Which team was better? Windies of Early 80s or the current Aussie Team?

[mkamdar]

I would like to read people's opinion of which was a better unit. The mighty Windies of Clive Lloyd and Viv Richards or the current Aussie team. Let the opinions begin!!!

 

[Neil Pickup]

We've covered this a few times before (but what haven't we..)

In short, I'm of the opinion that it's the West Indies side because they had a stronger bowling attack and that bowlers win games.

 

[Swervy]

I would like to read people's opinion of which was a better unit. The mighty Windies of Clive Lloyd and Viv Richards or the current Aussie team. Let the opinions begin!!!

I saw both....i would go with the Aussies (although I think they were at a peak say 18 months ago)...certainly Australia are more dominant in this era than teh WI's were,and I think the Aussies have a better balance to the bowling (thanks to Warne) and have a deeper batting line up(thanks to Gilchrist)...its a tough one to call though.

I have a feeling that the WI's of the 80's may not have been so successful now due to the pitches

 

[Sanz]

We've covered this a few times before (but what haven't we..)
.

All Ausssie will pick Australia, and all Non Aussies will pick WI.

 

[Swervy]

All Ausssie will pick Australia, and all Non Aussies will pick WI.

well i would hope all of us are a bit more objective than that

 

[PY]

well i would hope all of us are a bit more objective than that

Nope. I'm afraid not.

Think they both were roughly equal in ability and achievements but one team is Australian.

 

[luckyeddie]

All Ausssie will pick Australia, and all Non Aussies will pick WI.

I'll go for Ponting.... I mean, Australia.
Seriously, if it was the Australian team which played against India, then that's a no-brainer - the Windies hands down. Throw in McGrath and Warne and it's very, very close between the two.

Mind you, the South Africa team of 1970 would slaughter both of them.

 

[PY]

I was about to comment that as a team they might deserve a mention but I never saw them so I can't really comment.

But from all accounts, they might well have proven themselves to have been THE best team of them all.

 

[Loony BoB]

All Ausssie will pick Australia, and all Non Aussies will pick WI.

I'm a New Zealander who loves taking every opportunity to make fun of my Aussie friends in any possible way, but jokes aside, I think that 50 years from now people will remember the Australian teams that included the Waugh brothers, McGrath, Warne, Ponting and Gilchrist (to name a very few) as quite possibly the best group of fantastic individuals to have played in the history of cricket.

Of course, for all we know, ten to twenty years from now we could see a team from Bangladesh or even Zimbabwe dominating the world scene and breaking all the now-Australian records, and the Australian team and the West Indies team of the 80's will both be lost in time.

 

[aussie_beater]

I have seen the Windies team of the 80s.... No question that the Windies of the eighties were superior to the current Aussies .The one prime reason for that is that the Windies of the 80s beat everybody everywhere. There were no sub-continent debacles or anything of the sort.They thrashed everybody everywhere equally, which this Australian team hasn't been able to do even at its peak with Warne, McGrath and everybody else. And that says a lot about the quality of the team.

 

[Swervy]

I have seen the Windies team of the 80s.... No question that the Windies of the eighties were superior to the current Aussies .The one prime reason for that is that the Windies of the 80s beat everybody everywhere. There were no sub-continent debacles or anything of the sort.They thrashed everybody everywhere equally, which this Australian team hasn't been able to do even at its peak with Warne, McGrath and everybody else. And that says a lot about the quality of the team.

not quite true....WI never did beat NZ in a series in NZ in the 80's (lost 1-0 and drew 1-1)..and also the Indian team of the last couple of years knocks spots off India in the 80's so a comparison isnt really valid...and lets not forget Australia have recently hammered Sri Lanka in Sril lanka (and not many do that) and also have tamed Pakistan in Asia as well

 

[Swervy]

I have seen the Windies team of the 80s.... No question that the Windies of the eighties were superior to the current Aussies .The one prime reason for that is that the Windies of the 80s beat everybody everywhere. There were no sub-continent debacles or anything of the sort.They thrashed everybody everywhere equally, which this Australian team hasn't been able to do even at its peak with Warne, McGrath and everybody else. And that says a lot about the quality of the team.

if we are to judge a team by their away performances..have a gander at this:

WI's in 80's
away from home

Played 52
Won 25 (48%)
Drew 20 (38%)
lost 7 (13%) batting avearge 32.5 bowling average 25.8

Australia in 2000's
away from home

Played 24
Won 19 (79%)
Drew 0 (0%)
Lost 5 (21%) batting average 40.6 bowling average 27.6

(I think 3 of those 5 losses were in series where the Aussies had already won the series)

Well to me,Australias away record is miles better than the WI's of the 80's, for the simple fact that they have won 79% of the games compared to 48%..now to me the game is about winning and so Australia are far superior on that front.

