Sunil Gavaskar: One of the greatest opening batsmen of all time and someone who possessed immaculate technique, an impregnable defence and amazing concentration levels. Plied his trade in the fearsome era of the 70s and the 80s and racked up the numbers. 34 centuries, 45 half centuries and an average of 50+ in that era. Comfortably the best opening batsman in the draft.
Kepler Wessels: Completing my solid opening partnership is the left handed Kepler Wessels. Another solid opener who was capable of holding his own vs the best of attacks and scored a superb 162 on debut. An average of 41 in the 80s with 6 centuries and 15 half centuries. Was among the few batsmen at the time who could stand up and score vs the fearsome West Indian attack.
David Gower: One of the classiest and most elegant batsmen to have graced the game, David Gower completes a very strong top 3 for my side. Someone of his quality cannot be judged by numbers alone, he was simply beautiful to watch and very effective. Scored 18 centuries, 39 half centuries and had an average of 44+.
Larry Gomes: Coming in at number 4 is the solid Larry Gomes. Wisden Cricketer of the year 1985, Gomes was a unique West Indian. Classy, elegant and great to watch as most left handers are, he was unique in his approach to batting. He lent that fearsome West Indian batting line up much needed solidity in the middle. One of the toughest batsmen to get out in his time. An average of close to 40 to go with 9 centuries and 15 half centuries.
VVS Laxman: Very very special Laxman. Elegant, classy and just a treat to watch, VVS is one of the best middle order test batsmen the game has seen. A superb strokemaker who was equally strong defensively, Laxman was someone who scored big runs and was equally adept at playing with the top order as he was with the tail enders. Average of close to 46 with 17 centuries and 56 half centuries, he’s an impeccable test player.
Damien Martyn: Another batsman who made batting look very simple, Damien Martyn was one of the classiest, elegant and attractive batsmen of modern times. An average of over 46 and 13 centuries to go with 23 half centuries, Martyn completes my superb top 6.
Rod Marsh: 355 test dismissals tell their own story. Marsh remains one of the most respected wicket keepers of all time. He combined his near flawless glove work with a dogged approach to batting. An average of 26+ along with 3 centuries and 16 half tons, Marsh was no mug with the bat. He’ll be the much needed class behind the wickets to keep to the likes of Thomson and Murali.
Paul Reiffel: A very good seam bowler who had impeccable accuracy, Reiffel was very hard to get away and troubled batsmen with his seam movement. Reiffel was also a very handy bat and someone bowlers found very hard to get rid of. A batting average of 26+, he can hold his own late on and give support to other batsmen around him. A bowling average of 26, he acted as the perfect foil to his much more illustrious bowling partners when all he had was to feed off scraps left behind for him.
Jason Gillespie: A career destroyed by injuries, Gillespie is still remembered for the way he swung the ball and made it talk at his best. Over 250 wickets at an average of 26, he forged one of the most formidable opening bowling partnerships alongside Glenn Mcgrath. Also a solid defensive batsman who has a double century to his name, he was a tough nut to crack.
Jeff Thomson: My strike fast bowler is one of the fastest and most fearsome pacers to have graced the game. With speeds exceeding 160 kmph at times, he struck fear into the hearts of opposition batsmen. The likes of Clive Llyod have commented on how fearsome and fast Thomson was. He didn’t just have great pace but matched that with accurate seam and spin bowling and a bouncer that could rip heads off. He was a terror to face. His aggressive, fast bowling struck fear into opposition batsmen and was known to hit their bodies before he hit their stumps.
Murali: 800 test wickets at a miserly average of 22, this man could spin the ball in space. The nature of the pitch had no effect on Murali, he spun the ball at will. Known for bowling marathon spells, he picked wickets by the truckloads. An astonishing 112 4 wicket + halls in test cricket, the man was a machine and will be my go to man along with Jeff Thomson whenever I need a wicket.
Key points in the match up:
Murali vs Sachin: If there’s one man who always had the upper hand vs Sachin, it was Murali. Murali has dismissed him 6 times in 14 innings and Sachin averages 32 runs per dismissal vs Murali. That’s a huge advantage to my side given the importance of Sachin to his team.
