Best teams you’ve seen

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PhatBoy

PhatBoy

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On the back of warney’s Annual and ever changing lists:

best england XI I’ve seen - bearing in mind I never saw Botham play a test

Cook
Strauss
Hussain (c)
Vaughan
Petersen
Stokes
Prior
Broad
Fraser
Harmison/Swann depending on the pitch
Anderson

Hussain maybe the odd one out but when he took over England were ranked below Zimbabwe. Took them to third and gave them a backbone they hadnt had for 10-12 years. He was a scrapper and I really rated him. Think any normal cricket fan would realise by now that Stokes is a better cricketer, especially with the bat, than Flintoff.

harmison the other slightly odd one, just think he’s the guy that can be hot enough to win them a game in one burst. Fraser was a very very underrated seamer in a generally poor side
 
PhatBoy said:
On the back of warney’s Annual and ever changing lists:

best england XI I’ve seen - bearing in mind I never saw Botham play a test

Cook
Strauss
Hussain (c)
Vaughan
Petersen
Stokes
Prior
Broad
Fraser
Harmison/Swann depending on the pitch
Anderson

Hussain maybe the odd one out but when he took over England were ranked below Zimbabwe. Took them to third and gave them a backbone they hadnt had for 10-12 years. He was a scrapper and I really rated him. Think any normal cricket fan would realise by now that Stokes is a better cricketer, especially with the bat, than Flintoff.

harmison the other slightly odd one, just think he’s the guy that can be hot enough to win them a game in one burst. Fraser was a very very underrated seamer in a generally poor side
Click to expand...
Stokes out. Freddie in.
Prior out. Alec Stewart in.

Shame I never saw Underwood live, what I have seen of him he'd walk into the side
 

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Art Vandelay_ said:
Stokes out. Freddie in.
Prior out. Alec Stewart in.

Shame I never saw Underwood live, what I have seen of him he'd walk into the side
Click to expand...

stewart was a jet against pace Bowling but really really battled with spin - averaged 26 or less in all three Asian countries. Capable but not brilliant keeper.

Freddie’s best was awesome but beyond one series I just don’t think he did enough
 
Best team I seen was West Indies vintage of around 1979 to 1982.

Greenidge
Haynes
Richards
Gomes
Lawrence Rowe
Clive Lloyd
Derryck Murray
Malcolm Marshall
Andy Roberts
Joel Garner
Michael Holding
12 th man Colin Croft or Wayne Daniel

When Murray retired Jeff Dujon became keeper and was better bat than Murray.
Rowe also retired maybe at end of World Series Cricket and then Kallicharian or Gus Logie took that batting spot. Patterson, Walsh, Bishop and Ambrose made sure that when guys like Croft, Roberts and Holding retired the fall off was only gradual over the rest of the 1980's and still number one in world for a long long time.
Their only weakness was spin bowling, both playing it and applying. Hence a part time spinner like Allan Border could take 13 wickets in a Test against them at SCG...lol.. About the only time we would beat them in those days.

Next best was Aussie team roughly about two decades later...

Langer
Hayden
Ponting
M Waugh
S Waugh
M Clarke
Gilchrist
Warne
B Lee
Gillespie
McGrath
12th man Fleming or Slater

No other sides come close imo
 
PhatBoy said:
stewart was a jet against pace Bowling but really really battled with spin - averaged 26 or less in all three Asian countries. Capable but not brilliant keeper.

Freddie’s best was awesome but beyond one series I just don’t think he did enough
Click to expand...
13 years of test cricket averaging 40 in a s**t England era. Back to back tons against Ambrose and Walsh.
v
Roughly half the runs, half the duration, half the centuries, and virtually the same average. In a better side.
 
Art Vandelay_ said:
13 years of test cricket averaging 40 in a s**t England era. Back to back tons against Ambrose and Walsh.
v
Roughly half the runs, half the duration, half the centuries, and virtually the same average. In a better side.
Click to expand...

batting in the top order.
Prior batted 7 his whole career and finished with figures the equal of anyone else in that position bar Adam Gilchrist. Scored his runs at a very good clip too.
 
PhatBoy said:
batting in the top order.
Prior batted 7 his whole career and finished with figures the equal of anyone else in that position bar Adam Gilchrist. Scored his runs at a very good clip too.
Click to expand...
Nope. Not for me.
Doesn't hold a candle to Stewart.
 
Art Vandelay_ said:
Nope. Not for me.
Doesn't hold a candle to Stewart.
Click to expand...

I can’t pick someone in a side like that if they can’t play spin bowling.

same reason I didn’t name robin smith - probably the purest player of pace I’ve seen and Gooch aside, the one player from 89-95 when Thorpe established himself who would have got a game for most sides.
 

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footyfan78 said:
Best team I seen was West Indies vintage of around 1979 to 1982.

Greenidge
Haynes
Richards
Gomes
Lawrence Rowe
Clive Lloyd
Derryck Murray
Malcolm Marshall
Andy Roberts
Joel Garner
Michael Holding
12 th man Colin Croft or Wayne Daniel

When Murray retired Jeff Dujon became keeper and was better bat than Murray.
Rowe also retired maybe at end of World Series Cricket and then Kallicharian or Gus Logie took that batting spot. Patterson, Walsh, Bishop and Ambrose made sure that when guys like Croft, Roberts and Holding retired the fall off was only gradual over the rest of the 1980's and still number one in world for a long long time.
Their only weakness was spin bowling, both playing it and applying. Hence a part time spinner like Allan Border could take 13 wickets in a Test against them at SCG...lol.. About the only time we would beat them in those days.

