The Falcon Strike
Hall of Famer
Agree he was very good - but for an "all timer"
Same with Stokes - good cricketer - but not in the pantheon of all timers.
Australian test team last 50 years
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Agree he was very good - but for an "all timer"
Same with Stokes - good cricketer - but not in the pantheon of all timers.
sherb
Hall of Famer
I'd go -
Cox
Hills
Boon
Ponting
Di Venuto
Young
Woolley
Butterworth
Doherty
Griffith
Hilfenhaus
Even then I'm not totally happy with it. The fast bowling is a bit thin.
When I pick "best of" XI's, I consider balance to be important, not just picking the best eleven players and juggling them around.
That's why I've put Hills in, he and Cox were formidable as an opening partnership. And also why I've got Young at 6 - he could hold that place on merit, but also provides something else the top 6 doesn't - a bowling option.
Woolley was a great keeper/batsman - I'd have him ahead of Paine, on batting alone. And no way would I have Meredith in there ahead of Griffith.
If you wanted to strengthen the bowling, you could drop Young, bring Woolley up to 6 and bring in Geeves (who would fit in nicely at 8, he was no mug with the bat) -
Cox
Hills
Boon
Ponting
Di Venuto
Woolley
Butterworth
Geeves
Doherty
Griffith
Hilfenhaus
I know Bailey misses out, but you can't fit them all in. Wade played most of his state cricket for Victoria, so that's my excuse for not including him.
And I've always preferred Butterworth over Faulkner for some reason.
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Yes please.
No Allan Border? Ban plz Gough
Hayden
Border (c)
Ponting
Smith
G. Chappell
S. Waugh
Gilchrist (wk)
Cummins
Warne (vc)
Lillee
McGrath
12th man : M Waugh
Comments:
No left armers, could include Johnson or Starc for balance
If you want more of a good bloke vibe and less of a campaigner vibe, then Boon at 2, Border 6 and give S Waugh the arse.
Border at 2 may surprise but he did bat there a bit and that man could bat any position.
Border our best captain ever, through dark times. Warne an underrated tactician as support.
Almost tempted to put Jones in as well for his courageous 1980s innings, maybe drop Haydos for stinking up the 2005 Ashes so much.
M Waugh for 12th man, second only to Ponting for fielding ability.
Border (c)
Ponting
Smith
G. Chappell
S. Waugh
Gilchrist (wk)
Cummins
Warne (vc)
Lillee
McGrath
12th man : M Waugh
Comments:
No left armers, could include Johnson or Starc for balance
If you want more of a good bloke vibe and less of a campaigner vibe, then Boon at 2, Border 6 and give S Waugh the arse.
Border at 2 may surprise but he did bat there a bit and that man could bat any position.
Border our best captain ever, through dark times. Warne an underrated tactician as support.
Almost tempted to put Jones in as well for his courageous 1980s innings, maybe drop Haydos for stinking up the 2005 Ashes so much.
M Waugh for 12th man, second only to Ponting for fielding ability.
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No way does Mark Waugh make a side, even if it is 12th man.
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Matthew Hayden
Justin Langer
Ricky Ponting
Allan Border (c)
Steve Smith
Steve Waugh
Adam Gilchrist
Shane Warne
Mitchell Starc
Dennis Lillee
Glenn McGrath
12th Man - Greg Chappell/Pat Cummins
Justin Langer
Ricky Ponting
Allan Border (c)
Steve Smith
Steve Waugh
Adam Gilchrist
Shane Warne
Mitchell Starc
Dennis Lillee
Glenn McGrath
12th Man - Greg Chappell/Pat Cummins
Probably because Faulkner was a flash in the pan. Great start, helped a bit by pitches those two seasons or so, then got ruined by white ball stuff and started relying on bowling 80% slower balls.I'd go -
Cox
Hills
Boon
Ponting
Di Venuto
Young
Woolley
Butterworth
Doherty
Griffith
Hilfenhaus
Even then I'm not totally happy with it. The fast bowling is a bit thin.
