Your greatest first-class side

First topic message reminder :

With lots of greatest threads floating around the boards I thought I'd add my interpretation to them with a very straight forward one.

If you could pick a side to play in the longer forms of the game (i.e. 4 day or Test) that you would back to beat all comers and find enjoyable to watch play what would it be?

Obviously the beat any challengers part can be hugely discussed due to difference in training, equipment, etc down the years but assuming that all players had access to the same coaching, training, equipment etc who would most like to see in a side together. Use whatever criteria you like for selection (preferably including cricketing prowess ) whether that be players you enjoyed watching, players you would have loved to see .... players you grandad instilled a supernatural image of from talking about him when you were little, it's up to you.

1.Hutton
2.B Richards
3.Bradman
4.Pollock
5.Tendulkar
6.Sobers
7.Gilchrist (wk)
8.Marshall
9.Warne
10.Akram
11.Lillee

To justify my selection much of it includes players from before my time but ones who I grew up watching on old highlights tapes due to the lack of cricket on terrestrial tv so had to get my fix elsewhere - this covers Richards, Sobers, Marshall, Lillee and a bit of Pollock. The others are either guys who I watched growing up (Warne, Gilchrist and Tendulkar) and a couple of legends in Hutton and Bradman that I'd simply love to have been able see play at any cost!

I would have Robin Smith for the number 4 spot after these words he had with Merv Hughes "Merv you and I make a great pair, I can't Frak bat and you can' Frak bowl!"

gboycottnut wrote:What about a great all-rounders team consisting of these following XI players :-

1 Eddie Barlow
2 Trevor Goddard
3 Shane Watson
4 Garry Sobers
5 Imran Khan
6 Tony Greig
7 Keth Miller
8 Mike Proctor
9 Ian Botham
10 Kapil Dev
11 Richard Hadlee

Kallis might not be the greatest allrounder of all time, but I suspect he's in the top eleven.

Kallis needs to be in that team - not least for the solidity of his batting. Surely he should get in ahead of Shane Watson, for example.

Corporalhumblebucket wrote:Kallis needs to be in that team - not least for the solidity of his batting. Surely he should get in ahead of Shane Watson, for example.

+1 Watson is a good player but putting him in a greatest all-rounders side with Sobers, Botham, Hadlee ...

I'd still argue Richie Benaud's got to be in there for some spin Boycs, he's got a higher batting average than Hadlee for instance at Test and FC level.

king_carlos wrote:

Corporalhumblebucket wrote:Kallis needs to be in that team - not least for the solidity of his batting. Surely he should get in ahead of Shane Watson, for example.

+1 Watson is a good player but putting him in a greatest all-rounders side with Sobers, Botham, Hadlee ...

I'd still argue Richie Benaud's got to be in there for some spin Boycs, he's got a higher batting average than Hadlee for instance at Test and FC level.

But Benaud is better at commentating than he is as an all-rounder. The only reason Hadlee's batting average is that he generally bats lower down the batting order than where Benaud did and Hadlee also had a heavy burden of being the sole matchwinning bowler for NZ. Benaud in the era he played in had guys like Lindwall, Miller, Davidson, and the 2 Johnsons.

Watson ahead of kallis?

gboycottnut wrote:

king_carlos wrote:

Corporalhumblebucket wrote:Kallis needs to be in that team - not least for the solidity of his batting. Surely he should get in ahead of Shane Watson, for example.

+1 Watson is a good player but putting him in a greatest all-rounders side with Sobers, Botham, Hadlee ...

I'd still argue Richie Benaud's got to be in there for some spin Boycs, he's got a higher batting average than Hadlee for instance at Test and FC level.

But Benaud is better at commentating than he is as an all-rounder. The only reason Hadlee's batting average is that he generally bats lower down the batting order than where Benaud did and Hadlee also had a heavy burden of being the sole matchwinning bowler for NZ. Benaud in the era he played in had guys like Lindwall, Miller, Davidson, and the 2 Johnsons.