 

[Sanz]

In TESTs this Australian team is better than the WI team of 70s & 80s however in ODIs there is no comparison. WI wins hands down.

 

[Sanz]

Well to me,Australias away record is miles better than the WI's of the 80's, for the simple fact that they have won 79% of the games compared to 48%..now to me the game is about winning and so Australia are far superior on that front.

Well the game has become more attacking now that's why more winning percentage. WI's losing percent away isn't that bad. If Australia has won more it has lost more as well.

 

[Swervy]

In TESTs this Australian team is better than the WI team of 70s & 80s however in ODIs there is no comparison. WI wins hands down.

got to disagree with you there...there has never been a better ODI team than the Australians of the last few years.....

In tests the two are very even, but not in ODI's

 

[Swervy]

Well the game has become more attacking now that's why more winning percentage. WI's losing percent away isn't that bad. If Australia has won more it has lost more as well.

well thank god a team is judged by winning as opposed to not losing...otherwise we would always be seeing 0-0 draws

 

[a massive zebra]

I would say West Indies in Tests. Their bowling was much better and although their batting had less depth didn't they go for over 10 years without losing a series? Australia have never come close to that.

Australia in ODIs because they were more dominant in this form of the game and ODI techniques have improved, especially in batting and fielding.

 

[Neil Pickup]

In TESTs this Australian team is better than the WI team of 70s & 80s however in ODIs there is no comparison. WI wins hands down.

I'd back the WI team of the 80s to beat the Aussies of today in a Test match, but the Aussies over the West Indians because all ODI sides are so much better now.

 

[aussie_beater]

not quite true....WI never did beat NZ in a series in NZ in the 80's (lost 1-0 and drew 1-1)..and also the Indian team of the last couple of years knocks spots off India in the 80's so a comparison isnt really valid...and lets not forget Australia have recently hammered Sri Lanka in Sril lanka (and not many do that) and also have tamed Pakistan in Asia as well

Well West Indies played in NZ only those two times in all of seventies and eighties. One was at the beginning of the eighties(1980 I think) and another one towards the end(1987) when their decline had already started. The first series was without Marshall and Viv Richards, so I wouldn't call that one the WI team that we are talking about here, and the last series was without Holding and Roberts and Marshall was also in the decline and so it was again not the team that we are discussing. We are comparing two teams at their peak.

Also India in the 80s wasn't that bad a team in test matches compared to the current one. Remember that India won its last away series out of the sub-continent in 1986. So I think the comparison is quite valid.

 

[aussie_beater]

if we are to judge a team by their away performances..have a gander at this:

WI's in 80's
away from home

Played 52
Won 25 (48%)
Drew 20 (38%)
lost 7 (13%) batting avearge 32.5 bowling average 25.8

Australia in 2000's
away from home

Played 24
Won 19 (79%)
Drew 0 (0%)
Lost 5 (21%) batting average 40.6 bowling average 27.6

(I think 3 of those 5 losses were in series where the Aussies had already won the series)

Well to me,Australias away record is miles better than the WI's of the 80's, for the simple fact that they have won 79% of the games compared to 48%..now to me the game is about winning and so Australia are far superior on that front.

One thing to be noted for the eighties is that the cricket world wasn't as lopsided as now. The England team going around then was quite strong, and the Aussies were bad for a period of 3 years between 1983-1986 maybe but were a significant force for the rest of the decade.Also Pakistan and India were fairly competitive and India didn't cave in as easily then in test matches away from home as was the norm for most of the nineties.

So I would say that the quality of opposition that WI faced in its dominant cycle, was a tad better then what Australia faced during its stages of dominance.