The Best XI

Originally posted by Sledger Sehwag at 6 ???????????  McCullum the best wicketkeeper on the planet - I'd say there's some bias there.

Yip.. Me to.  Sehwag at 6 would work.

Originally posted by spin wizard 1Daz, it's probably only you and Sehwag who thinks he should not open.   Nevertheless, welcome to the forum buddy.

wow, some batting order, and I will just say I don't think much of your bowling attack and leave it at that :)

Apart from the batting order , the bowling order , the lack of balance and the lack of in form cricketers , it looks a fine side to me !
              Oh,  quiz question - just when did Brad Hogg last play any form of cricket - was there colour TV back then ?

Originally posted by bladescape Yes, he played his first test, and then his last, a couple a years back when india were touring Aus, he almost scored a hundred and picked up a couple a wickets with his left arm chinamen bowling.(Just in case you were thinking Rodney Hogg, he's back during the days of WSC.)

  I've seen both play blades - just a bit of English sarcasm that I couldn't hold back.

That team was selected to play on a belter of a pitch in India, where fast bowlers are of no use so that's why there is the extremely skilled Zaheer Khan to negate that and then you have 3 of the most economical spinners in Vettori, Botha, Harbhajan and a very good wicket taking option in Hogg, who has long retired.  That's the only explanation. hah

My Ideal World XI would be:
1. Virendra Sehwag
2. Shane Watson
3. Ricky Ponting
4. Sachin Tendulkar
5. Michael Hussy
6. Graeme Smith
7. Brad Haddin
8. Dale Steyn
9. Mitchell Johnsen
10. Brett Lee
11. Graeme Smith

Edited by Dekka2a - 15 February 2011 at 10:26am

Clobber, I think that poster meant Greame Swann but made a genuine mistake in putting back Smith again.  Sometimes the brain works that way.

Current players, using a player from the top 9 sides;

1. Watson
2. Sehwag
3. Hashim Amla
4. Tendulkar
5. Trott
6. Sangakkara (c)
7. Dhoni† (no keepers have really stood out for me of late)
8. Broad
9. Swann
10. Zaheer Khan
11. Steyn

Felt a bit unsure about the fast bowler options. I know Steyn should definitely be there. I'd like to think Roach will become a star in the next few years, very quick that lad - 'watch this space'.

Edited by Mikey - 11 May 2011 at 1:40pm

1 Kamran Akmal
2 Ricky Ponting
3 Rahul Dravid
4 Inzimam Ul Haq
5 Muhammad Yousif
6 Brian Lara
7 Glenn Mcgrath
8 Chaminda Vass / Saqlain Mushtaq (Depending on wickets)
9 Shoaib Akhter
10 Brett Lee
11 shane warne




Edited by Sledger - 10 June 2011 at 9:00am

McGrath, Lee, Warne, Akthar, Vaas, Saqlain will have to get the batsman out bowled/lbw most of the times, unless you decide to go with Dravid as the keeper.

The line up is all messed up  in order - but somehow still a pretty good  one - strange.

If the futility in picking an alltime greatest test XI needed proof , then just look at the side that is considered the greatest after collating information from 250,000 entries on the ICC webpage.

 1. Sehwag.
 2. Gavaskar
 3. Bradman
 4. Tendulkar
 5. Lara
 6. Kapil Dev
 7. Gilchrist
 8. Warne
 9. Wasim Akram
10. Ambrose
11. McGrath

      That  England , South Africa  and New Zealand are not included goes some way to give the demographics of the voters. Bradman apart , no one who played more than 20 years ago gets a mention. That gives some idea of the ignorance of the younger cricket supporters , especially in India.    Where are Gary Sobers , Viv Richards , Graeme Pollock , Malcolm Marshall , Wally Hammond , Jack Hobbs , Ian Botham .........to name but a few.

           A sad indictment of the youth of today - no sense of history.      Tragic.

              


Edited by Sledger - 20 July 2011 at 7:23am

Clobber beat me to it! I was going to say the exact same thing. The fact that Sobers was not selected makes that list worthless.

Something more like this should have been generated:

1. Hobbs (Sehwag?? Are you serious?)
2. Gavaskar (Most prolific opening batsman in tests)
3. Bradman (No question about this)
4. Tendulkar (Again it would be hard to leave Sachin out)
5. Sobers (Dev before Sobers or Botham - yeh right!)
6. Lara (Pollock, Viv or Hammond could easily be included instead - hard decision)
7. Gilchrist† (if you prefer a batsman/keeper)
8. Wasim Akram (left arm pace, and solid lower order batsman)
9. Warne (Don't think there's much doubt, Warne changed the game - although maybe a few other spinners had better stats)
10. Marshall (One of the best strike rates in history and also a decent batsman)
11. McGrath (What about Lillee? Ambrose? Hadlee? - Again another tough call. For variety, you could include Hadlee so that NZ is represented)

As much as I am a Wasim fan - no way does he get in an all time X1 if there has to be one. Hadlee, Lillie, Marshall, Imran, Trueman, Branes etc will stand a greater chance. The funniest inclusions to me are Sehwag and Kapil