Agent Nationaux
International Coach
Sydney ****ing Barnes
WI may or may not be the third most successful side (or whatever) but overall they have produced more world class cricketers than the other teams (barring Oz and Eng.)Haven't the WI been quite ****e either side of their total dominance period? If so then what criteria are you using to label them as the third most successful cricketing nation? In fact their last 2 decades have caused their win/loss ratio to fall below 1 I believe (cbf looking it up)
My contention is not about world class cricketers. Barring Australia wi have probably priduced the greatest number of truly great cricketers. My point is that outside of their 20 year dominance they have been quite ordinary in comparison to someone like south Africa for e.g. south Africa have been consistently very good since the 1960s at least.WI may or may not be the third most successful side (or whatever) but overall they have produced more world class cricketers than the other teams (barring Oz and Eng.)
Ex:
Pak : Batting: Miandad, Inzi, Abbas, Hanif, Yousuf, Saeed, Younis and Mishbah vs. Worrell, Weekes, Walcott, Chanders, Nurse, Lloyd, Richardson, Butcher etc (obvious who the etc are)
South Africa didn't win a single Test Match between 1970 and 1992.My contention is not about world class cricketers. Barring Australia wi have probably priduced the greatest number of truly great cricketers. My point is that outside of their 20 year dominance they have been quite ordinary in comparison to someone like south Africa for e.g. south Africa have been consistently very good since the 1960s at least.
I know they didn't but there is good reason to believe they would have been quite successful during that time. Even when they made a comeback in 1991-92 they have been superb and it has almost been a quarter of a century and they have been doing very well. I don't see that kind of consistency in the WI. To borrow an analogy from the all rounders Wi is Ian Botham to SA being Imran KhanSouth Africa didn't win a single Test Match between 1970 and 1992.
WI cricketing history is very simple:I know they didn't but there is good reason to believe they would have been quite successful during that time. Even when they made a comeback in 1991-92 they have been superb and it has almost been a quarter of a century and they have been doing very well. I don't see that kind of consistency in the WI. To borrow an analogy from the all rounders Wi is Ian Botham to SA being Imran Khan
Bangladesh's magnificent 29 year unbeaten streak from 1971-2000 will be hard to beatDidn't lose any either, tbf.
Bangladesh weren't a cricketing powerhouse in 1970Bangladesh's magnificent 29 year unbeaten streak from 1971-2000 will be hard to beat
Bangladesh weren't Bangladesh in 1970. Learn your history, *****Bangladesh weren't a cricketing powerhouse in 1970
Pretty sure Armstrong is Aust anyhowI don't think there are too many instances of real bias in those examples.
- Armstrong only has three Englishmen - and they're three absolute immortals of the game. He also has three Australians and two West Indians. I can't see an England bias there.
- CMJ has four Englishmen so perhaps a (very) slight bias - but he also has three Australians and three West Indians. And I have no major issue with any of the four Englishmen picked.
- Craddock's four Australians may, like CMJ, suggest a very slight bias, but he also has three West Indians. And all four of his Australians are regulars in any All Time XI discussion.
- Wisden picked Knott, giving them four Englishmen but there are also three West Indians.
- Boycott's four Englishmen isn't really bias given that he also picked four West Indians and three Australians, and also openly said that Tendulkar would take a spot in that side once he retired.
- Kim Hughes is probably the most biased with five Australians - I personally think once you hit five or more players from one country in an All Time World XI, you're probably going a little overboard. That being said, it's not completely outlandish and all five of his Australians (even Trumper, who usually gets overlooked in these kind of exercises) are worthy of a spot.
The common theme with almost all ATXIs chosen are that they are dominated by Australians, Englishmen and West Indians - and given that these are the three most successful cricketing nations through history, that's not surprising. We all have our own preferences and I don't necessarily agree with all the selections, but having three or four representatives from one or more of those countries doesn't constitute any real bias in my books.
No Sobers. Interesting.Because I'm sad like that, I was having a read of Vijay Hazare's 1974 autobiography this morning - couldn't find what I was after, but did spot that he tries the World XI game and selects
Merchant
Hutton
*Bradman
Hammond
Worrell
Miller
Mankad
+Evans
Lindwall
Laker
Gupte
just missing out
Compton
Weekes
Walcott
Amar Singh
Bedser
Amarnath
He says he didn't consider anyone he hadn't played with or against - apologies - should have said that before, but I'm a lazy old git, or so my kids tell meNo Sobers. Interesting.
Lazy people tend to be efficient. so I view laziness as a virtue anyway.He says he didn't consider anyone he hadn't played with or against - apologies - should have said that before, but I'm a lazy old git, or so my kids tell me
Hazare wrote as many as three autobiographies, as against none by Merchant, which probably represents one difference between them - he certainly heaps a lot of praise on Merchant's batting, but none of the books are very revealing as far as I can see - I'm certainly not tempted to do anything other than skim read themLazy people tend to be efficient. so I view laziness as a virtue anyway.
Incidently, since Hazare and Merchant were batting rivals within Indian cricket, does Hazare shed any light in his autobiography on his relationship with Merchant? Did they get on, or was there friction?