Aubrey Faulkner's the guy you need for spin. Or even W.G.

Was Hammond not an allrounder?

Stella wrote:Was Hammond not an allrounder?

Certainly could be classed as one, particularly at FC level. Such were his batting exploits, however, that his all-round status is often overlooked.
Len Hutton remembers him bowling top class leg-spin when the mood took him, as well as seam up, and refused to comment on who he thought was the best all-round cricketer, Hammond or Sobers.

Heard he could be quite nippy with the ball. Not a great test record but more than decent at first class level. Actually his bowling average is similar to that of Kallis and Sobers.

Hammond was as much of an all-rounder as Shane Watson. Although he wasn't a great bowler (though nor were Sobers or Kallis) he is always included by contemporary bowlers when listing the England bowling attack of the era. I think from our HoF discussions I recall that towards the end of his career his bowling took a backseat, explaining the relatively low number of wickets per game. But he still took 732 wkts, including 22 5-fors, in FC cricket.

A slightly better bat than Watson though

I started watching cricket in the late 90's so my team is a little young in front of the greats u have selected. But will give a strong fight when they will be on the field.

1. Hayden
2. Smith
3. Dravid/Lara
4. sachin
5. Ponting(c)
6. Kallis
7. Gilly(wk)
8. Washim
9. Walsh
10. Steyn
11. Warne/Murli

"dazmcspaz wrote
Kallis might not be the greatest allrounder of all time, but I suspect he's in the top eleven."


But i prefer him because he is one of the most relaible and dependable allrounder better than other...

Nice team sub

Thanks Stella. I think This combination is the best of the players who were a part of playing 11 in the 90's or 2000's.

I would have McGrath in the team, myself but that's just me.

If I were to pick a team solely of players I'd seen, I'd probably go something like:

Gavaskar
Richards B.
Richards V.
Tendulkar
Chappell G.
Kallis
Imran Khan(c)
Knott(wk)
Marshall
Warne
Lillee

McGrath pretty gud but, I think Washim can bat a bit n can swing the ball, Steyn probably the best bowler these days in all conditions and Walsh I think had a bit advantage over Mcgrath.

subhranshu.kumar.5 wrote:McGrath pretty gud but, I think Washim can bat a bit n can swing the ball, Steyn probably the best bowler these days in all conditions and Walsh I think had a bit advantage over Mcgrath.

McGrath was a more consistent and accurate pace bowler than what Walsh was despite Walsh improving all the time as he got older.

gboycottnut wrote:

McGrath was a more consistent and accurate pace bowler than what Walsh was despite Walsh improving all the time as he got older.

Ya he may be in the 15 member squad. With an average of 20.53 in the subcontinent I would prefer Walsh

I'd take Ambrose over either TBH.

ShahenshahG wrote:I'd take Ambrose over either TBH.

Me to.

I think McGrath is a must pick to be honest. Wasim and Ambrose would be the other two, with Steyn and Walsh on the bench. (in an XI of players I've seen)

Aye - Give Ambrose a good slip field and tell him the opponents said something vlgar towards his mother and watch the carnage

Shelsey93 wrote:I think McGrath is a must pick to be honest. Wasim and Ambrose would be the other two, with Steyn and Walsh on the bench. (in an XI of players I've seen)

With the best strike rate I think putting steyn on the bench is a bit more dangerous for the team. He is a wicket taker and a match winner. He has taken wickets on the sub continent too. And for walsh an average below 21 on the sub continent and still on bench, not fair. A fast bowler is well judged in the Sub continent where the conditions are not much favorable for them, and Walsh has a quite impressive records in the sub-continent.

ShahenshahG wrote:Aye - Give Ambrose a good slip field and tell him the opponents said something vlgar towards his mother and watch the carnage

The bell will be ringing.

