SJS
Hall of Fame Member
There seems to be a bit of association of certain countires with certain types of skills. Openers from England, Spinners from India (generally) leg spinners from Australia and so on.
I have tried to look at it and tried to make assign positions in a team to countries rather than individual players. Here is what I ended up with.
Openers :
England seems to have an edge over other countries in producing a string of high class classic openers. The moving ball of the English summer, the resultant necessicity to play with a straighter bat seems to have influenced batsmen over the years.
Hobbs, Sutcliffe and Hutton would be on every shortlist of openers. Boycott would find an honourable mention too.
So I would allot the opening positions to the Ol' Blighty. If we wanted to be a bit more 'democratic'/diplomatic, I would give the number two spot to Australia who have had successful (if different) openers in Trumper, Woodfull, Ponsford in the olden days, Simpson and Lawry and now Hayden.
By the way, South Africa have also produced some outstanding opners in Mitchell, Barry Richards and GC Smith. Other countries havent done a consistent job at the top of the order which can be attributed to the quality of wickets (making it easier for batsmen at home) or a very aggressive batting style (Windies?) ...maybe.
The batsman with stats (runs and averages in that position) are:
- Sutcliffe : 4522 at 61.1
- Hutton : 6721 at 56.5
- Hobbs : 5130 at 56.4
One Down :
This is as much a specialist position as the openers. Here Both Australia and England have had a great succession of players. England with Hammond, Barrington and Dexter are, however, not as strong a pool as the Bradman led Australians. Bradman, Hassett, Harvey and Ponting make a very successful foursome. There are others too.
West Indies actually have a strong claim with Headley, Richards and Kanhai and I almost put them there but then thoughtit wasnt as strong as the Australians. Its a tough one. If only Sobers had played more often at number three where he averaged 72.1 for 1009 runs !!
Bradman just about tipped the scales for the Aussies here. So I chose Australia at number three.
- Bradman : 5078 at 102.3
- Ponting : 6294 at 66.3
- Hassett : 1009 at 56.1
West Indies were :
- Sobers : 1009 at 72.1
- Headley : 2064 at 71.2
- Richards : 3508 at 61.5
- Kanhai : 4689 at 52.7
(I am still not sure if I should have taken Windies !!)
Middle Order (4 & 5)
I dont think its fair to spilt these two positions since batsmen tend to play at both and the demands are the same.
West Indies have easily the most impressive middle order over time.
Weekes (63.6) Worrell (59.5), Walcott (59.2), Sobers (63.8), Lara (50.7) make a terrifying prospect for any bowling side (and we had to leave out Lloyd - 46.5).
No other side comes close to this though South Africa with Kallis, Graeme Pollock and Nourse are very impressive too.
All Rounder :
This was another tough one. Australia have Miller, Noble, Giffen, Benaud and Davidson while England have Botham, Tony Greig, Rhodes, Flintoff as top of the line and Bailey and Illingworth not to be scoffed at.
Other teams were relatively weak in this with only India having two world class all rounders in Mankad and Kapil.
I gave it to England.
Wicket Keeper :
Another tough one between the old enemies.
England have some absolute greats in the past with Evans, Strudwick, Ames, Knott and Taylor while Australia have had greater talent in more recent times. There list reads Oldfield, Grout, Healy, Marsh and Gilchrist.
Other teams have been nowhere near as prolific in producing great glovemen.
Being a technician and preffering a great keeper to a batsman keeper, I chose England after much deliberation.
Leg Spinner :
There really has been no comparison with Australia's wrist spinners university. Orielly, Grimmett, Warne and Benaud are a shortlist that probably contains three of the greatest bowlers of all times.
England, have never had a great tradition for spinners inspite of Freeman. In fact South Africa with their foursome in early 20th century and India with Gupte, Chandra and Kumble (last two unorthodox) have been the next most impressive after Aussies.
Pakistan with Qadir, the two Mushtaq'a and Kaneria are also not bad at all.
The choice of Australia was easy.
Left arm spinner:
Monty Panesar has a proud heritage to look back at. England have a legendry line up of left arm finger spinners. Its unfortunate that the last of that list played nearly three decades ago.
