What is your ALL TIME WORLD XI TEAM for tests?

[adub]

Yep, Viv in his pomp is the best I've seen.

 

[kyear2]

Well for me it's Viv then the rest as far as West Indians are concerned. I think Viv is a case where stats don't tell the truth nor do they do him justice. I mean for goodness sakes Shiv averages a clear 2 runs more (wtf)

Which is why, regardless of what some what to say, strike rate for batsmen does matter.

 

[smash84]

well, it is a little simplistic to say that Viv was so good just because his SR was amazing.

 

[watson]

well, it is a little simplistic to say that Viv was so good just because his SR was amazing.

No one expects a single point to be anything but 'simplistic', because a single point can only ever be 'simplistic' by definition.

ie. you're trolling.

 

[kyear2]

well, it is a little simplistic to say that Viv was so good just because his SR was amazing.

His s/r was amazing because he was so good.

 

[Coronis]

That Sehwag, best since Bradman. Stats don't tell the whole story but strike rate matters.

 

[kyear2]

That Sehwag, best since Bradman. Stats don't tell the whole story but strike rate matters.

Never said in isolation. Plus it's not like if hos average is low either. They are other intangibles that should be factored in.

 

[smash84]

I think one thing you have to factor in is how highly someone was rated by their peers. Viv was pretty much a unanimous choice for some of the greatest bowlers to play the game. I don't think you could say the same about sehwag.

 

[bagapath]

Help me rank these four ATG teams...

TEAM 1

hobbs
wg grace
bradman ©
richards
sobers
imran
gilchrist (wk)
marshall
warne
lillee
mcgrath

TEAM 2

gavaskar
hutton ©
lara
tendulkar
hammond
ab de villiers (wk)
miller
hadlee
ambrose
murali
barnes

TEAM 3

sehwag
hayden
g.pollock
kallis
g.chappell ©
sangakara (wk)
botham
akram
garner
steyn
o'reilly

TEAM 4

sutcliffe
trumper
ponting
g.headley
border ©
flower (wk)
s.pollock
davidson
trueman
holding
grimmett

 

[harsh.ag]

I rank them in the exact order they have been presented.

 

[harsh.ag]

In team 4, replace Pollock with Faulkner and Grimmett with Lindwall and that would be take 3rd ahead of Team 3 for me

 

[adub]

Can you really be in a World All Time XI if you didn't play for the Bluebaggers? Of course not.

Trumper
Simpson
Bradman
Border
Waugh (SR)
Miller
Gilchrist
Imran Khan
Davidson
O'Reilly
McGrath

 

[Red]

Phil Emery's not happy. Kept big ears out of the side to the point he had to move states, and still can't crack your NSWcentric World XI.

 

[Chrish]

1) Sunil Gavaskar
2) Saeed Anwar
3) Rahul Dravid
4) Sachin Tendulkar
5) Kumar Sangakkara
6) MS Dhoni
7) Imran Khan
8) Kapil Dev
9) Wasim Akram
10) Waqar Younis
11) Muttiah Muralitharan

 

[CaptainGrumpy]

Batting lower in the order can be difficult too, e.g if the top order collapses, you're stuck batting with tailenders.

Against an older ball and bowlers who are not as fresh. Pitch may have settled a bit, atmospheric conditions may have changed. But yeah, I agree that it is very tough when there is scoreboard pressure of needing runs to win, or save the game, or even make the other team bat again mounting on the batsmen and top order has collapsed. I guess what I am saying is that second innings that is really tough, first innings, should be slightly less pressure, unless perhaps trying to avoid the follow on.

But always nicer to bat with plenty on the board already and the game in control.

 

[OverratedSanity]

Against an older ball and bowlers who are not as fresh. Pitch may have settled a bit, atmospheric conditions may have changed. But yeah, I agree that it is very tough when there is scoreboard pressure of needing runs to win, or save the game, or even make the other team bat again mounting on the batsmen and top order has collapsed. I guess what I am saying is that second innings that is really tough, first innings, should be slightly less pressure, unless perhaps trying to avoid the follow on.

But always nicer to bat with plenty on the board already and the game in control.

Batsmen at 5-6 can often face the second new ball as well.

 

[kiwiviktor81]

1) Virender Sehwag
2) Rahul Dravid
3) Bradman
4) Sachin Tendulkar
5) Viv Richards
6) Garry Sobers (5)
7) Imran Khan (3) (c)
8) Adam Gilchrist (wk)
9) Malcolm Marshall (1)
10) Wasim Akram (2)
11) Muralitharan (4)

 

[adub]

Imran batting in front of Gilly is an 'interesting' call.

 

[CaptainGrumpy]

Batsmen at 5-6 can often face the second new ball as well.

Yeah, against bowlers who have bowled 80 overs between them, with at least 240 on the board at that stage.

Openers who score a mammoth amounts of runs at great averages impress me a lot. Don't get me wrong, I like my fighters and icing in the middle order. But I think sometimes openers often get undervalued for the bowling conditions they regularly face.

I read Ponting believes it is the best batsman in a team's responsibility to bat three. You can imagine the reasons why. I liked his argument. There are of course counter arguments that are sound too.

 

[kiwiviktor81]

Imran batting in front of Gilly is an 'interesting' call.

It's a matter of where to put the icing, really.Want Gilly coming in after the other allrounders to hit out.