Next best was Aussie team roughly about two decades later...

Langer
Hayden
Ponting
M Waugh
S Waugh
M Clarke
Gilchrist
Warne
B Lee
Gillespie
McGrath
12th man Fleming or Slater

No other sides come close imo
Click to expand...

Clarke wasn’t ever in the Same Test side as the Waugh’s - he debuted after they had retired. Martyn would be the number 6 for that team - basically the 2001 Ashes side for the next year was this lot, until MarkWaugh was dropped prior to the 02/03 Ashes.
 
Kyptastic said:
Clarke wasn’t ever in the Same Test side as the Waugh’s - he debuted after they had retired. Martyn would be the number 6 for that team - basically the 2001 Ashes side for the next year was this lot, until MarkWaugh was dropped prior to the 02/03 Ashes.
Click to expand...
Yeah, was not certain if got the timing of Clarke starting right.
Still the sixth guy in that period whether Blewett, Matthew Elliott or Clarke was strong. I think there was a period before Langer opened where Slater was still in side opening and Langer was not settled in side but often batted no 3 spot and Ponting was 5 or 6. It is like Windies team I vague on recalling when Rowe was not longer there and guys like Gomes, Logie etc, were new parts of the batting line-up.
 
Best West Indies I’ve seen - I’ve excluded guys like Richards, Marshall, Greenidge as my exposure to them was some grainy footage when I snuck out of bed during the 1991 Frank Worrell Trophy

Haynes
Gayle
Chanderpaul
Lara
Richardson
Dwayne Bravo
Dowrich - Ridley Jacobs the only real alternative here
Holder
Bishop
Ambrose
Walsh

devendra bishoo pribably the only real spin option I can think of that had any real longevity. They used Hooper for a long time as a stop gap. Given his first class record - even by the exaggerated standards of recent domestic Caribbean spinners I find it amazing that Nikita Miller didn’t get a better go.
 
PhatBoy said:
On the back of warney’s Annual and ever changing lists:

best england XI I’ve seen - bearing in mind I never saw Botham play a test

Cook
Strauss
Hussain (c)
Vaughan
Petersen
Stokes
Prior
Broad
Fraser
Harmison/Swann depending on the pitch
Anderson

Hussain maybe the odd one out but when he took over England were ranked below Zimbabwe. Took them to third and gave them a backbone they hadnt had for 10-12 years. He was a scrapper and I really rated him. Think any normal cricket fan would realise by now that Stokes is a better cricketer, especially with the bat, than Flintoff.

harmison the other slightly odd one, just think he’s the guy that can be hot enough to win them a game in one burst. Fraser was a very very underrated seamer in a generally poor side
Click to expand...
Hussain captain ahead of Cook, Strauss or Vaughan?
 
BronCrow said:
Hussain captain ahead of Cook, Strauss or Vaughan?
Click to expand...

sachin tendulkar rated him the most astute captain he played against. Vaughan tactically is the only one out of those other three that was in the same ballpark IMO and he generally had a lot more ammunition at his disposal.
Hussain had some good bowlers - Carrick and Gough and for a little while Fraser and Anderson right at the very start of his career but he didn’t have the sort of attack at his disposal that the other guys had.
 
PhatBoy said:
Best West Indies I’ve seen - I’ve excluded guys like Richards, Marshall, Greenidge as my exposure to them was some grainy footage when I snuck out of bed during the 1991 Frank Worrell Trophy

Haynes
Gayle
Chanderpaul
Lara
Richardson
Dwayne Bravo
Dowrich - Ridley Jacobs the only real alternative here
Holder
Bishop
Ambrose
Walsh

devendra bishoo pribably the only real spin option I can think of that had any real longevity. They used Hooper for a long time as a stop gap. Given his first class record - even by the exaggerated standards of recent domestic Caribbean spinners I find it amazing that Nikita Miller didn’t get a better go.
Click to expand...
You must be young.

I wouldn't include 6 of those players. Maybe 7.
 
Anyway, my best Australian XI I saw growing up

Taylor(C)
Hayden
Ponting
M Waugh
S Waugh
Border
Gilchrist
Warne
Lee
McDermott
McGrath

12th Man Hussey

Honourable mentions to Alderman, Gillespie, Boon, Jones, Clarke and, if not solely test cricket, Bevan
 
footyfan78 said:
Best team I seen was West Indies vintage of around 1979 to 1982.

Greenidge
Haynes
Richards
Gomes
Lawrence Rowe
Clive Lloyd
Derryck Murray
Malcolm Marshall
Andy Roberts
Joel Garner
Michael Holding
12 th man Colin Croft or Wayne Daniel

When Murray retired Jeff Dujon became keeper and was better bat than Murray.
Rowe also retired maybe at end of World Series Cricket and then Kallicharian or Gus Logie took that batting spot. Patterson, Walsh, Bishop and Ambrose made sure that when guys like Croft, Roberts and Holding retired the fall off was only gradual over the rest of the 1980's and still number one in world for a long long time.
Their only weakness was spin bowling, both playing it and applying. Hence a part time spinner like Allan Border could take 13 wickets in a Test against them at SCG...lol.. About the only time we would beat them in those days.

Next best was Aussie team roughly about two decades later...

Langer
Hayden
Ponting
M Waugh
S Waugh
M Clarke
Gilchrist
Warne
B Lee
Gillespie
McGrath
12th man Fleming or Slater

No other sides come close imo
Click to expand...

that WI bowling attack brought a tear to your eye.....and our captain's
 
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