Cricket's Grand Slam

[honestbharani]

Apart maybe from the fact that a player or two from the '83 Cup victory might just possibly have been involved in some sort of management\mentoring of someone from the 2007/08 Twenty20 event, I'd struggle to see how anyone could claim any overlap between the two really.

The same country, perhaps?

 

[ret]

The same country, perhaps?

yep, a career grand slam for the team

 

[Matt79]

Are there any players who have played in winning test series in EVERY country where tests are played. That's a worthy career record 'Slam'. Haven't looked, but would suspect Gilly might have been the most recent - assuming you discount Ponting as he missed most of India 2004.

 

[GotSpin]

Are there any players who have played in winning test series in EVERY country where tests are played. That's a worthy career record 'Slam'. Haven't looked, but would suspect Gilly might have been the most recent - assuming you discount Ponting as he missed most of India 2004.

Most of the team that won in India would have won a series in every country

 

[Matt79]

And Gilly would have been the last of them. Guys like Clarke yet to win in England.

 

[GotSpin]

Oh yeah didnt read 'most recent'

 

[Richard]

Are there any players who have played in winning test series in EVERY country where tests are played. That's a worthy career record 'Slam'. Haven't looked, but would suspect Gilly might have been the most recent - assuming you discount Ponting as he missed most of India 2004.

Gilchrist obviously won several in Australia; won in South Africa in 2001/02; won in England in 2001; won in Sri Lanka in 2003/04 and India in 2004/05; New Zealand in 1999/2000 and 2004/05; and West Indies in 2003.

Never played in Pakistan, however - no Australian side has since 1998/99 - so not quite. He did play in a victorious series which was a home series for Pakistan, but not actually in Pakistan. He also never played in Zimbabwe, but given that Australia only faced them in a single Test when they were a Test-standard side and that game was the last match before Gilchrist's debut that isn't a legit demerit.

Of the side that played in the victory in Pakistan in 1998/99, only one - Justin Langer - also featured in the 2003/04 victory in Sri Lanka and the 2004/05 one in India. And that was the first series of Langer's proper career (all his previous games had been as a bit-part replacement player).

Langer, however, did not feature in the full series in England in 2001 - he was dropped for the first four - so in fact no Australian can claim to have won a series in all eight serious Test-playing countries of the current time.

 

[Streetwise]

Langer, however, did not feature in the full series in England in 2001 - he was dropped for the first four - so in fact no Australian can claim to have won a series in all eight serious Test-playing countries of the current time.

So Langer didnt play in the series in England in 2001.

 

[Richard]

Err - noooooooo, he played in it, but like Ponting in India in 2004/05, he did not feature in the full series, nor even the majority of it - by the time the two came back in for the last Test, both series' were already won.

 

[morgieb]

Also, Langer didn't win in Bangladesh due to injury.

Largely due to political reasons, Gilchrist didn't win in Pakistan or Zimbabwe.

Ponting's the closest, but he didn't play for most of the Indian series they actually won.

 

[Streetwise]

Err - noooooooo, he played in it, but like Ponting in India in 2004/05, he did not feature in the full series, nor even the majority of it - by the time the two came back in for the last Test, both series' were already won.

Sorry I wasnt aware of the grand slam bylaws.

 

[bagapath]

interesting thread.

for an individual cricketer, an overseas test series win in at least one sub continental country/ preferably in india, and victories in australia, england and west indies would mean a lot. adding a ODI wc win on top of this would be the icing on the cake. that way viv richards/ mike holding/ adam gilchrist/ glenn mcgrath/ shane warne/ clive lloyd have all had very well rounded cricketing careers. on the other hands achin, for example, may not ever hold a WC and will never be part of a series winning team in australia. that way he will join scores of other great cricketers post retirement with unfulfilled cricketing ambitions.

EDIT: before i finished typing that, the point has already been made by other posters i can see

 

[Richard]

Sorry I wasnt aware of the grand slam bylaws.

Better take it out with the person who suggested them, then.

Are there any players who have played in winning test series in EVERY country where tests are played. That's a worthy career record 'Slam'. Haven't looked, but would suspect Gilly might have been the most recent - assuming you discount Ponting as he missed most of India 2004.

Makes perfect sense to me, though. For a player to have been considered to have "won" a series (it's a bit of an oxymoron, really, as cricket matches and series' are won by teams, not players) he has for me to have at worst played in a live Test of a victorious series, and really, played in all or the majority of the games of a victorious series.

 

[Richard]

Also, Langer didn't win in Bangladesh due to injury.

Yes, but that's really not relevant IMO - about as relevant as not winning in Macedonia.

 

[Streetwise]

Makes perfect sense to me, though. For a player to have been considered to have "won" a series (it's a bit of an oxymoron, really, as cricket matches and series' are won by teams, not players) he has for me to have at worst played in a live Test of a victorious series, and really, played in all or the majority of the games of a victorious series.

So Langer did play in the winning ashes series but you have decided on a technocality he dosent qualify. Well done.

 

[ret]

For an individual player test slam, may be winning in every continent sounds more reasonable: so basically in sub-continent (excluding BD), Africa (SA), Oceania (Aus/NZ), Europe (Eng) and Americas (WI)

 

[Redbacks]

For an individual player test slam, may be winning in every continent sounds more reasonable: so basically in sub-continent (excluding BD), Africa (SA), Oceania (Aus/NZ), Europe (Eng) and Americas (WI)

No offence to NZ but...

 

[Matt79]

If you take 'played in any game of a winning series', only Ponting qualifies I guess, given Langer missed in Bangladesh. If you take a stance that they had to play say, at least half the series, neither do. Either position makes sense IMO. Pakistan will be a missing element for a lot of players for a while I guess

 

[Matt79]

Where have SA won recently?

Kallis' won in SA, Pak, NZ, Zim, India, WI, Bangladesh, England and Australia. SL is the only country missing from his resume.

 

[Richard]

SA's most recent victories in each of the Test-playing countries:
Australia: 2008/09
England: 2008
India: 1999/2000
New Zealand: 1998/99
Pakistan: 2007/08
South Africa: 2007/08
Sri Lanka: 1993/94
West Indies: 2005
Zimbabwe: 2001/02

If Mark Boucher and Jacques Kallis can play through a victory in Sri Lanka they'll have a clean-sweep, as both played full parts in all the above victories since 1998/99.