You obviously didn't pay much heed to SS's suggestions, you've got 2 spinners in the team
I'd have the exact same team myself btw.
Haha yea. I did convince him that Flintoff doesn't belong. Here is what I said, and I think it applies:SS is obviously a tool
My suggestions: 1) Flintoff. 3 five wicket hauls in 79 matches just doesn't cut it, in my opinion. Yes, Ashes and all, but we're not talking about the combined Ashes team. Second, if he is in the team, there is no way in bloody hell he should bat ABOVE Gilchrist. 2) Batting. I'd actually have one more full batsman in there, such as Inzamam (Averaged 55 with 17 centuries from 62 matches in 2000s), Dravid, or Chanderpaul.
I think a batting lineup of Hayden, Sehwag, Ponting, Tendulkar, Kallis, Inzamam, Gilchrist is insanely good and has pretty much everything you could ask for. Bowling of McGrath, Pollock and Kallis, with Warne and Murali is more than enough. Since not everyone can bowl (but everyone bats), you start hitting diminishing returns with your bowling quickly after four bowlers (and definitely after five), while that doesn't happen with deep batting really. Secondly, both Warne and Murali will bowl A LOT of overs, so having that extra bowler is just extra uselessness in my opinion.
Yea.Would try to accommodate Inzamam actually, but yeah good team.
Swanneh!1. Matthew Hayden
2. Virender Sehwag
3. Ricky Ponting
4. Brian Lara
5. Jacques Kallis
6. Shivnarene Chanderpaul
7. Adam Gilchrist
8. Graeme Swann
9. Shane Warne
10. Dale Steyn
11. Glenn Mcgrath
[SIZE="3"][B][COLOR="DarkRed"]Player Wkts 5w 10w Avg S/R[/COLOR][/B][/SIZE]
[B]Murali 560 49 20 20.88 50.83[/B]
Ntini 380 18 4 28.55 52.71
Warne 357 21 6 25.17 50.78
[B]McGrath 297 14 2 20.54 51.49[/B]
Pollock 260 6 1 24.77 61.09
Flintof 213 3 0 32.94 66.48
Steyn 170 11 3 24.05 40.19
Swann 57 3 0 31.05 62.89
Over Murali? Maybe a tad.
A push; remove minnows. Murali's record is inflated quite a lot. Not that he isn't superior to Swann .A Gentle nudge . . .
Bowling in the current decadeCode:[SIZE="3"][B][COLOR="DarkRed"]Player Wkts 5w 10w Avg S/R[/COLOR][/B][/SIZE] [B]Murali 560 49 20 20.88 50.83[/B] Ntini 380 18 4 28.55 52.71 Warne 357 21 6 25.17 50.78 [B]McGrath 297 14 2 20.54 51.49[/B] Pollock 260 6 1 24.77 61.09 Flintof 213 3 0 32.94 66.48 Steyn 170 11 3 24.05 40.19 Swann 57 3 0 31.05 62.89
Gillespie over Lee perhaps?
- Hayden
- Sehwag
- Ponting
- Tendulkar
- Dravid
- Kallis
- Gilchrist
- Warne
- Steyn
- Murali
- Macgrath
There are simply too many Aussies and Indians in there. If I had to choose a side only from these two countries t wouldn't be much worse but for the absence of Murali
- Hayden
- Sehwag
- Ponting
- Tendulkar
- Dravid
- Clarke
- Gilchrist
- Warne
- Lee
- Kumble
- Macgrath
Yes, he does.No he doesn't, now you're pushing it a bit.
Would definitely Take Gillespie over Lee myself.
And you'd Kumble/Lee would depend on the pitch
a) He didn't do it well enough for far longer. And Martyn did it for 57 tests; that's enough. This isn't a career analysis where I really care about longevity. Martyn performed better this decade; was more consistent. Only averages sub-40 against 1 team (England) and away from home only averages sub-40 in 1 place (UAE).a) Tendulkar did it for longer over more matches this decade
b) Martyn never faced McGrath, Warne or Gillespie
c) Martyn is a better shout over Michael Clarke.
And as for why Kumble over MacGill? Because on a turner I'd take Kumble anyday because he won more matches for his team this decade.
Where did I say he wasn't? I'd say Sachin is more than 'very good' against both pace and spin, and has been this decade.Martyn was a very good player of both pace and spin