- Bobby Peel 101 wkts at 16.9
- Johnny Briggs 118 at 17.8
- Blythe 100 at 18.6
- Jhonny Wardle 102 at 20.4
- Verity 144 at 24.4
- Rhodes 127 at 26.9
- Underwood 297 at 25.8
No other country comes anywhere near such a line up. Australia for some strange reason havent had much of a champion, EVER, who spun the ball with his left hand in the orthodox manner. India had Bedi, Pakistan Qadir and Windies the somewhat unorthodox Valentine.
I leave the off spinner for the time being.
Fast Bowlers.
Most countries have great fast bowling traditions. (India maybe excused).
Australia starting with the Demon Spofforth, and later Miller and Lindwall, Lillee and Thomson, MacGrath, McKenzie.
England with : Richardson, Larwood, Tyson, Trueman, Statham and Snow
But no one can touch the West Indies starting with the startling pace of Constantine and Martindale, going on to Hall and Griffith and then that unending line of Roberts, Holding, Garner, Croft, Bishop, Marshall, Ambrose, Walsh and Croft. For a team that started playing test cricket half a century after the two leading nations, West Indies has produced probably the most amazing lineup of specialist in one specialist skill, fearsome, furious fast bowling. I had no hesitation to award this place to the Windies.
Medium Pace
The weather conditions overhead andunderfoot in England make accurate medium pace bowling a very rewarding skill to acquire. The long and extremely talented list that follows does not need any explanation why this selection isnt even being discussed further.
- Ferris 61wkts at 12.7
- Lohmann 112 at 10.7
- Barnes 189 at 16.4
- Bedser 236 at 24.9
- Tate : 155 at 26.2
In Barnes this list has arguably the greatest bowler of any kind that ever existed. In Bedser and Tate two of the greatest medium pacers ever. In Ferris and Lohmann two legends of the early years of the international game.
That gives a side as
- Openers - England (Australia)
- One down - Australia (West Indies)
- Middle Order (4 and 5) - West Indies
- All Rounder - England
- Keeper - England
- Leg Spinner - Australia
- Left Arm Spin - England
- Fast - West Indies
- Medium Pace - England
(To Be continued)
I have tried to look at it and tried to make assign positions in a team to countries rather than individual players. Here is what I ended up with.
Openers :
England seems to have an edge over other countries in producing a string of high class classic openers. The moving ball of the English summer, the resultant necessicity to play with a straighter bat seems to have influenced batsmen over the years.
Hobbs, Sutcliffe and Hutton would be on every shortlist of openers. Boycott would find an honourable mention too.
So I would allot the opening positions to the Ol' Blighty. If we wanted to be a bit more 'democratic'/diplomatic, I would give the number two spot to Australia who have had successful (if different) openers in Trumper, Woodfull, Ponsford in the olden days, Simpson and Lawry and now Hayden.
By the way, South Africa have also produced some outstanding opners in Mitchell, Barry Richards and GC Smith. Other countries havent done a consistent job at the top of the order which can be attributed to the quality of wickets (making it easier for batsmen at home) or a very aggressive batting style (Windies?) ...maybe.
The batsman with stats (runs and averages in that position) are:
- Sutcliffe : 4522 at 61.1
- Hutton : 6721 at 56.5
- Hobbs : 5130 at 56.4
One Down :
This is as much a specialist position as the openers. Here Both Australia and England have had a great succession of players. England with Hammond, Barrington and Dexter are, however, not as strong a pool as the Bradman led Australians. Bradman, Hassett, Harvey and Ponting make a very successful foursome. There are others too.
West Indies actually have a strong claim with Headley, Richards and Kanhai and I almost put them there but then thoughtit wasnt as strong as the Australians. Its a tough one. If only Sobers had played more often at number three where he averaged 72.1 for 1009 runs !!
Bradman just about tipped the scales for the Aussies here. So I chose Australia at number three.
- Bradman : 5078 at 102.3
- Ponting : 6294 at 66.3
- Hassett : 1009 at 56.1
West Indies were :
- Sobers : 1009 at 72.1
- Headley : 2064 at 71.2
- Richards : 3508 at 61.5
- Kanhai : 4689 at 52.7
(I am still not sure if I should have taken Windies !!)
