Last Poll: Skipper for Post WW2 Dream XI

[bagapath]

Please choose the captain for the Post WW2 Dream XI

The team is

1. Sir Len Hutton
2. Sunil Gavaskar
3. Sir Viv Richards
4. Brian Lara
5. Sachin Tendulkar
6. Sir Gary Sobers
7. Adam Gilchrist (wk)
8. Sir Richard Hadlee
9. Malcolm Marshall
10. Shane Warne
11. Dennis Lillee


I am keeping all those in the poll who captained their countries at least once; and also adding Shane Warne as a wild card.

 

[bagapath]

i know he was conservative and a tad defensive. but i think sir len hutton has the stature to tower above this team of superstars and mercurial players and drive them to victory after victory with his tactical and diplomatic skills.

 

[ripper868]

Sobers for mine

 

[age_master]

Warne was a brilliant captain and has the ego to put himself above all of the others.

 

[adharcric]

Warne was a brilliant captain and has the ego to put himself above all of the others.

 

[Athlai]

Warne was a brilliant captain and has the ego to put himself above all of the others.

 

[gwo]

Think he means he's not a ****king punce of a captain who is too afraid to bowl himself (the main reason people don't like bowlers as captain).

ftr, voted Sobers.

 

[gwo]

I think he mean's he wishes Warne was the captain of Australia.

not 100% on this one tho.

 

[fredfertang]

I remember seeing a television programme in the 80’s in which Len Hutton was interviewed by Donald Trelford – unlike virtually all of his contemporaries he said, when asked about limited overs cricket, that he thought he would have enjoyed playing the one day game – later on, when asked about comparisons between himself and Denis Compton, he also said that he thought he batted the way he did because of his Yorkshire upbringing and that had he been a Londoner too then he believed he’d have batted more like Compo

So while history remembers both his batting and captaincy as tending to be somewhat dour and unadventurous his thinking clearly wasn’t one-dimensional so I’d give the job to Sir Len.

 

[The Sean]

I remember seeing a television programme in the 80’s in which Len Hutton was interviewed by Donald Trelford – unlike virtually all of his contemporaries he said, when asked about limited overs cricket, that he thought he would have enjoyed playing the one day game – later on, when asked about comparisons between himself and Denis Compton, he also said that he thought he batted the way he did because of his Yorkshire upbringing and that had he been a Londoner too then he believed he’d have batted more like Compo
So while history remembers both his batting and captaincy as tending to be somewhat dour and unadventurous his thinking clearly wasn’t one-dimensional so I’d give the job to Sir Len.

This is very true.

Hutton these days has a reputation as a somewhat dour and defensive batsman, but the truth is he was a strokeplayer of absolutely the highest quality - his 37 (out of 49) before somewhat unluckily being out hit wicket against Australia in 1946/47 is still one of the most celebrated of all short innings. Indeed, in his early days before WWII he had a reputation I believe as something of a dasher, before settling down into opening the "proper" way. There's a great story of him being told one day by one of the old county pros that "It's all very well scoring your 70s and 80s before lunch, but you're opening for Yorkshire now son so don't be so bloody silly!" As Vic Marks wrote, once he resumed after the war, Hutton was very rarely "silly."

 

[JBH001]

Haha! Yeah, have heard the same story, and reports of Hutton being a bit of a dasher pre-war. His arm injury would also, I think, have had an effect on his post-war batting being more conservative (not to mention that English cricket was in a poor state at the time, and Hutton would have had greater responsibility placed on his shoulders).

I am picking Hutton. Nothing against Warne, but I dont think a man who never captained his country should lead a side like this. No objections to him being VC though.

 

[zaremba]

Norman Gifford

 

[weldone]

Hutton, because you don't need a very innovative captain when captaining a side of superlative players with superhuman capabilities...rather you need a very methodical captain who knows when to throw the ball to whom, what should be the field placement in a given scenario, when to declare your innings etc. etc.....

 

[SJS]

I am picking Hutton. Nothing against Warne, but I dont think a man who never captained his country should lead a side like this. No objections to him being VC though.

Thats very valid and I thought a lot. I finally voted Warne only because the field isnt all that strong. But you are right.