[PhrozenFire]

My team (TESTS):
1. Geoff Boycott
2. S. Gavaskar
3. DG Bradman
4. S Tendulkar
5. Clive Lloyd (Captain)
6. Gary Sobers
7. Adam Gilchrist (WK)
8. Richard Hadlee
9. Harold Larwood
10. Malcolm Marshall
11. Shane Warne

(ODIS)
1. Adam Gilchrist
2. S Tendulkar
3. Viv Richards
4. Ricky Ponting
5. Javed Miandad
6. Michael Bevan
7. Chris Cairns
8. Wasim Akram
9. Shane Warne
10.Glenn McGrath.
11. Allan Donald

[shrikanthk]

Surprised to see so many people choosing Larwood in their team.
Harold Larwood was an overrated cricketer.
His only claim to fame was his stupendous performance in the Bodyline series.
(thanks largely to Leg-theory)
His bowling average was a pedestrian 28 - not bad given that he had to bowl in an era dominated by batsmen, but not exceptional either.


Surely, the likes of Maurice Tate and Ray Lindwall can be ranked above him.
Sadly they don't get as much press as he does, thanks largely to the inordinate mindshare that Bodyline occupies among cricket-lovers.

[CATastrophe171]

MY TEAM (ODI):
1. SACHIN TENDULKAR
2. ADAM GILCHRIST(WK)
3. RICKY PONTING(vc)
4. RAHUL DRAVID (THE ROCK..VERY DEPENDABLE)
5. VIVIAN RICHARDS
6. SANATH JAYASURIYA (MY ALL ROUNDER AND FLOATING HITTER..CAN BE SENT IN ANYTIME DEPENDING ON SITUATION)
7. IMRAN KHAN (ALL ROUNDER 2) AND CAPTAIN
8. SHAUN POLLOCK (CHECK OUT HIS ECONOMY)
9. MUTTIAH MURALITHARAN (CANT KEEP HIM OUT..TOO MANY WICKETS)
10.GLENN MCGRATH (AUTOMATIC CHOICE)
11.ALLAN DONALD (PACE WITH ACCURACY..DEADLY COMBO)
12TH MAN: STEVE WAUGH (AS ALL ROUNDER..I KNOW HE DIDNT BOWL MUCH LATER ON BUT STIL)
ONE OF THE REASONS FOR NOT CHOOSING MANY FROM THE PAST ERA IS THAT ODI CRICKET AS IT IS PLAYED NOW IS VERY DIFFRENT FROM WAT IT WAS IN THOSE DAYS..PLUS THE CRICKETERS TODAY ARE FAR MORE ATHLETIC.
TESTS:
1. SUNIL GAVASKAR
2. DON BRADMAN
3. RAHUL DRAVID
4. SACHIN TENDULKAR/ RICKY PONTING.. (VC)
WILL BE PICKED DEPENDING ON TYPE OF WICKET..IF ITS A BOUNCY TRACK THEN PONTING..WHO HAS THE BEST PULL AND HOOK IN THE GAME..ALL OTHERS TENDULKAR
5. GARRY SOBERS (C)
6. VIVIAN RICHARDS
7. ADAM GILCHRIST(WK)
8. SHANE WARNE
9. GLENN MCGRATH
10. MICHAEL HOLDING
11. MURALITHARAN
12TH MAN: JACQUES KALLIS

[andy4u]

Originally Posted by chuck_gopal

Good list, but i think Lara and Sobers should exchange places. A batsman of Lara's caliber should bat at Number 4, and Sobers is after all an allrounder. The greatest cricketer who ever existed, yes, but still and allrounder who can bat later in the order...

ChUcK

point taken

[andy4u]

Originally Posted by shrikanthk

Surprised to see so many people choosing Larwood in their team.
Harold Larwood was an overrated cricketer.
His only claim to fame was his stupendous performance in the Bodyline series.
(thanks largely to Leg-theory)
His bowling average was a pedestrian 28 - not bad given that he had to bowl in an era dominated by batsmen, but not exceptional either.


Surely, the likes of Maurice Tate and Ray Lindwall can be ranked above him.
Sadly they don't get as much press as he does, thanks largely to the inordinate mindshare that Bodyline occupies among cricket-lovers.

i understand your point.it is true that larwood is no where near to being one of the greatest ever pace bowlers.there have been many with a better record.
however a team is not merely a sum of its parts.in cases it may even be less than that.the team i'd picked had quite a few line and lenght bowlers(akram,sobers,miller) and i was looking for some1 with sheer pace to ruffle the batsmen.you don't need all your bowlers to be out and out wicket takers.you also need someone to complement such bowlers.they may concede runs but they are the 1s who evoke doubts and fear in a batsman's mind.no matter how great any batsman is,sheer pace can't be disregarded by him.that is where larwood fits the bill.i'd also thought of thomson n trueman,but finally stuck with larwood.n yeah,lindwall's a really good name 2 come up

[chuck_gopal]

Amazing team. I will be hard pressed to think of a better team, but I will still try. Christopher Cairns will be a good choice as well...

ChUcK

[chuck_gopal]

While we're at this... we can think of other teams like this as well... like the Worst ODI XI ever, or a team full of underachievers or under-rated players, or teams full of cricketers who had great starts to their careers which slid thereafter (Narendra Hirwani... where art thou!)

Wisden magazine used to do something like this long back...

ChUcK

[PhrozenFire]

Originally Posted by andy4u

i understand your point.it is true that larwood is no where near to being one of the greatest ever pace bowlers.there have been many with a better record.
however a team is not merely a sum of its parts.in cases it may even be less than that.the team i'd picked had quite a few line and lenght bowlers(akram,sobers,miller) and i was looking for some1 with sheer pace to ruffle the batsmen.you don't need all your bowlers to be out and out wicket takers.you also need someone to complement such bowlers.they may concede runs but they are the 1s who evoke doubts and fear in a batsman's mind.no matter how great any batsman is,sheer pace can't be disregarded by him.that is where larwood fits the bill.i'd also thought of thomson n trueman,but finally stuck with larwood.n yeah,lindwall's a really good name 2 come up

well put andy.....couldnt agree with you more

[srikrishnan]

1. Jack Hobbs
2.S.M. Gavaskar
3. Viv Richards
4. Sachin Tendulkar
5. Donald Bradman
6. Gary Sobers
7. Alan Knott
8. Malcom Marshall
9. Wasim Akram
10. Sidney Barnes
11. Charley Grimmet

12. Bill O'Reilly... for the simple fact that he was rated by Don Bradman as the toughest bowler he ever faced

[MavericK]

Okay here goes the test team

Mathew Hayden
Sunil Gavaskar
Don Bradman
Ricky Ponting
Sachin Tendulkar
Jacques Kallis
Adam Gilchrist
Wasim Akram
Shane Warne
Allan Donald
Courtney Walsh