Middle Order (4 & 5)
I dont think its fair to spilt these two positions since batsmen tend to play at both and the demands are the same.
West Indies have easily the most impressive middle order over time.
Weekes (63.6) Worrell (59.5), Walcott (59.2), Sobers (63.8), Lara (50.7) make a terrifying prospect for any bowling side (and we had to leave out Lloyd - 46.5).
No other side comes close to this though South Africa with Kallis, Graeme Pollock and Nourse are very impressive too.
All Rounder :
This was another tough one. Australia have Miller, Noble, Giffen, Benaud and Davidson while England have Botham, Tony Greig, Rhodes, Flintoff as top of the line and Bailey and Illingworth not to be scoffed at.
Other teams were relatively weak in this with only India having two world class all rounders in Mankad and Kapil.
I gave it to England.
Wicket Keeper :
Another tough one between the old enemies.
England have some absolute greats in the past with Evans, Strudwick, Ames, Knott and Taylor while Australia have had greater talent in more recent times. There list reads Oldfield, Grout, Healy, Marsh and Gilchrist.
Other teams have been nowhere near as prolific in producing great glovemen.
Being a technician and preffering a great keeper to a batsman keeper, I chose England after much deliberation.
Leg Spinner :
There really has been no comparison with Australia's wrist spinners university. Orielly, Grimmett, Warne and Benaud are a shortlist that probably contains three of the greatest bowlers of all times.
England, have never had a great tradition for spinners inspite of Freeman. In fact South Africa with their foursome in early 20th century and India with Gupte, Chandra and Kumble (last two unorthodox) have been the next most impressive after Aussies.
Pakistan with Qadir, the two Mushtaq'a and Kaneria are also not bad at all.
The choice of Australia was easy.
Left arm spinner:
Monty Panesar has a proud heritage to look back at. England have a legendry line up of left arm finger spinners. Its unfortunate that the last of that list played nearly three decades ago.
- Bobby Peel 101 wkts at 16.9
- Johnny Briggs 118 at 17.8
- Blythe 100 at 18.6
- Jhonny Wardle 102 at 20.4
- Verity 144 at 24.4
- Rhodes 127 at 26.9
- Underwood 297 at 25.8
No other country comes anywhere near such a line up. Australia for some strange reason havent had much of a champion, EVER, who spun the ball with his left hand in the orthodox manner. India had Bedi, Pakistan Qadir and Windies the somewhat unorthodox Valentine.
I leave the off spinner for the time being.
Fast Bowlers.
Most countries have great fast bowling traditions. (India maybe excused).
Australia starting with the Demon Spofforth, and later Miller and Lindwall, Lillee and Thomson, MacGrath, McKenzie.
England with : Richardson, Larwood, Tyson, Trueman, Statham and Snow
But no one can touch the West Indies starting with the startling pace of Constantine and Martindale, going on to Hall and Griffith and then that unending line of Roberts, Holding, Garner, Croft, Bishop, Marshall, Ambrose, Walsh and Croft. For a team that started playing test cricket half a century after the two leading nations, West Indies has produced probably the most amazing lineup of specialist in one specialist skill, fearsome, furious fast bowling. I had no hesitation to award this place to the Windies.
Medium Pace
The weather conditions overhead andunderfoot in England make accurate medium pace bowling a very rewarding skill to acquire. The long and extremely talented list that follows does not need any explanation why this selection isnt even being discussed further.
- Ferris 61wkts at 12.7
- Lohmann 112 at 10.7
- Barnes 189 at 16.4
- Bedser 236 at 24.9
- Tate : 155 at 26.2
In Barnes this list has arguably the greatest bowler of any kind that ever existed. In Bedser and Tate two of the greatest medium pacers ever. In Ferris and Lohmann two legends of the early years of the international game.
That gives a side as
- Openers - England (Australia)
- One down - Australia (West Indies)
- Middle Order (4 and 5) - West Indies
- All Rounder - England
- Keeper - England
- Leg Spinner - Australia
- Left Arm Spin - England
- Fast - West Indies
- Medium Pace - England
(To Be continued)