World Eleven for ICC Super series V Australia

[marc71178]

He also averages over 45 against SA.

Again, pre-change.

 

[Craig]

Form is temporary, class is permanent and SRT outclasses all three of those players any day of the week and twice on Sundays with both hands tied behind his back (maybe not Lara.......). Picking a side purely on form has been shown time and time again to be bone-headed in the extreme. It seems like an attractive idea but it just makes players uncertain about their place in the side which inevitably results in losing. Look through history at sides picked on form alone and you'll see.

But isn't that the main reason why sides are picked?

You would take say two in-form players into a side of in form then then two not so in form players.

If players perform then they have nothing to worry about.

 

[Craig]

Find it strange that no-one's picking Sehwag in the test side. Mine would be:

Sehwag
Smith
Dravid
Lara
Kallis
Thorpe
Flintoff
Pollock
Taibu
Murali
Harmison

Reserves:

Laxman, Tendulkar, Oram, McCullum, Pathan, Kumble

Doesn't that kind of gives your side a lack of balance though? Two mainstream quicks, one specialist spinner, and two batting all-rounders IMO (batting being their strongest point) to make up the rest of the attack?

 

[garage flower]

Doesn't that kind of gives your side a lack of balance though? Two mainstream quicks, one specialist spinner, and two batting all-rounders IMO (batting being their strongest point) to make up the rest of the attack?

It does a bit, I must admit, but I think that - based on his current form - Flintoff is good enough to be regarded as a specialist bowler and Kallis is still a useful 5th bowler. I don't think there are any many other (fit) world class bowlers (outside Australia) around at the moment.

Pathan is very promising, but still unproven and I don't have quite enough faith in the next best options: Ntini, Vaas and Shoaib.

If I was picking a 4th bowler - in place of Thorpe - it would be Kumble, though obviously I'd only really want to do that on a pitch conducive to spin.

 

[tooextracool]

There's no reason for him to displace Taibu though. Taibu has accomplished more and is also an outstanding 'keeper.

no the reason why i chose boucher/read is that both of them are capable of stop-start innings.....with the strength of that batting linup you would expect the no 7 to only come in only around over 46 and i dont think taibu has really established himself as a 'slogger'. in terms of wicket keeping ability i dont think read or boucher are that far behind either

 

[tooextracool]

I'll have a go at the teams.

Test Team

1. Graeme Smith (captain)
2. Marvan Atapattu
3. Rahul Dravid
4. Sachin Tendulkar
5. Brian Lara
6. Jacques Kallis
7. Mark Boucher (wicket keeper)
8. Shaun Pollock
9. M.Ntini
10.Anil Kumble
11.Muttiah Muralitharan (Harmison, if Murli refuses to tour)

Ntini is the best fast bowler today (non-Aussie), so enough said.

no he is not.....ntini has more often than not failed against the quality batting sides. his bowling is one dimensional and he is extremely overrated.

i'll just break up his record for you.....
avg SR
home 23.04 44.33
away 42.36 79.21


most recently.....
avg
ntini vs aus(in SA) 41.73
ntini vs pak(in pak) 55.25
ntini vs NZ(in NZ) 49.00

if that is what you call the best non-aussie bowler in the world, then the standard of bowling has fallen considerably

 

[tooextracool]

Richardson in a six-day test! I can't say it's something I'd like to see, but it's something I'd like to be told about afterwards...

yes i think hes a good pick....he was an integral part of that 'leave everything that mcgrath bowls' strategy that worked so very successfully on their last tour of australia.

 

[tooextracool]

Sarwan is an automatic pick for me in both forms of the game.

why is sarwan an automatic pick in tests?

 

[Tim]

Richardson wasn't totally part of that "leave McGrath" strategy. He had a relatively poor tour of Australia.

It was Fleming, Astle, Parore, Cairns etc who performed the strategy to near perfection at times.

 

[garage flower]

why is sarwan an automatic pick in tests?

You're right, he isn't, though he is coming up on the rails and would probably make the one day XI.

