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Best Test batting line-ups

chasingthedon

International Regular
Interested to know what people think are the best batting line-ups ever fielded in Tests. The obvious choices would be 2000s Australia and mid-80s West Indies, but of course there have been other great line-ups going back to early England line-ups featuring the likes of Ranji, Maclaren, Stoddart, Grace, FS Jackson and Abel and early Australia with Hill, Trumper, Armstrong, Duff, Macartney etc. Some great Indian line-ups recently also, South Africa 1960s, etc.

One of my favourites was the 1960s England line-up when I first got into cricket (Boycott, Edrich, Barrington, Cowdrey, Graveney)

Anyone have any others to nominate?
 

Satyanash89

Banned
2000s Australia are the best ever in my opinion... astonishing lineup... all the way down to 7 you had people who could single-handedly turn the match around. Gilchritst was the one to make the difference, which is why I think the lineup was better than 80s Windies, otherwise it's pretty close

Obviously as an Indian, our late 2000s lineup is one I think was extremely special. The fact that Gambhir, Sehwag, Dravid, Tendulkar, Laxman, Dhoni all hit prime batting form in 2007-2010 was simply amazing to watch and completely compensated for us having a **** attack, apart from Zaheer. To reach number 1 in the test rankings with such a mediocre attack was a testament to how amazingly consistent those guys were.

Also, Bradman's Australia of the 30's and 40's had Morris, Hassett, Don, McCabe, Harvey, Miller... pretty great
 

Spark

Global Moderator
Australia at Brisbane/Adelaide 06, with a slight modification to the batting order:

Hayden
Langer
Ponting
Martyn
Clarke
Hussey
Gilchrist

Have fun bowling to that if each player is in good nick.
 

Red

The normal awards that everyone else has
- Morris
- Barnes
- Bradman
- Hassett
- Miller
- Harvey


- Hayden
- Langer
- Ponting
- M. Waugh
- S. Waugh
- Lehmann
- Gilchrist
 

Coronis

Cricketer Of The Year
SA's current lineup looks pretty decent

Smith
Peterson
Amla
Kallis
de Villiers
du Plessis
 

kyear2

Cricketer Of The Year
1966 W.I

Hunte
McMorris
Kanhai
Butcher
Nurse
Sobers

Only weakness was at number two, which was a problem through out Hunte's career.
 

watson

Banned
Don't know about being the best batting line-ups, but the respective sides of the 1930 Ashes series in England were both something special. As far as sheer aesthetics is concerned, I don't think there have been a better match-up in the history of cricket. Or at least I can't think of any other;

2nd Test: England v Australia at Lord's, Jun 27-Jul 1, 1930 | Cricket Scorecard | ESPN Cricinfo

Australia
01. Woodfull
02. Ponsford
03. Bradman
04. Kippax
05. McCabe
06. Richardson

England
01. Hobbs
02. Woolley
03. Hammond
04. Duleepsinjhi
05. Hendren
06. Chapman
 

Coronis

Cricketer Of The Year
I really wish I had been alive in the 30's... when you think of the players Aus/Eng had, and the sides they could have put together. Woodfull, Ponsford, Jackson, Brown, Bradman, Kippax, McCabe, Richardson, Hobbs, Sutcliffe, Woolley, Duleepsinjhi, Hammond, Hendren, Jardine, Hutton. Not to mention the bowlers..
 

NUFAN

Y no Afghanistan flag
One of the strongest Tests lineups ever:

1 Smith
2 Sehwag
3 Dravid
4 Lara
5 Kallis
6 Inzamam
7 Flintoff
 

Maximas

Cricketer Of The Year
Yeah I wouldn't have swapped our lineup for there's but individually this world XI is gun and could perform if given more chances together.
That team was under-prepared and not really taking it seriously, Flintoff said he was only doing it for the food or something.
 

cricmahanty

School Boy/Girl Captain
Hayden
Langer
Ponting
Martyn
Clarke
Hussey
Gilchrist

This would probably rate alongside the star-studded Indian batting line-up from not so long ago as the two best batting line-ups I've seen in my time. The current SA batting attack is pretty gun as well and in the long run, it'd probably make an even bigger name of itself.

The 60's West Indies batting line-up must have been such a treat to the eyes of those who were fortunate enough to have witnessed it from up close. Hunte, Butcher, Kanhai, Nurse and Sobers were all such flairy, entertaining and gifted batsmen that they could make batting look as easy as spreading butter on your toast.
 

Red

The normal awards that everyone else has
Greenidge
Haynes
Richardson
Hooper
Richards
Lloyd
Dujon


Stands out from my childhood. Thought they were all so cool.
 

Flametree

International 12th Man
Turned out not to be test matches but the Rest of the World xi top and middle order - all of whom played all 5 matches - from 1970 wasn't too shabby...

Richards B
Barlow
Kanhai
Pollock
Sobers
Lloyd
Procter

+ Mushtaq Mohammad played a couple of matches and presumably pushed Procter down to 8 or 9 depending on whether the keeper came in first. England did well to keep that series relatively competitive.
 

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