat his age: they were bowled out for 42 and 54 and O'Reilly took five for 14 and three for 19. It was the 11th time he had taken five in an innings in Tests. O'Reilly then began writing on cricket for the Sydney Morning Herald with a muscular, very Australian prose style flavoured with wit and imagery (You can smell the gum-leaves off him, he wrote of one country boy just starting with Queensland). Until he finally retired in 1988, he was as revered in Australian press boxes as he had been on the field. His opinions often came more from the heart than the head, especially if it was a question of attacking the selectors for playing safe and ignoring a young player, most especially a young leg-spinner. But he was consistent, loved quality and hated one-day cricket (hit-and-giggle) which he generally refused to watch. He was hot-blooded and humorous which perhaps explains why his relationship with the cooler Bradman is believed to have been based on intense mutual respect rather than the profoundest form of Australian mateship. While Sir Donald walked the corridors of cricketing power O'Reilly was the rumbustious backbencher.

His last few years were rendered miserable by illness, including the loss of a leg. But he was blessed with a marriage to Molly that lasted 59 years. In his career he took 774 wickets at 16.60 and was successful at every level: playing for North Sydney and St George, he topped the Sydney Grade averages 12 times and took 962 wickets at 9.44. He took a wicket every 49 balls in his first-class career and it was said he never bowled a wide. His batting was left-handed, hard-hitting and occasionally stubborn (1,655 runs at 13.13); he never quite forgave himself for getting out at Lord's in 1934 when he might have saved the follow-on, in which case he rather than Verity would have had use of a rain-affected wicket. He did save the follow-on by making 30 not out at Old Trafford in the next Test. Future generations will have to judge the greatness of his bowling on the fragments of film that survive and the written descriptions, of which R. C. Robertson-Glasgow's may stand as definitive:

As with those more florid opponents of legendary heroes, there seemed to be more arms than Nature or the rules allow. During the run-up, a sort of fierce galumph, the right forearm worked like a piston; at delivery the head was ducked low as if to butt the batsman on to his stumps. But it didn't take long to see the greatness; the control of leg-break, top-spinner and googly; the change of pace and trajectory without apparent change in action; the scrupulous length; the vitality; and, informing and rounding all, the brain to diagnose what patient required what treatment.

When O'Reilly died, Bradman said he was the greatest bowler he had ever faced or watched.
Gideon Haigh, Wisden Cricketers' Almanack
 
Last edited:

Nikhil99.99

U19 Cricketer
Len Hutton who scored 364 against O’Reilly wrote-if he were to selected a World xi to fight Mars ,Bill O’Reilly would be the first man selected.
Denis Compton said that" O’Reilly was above all other bowlers for his control and killer instinct —every run you got from his was hard earned”
From bradman-
Bradman, who reckoned O'Reilly to have been the best bowler he saw or played against, said he had the ability to bowl a legbreak of near medium pace that consistently pitched around leg stump and turned to nick the outside edge or the top of off.

"Bill also bowled a magnificent bosey which was hard to pick, and which he aimed at middle and leg stumps," said Bradman . "It was fractionally slower than his legbreak and usually dropped a little in flight and 'sat up' to entice a catch to one of his two short-leg fieldsmen. These two deliveries, combined with great accuracy and unrelenting hostility, were enough to test the greatest of batsmen, particularly as his legbreak was bowled at medium pace - quicker than the normal run of slow bowlers - making it extremely difficult for a batsman to use his feet as a counter measure. Bill will always remain, in my book, the greatest of all."
 

HookShot

U19 Vice-Captain
No Bill O’Reilly???This is nonsense.Vogler and Blythe over grimmett or verity??
It is not unreasonable to select Sydney Barnes over Bill O’Reilly as they were similar bowlers in many respects and equal ATGs.

Charlie Blythe was greatly admired in his time and is undoubtably one of England’s greatest left-arm spinners. If Verity is greater than Blythe then it’s not by much.

