Botham for mine.
Best XI of the 1980's (interactive voting thread)
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- Apr 11, 2015
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Couldn't be anyone else but Botham. Match winner as either a bowler or batsman. Great fieldsman as well.
Captain, Richards or Imran. Imran must have been a good captain to keep the Pakastani players in line. Richards has the record as a winning captain and can lead from the front and inspire the team either with his batting or incredible fielding and throwing skills.
Richards!
Every team needs a 12th man. I'm going to nominate Kapil Dev. Ideal 12th man. Nothing really lost if he is in the team and he offer would great versatility to any team playing on Asian pitches. As for an umpire in the 80's you can't go past Dickie Bird.
Captain, Richards or Imran. Imran must have been a good captain to keep the Pakastani players in line. Richards has the record as a winning captain and can lead from the front and inspire the team either with his batting or incredible fielding and throwing skills.
Richards!
Every team needs a 12th man. I'm going to nominate Kapil Dev. Ideal 12th man. Nothing really lost if he is in the team and he offer would great versatility to any team playing on Asian pitches. As for an umpire in the 80's you can't go past Dickie Bird.
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Yeah, Viv for me as well. Though he did captain a pretty handy side as well. I hadn't necessarily thought of Imran as captain initially, but is probably a very astute suggestion as well. AB would be close to.
Barely even saw leg spinners then. Qadir the only one of note at international level I can remember then. Sometimes Australia would play Peter Sleep but he probably more like an allrounder that genuine front line leg spinner. Trevor Hohns in about 1989. Most of time it was boring off spinners like Emburey, Phil Edmonds and Miller for Poms and Australia had a quality off spinner in Bruce Yardley... Actually come to think of it, how did none of us even mention him for spinner consideration till he just popped into my head. Jimmy Higgs I think was a leg spinner but barely remember him. Think he played more Tests for Australia when the best Aussies were playing in World Series Cricket. After that he not picked much from recall. Worst bat I can remember.
Botham last player I vote into the team. Toss up between Border and Imran Khan as captain. Think I go AB captain. Never really a fan of bowler being a captain.
My Eleven in batting order with whom I wanted in brackets over players that got voted in via the group
Greenidge
Haynes (Gooch)
Richards
Miandad (M Crowe)
Border
Botham
Dujon
Imran Khan
Hadlee
Marshall
Qadir (Garner)
12th man (Yardley)
Pippen94
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So many egos in this side, picking captain not that straight forward. Botham had a poor record, while AB was too defensive. Richards captained in tests from the mid to late 80's but never had the reputation of his predecessor Lloyd. Imran gets my vote; natural leader with understanding of psychology of match situations & motivating team. Fully expect Botham to white ant & look install mate Richards as captain tho
Bob Holland was a worse bat & also a match winning leg spinner in 1980's. Wayne Phillips kept to him so I think ppl are overrating the need for keeper with spin experience. Looking at domestic level for Dujon tho, Jamaica fielded a leg spinner in most of the matches he played
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- Jan 13, 2015
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finish this team off big fella, and lets do the 90's (or whatever you choose next).
Forgot about Bob Holland but he only seemed to get wheeled out if we played two spinners at SCG?
I do not remember him batting but no way could he be worse than Jimmy Higgs. It just not possible.
Either of Holland or Higgs Bruce Reid or Chris Martin bad?
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jim higgs did not score a run on the tour of england '75
surely some our worst tails have been alderman, reid, whitney or possibly miller, macgill, mcgrath ?
i mean mcgrath even batted ahead of macgill a few times
but west indies of 05/06 was ordinary 8,9,10,11 powell, edwards, collymore, lawson all single figure averages - 6 out - all out.
Gough
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David Hourn, a NSW leggie in the 70's had coke bottle lenses glasses and was reputated to be one of the worst batsman ever. Of him and Higgs Chappelli said, "in my opinion neither of them are real cricketers. By that I mean they are only bowlers, not cricketers."
Pippen94
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Holland twice took ten wickets in a test at scg & also helped win a test in england. Elsewhere there was not much to talk about.
As a batsman averaged 3 & recorded 5 straight ducks.
I'll have Ian Botham in at 6.
Imran Khan for captain.
Imran Khan for captain.
Watch the video I just posted and watch how bad Higgs looks, just feebly holding a bat. It like watching someone that never played the sport trying to bat for first time. As bad as others have been he trumps them all.
Bruce Reid is the worst I have seen, but on that evidence it would appear Higgs possibly has him covered in the worst batsman stakes. That is barely district level standard that batting.
Also, how about Chappelli saying that it was umpiring for women?
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Higgs didn't make many runs at district either. Anyway he hardly played in the 80's. His test career was mostly in the 70's.
It looked like the sort of stance that my nieces who are 6 and 4 would use in back yard cricket or a game of tippy run.
Gavaskar is really the only player that has a claim outside those two. Gooch averaged in the high 30s so the only argument you could make for him is that he had the face the West Indies bowlers and Haynes didn’t. Gavaskar I wouldn’t have a problem with as he stood up against the best attack ever seen.
It’s the theory of a lot of people that Haynes was actually the ‘langer’ of the partnership and the one who scored the more important runs. I’ve never bothered looking at a big breakdown of it but was the more dour of the two if nothing else
Re the captaincy, I would probably pick Imran but the reason Richards didn’t have the reputation of Lloyd wasn’t because he was a poor captain, it was simply that Lloyd was the first West Indian captain to genuinely galvanise and unite the region behind the team. They weren’t representing their islands anymore once he took charge, they were representing the entire West Indies and it was Lloyd that built that. Richards never really had the chance to as it was already done.
Pippen94
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If it was down to pure wicket keeping then Bari's reputation gets him in the side, but I don't anybody will nominate him.
Waugh whipped side which lost most dead rubbers & close matches into team which won record streak of games. He should be credited for that transformation