Stella wrote:

ShahenshahG wrote:Aye - Give Ambrose a good slip field and tell him the opponents said something vlgar towards his mother and watch the carnage

The bell will be ringing.

Alistair Cook- run machine
Matthew Hayden- world class performer can also hit the accelerator if needed
Stephen Fleming (c)- greatest test captain ever IMO
Jacques Kallis-IMO greatest all-rounder ever
Don Bradman-enough said
Sachin Tendulkar
Alan Knott- one of the greatest gloveman ever
Malcolm Marshall
Bob Willis- no one would try harder then Bob
Dale Steyn
Saqlain Mushtaq

OBVIOUSLY NOT THE GREATEST SIDE IN THE WORLD, BUT ITS MY FIRST CLASS SIDE WHO I WOULD BACK TO BEAT ANYWAY

A lefties XI

Cook
Hayden
Pollock
Lara
Border
Sobers
Gilchrist
Akram
Davidson
Verity
Reid

What about a noughties XI, players only have to have played after 2000 not all the way through it otherwise we can argue which players are really 90's players etc. Personally I have stuck with guys who played the bulk of their career in the noughties - hence emitting Alan Donal, Wasim Akram, etc who did play in the decade though at the end of their career.

1.Smith
2.Hayden
3.Ponting
4.Tendulkar
5.Lara
6.Kallis
7.Gilchrist (wk)
8.Warne
9.Bond (controversial probably but I really enjoyed watching him play - Dizzy as back up for when he breaks down)
10.Steyn
11.Mcgrath

Garry Pratt as sub fielder!

MY NOUGHTIES XI

1.Matthew Hayden
2.Alistair Cook
3.Kumar Sangakarra
4.Sachin Tendulkar
5.Brian Lara
6.Jacques Kallis
7.Adam Gilchrist (wk)
8.Shane Warne
9.Brett Lee
10.Dale Steyn
11.Glenn McGrath

Ask me to name a team from the 90's and Tendulkar would be one of the first names on the list BUT imho, he wasn't the same player from around 2003 onwards. Still scored runs but not in the same manner.

So my team of the 00's would be.

Sehwag
Smith
Dravid
Ponting
Lara
Kallis
Gilchrist
Warne
Steyn
McGrath
Murali

Stella wrote:
So my team of the 00's would be.

Sehwag

Don't tell Shanky!

Mike Selig wrote:

Stella wrote:
So my team of the 00's would be.

Sehwag

Don't tell Shanky!

Shehwag is a gud opener but I think we can't have a trust on him. If he bats till lunch it is for sure he will change the game, but that only happens sometime. I m lill confused about him. He is a very fin player with 6 double and 2 triple hundred, but since 2010 he was inconsistent.

CF wrote:MY NOUGHTIES XI

1.Matthew Hayden
2.Alistair Cook
3.Kumar Sangakarra
4.Sachin Tendulkar
5.Brian Lara
6.Jacques Kallis
7.Adam Gilchrist (wk)
8.Shane Warne
9.Brett Lee
10.Dale Steyn
11.Glenn McGrath

Sanga over Dravid and Punter? Apart from that, agree though I'd have a few seamers ahead of Lee in Tests (Pollock, Gillespie, Anderson, Vaas to name a few)

Would also probably have Smith over Haydos but not too fussed,

Mike Selig wrote:

Stella wrote:
So my team of the 00's would be.

Sehwag

Don't tell Shanky!

Baffling to see Sehwag over Cook tbh. Cook has a better Test average than Sehwag in pretty much every country barring SL.

Sehwag would be pretty far down my noughties list as well to be fair.

Hayden and Smith are two of the first names on my team sheet so naturally start, after those two I'd probably take Langer (tough bugger he was) and possibly Trescothic ahead of Viru. He's a brilliant ODI player and was a brilliant test player in the right conditions but certainly wasn't a great opener in most conditions. He would've been better of in the middle order I often thought.