Vogler was good but the team really needs a spearhead like Larwood, McDonald, Richardson or Jones.

BTW Here’s Ted McDonald in action. Looks fabulous.

 
Last edited:

ankitj

Hall of Fame Member
No Bill O’Reilly???This is nonsense.Vogler and Blythe over grimmett or verity??
Wisden obituary

Bill O'Reilly, who died in a Sydney hospital on October 6, 1992, aged 86, was probably the greatest spin bowler the game has ever produced. Bill Tiger O'Reilly was unquestionably one of cricket's great figures: as a player, as a character and later as a writer on the game. His cricket was proof that spin bowling was not necessarily a gentle art. He was 6ft 2in tall, gripped the ball in his enormous right hand and released it at a pace that could be almost fast-medium. It would then bounce ferociously on the hard pitches of his time and, on occasion, knock wicket-keepers off their feet. He bowled leg-breaks and, especially, top-spinners and googlies, backed up by an intimidating manner. Jack Fingleton said he was a flurry of limbs, fire and steel-edged temper. It has been suggested that his action and the general commotion before delivery were born of a deep sense of frustration at not being able to bowl fast enough to knock the batsman down. Off the field, his gruffness was mitigated by his intelligence, erudition, wit and twinkling eyes.

He played 27 Test matches and took 144 wickets - 102 of them Englishmen and the vital wicket of Walter Hammond ten times - averaging 22.59. But his figures have to be judged by the fact that all but one of his Tests came in the 1930s, when other bowlers were dominated by batsmen.No one ever dominated O'Reilly. Even when England made 903 at The Oval in 1938, he bowled 85 overs and finished with figures of three for 178. And before that, he had secured the Ashes by taking five for 66 and five for 56 at Headingley.

O'Reilly was born in White Cliffs in the New South Wales bush into a large Irish family on December 20, 1905. His father was a small-town schoolmaster and young Bill was above average at several sports, including tennis, athletics and rugby. Cricket was harder to arrange. According to Jack Fingleton in Cricket crisis, the four O'Reilly brothers played with a gum-wood bat and a piece of banksia root chiselled down to make a ball. Since the others were older, Bill inevitably bowled more than he batted. The brothers also cuffed him a lot, possibly because he was starting to show them up. In 1917 the family moved to Wingello. When he played his first match for Wingello Juniors, the team walked to the opposition's ground seven miles away in Tallong, with their dogs chasing rabbits along the way. In 1919, he went to the high school in the larger town of Goulburn, where he concentrated on his athletics as much as his cricket. And when he went to the teachers' college at Sydney University in his late teens he was more interested in such events as the hop, step and jump, in which he held the state record. According to Fingleton's account he would probably have been lost to cricket had he not been asked to make up the numbers in a Sydney junior match and, with a method that at first made everyone giggle, whipped out the opposition.

In the summer of 1925-26, the young O'Reilly, by now an undergraduate at the teachers' college in Sydney University, met the man whose destiny was to be linked with his for ever. O'Reilly's own account of this remains a classic. He was passing through Bowral Station on his way home to Wingello for his summer holiday when he heard his name being called down the platform. He put his head out of the carriage window and was told to get out at once: Wingello were playing at Bowral and needed him.

How was I to know that I was about to cross swords with the greatest cricketer that ever set foot on a cricket field ? He didn't have it all his own way, let me tell you. Well, not for the first couple of overs, anyway. By the close of play, 17-year-old Don Bradman was 234 not out. The match resumed a week later, according to the local custom. The sun shone, the birds sang sweetly and the flowers bloomed as never before. I bowled him first ball with a leg-break which came from the leg stump to hit the off bail. Suddenly cricket was the best game in the whole wide world.

