Beat the ATG XI challenge

[BeeGee]

After skimming through the ATG XI thread I cobbled together this side:

Jack Hobbs
Herbert Sutcliffe
Don Bradman*
Viv Richards
Wally Hammond
Garry Sobers
Adam Gilchrist+
Imran Khan
Richard Hadlee
Malcolm Marshall
Shane Warne

The challenge is, if you should accept it, to name a side that could beat the one listed above. But wait... there's more...
This will be a three test series (in modern times) played at the following venues: Eden Gardens, The WACA and Lords.

You may name a different XI for each game from a squad of 15. The above ATG XI will play in all three games.

Obviously you cannot pick players from the ATG XI listed above.

 

[The Sean]

Victor Trumper
Archie Jackson
Brian Lara
Denis Compton
Stan McCabe
Keith Miller (c)
Alan Knott
Wasim Akram
Ray Lindwall
Harold Larwood
Bill O'Reilly

No idea if they'd win, but jeez I'd enjoy watching them play.

 

[harsh.ag]

After skimming through the ATG XI thread I cobbled together this side:

Jack Hobbs
Herbert Sutcliffe
Don Bradman*
Viv Richards
Wally Hammond
Garry Sobers
Adam Gilchrist+
Imran Khan
Richard Hadlee
Malcolm Marshall
Shane Warne

The challenge is, if you should accept it, to name a side that could beat the one listed above. But wait... there's more...
This will be a three test series (in modern times) played at the following venues: Eden Gardens, The WACA and Lords.

You may name a different XI for each game from a squad of 15. The above ATG XI will play in all three games.

Obviously you cannot pick players from the ATG XI listed above.

The following side would beat the pants off the above side in Eden Gardens. Don't know about Lord's, but at WACA I would bet on this side again:

Barry Richards
Sunil Gavaskar
George Headley
Sachin Tendulkar
Brian Lara
Keith Miller (c)
Les Ames (w)
Sydney Barnes
Glenn McGrath
Muttiah Muralitharan
Curtly Ambrose

Bring it on!

 

[harsh.ag]

Miller wouldn't let the Don win against him, come hell or high water !!

 

[ohnoitsyou]

Gavaskar
Hutton
Headley
Pollock
Lara
Miller
Knott
Akram
Barnes
Murali
McGrath
Ambrose
O'Reilly
Tendulkar
Barry Richards
Joel Garner


Lords:
Gavaskar
Hutton
Headley
Pollock
Tendulkar
Miller
Knott
Barnes
Ambrose
McGrath
O'Reilly

WACA:
Hutton
Richards
Lara
Pollock
Tendulkar
Miller
Knott
Wasim Akram
Curtly Ambrose
Joel Garner
O'Reilly

Eden Gardens:
Gavaskar
Hutton
Headley
Tendulkar
Lara
Miller
Knott
Wasim Akram
McGrath
Murali
O'Reilly

 

[Dan]

If Cribb has a working database (and that's a huge if), we could hypothetically sim this.

 

[Prince EWS]

After skimming through the ATG XI thread I cobbled together this side:

Jack Hobbs
Herbert Sutcliffe
Don Bradman*
Viv Richards
Wally Hammond
Garry Sobers
Adam Gilchrist+
Imran Khan
Richard Hadlee
Malcolm Marshall
Shane Warne

The challenge is, if you should accept it, to name a side that could beat the one listed above. But wait... there's more...
This will be a three test series (in modern times) played at the following venues: Eden Gardens, The WACA and Lords.

You may name a different XI for each game from a squad of 15. The above ATG XI will play in all three games.

Obviously you cannot pick players from the ATG XI listed above.

Funnily enough I think I'd stack the team with the exact type of player I tend to find frustratingly over-rated. Your best chance of winning a game like this would be to conjure up an eleven of players who had the skill and natural ability of those above without the consistency or longevity to make the side ahead of those you named. You'd particularly be looking at those who managed to lift their game against the best opposition of their era; another criteria I tend to find vastly over-rated when rating how good players were in reality. They'd be better bets than an actual Second XI of players slightly worse than the ones already selected, for mine.

Given all that, I can't bring myself to actually name a team.

 

[Prince EWS]

Miller wouldn't let the Don win against him, come hell or high water !!

Well if you're going to pick someone principally for their determination to beat Bradman tactically at all costs then I can think of one bloke who'd be an even better fit than Miller as captain...

