What is your ALL TIME WORLD XI TEAM for tests?

[kyear2]

McGrath and Murali might be the two greatest at their respective crafts of all time.

But not by enough, no where near enough, to deserve a place ahead of Marshall, Hadlee, Imran and Warne.

But anyway we've had this debate before and no one budges so I'll leave it here.

That is the prevailing thought here on CW, so most would have no argument with that.

 

[ankitj]

Jack Hobbs
Sunil Gavaskar
Don Bradman
Greame Pollock
Garry Sobers
Adam Gilchrist
Imran Khan
Richard Hadlee
Malcolm Marshall
Muttiah Muralitharan
Sydney Barnes

12th: Jacques Kallis

 

[watson]

Jack Hobbs
Sunil Gavaskar
Don Bradman
Greame Pollock
Garry Sobers
Adam Gilchrist
Imran Khan
Richard Hadlee
Malcolm Marshall
Muttiah Muralitharan
Sydney Barnes

12th: Jacques Kallis

Used to think that 5 specialist batsman was OK to improve the bowling. Now I'm not a fan of having the keeper or a bowling allrounder at No.6 as it seems too unbalanced. Plus Gilly rarely, if ever, batted any higher than No.7 in Test matches, so he is essentially out of position even though it's only by one rung.

 

[ohnoitsyou]

Do you think he was better than Lillee as well?

Lillee himself called Hadlee the greatest exponent of rhythm bowling that he had ever seen

 

[OverratedSanity]

Lillee himself called Hadlee the greatest exponent of rhythm bowling that he had ever seen

And Hadlee called Lillee his hero and the best ever. So it's best not to point to their opinions to back up ours really.

But yes, kyear underrates Hadlee for some reason. He's in no way a clear inferior to McGrath and Marshall

 

[Jono]

Hobbs
Gavaskar
Bradman (c)
Tendulkar
Viv
Sobers
Gilchrist (wk)
Warne
Marshall
Murali
McGrath

Would love to compare it to one i did a few years ago, but cbf searching.

 

[ohnoitsyou]

And Hadlee called Lillee his hero and the best ever. So it's best not to point to their opinions to back up ours really.

Nah was taking Hadlee's opinion to be assumed knowledge, with the amount of times it gets bandied about...

 

[OverratedSanity]

I'm always surprised at how many people pick Gavaskar over Hutton. I've come to appreciate Hutton so much more after reading about him and taking a close look at his opponents and his achievements.

Imo, Hutton is probably the greatest opener ever. The guy made loads of tough runs against some truly great, great bowlers (Lindwall, Miller), played great innings, often was the only man standing between the opposition and their victory and took his team to the top of the rankings. Hobbs and Hutton the two best ever for me

 

[ohnoitsyou]

I'm always surprised at how many people pick Gavaskar over Hutton. I've come to appreciate Hutton so much more after reading about him and taking a close look at his opponents and his achievements.

Imo, Hutton is probably the greatest opener ever. The guy made loads of tough runs against some truly great, great bowlers (Lindwall, Miller), played great innings, often was the only man standing between the opposition and their victory and took his team to the top of the rankings. Hobbs and Hutton the two best ever for me

Gavaskar made some really tough runs against some even greater bowlers. All four of them are such great players that for mine the most surprising thing is that Hobbs tends to be automatically picked. Probably comes down to Hobbs being the master on sticky wickets, while the strengths of the other three were much more similar and therefore easier to swap based on peoples personal preference.

 

[watson]

Did the statsguru thing a while back and found out that Gavaskar averaged in the low-40s when playing in Tests that feature combinations of Holding, Roberts, Marshall, and Garner. I think that's a superb effort and puts Gavaskar on a par with Hutton IMO.

 

[Red]

It's hard to go past Sunny and Hutton if you want a couple of openers to take on some serious pace heat. Tough leaving Hobbs out but it's more a personal preference for me.

 

[micz]

Im sorry if you guys have done a thread like this before. This is my first ever thread and i just had that lingering question in my head.

 

[harsh.ag]

Im sorry if you guys have done a thread like this before. This is my first ever thread and i just had that lingering question in my head.

Yes, we have discussed this at length, as you can imagine. Perhaps you would like to go through the other threads if you want to know the opinions of the others in a more detailed manner, as they are unlikely to post here again

 

[ankitj]

Used to think that 5 specialist batsman was OK to improve the bowling. Now I'm not a fan of having the keeper or a bowling allrounder at No.6 as it seems too unbalanced. Plus Gilly rarely, if ever, batted any higher than No.7 in Test matches, so he is essentially out of position even though it's only by one rung.

Alternatively:

Jack Hobbs
Len Hutton
Don Bradman (c)
Sachin Tendulkar
Jacques Kallis
Garry Sobers
Adam Gilchrist (wk)
Imran Khan
Richard Hadlee
Malcolm Marshall
Muttiah Muralitharan


Retaining representation from each of the top 8 nations.

 

[harsh.ag]

It's hard to go past Sunny and Hutton if you want a couple of openers to take on some serious pace heat. Tough leaving Hobbs out but it's more a personal preference for me.

Sutcliffe? But perhaps he didn't face the quality of pace that Hutton did. Sunny of course is another story.

 

[adub]

Did the statsguru thing a while back and found out that Gavaskar averaged in the low-40s when playing in Tests that feature combinations of Holding, Roberts, Marshall, and Garner. I think that's a superb effort and puts Gavaskar on a par with Hutton IMO.

High (very) 40s actually (for any test featuring any of the above bowlers). 7 tons and 2 50s in 20 tests @ 49.12 is ridiculous for an opener against that firepower. 55 ave in India (expected), 42 in WI (still bloody good).

But...
... of those 20 tests he only had to contend with 1 or 2 of those greats in 13. It shouldn't surprise that 5 of those tons and both 50s came in those tests against a WI without the full glory of their best attack. It's no shame, there never was a harder challenge for an opener to face, but the stats can be a little flattering to Sunny here. Not sure if he would or wouldn't make my all time side as he sure was a super opener, but his record showed he cashed in when the Windies weren't at their strongest, rather than that he was able to stand up to them at their best.

 

[Hurricane]

The only sunny story i have is one john Parker told us 20 years ago on some coaching course. John was playing in Sunny's benefit game in England (don't check on the details of this story) and he walked into the dressing room to see Gavascar practicing his backlift. He left and came back 45 minutes later and he was doing the same thing. Parker was freaked out that a) he put in that much effort for a benefit game and b) that all he is working on was his backlift.

 

[kyear2]

And Hadlee called Lillee his hero and the best ever. So it's best not to point to their opinions to back up ours really.

But yes, kyear underrates Hadlee for some reason. He's in no way a clear inferior to McGrath and Marshall

One could argue about McGrath, but for me and many others Marshall is clearly superior to Hadlee. For an equal many Hadlee is also seen as being behind Lillee

 

[Hurricane]

One could argue about McGrath, but for me and many others Marshall is clearly superior to Hadlee. For an equal many he is also seen as being behind Lillee

http://www.cricketweb.net/forum/cricket-chat/38133-who-s-better-lillee-hadlee.html

Probably it is because i am a kiwi that i enjoyed the thread i have listed above so much. However for anyone interested in hadlee vs Lillee it is a marvellous thread. i will add to that comment by saying I hate "vs" threads in general and they used to be all the rage on CW, this is the only decent vs thread i have ever read.

 

[hendrix]

I don't understand how Marshall could be rated below Lillee.