WI of the 80's or Australia Current?

[roseboy64]

It'd be a close contest but i'd back the Windies to win.

[Link]

Originally Posted by roseboy64

It'd be a close contest but i'd back the Windies to win.

same but i done even think it will be close

[cric_manic]

W.I didnt have a spin bowler eny where near as good as shane warne and that could be the differance

[mavric41]

The 80's WIndies wouldn't have the patience to outwait the tight lines of McGrath and Warne and would have self destructed more often than not.

In a 5 test series I would expect the Aussies to win 3-2. Unless there was rain I wouldn't expect any draws because of the attitude of the teams.

If they were playing in the West Indies the score might be reversed.

I go on my observations of watching both teams for 25 years.

One thing for sure it would be a hell of a series to watch.

[FaaipDeOiad]

Originally Posted by marc71178

The only ones I can think that didn't would be Langer and Martyn, the rest of the team were pretty much at their peak at the same time.

Mark Waugh didn't fire at Australian's best point, but I think Langer did. In the 5-1 demolition of South Africa for example, Langer and Martyn were both very close to their best. The only Australian player who struggled was Mark Waugh.

[Arrow]

Originally Posted by FaaipDeOiad

Australia on the other hand is alongside the West Indies with the proudest history of producing quality pace bowlers, and Kasprowicz would still walk into almost any Australian bowling lineup in history as the third seamer, or, in periods of lesser Australian attacks, a strike bowler. This shows that he is a good bowler, as a mediocre bowler would be mediocre in any period and only make the side if there was a severe lack of bowling talent available, such as in the late 80s.

I dont understand your reasoning here. Its like your ignoring reality and just spilling what you wish was true.
If Kasprowicz would of been able ot walk into any bowling lineup in history why hasnt he been able to in the past 8 years??
Wouldnt this be proof that he infact wouldnt of been able to do what your touting?

Gillespie and McGrath are next to Lindwall/Davidson and Lillee/Thommo as the best opening fast bowling pairs in Australian history, and Kasper is a step behind them, but provides better support than the likes of Hughes, McDermott, Lawson, Walker, Reid or Hogg could manage.

Hughs, Mcdermott and Lawson were strike bowlers. Kasper would of been a good support bowler for them.

[marc71178]

Originally Posted by FaaipDeOiad

Mark Waugh didn't fire at Australian's best point, but I think Langer did. In the 5-1 demolition of South Africa for example, Langer and Martyn were both very close to their best. The only Australian player who struggled was Mark Waugh.

I was going on those 2 being at their peak right now!

[Swervy]

CC, you said this a bit back:And like i said, the best WI team that took to the field at that time was:
Greenidge, Haynes, Richardson/Kallicharan, Richards, Lloyd,Gomes,Dujon,Marshall,Holding,Garner and Roberts.
Compared to that team, this OZ unit or the OZ unit from a few years ago are a second rate unit- because of the bowling.


I dont think that team ever played together, so how can that be the best the the Windies fielded.

Personally I would say Kallicharran was a better batsman than Richardson(even though Kalli wasnt the batsman in the last 4 or 5 years of his career he had been in the early to mid 70's), so if we use the teams with Kalli in, well Dujon certainly wouldnt be there, Marshall certainly wasnt the bowler he ended up being..

The best WI team I think I saw was the 1981 one vs Australia:
Greenidge
Haynes (one of the greatest opening partnerships,but rivalled by Hayden and Langer in results)
Richards
Gomes
Bacchus (a batsman far from being of a standard that would get into the Aussie team)
Lloyd
Dujon (Gilchrist IMO his equal keeping wise,but nowhere near batting wise, although he was a good batsman)
Croft
Roberts (way past his best, by a good 6 years)
Holding
Garner

Now this was the team that lined up vs Australia, and drew the series 1-1. Australia had a decent team, but not brilliant..but it was probably the best team WI back then had encountered for a while,and the best team they were to play against for a fair while afterwards as well....with hindsight, it is seen that there were definate chinks in the armour,when they played against a solid but not spectacular team,who played the game as aggressively as they did..WI's could be held/beaten...no other team until maybe the late 80's (Pakistan maybe) could rival WI's for aggressiveness.How ever you may say it,IMO there was a lack of quality to the teams in the 80's (bar the WI's),as soon as a quality team played them, the WI's dint look so powerful


Australias peak was probably 2001/2002 vs south Africa...now SA had a powerful team (certainly stronger than the Aussie team of 81 the WI's had to face)..Pollock,Donald,Kirsten,Gibbs,Kallis,Kluesne r etc.

I think that Aussie team absolutely matches up against that WI's team:
Langer
Hayden
Ponting
Mark Waugh
Steve Waugh
Martyn
Gilchrist
Warne
Lee
Gillespie
McGrath

When did a WI's team so utterly thrash a second ranked team so convincingly..I dont think they did...in fact when did the WI's actually play against a team as powerful as that SA side?

[FaaipDeOiad]

Originally Posted by marc71178

I was going on those 2 being at their peak right now!

Ahh.

[FaaipDeOiad]

Just as another method of comparison, I thought I'd check out the PwC ratings for the (actually fielded) teams picked as the best for each side, going with the touring West Indies side in Australia in 1981/2 and the Australian team that played South Africa in 2001/2. Obviously, the top 7 in each side have their batting ranks, and the bottom 4 their bowling ranks.

WI 01/01/1982
Gordon Greenidge - 652 (13th)
Desmond Haynes - 649 (14th)
Viv Richards - 908 (1st)
Larry Gomes - 597 (20th)
Faoud Bacchus - 394 (42nd)
Clive Lloyd - 712 (9th)
Jeffrey Dujon - 433 (36th)
-----
Colin Croft - 828 (3rd)
Andy Roberts - 610 (14th)
Michael Holding - 816 (5th)
Joel Garner - 839 (2nd)


AUS 01/03/2002
Justin Langer - 771 (8th)
Matthew Hayden - 874 (3rd)
Ricky Ponting - 660 (20th)
Mark Waugh - 693 (16th)
Steve Waugh - 781 (7th)
Damien Martyn - 806 (5th)
Adam Gilchrist - 867 (4th)
-----
Shane Warne - 718 (7th)
Brett Lee - 617 (15th)
Jason Gillespie - 685 (11th)
Glenn McGrath - 907 (2nd)


So, they compare reasonably well, with the West Indies having the edge in the bowling and Australia in the batting, as most of us figured anyway. Both sides have all their bowlers in the top 15, but the West Indies have three of their 4 bowlers in the top 5, compared to only one Australian.

In terms of the batting, Australia has 5 of their top 7 inside the top 10 compared to two from the west Indies, three in the top 5 like the West Indian bowling, and all 7 inside the top 20, compared to 5 from the West Indies.

The notable gaps are the astonishingly high ranking of the West Indies bowlers, with only Lillee in first and Botham in 4th making it into the top 5 with the West Indian Bowlers at that time, and the strength and depth of Australia's batting, with every member of their top 7 in 2002 considered among the best in the world, while Bacchus and Dujon were a long way behind in 1982, ranked among the likes of Rodney Marsh and Richard Hadlee as batsmen.

[Slifer]

As Ive always sed i would back the Aussies to win in their own backyard 3-2 if the played as conditions are now but the Windies would beat AUst 3-1 in the WI if the conditions were back in the 1970s/1980s