When I pick "best of" XI's, I consider balance to be important, not just picking the best eleven players and juggling them around.
That's why I've put Hills in, he and Cox were formidable as an opening partnership. And also why I've got Young at 6 - he could hold that place on merit, but also provides something else the top 6 doesn't - a bowling option.
Woolley was a great keeper/batsman - I'd have him ahead of Paine, on batting alone. And no way would I have Meredith in there ahead of Griffith.
If you wanted to strengthen the bowling, you could drop Young, bring Woolley up to 6 and bring in Geeves (who would fit in nicely at 8, he was no mug with the bat) -
Cox
Hills
Boon
Ponting
Di Venuto
Woolley
Butterworth
Geeves
Doherty
Griffith
Hilfenhaus
I know Bailey misses out, but you can't fit them all in. Wade played most of his state cricket for Victoria, so that's my excuse for not including him.
That got to the point where he used it as a main weapon in long form cricket, no longer using swing, seam, and a regular line and length.
I'm not keen on Divva. To my eye, he was always the sort of guy where if you fed his strength you could get him out for a quick 20-30. Put in a gully and two backward points, he always cut at chest to throat height. He hit it well, but always at a catchable height. Feed the strength, he would score quickly but give chances along the way.
Danny Buckingham perhaps. Him and Boon between the wickets, moving at the speed of lard.
And, yes, the Xman is the spinner. Which is sad, Tassie has been a full time Shield side for 40 years now (1982/3 was the first full time season I think, half seasons for a few years before that) and has not produced anything better than a decent limited overs spinner.
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Nailed it.
Ponting, Smith, Chappell pick themselves
Lillee, McGrath, Cummins pick themselves
Gilchrist & Warne pick themselves
Hayden picks himself
It leaves a middle order batting spot which I can't split Border & Waugh and would be ideal if one of them could open.
That's the best XI players.
Warner gets the other opening position for me and would be the only debatable position in the side. You could throw a blanket over another handful of players for this position, however no one has a mortgage on this spot as of yet.
Hussey is unlucky he only got into the test team at age 30. That he won't be considered in the best test team.
He could have been there in the middle during 2005 ashes series and it might have been a different result as he dominated the white ball series before the ashes from memory.
As had a strong ODI resume for 12-18 months before his Test debut.
Give him another 10-15 tests he probably would have scored 23/24 test hundreds.
He still finish his career average above 50 after 79 tests which is great effort.
Only 8 players have played 50 or more tests for Australia and averaged more then 50 and Huss is one of those ranked 5th.
He could have been there in the middle during 2005 ashes series and it might have been a different result as he dominated the white ball series before the ashes from memory.
As had a strong ODI resume for 12-18 months before his Test debut.
Give him another 10-15 tests he probably would have scored 23/24 test hundreds.
He still finish his career average above 50 after 79 tests which is great effort.
Only 8 players have played 50 or more tests for Australia and averaged more then 50 and Huss is one of those ranked 5th.
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yeah, spot on.
if i am taking out 'current active players' then hussey is in !
this was my team prior to the emergence of Smith, Cummins, Warner
M.Hussey (Warner) - again, debatable but Hussey has opened, and still has the edge on other candidates
Hayden
Ponting
G.Chappell
Border
S.Waugh (Smith in @ 4 with Chappell & Border sliding down 1)
Gilchrist
Warne
Gillespie (Cummins)
Lillee
McGrath
Warner
Taylor c
Ponting
Chappell
Border
Gilchrist
Healy
Johnson
Warne
Lillee
McGrath
The obvious difference to most is Healy as keeper. He is the best keeper of the last 50 years, therefore he should get that spot. Was decent with the bat averaging 27 and did it against some great bowling attacks. Sure Gilchrist wasn't a specialist batsman but an average of 47 at his SR of 80 is good enough to play at 6. In this hypothetical team coming in at 6 rather than 7 may make him an even bigger threat with the bat.