My top 4 vs his pacers: My top 4 plied their trade and stocked the runs vs the best quicks of all time. Their adversaries here include Heath Streak and Damien Fleming, an absolutely huge mismatch there. The likes of Gavaskar, Wessels, Gower, Gomes vs Streak and Fleming is going to be a huge mismatch. His only hope is Pollock and even that is unlikely to be enough vs my batting line up.
5 batsmen vs Murali and Thomson: Going into a match vs Murali and Jeff Thomson is very risky imo. Thomson was fearsome and I genuinely believe his openers wont be upto the task. Atherton struggled vs the like of Donald and Mcgrath, imagine him standing upto Jeff Thomson.
Kazi said:Player bios-
Michael Atherton – Solid opener for many years for England. Form may have dropped with captaincy, but he has an excellent cricketing brain, which will allow him to evolve to different situations. Perfect open to bat around the top order.
John Wright – Admittedly, did not know a lot about him when I saw him in my team, but after doing some research, I've come to know that he has a incredibly strong cricketing personality. Extremely disciplined and stubborn opening batsman.
Allan Border (C) – One of the all time great batsmen and captains. Average over 50 with the bat when most around him were struggling to reach 40. He built the early foundations for the world-beating Australian side we saw in the 90s and 00s.
Sachin Tendulkar – Best batsman in the draft. You know the stats. You know the quotes, but I'll leave you with Warne's: “Sachin Tendulkar is, in my time, the best player without a doubt - daylight second, Brian Lara third.”
Shivnarine Chanderpaul – He is a modern great. He's pretty much carried West Indies' test match batting line-up on his own since Lara retired, and has flourished with his extra responsibility. Extremely reliable with an incredible average of 52. You can count on him to bat through the innings. Such an underrated batsman.
Moin Khan – Extremely talented wicket-keeper batsman, who never quite fulfilled his potential. He was unbelievable with the gloves against the quickies, particularly Akhtar, where he would be flying all over the place with the ball hitting his outstretched glove at 155kph.
Shahid Afridi – Never came close to fulfilling his test match potential. If he bowled consistently for Pakistan in test matches as a second spinner for the past decade or so, he would be one of the leading wicket takers of his generation, without a doubt. 5 test match centuries to his name.
Shaun Pollock – Legend of the game. Reliable and consistently world class with his bowling. Hardly ever produced bad spells. His batting often gets overlooked, but he averaged over 32!
Heath Streak – One of the Zimbabweans that put his country on the cricketing map. Another excellent bowling all-rounder, capable of hitting a good pace at his peak.
Harbhajan Singh – With over 400 wickets, he is one of the best spinners in the draft. Varies his length, pace and type of delivery as good as any spinner out there. Thrives against the
Damien Fleming – Another superb bowler that I was able to steal towards the end of the draft. Competition in Australia was fierce during the 90s and early 00s, but he was still able to break into the team and had an absolutely outstanding strike-rate of only 55.
Well, as any wise man would do, let’s start with my strength; my batting line-up. Tendulkar.
Just kidding, but it’s no secret that my strength is in my batting. I have batsmen all the way to number 11, a combined total of 63,715 runs, 148 centuries, and a middle order that looks impossible to get through. Let’s start at the top.
I have an opening pair that is both extremely reliable, disciplined, and both almost always get through the new ball to make batting a piece of cake for my middle order. They’ve both captained in the past so they know how to play a situation.
My 3, 4 and 5 is where I will win a test match. You can almost always rely on at least one of them to make a match-winning contribution to the game. Allan Border at number 3 was one of those rare talents that were able to captain a successful side and keep his batting average at a legendary number when it was a bowler’s game. Funnily enough, he at number 3 was an incredible player of a spin, even more so considering the monopoly of seam bowling in Australia, almost the complete opposite of the batsman in next. Tendulkar, an Indian, would go to Austalia and destroy their seam attack almost every time. Together with Border, they’d make an amazing partnership. One, a fighter with the bat, and the other, the man who could play any shot right out of a text book, and make it look beautiful. Talking of text book and beautiful, Chanderpaul is only one of those things. But his unorthodox stance has brought him incredible success. He is the perfect number 5, he’ll come in at three wickets down and you’ll be surprised if he wasn’t still there when your team is all out.
