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    Black Caps generic thread

    You won't find England or Australia playing a less-than-full-strength team against the minnows, and they are the best teams around. They believe that it's best to get the team used to working together as a unit against both good and bad. And why do you want your senior players to be used only...
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    \\ Decade Squads //

    There's obviously no point in posting these things unless someone's prepared to debate them, so here's a few quibbles which will probably not convince you to change your team. Herbie Taylor was an opener, not a number five, so I think we need someone else. Since he's not been in any of the...
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    \\ Decade Squads //

    His not being a regular in the England side wasn't exactly Jessop's fault. He was most often omitted by Martin Hawke, who may well be the person who has lost most Test matches without playing in them. Australia were both amazed and extremely grateful that he was let out against them so often...
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    Botham vs Flintoff

    Eddie's right. You're an idiot. Gregory and Macdonald for a start. Cheers, Mike
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    \\ Decade Squads //

    A couple of very plausible teams, but I would pick different ones. In the 1900s team, I wouldn't bother with Duff. My first thought wa Maclaren, but then I decided I'd have George Gunn instead. I also refuse to have a 1900-1909 team which doesn't include Gilbert Jessop, the problem being who to...
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    Botham vs Flintoff

    The only possible competition is from WG Grace, but unfortunately Test cricket hadn't been invented when he was at his peak. I just don't think Sobers was the best batsman, the best bowler or the best close catcher, and that there were some people slightly better at each specialism. Cheers, Mike
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    ***Official*** NatWest Series/Challenge

    Key is the player for whom Richard's first-chance average was devised, since it's about 2.73. We used to complain that Ramprakash kept gettijng to 20 but not 30. With Key, it would be getting into double figures but not passing 20. Once he gets to 30, Key is indeed a very good batsman. But he...
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    The Ashes are coming home!

    It's cheating to say the current team is stronger when it has eleven players and the 1997 team only has ten. You must have missed out someone totally fogettable, like Mike Smith. Looking at the other replies in this thread, it seems odd that no-one remembers that Atherton and Trescothick made a...
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    Botham vs Flintoff

    Something he and Viv shared, but Sobers didn't, was ruthlessness. Sobers was there to give an exhibition of great batting and, like Victor Trumper, was prone to give it away once he'd had enough amusement. IVAR was there to put the fear of God into the opposition, exuding aggression and power as...
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    ***Official*** NatWest Series/Challenge

    I take your general point, and I'm extremely sympathetic to the line that you can't really be called a world-class bowler without qualification unless you perform most times against most teams wherever you play. The difficulty with assessing Harmison is that he's an extremely poor traveller...
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    ***Official*** NatWest Series/Challenge

    After seeing him go for 16 an over and lose tonight's 20-20 against Lancs virtually single-handed, I don't rate Hoggatd higher than Craig White. If ever enyone needed proof that Hoggard is one of the least useful one-day bowlers in the world, this evening's perfoirmance would do it. It's not...
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    ***Official*** Australia in England (The Ashes)

    Why have you only got Kaspa in the firing line? Gillespie has looked just as awful as Kaspa on this tour. Cheers, Mike
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    Botham vs Flintoff

    No, it's including Kallis in the same bracket as IVAR which is the height of ridiculous exaggeration. You're right that being a South African, Kallis will inevitably be compared to Barry Richards and Graeme Pollock, and will invariably come off by far the worse, whereas Richards only has Sobers...
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    Worlds Scariest Batsmen

    I doubt it, actually. At least in terms of being the bowler as the bloke walks to the crease. With an Afridi, a bowler is going to get an immediate sinking feeling that he is about to get blasted. With Lara, however, bowlers know that he is one of the world's worst starters of an innings, and...
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    ***Official*** NatWest Series/Challenge

    Will you stop being unnecessarily harsh on Anderson? Remember to include the word "yet" with "not good enough" in future. For another couple of years, anyway. In my mind, Anderson is the likeliest-looking successor to Hoggard, and since Hoggard still has a good 2-3 years left, that gives...
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    Botham vs Flintoff

    C. Cheers, Mike
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    The Ashes are coming home!

    Because he's a talented young guy with "Future England Player" written all over him, at a guess. Expect to see him featuring in the lists of likely replacements in about four years time. Cheers, Mike
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    ***Official*** NatWest Series/Challenge

    Yes, his centuries in the 1998-99, 2001 and 2002-3 Ashes were indeed memorable, weren't they? I'm still in favour of retaining Thorpe ahead of Pietersen in the Tests, and will remain so until I'm convinced that the top four can regularly get us to 200-3. Thorpe represents a far better insurance...
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    ***Official*** NatWest Series/Challenge

    Ian Craig? Ian Johnson? And I dare say one or two captains have been told that they wouldn't be being picked for the next series and have decided to hang up their boots rather than have it obvious they'd been dropped - Australian captains traditionally being decided on after the XII have been...
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    Botham vs Flintoff

    I'm beginning to come to the view that the batsman's individual score isn't quite as important as how many runs get made while he's batting. Pietersen wouldn't have been able to win the game yesterday if Jon Lewis and the other tailenders had got themselves out, to take an extreme example - but...

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