McGrath and Lillee pick themselves as the top 2 pacemen and plenty could've been the 3rd but for variety I picked Johnson over Starc as the left armer. If Bruce Reids body allowed him to play 60 or 70 Tests I reckon he could've been automatic with the other 2 pacemen.
Taylor c
Ponting
Chappell
Border
Gilchrist
Healy
Johnson
Warne
Lillee
McGrath
The obvious difference to most is Healy as keeper. He is the best keeper of the last 50 years, therefore he should get that spot. Was decent with the bat averaging 27 and did it against some great bowling attacks. Sure Gilchrist wasn't a specialist batsman but an average of 47 at his SR of 80 is good enough to play at 6. In this hypothetical team coming in at 6 rather than 7 may make him an even bigger threat with the bat.
McGrath and Lillee pick themselves as the top 2 pacemen and plenty could've been the 3rd but for variety I picked Johnson over Starc as the left armer. If Bruce Reids body allowed him to play 60 or 70 Tests I reckon he could've been automatic with the other 2 pacemen.
Was gonna ask are you too young to have seen Clarke play. turns out he retired 3 years after Hussey, lol.
Michael Hussey - Test Cricket - Performance Analysis by Country
Hussey, M E K - Test Cricket - Summary of performances in each country
www.howstat.com
Michael Clarke - Test Cricket - Performance Analysis by Country
Clarke, M J - Test Cricket - Summary of performances in each country
www.howstat.com
Take Hussey if we're playing at Sinhalese Sports Club Ground, anywhere else I'd probably go Clarke.
s**t, Clarkes 151 on debut would be in Husseys top 3 scores.
A lot of 100s hussey scored he ran out of batting partners and was batting with the tail.
I reckon he was one of the best batters that have navigated situations with the tail. And squeezed as many runs as possible out of an innings.
Boxing Day 2005 with McGrath
Adelaide 2005 with Macgill
Sydney test with Siddle against Pakistan to secure a famous win.
Are a couple that come to mind.
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Being a Carlton supporter, I understand your willingness to forgive cheaters after all your last premiership was won thanks to cheating the salary cap
but I will never select Warner in a team because the mastermind of "sandpapergate" is the biggest cheat in Australia Cricket history.I relegated Chappell to 12th man because he is a cheat as well, just ask the Kiwi's.
And I selected Starc over Cummins because he is a leftie and every great team needs a leftie. We are better than 90% of you.
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i can live with your taylor (a captain) and johnson (a left armer) selections as that's your choice , mind you i'd have haydos and cummins.
but surely smith comes in for healy !!!!
Hayden
Taylor
Ponting
Chappell G
Smith
Border (c)
Gilchrist (Healy by far the better gloveman, making this a tough call)
Warne
Cummins
Lillee
McGrath
Warner in Australia for Hayden ?
Alderman in England for Cummins ???????????
Taylor
Ponting
Chappell G
Smith
Border (c)
Gilchrist (Healy by far the better gloveman, making this a tough call)
Warne
Cummins
Lillee
McGrath
Warner in Australia for Hayden ?
Alderman in England for Cummins ???????????
Being a Carlton supporter, I understand your willingness to forgive cheaters after all your last premiership was won thanks to cheating the salary cap
I relegated Chappell to 12th man because he is a cheat as well, just ask the Kiwi's.
And I selected Starc over Cummins because he is a leftie and every great team needs a leftie. We are better than 90% of you.
We were never done for salary cap cheating in 95!
I’m a leftie too!
You dont like cheats but you have Marseille in your list of teams .Being a Carlton supporter, I understand your willingness to forgive cheaters after all your last premiership was won thanks to cheating the salary cap
I relegated Chappell to 12th man because he is a cheat as well, just ask the Kiwi's.
And I selected Starc over Cummins because he is a leftie and every great team needs a leftie. We are better than 90% of you.
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