Tough to say, even on a player-by-player comparison. On pure talent, there are equal amounts on both sides with the West Indians probably being superior on the player comparison. But one thing they both had was an unquenchable will to win. Either way, the team that won 16 Tests in a row vs the Lloyd West Indians went like this I think:
Michael Slater vs Gordon Greenidge
Both players had comparable averages (44 for Greenidge, 42 for Slater) and similar attacking play so I'd say this one is too close to call in terms of who was the superior player. Both have played innings under pressure and have similar top scores too..............looking at their careers, it's quite frightening how similar these guys are!
Blewett vs Haynes
Haynes wins out here, hands down. Blewwy had the potential to be an incredible player but for some reasons (some of which include being messed with by the selectors), including technical ones, Blewwy came up short as a Test player. One thing, though; it wasn't ability.
Haynes was one of the most complete opening batsmen of all time with a sound defence, every shot in the book without a preference for any of them (possibly leg-glances and drives) and the grit and determination of the hardest fighter. A proven legend.
Justin Langer vs Viv Richards
Do we even need to look at this?
Justin Langer touched (and is continuing to do so) some incredible form in the 1999-2000 home summer but to ven compare him to Viv is a stretch.
Lawrence Rowe/Richie Richardson vs Mark Waugh
Both were equally talented and similarly styled but Lawrence Rowe never took advantage of his talent like Mark Waugh did.
Richie Richardson was an immensely gifted player and I used to admire the sheer arrogance of his play and for pure brutal talent was up there with the best but after his break-down in the mid-90's, was never the same player. When a player who was previously proud of never wearing a helmet starts wearing one, you know his confidence has taken a beating and if there was one thing Ritchie's play needed it was confidence. So for displaying taent over a long period of time, Mark Waugh wins out again, even though they were on par when their confidence was at their highest.
Clive Lloyd vs Steve Waugh
Steve Waugh wins this one easily. Clive was a heck of a player and after Packer, was up there with the best for pure hitters but Steve Waugh is the finer batsman of the two quite comfortably.
Larry Gomes/Gus Logie vs Ricky Ponting
Tough to say because Larry Gomes and Gus Logie were proven consistent performers and Rick Ponting is well on the way but for pure batting talent, Ponting is the man.
Jeffery Dujon vs Adam Gilchrist
Adam Gilchrist is the superior batsman by quite a distance but Dujon just beats Gilchrist for keeping skills at this stage.
As for the bowlers, well there were so many in each team at any one time, it's hard to say but overall, the WI team had the best overall strength in bowling with Holding, Roberts, Marshall, Garner and Walsh but the Aussies have some standout individual performers. Glenn McGrath and Shane Warne compare quite favourably to all of the West Indian bowlers but other than that, the West Indians trounce the Aussie bowling. Jason Gillespie is yet to prove just how good he is so he doesnt really compare to the West Indian proven performers but he will show us in he coming years I think.
And therein lies the problem; we're comparing players who have long since finished their career with those who are yet to finish. It's a tough comparison to make because Jason Gillespie could prove to be one of the greatest ever bowlers; Justin Langer and Mat Hayden have already equalled the number of 200+ partnerships Greenidge and Haynes were involved in and they've only been playing together for just over a year and Warnie may yet surprise us.
Anyway, as for individual contests I would have liked to have seen between these guys, here we go:
Gordon Greenidge and Glenn McGrath: Both snarling competitors; would be a joy to watch.
Viv Richards and Glenn Mcrath or Shane Warne: All three like to dominate and Viv used to thrive if anyone gave him any verbals so with both Glenn and Shane unable to keep their mouth shut, I have a sneaking suspicion who would win but it'd be great to watch anyway!
Michael Holding and Mark Waugh: Two of the smoothest players in cricket, this would be a contest of who can look the coolest while winning the contest.
Malcolm Marshall and Mike Slater: Some fireworks here. Marshall didn't like being hit for runs and Michael used to love belting the best bowlers around so this would be interesting.
Gordon Greenidge and Shane Warne: I'd just be interested to see how Gordon would have tried to dominate Warne.