 

[Loony BoB]

Test Team: World Eleven

1. Graeme Smith - captain #1
2. Mark Richardson - if too old, Gibbs.
3. Sachin Tendulkar
4. Brian Lara - captain #2
5. Rahul Dravid - captain #3
6. Jacques Kallis
7. Geraint Jones, Brendan McCullu, Mark Boucher or Kumar Sangakkara. - We'll find out in the next year or so which one deserves the spot. Maybe even Taibu.
8. Shaun Pollock - captin #4
9. Steve Harmison
10. Shane Bond - if not fit, Chaminda Vaas.
11. Muttiah Muralitharan - if refusing to play in Australia, Kumble.

I have four captains because Vaughan and Fleming don't deserve to make the test side just yet and God knows those four captains will need every ounce of knowledge they can muster. But seriously, I suppose I'd go with ... Richardson, of course. Meanwhile, Strauss may push his way into the side if he continues form against more quality sides around the world.


ODI Team : World Eleven

1. Graeme Smith
2. Chris Gayle
3. Stephen Fleming (Captain)
4. Jacques Kallis
5. Ramnaresh Sarwan
6. VVS Laxman
7. See test side #7.
8. Andrew Flintoff - or Oram/Cairns, depending on how they develop over the next year.
9. Shaun Pollock
10. Shane Bond - (if not fit, Chaminda Vaas.
11. Muttiah Muralitharan - if refusing to play in Australia, Kumble.

Considered Dravid/Tendulkar for a while over various top five players in that team but in the end I decided against it.

Those sides should bring on a few complaints from everyone. Once you come down to it, the sides of today probably won't reflect the side one year down the track.

 

[biased indian]

Test Side 14

Vaughan
Gibbs
Lara
Sachin
Dravid
Kallis
Boucher
Harmison
Pollock
Akthar
Murali

Fleming,Bond,Inzamam

 

[biased indian]

ODI team

Gayle
Shewag
Jayasuriya
Kallis
Styris
Flintoff
Razzaq
G.Jones
Pollock
Cairns
Kumble

all except kumble will Bat well i needed a spinner and he was ecnomical

 

[arjwiz]

ODI team

Gayle
Shewag
Jayasuriya
Kallis
Styris
Flintoff
Razzaq
G.Jones
Pollock
Cairns
Kumble

all except kumble will Bat well i needed a spinner and he was ecnomical

Why Razzaq? He does nothing with the ball these days. And with a lineup that figures Chris Cairns at no.10, there is no need for another all-rounder. Ntini in place of Razzaq, IMO.

 

[pskov]

In case anyone is interested, Wisden had a vote amongst their staff to choose their two teams (votes are out of 22):

Test XI
1. Michael Vaughan (13 votes, capt)
2. Virender Sehwag (14)
3. Rahul Dravid (20)
4. Brian Lara (20)
5. Sachin Tendulkar (19)
6. Jacques Kallis (14)
7. Mark Boucher (16, wk)
8. Shaun Pollock (10)
9. Shoaib Akhtar (17)
10. Steve Harmison (19)
11 Muttiah Muralitharan (22)

ODI XI
1. Sachin Tendulkar (21 votes)
2. Virender Sehwag (15)
3. Jacques Kallis (15)
4. Brian Lara (18)
5. Rahul Dravid (12, capt, wk)
6. Yuvraj Singh (7)
7. Andrew Flintoff (18)
8. Shaun Pollock (16)
9. Shoaib Akhtar/Chaminda Vaas (7 each)
10. Steve Harmison (8)
11 Muttiah Muralitharan (21)

 

[superkingdave]

From the article

Shite, wasn't that? And to think we call ourselves cricket writers

Not the language you'd expect form a wisden writer!

 

[marc71178]

After reading that, I ask the good people of Cricketweb to do similar to see what we can come up with (being of superior knowledge to that inferior site )

Tests

ODIs

For this to work, I ask that people restrict posts in there to naming their elevens.

 

[Deja moo]

why is sarwan an automatic pick in tests?

dont know why........yesterday when I posted it he seemed to be an automatic pick for me.

Now ,oddly I dont think so.

Must have been the effect of watching that Windies chase of 285.

 

[rajat]

I think Ganguly should be made the ODI Captain. He is also a good batsman

 

[Deja moo]

I think Ganguly should be made the ODI Captain. He is also a good batsman

Only if he makes the team.