My lower middle order technically starts at 6 but it ends at 11. I have no tail. Moin Khan, Shahid Afridi and Shaun Pollock are three guys that never quite reached their potential with the bat, all for very different reasons. One thing is for sure though, they all are incredibly talented and more than capable of a match-winning knock when chasing on the fifth day. They all still pose terrific averages for their positions in my team. Streak, Harbhajan and Fleming all averaged 22, 18 and 19 respectively. Incredible averages all the way down.
To those who say that my bowling attack will struggle to take twenty wickets, my team total of 1269 wickets disagrees with you. There are more than enough twenty wickets in that number.
While I may not have the most variation in my seam attack, I do have three extremely disciplined bowlers, who at their primes, were all more than capable of hitting that magical 90mph mark. All three bowlers had an economy of way under 3 (Pollock’s at 2.39) as a mark of their discipline. Test cricket is a game of patience, and I have three bowlers who are the epitome of patience, spearheaded by Shaun Pollock, who showed in Adelaide 1998 with his 7-87 in 41 overs on a solid batting track in scorching heat against the best team in the world, that patience does may off.
My spin attack on the other hand, does have some variation. I have an off-spinner who can bowl the doosra, a leg-spinner who can bowl googlies (and the same speed as Glenn Mcgrath off three steps), and Sachin Tendulkar who bowls offies and leggies! Harbhajan and Afridi are both natural wicket-takers, they’ll attack the batsman while the seamers work their magic at the other end.
We need to get some discussion going here as well. My first thoughts are that neither bowling attack is good enough to bowl out the other side.
I disagree. Thomson was explosive and Murali could ball marathon spells. 112 4+ wicket halls to his name. His openers dont inspire me with confidence considering who they are up against. He only has 5 real batsmen, that's too few vs a bowling attack having Thomson and Murali.
In comparism to other strike bowlers in the draft (Imran,Marshall,Ambrose, McGrath etc) Thomson really isn't all that. I'd rate Pollock on the other side higher. Murali is the one thing that elevates your team though. He and Sachin are the two standouts here. Crappy is right though - both attacks are pretty weak. I'm still leaning towards you though.
In comparism to other strike bowlers in the draft (Imran,Marshall,Ambrose, McGrath etc) Thomson really isn't all that. I'd rate Pollock on the other side higher. Murali is the one thing that elevates your team though. He and Sachin are the two standouts here. Crappy is right though - both attacks are pretty weak. I'm still leaning towards you though.
Yeah, Pollock for me is better than Thomson. Murali is easily the best bowler in this match up though
I know its an 8 minute video but I've never seen anything of this sort from Pollock.
You have cricketers like Viv Richards and Clive Lloyd saying thomson was fearful, ferocious and dangerous to play against. Ian Chappel says it wasnt about the wickets only, his pace and the sheer aggressiveness in his bowling gave Australia a huge psychological advantage over opponents.
Thomson wasnt just about wickets, he had to share them with Dennis Lille after all. His impact went far beyond that.
No disrespect to Pollock but he isnt on Thomson's level imo.
Thomon may be more aggressive or fearful bowler than even Mcgrath, does not make him better. Same with Akhtar against better bowlers. Pollock is no Donald but he bowler some superb spells for SA and won them many matches. His immaculate control on line and length was second only to Mcgrath in this era.
It isnt just about being fearful. His bowling stats are very similar to Pollock's. One shades it on average, the other on strike rate. Thomson took lots of wickets. 16 4 wicket halls and 8 5 wicket halls in 90 innings. His impact goes beyond stats though, the same couldnt be said of Pollock.
I just dont see the likes of Atherton, Wright etc standing upto Thomson.
He doesn't "just" shade it thought. He has a comfortably better average. I'm not a 100% but I'll probably end up voting for Varun
I know its an 8 minute video but I've never seen anything of this sort from Pollock.
You have cricketers like Viv Richards and Clive Lloyd saying thomson was fearful, ferocious and dangerous to play against. Ian Chappel says it wasnt about the wickets only, his pace and the sheer aggressiveness in his bowling gave Australia a huge psychological advantage over opponents.
Thomson wasnt just about wickets, he had to share them with Dennis Lille after all. His impact went far beyond that.
No disrespect to Pollock but he isnt on Thomson's level imo.
Pollock: Avg 23.11 SR 57.8
Thomson: Avg 28 SR 52.6
Nah, Pollock was the better bowler. Thommo undoubtedly had great pace but he wasn't at any time a great bowler.
