Best vs Rest

[Meg]

So it's still a bit of a way off but since the teams have roughly been made what do you think of the players that have been picked for the test and ODI squad and those that have been left out? And what will Aus compare to the rest of the world?

 

[Swervy]

So it's still a bit of a way off but since the teams have roughly been made what do you think of the players that have been picked for the test and ODI squad and those that have been left out? And what will Aus compare to the rest of the world?

please explain????

 

[Meg]

It's a friendly between the best team in the world in tests and ODI's (which is Aus) and a team of the 11 best players in the world (besides Aus players of course) playing against them. *What do u think of the players selected in the "rest of the world" side for both the OD and test as well as the captains *How will Aus compare to the rest of the world?

 

[Lions81]

Honestly, I don't like this Australia vs. Rest of the World business. Let's stick with Asia vs. Rest of the World, as I think that's far more entertaining. Imagine an ODI or even a Test match with these two competing teams:

Asia XI:
Sanath Jaysuriya
Virender Sehwag
Rahul Dravid
Sachin Tendulkar
Inzamam ul-Haq (c)
Habibul Bashar
Kumara Sangakkara (wk)
Mohammad Sami
Anil Kumble
Shoaib Akhtar
Muttiah Muralitharan

World XI:
Graeme Smith
Matthew Hayden
Brian Lara
Ricky Ponting
Jacques Kallis
Stephen Fleming (c)
Adam Gilchrist
Heath Streak
Shane Warne
Shane Bond
Steve Harmison

That would be real fun!

 

[Langeveldt]

The rest of the world v Australia matches in SA... dont know when they are...

 

[Swervy]

It's a friendly between the best team in the world in tests and ODI's (which is Aus) and a team of the 11 best players in the world (besides Aus players of course) playing against them. *What do u think of the players selected in the "rest of the world" side for both the OD and test as well as the captains *How will Aus compare to the rest of the world?

i thought thats what you were on about, but I didnt know when it is being played (next year?) and where is a list of who is playing?

 

[Swervy]

Honestly, I don't like this Australia vs. Rest of the World business. Let's stick with Asia vs. Rest of the World, as I think that's far more entertaining. Imagine an ODI or even a Test match with these two competing teams:

Asia XI:
Sanath Jaysuriya
Virender Sehwag
Rahul Dravid
Sachin Tendulkar
Inzamam ul-Haq (c)
Habibul Bashar
Kumara Sangakkara (wk)
Mohammad Sami
Anil Kumble
Shoaib Akhtar
Muttiah Muralitharan

World XI:
Graeme Smith
Matthew Hayden
Brian Lara
Ricky Ponting
Jacques Kallis
Stephen Fleming (c)
Adam Gilchrist
Heath Streak
Shane Warne
Shane Bond
Steve Harmison

That would be real fun!

why Asia vs ROW?

I dont think that rest of the world team you have chosen is particularly strong bowling wise...where is Gillespie,Pollock etc.

 

[Meg]

i thought thats what you were on about, but I didnt know when it is being played (next year?) and where is a list of who is playing?

It's still a long way away in 2005. I found the players in an article in an SA cricket mag.

 

[Lions81]

why Asia vs ROW?

I dont think that rest of the world team you have chosen is particularly strong bowling wise...where is Gillespie,Pollock etc.

Well I had placed a sort of quota on players from each team. Australia clearly have a lot of deserving players, but I felt since the ROW side would have six teams, and that each team deserves at least one selection, that Australia could have no more than 4, and since Gilchrist is the world's best keeper he's an automatic inclusion, and I couldn't leave out Hayden and Ponting. Then for my one bowler, Warne, since he's the second-best spinner in the world. If I take out Harmison, I figure I would replace England's selection with Vaughan, so maybe take out Smith and put in Pollock, but honestly I'd prefer Ntini. I'm not so high on Pollock's medium pace. (And that's really all he bowls, despite what Cricinfo says, he is not Fast Medium, and barely bowls Medium Fast as it is.) Bond is excellent, Zimbabwe need a candidate so Streak. So if Zimbabwe are eliminated, I'd put n Gillespie for sure. Gillespie and Bond would be a formidable opening combination with Ntini first-change and Warne as the spinner.

 

[marc71178]

The calling of Gilchrist best keeper in the world is debateable.

For mine - rest:

Smith (c)
Vaughan
Dravid
Lara
SRT
Kallis
Boucher (wk)
Pollock
Akhtar
Harmison
Murali

 

[BlackCap_Fan]

The calling of Gilchrist best keeper in the world is debateable.

For mine - rest:

Smith (c)
Vaughan
Dravid
Lara
SRT
Kallis
Boucher (wk)
Pollock
Akhtar
Harmison
Murali

Do you rate Smith as a better captain than Fleming?