In 1926-27 O'Reilly was chosen for the New South Wales state practice squad on the strength of one match for North Sydney. A year later he made his first-class début against the New Zealanders. But teachers in New South Wales work for the state rather than an individual school and the newly-qualified O'Reilly was despatched to three different bush towns. This may have cost him the chance of a Test against England in 1928-29 and, very probably, a tour in 1930. He was transferred back to Sydney in time for the 1931-32 season and after four more matches made his début for Australia. He performed quietly in a match in which Bradman scored 299 not out and Grimmett took 14 wickets, but he had arrived.

In the 1932-33 Bodyline series he took 27 wickets, without anyone noticing much, given what else was happening. In the series in England in 1934 he took 28 wickets, including seven in an innings twice. At Trent Bridge he won the match with seven for 54, achieved by what Wisden called clever variation in flight and pace combined with spin off the worn turf. In blazing heat at Old Trafford, he transformed the game in an over which England began at 68 for no wicket. Walters was caught at forward short leg off the first ball, Wyatt bowled middle stump by the second and Hammond, after glancing a four off the third, was bowled by the fourth. Hendren and Leyland recaptured the initiative and England declared at 627 for nine but O'Reilly finished with seven for 189. He took 109 wickets on the tour, including nine for 38 against Somerset. He went back to Australia and suddenly announced his retirement. He had married in 1933, had a daughter and was anxious about his teaching career. However, Sydney Grammar School offered him a job that enabled him to play on. He toured South Africa in 1935-36 and took 27 wickets again, 25 in the great series against England in 1936-37 and 22 back in England in 1938, despite the unforgiving wickets ( dosed up to the eyeballs, said O'Reilly) of Trent Bridge and The Oval.

He played only one more Test, the one-off game against New Zealand at Wellington in March 1946 when he was already 40. The opposition barely beat his age: they were bowled out for 42 and 54 and O'Reilly took five for 14 and three for 19. It was the 11th time he had taken five in an innings in Tests. O'Reilly then began writing on cricket for the Sydney Morning Herald with a muscular, very Australian prose style flavoured with wit and imagery (You can smell the gum-leaves off him, he wrote of one country boy just starting with Queensland). Until he finally retired in 1988, he was as revered in Australian press boxes as he had been on the field. His opinions often came more from the heart than the head, especially if it was a question of attacking the selectors for playing safe and ignoring a young player, most especially a young leg-spinner. But he was consistent, loved quality and hated one-day cricket (hit-and-giggle) which he generally refused to watch. He was hot-blooded and humorous which perhaps explains why his relationship with the cooler Bradman is believed to have been based on intense mutual respect rather than the profoundest form of Australian mateship. While Sir Donald walked the corridors of cricketing power O'Reilly was the rumbustious backbencher.

His last few years were rendered miserable by illness, including the loss of a leg. But he was blessed with a marriage to Molly that lasted 59 years. In his career he took 774 wickets at 16.60 and was successful at every level: playing for North Sydney and St George, he topped the Sydney Grade averages 12 times and took 962 wickets at 9.44. He took a wicket every 49 balls in his first-class career and it was said he never bowled a wide. His batting was left-handed, hard-hitting and occasionally stubborn (1,655 runs at 13.13); he never quite forgave himself for getting out at Lord's in 1934 when he might have saved the follow-on, in which case he rather than Verity would have had use of a rain-affected wicket. He did save the follow-on by making 30 not out at Old Trafford in the next Test. Future generations will have to judge the greatness of his bowling on the fragments of film that survive and the written descriptions, of which R. C. Robertson-Glasgow's may stand as definitive:

As with those more florid opponents of legendary heroes, there seemed to be more arms than Nature or the rules allow. During the run-up, a sort of fierce galumph, the right forearm worked like a piston; at delivery the head was ducked low as if to butt the batsman on to his stumps. But it didn't take long to see the greatness; the control of leg-break, top-spinner and googly; the change of pace and trajectory without apparent change in action; the scrupulous length; the vitality; and, informing and rounding all, the brain to diagnose what patient required what treatment.

When O'Reilly died, Bradman said he was the greatest bowler he had ever faced or watched.
Gideon Haigh, Wisden Cricketers' Almanack
Ok
 

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