Hayden is very fit but the fittest ?
I think Viv Richards would have something to say for that....he was the original hayden in physique..remember that.
And no one was fitter than Brett Lee ?
Look- when it comes to bowler fitness, NO ONE compares to Kapil Dev.
Out of nearly 18 years of Test cricket and 131 matches, he didnt miss a SINGLE MATCH due to injury.
Now THAT is fitniess.
You seem to hold the notion that if its newer, its better. Not true in many instances.
a superior fielding unit, i doubt it, maybe compared to the best at their time they were a long way in front but they dont have a patch on the likes of Ponting or Hayden, the whole Aussie team has Iron hands. as for comparing Dujon and Gilly, he might have been a better keeper - but you cant really tell how good someone is until they have kept to quality spin, which Gilchrist has in Warne - Gilly aint the best keeper in history, but hes certainly not the worst. and comparing the keepers with the bat is definatley a no contest.
that is the most ridiculous comment ever.
Not a patch on Ponting or Hayden- its the other way round.
The way Lloyd, Viv, Logie, Harper etc. used to field, none of the OZ players come even close.
Lloyd runs Jonty ragged in terms of fielding.... you should've seen him in the covers.
SJS- if they had a murali or a warne, they would've done a wee bit better but you are forgetting that pace-like-fire doesnt NEED a spinner
Relentless, accurate, superfast bowling. That will wear down a batsman on ANY pitch as the WI showed for the better part of 20 years.
As per you rating their bowling equal, i can only laugh.
Bowling is where the WI has the most decisive lead over the aussies.
They had four GREAT bowlers...OZ has 2 great bowlers, 1 good and 1 mediocre bowler.
And the fielding is in favour of the WI as well.... OZ have one great slipper right now- shane warne. WI had three- Lloyd, Richards and Greenidge.
No one of the current era<not even Gibbs> is equal to Lloyd as a covers fielder...or Logie or Harper.... they were just a shade off from Jonty Rhodes category.
Steve Waugh might match up to Richards in captaincy but definately not with Lloyd..infact i think AUS and WI are even stevens in batting because of Gillchrist's superior batting than Dujon's <the top six are split 3-3 or so>.
I disagree that Kasper's recent form indicates that he is an ordinary bowler. 40+ wickets in a dozen tests this season at an average of 24, and more than half of them played on pitches with absolutely nothing in them for quick bowlers against fair opposition.
Ordinary bowlers do not perform that well in test cricket. He is a step below McGrath and Gillespie, but he is by international standards certainly a good bowler, and would comfortably make a list of the top 10 test bowlers in the world today, while Zaheer Khan would not come close.
Kaspa is very very mediocre by international standards. a 30+ average while bowling with 2 great and 1 worldclass bowler on the side is mediocre to say the least.
He is just a shade better than Zaheer and i can name you about 50-60 pacers who were superior to Kaspa.
WI had many awesome bowlers who could not GET into the team because of their vaunted four prong. Bowlers like Croft and Clarke...they would walk into the OZ unit today without breaking a sweat- over gillespie and kaspa.
like i said,comparing Kaspa to Roberts/Garner is akin to comparing Zaheer Khan to McGrath. Sheer stupidity.
But no bowling attack- in any era, anytime- can compare to the WI four prong.
One Shoaib Akhtar was enough to reduce OZ to 80-4...OZ recovered when fed lollypop bowling once shoaib got tired and needed to be replaced.
Now consider FOUR bowlers who are almost as fast as akhtar but with far better accuracy bowling non-stop.
300 would be a real chore against that kind of a bowling attack.
the only side that comes close to beating the WI of the 80s are Bradman's invincibles. But even they caved in to bodyline... and pace like fire was bodyline and half......