 

[marc71178]

Not necessarily, but there's no way Fleming gets in that middle order IMO - he just simply isn't good enough.

If it weren't for Smith's captaincy (and the fact there's no clear alternative in the other 10 players) I'd probably have his opening partner with Vaughan.

 

[Langeveldt]

My rest of world

1. GC Smith
2. HH Gibbs
3. JH Kallis
4. BC Lara
5. I Ul Haq
6. R Dravid (cpt) (wk)
7. SM Pollock
8. S Akhtar
9. D Tuffey
10. M Ntini
11. M Muralitharan

 

[Lions81]

The calling of Gilchrist best keeper in the world is debateable.

For mine - rest:

Smith (c)
Vaughan
Dravid
Lara
SRT
Kallis
Boucher (wk)
Pollock
Akhtar
Harmison
Murali

Sure, anything is debatable. They debated for hundreds of years whether the Sun traveled around the Earth or not or whether the Earth was flat. But this debate has the same merits as those ones.

First, there's the simple matter of averages. Boucher's is a tidy 30.85, and Gilchrist's is a phenomenal 54.35. Yes maybe Gilchrist's average is helped by the fact that he comes in at 7, oh wait, so does Boucher, and Boucher even comes in at 8. The difference being that Boucher gets out so much more often than Gilchrist because he is a far inferior batsman. Advantage Gilchrist.

Then, there's the wicketkeeping. Purists would argue that this is the only merits on which a wicketkeeper should be assessed, but the game has changed. Wicketkeepers have only to be average at best if they provide runs, and with the differential between Gilchrist and Boucher, Gilchrist need only be poor while Boucher needs to be superb. The stats don't bear this difference out. Boucher has 271 catches in 74 matches for an average of 3.66 a match. Gilchrist on the other hand has 206 catches in 54 matches for an average of 3.81. This says to me that the two are at least comparable. Advantage Gilchrist, or push at best. These numbers just don't scream that Gilchrist is far worse a keeper, or worse enough so as to overlook the difference in averages.

And perhaps even more shocking is that you take Fleming out of the mix because his batting is not up to snuff, but you put Boucher in? It doesn't compute for me.

And making Graeme Smith the captain is not too bright an idea, in my opinion. I think judging from his poor captaincy in England, where they managed to hand England a draw, and in New Zealand, where he showed he has no idea how to manage an ODI, Smith has shown he has no business captaining South Africa, let alone a World XI side.

 

[Lions81]

My rest of world

1. GC Smith
2. HH Gibbs
3. JH Kallis
4. BC Lara
5. I Ul Haq
6. R Dravid (cpt) (wk)
7. SM Pollock
8. S Akhtar
9. D Tuffey
10. M Ntini
11. M Muralitharan

Gibbs and Tuffey have no real business in that lineup, and if Bond is fit, then neither does Ntini. Sehwag is a better opener than Gibbs is, not by much, but by enough, and so is Vaughan.

But are we now talking about a Test lineup or an ODI lineup? Because Dravid keeping in a Test is bad news for me. But I suppose there really isn't any other better keeper who can bat. Sangakkara would be an option for me.

 

[Lions81]

Do you rate Smith as a better captain than Fleming?

Well Fleming just made Smith look downright silly on the Proteas recent tour of New Zealand, with what most cricket experts agree is an inferior team on paper, so captaincy must have had something to do with it. Smith even admitted as much, saying Fleming sledged him and threw him off his game. It's bad enough you let that get to you, but then to admit it. For such a hulk of a man, he's pretty soft.

 

[Deja moo]

Were Andy Flower still playing today, would he have been preferred over Gilchrist?

 

[Lions81]

Were Andy Flower still playing today, would he have been preferred over Gilchrist?

Oh yes, absolutely. Especially as putting Flower in would free up a spot for another Australian, so Gillespie could come in to bolster the attack.

 

[Craig]

Gilchrist is the world's best keeper he's an automatic inclusion

Best keeper-batsman, soley on keeping alone I think Taibu gets the nod (he can be gritty with the bat) and bond isnt fit at the moment or fit enough to be in the NZ team if the reports are correct.

Tests:
*GC Smith
ML Hayden
BC Lara
SRT
VVS Laxman
+T Taibu
HH Streak
SK Warne
JN Gillespie
Shoaib Ahktar
M Muralitharan

12th man:JH Kallis

ODIS:
GH Gayle (is a good bowler in that form of the game)
V Sehwag
*RT Ponting
BC Lara
SRT
A Flintoff
+MV Boucher
SM Pollock
JN Gillespie
Shoaib
M Muralitharan

12th man: JH Kallis.

 

[Craig]

For such a hulk of a man, he's pretty soft.

Like the time he told Lance Klusener to go and get...(you can use your imagination for the next lot of words)?