 

[Red]

Jack Hobbs
Herbert Sutcliffe
Don Bradman*
Viv Richards
Wally Hammond
Garry Sobers
Adam Gilchrist+
Imran Khan
Richard Hadlee
Malcolm Marshall
Shane Warne

Len Hutton
Sunil Gavaskar
Brian Lara
Greg Chappell
Jaques Kallis
Neil Harvey
Allan Knott
Wasim Akram
Dennis Lillee
Curtly Ambrose
Murali

 

[hendrix]

Funnily enough I think I'd stack the team with the exact type of player I tend to find frustratingly over-rated. Your best chance of winning a game like this would be to conjure up an eleven of players who had the skill and natural ability of those above without the consistency or longevity to make the side ahead of those you named. You'd particularly be looking at those who managed to lift their game against the best opposition of their era; another criteria I tend to find vastly over-rated when rating how good players were in reality. They'd be better bets than an actual Second XI of players slightly worse than the ones already selected, for mine.

Given all that, I can't bring myself to actually name a team.

Saeed Anwar
Hanif Mohammed
Nathan Astle
Mohammed Yousuf
VVS Laxman
Brian Lara
Brad Haddin
Andrew Flintoff
Mitchell Johnson
Murali (the one standout for consistency)
Shane Bond

 

[kyear2]

Barry Richards
Len Hutton
George Headley
Brian Lara
Sachin Tendulkar
Jacques Kallis
Allan Knott
Wasim Akram
Curtly Ambrose
Dennis lillee
Muttiah Muralitharan

 

[Coronis]

Hutton*
Richards
Headley
Pollock
Kallis
Knott+
Procter
Wasim
Ambrose
Murali
McGrath

 

[Singh Is King]

After skimming through the ATG XI thread I cobbled together this side:

Jack Hobbs
Herbert Sutcliffe
Don Bradman*
Viv Richards
Wally Hammond
Garry Sobers
Adam Gilchrist+
Imran Khan
Richard Hadlee
Malcolm Marshall
Shane Warne

The challenge is, if you should accept it, to name a side that could beat the one listed above. But wait... there's more...
This will be a three test series (in modern times) played at the following venues: Eden Gardens, The WACA and Lords.

You may name a different XI for each game from a squad of 15. The above ATG XI will play in all three games.

Obviously you cannot pick players from the ATG XI listed above.

Hammond played how many matches against which bowlers? Ahead of Tendulkar or Lara? Wow lol

 

[NUFAN]

Jack Hobbs
Herbert Sutcliffe
Don Bradman*
Viv Richards
Wally Hammond
Garry Sobers
Adam Gilchrist+
Imran Khan
Richard Hadlee
Malcolm Marshall
Shane Warne

At the WACA

1. Len Hutton
2. Sunil Gavaskar
3. George Headley
4. Sachin Tendulkar
5. Graeme Pollock
6. Allan Border (c)
7. AB de Villiers
8. Mitchell Johnson
9. Michael Holding
10. Curtly Ambrose
11. Glenn McGrath

12. Mark Waugh

 

[NUFAN]

My first player that I need to mention is ABdV. At Eden Gardens, he shouldn't get a look in, but at the WACA, standing 30 metres back against 4 quick bowlers and only the occasional over of spin from Border, he would do a good job and his batting record is excellent at that venue. Mitch Johnson was picked purely because of the venue too. Hutton+Gavaskar is as good an opening partnership as Hobbs and Sutcliffe IMO. AB is a better captain than Bradman and I've picked 4 bowlers who are more than capable of taking wickets at the WACA instead of your 3, as Warne averaged over 36. Compare that to Ambrose 7-1 and Mitch's 8-61 and 6-38.

 

[NUFAN]

Probably a little out there but here goes..

Eden Gardens
1. Sunil Gavaskar
2. Rahul Dravid
3. Everton Weekes
4. Brian Lara
5. VVS Laxman
6. Mohammad Azharuddin
7. Farokh Engineer
8. Wasim Akram
9. Richie Benaud (c)
10. Bishen Bedi
11. Glenn McGrath

I'm happy to replace my keeper option if someone can provide me with a better alternative who can make some runs and catch (sorry Dhoni fans).

 

[NUFAN]

Probably a little out there but here goes..

Eden Gardens
1. Sunil Gavaskar
2. Rahul Dravid
3. Everton Weekes
4. Brian Lara
5. VVS Laxman
6. Mohammad Azharuddin
7. Farokh Engineer
8. Wasim Akram
9. Richie Benaud (c)
10. Bishen Bedi
11. Glenn McGrath

I'm happy to replace my keeper option if someone can provide me with a better alternative who can make some runs and catch (sorry Dhoni fans).

EDIT: this is more balanced and not just giving spots away to players who had a single good game at the ground.

Eden Gardens
1. Sunil Gavaskar
2. Len Hutton
3. Rahul Dravid
4. Brian Lara
5. VVS Laxman
6. Mohammad Azharuddin
7. Farokh Engineer
8. Wasim Akram
9. Bishen Bedi
10. Muttiah Muralitharan
11. Glenn McGrath

 

[Shri]

For Eden Gardens:

Gavaskar
Sehwag
Lara
Tendulkar
Sangakkara
Laxman
Pollock
O'Reilly
Laker
Muralitharan
McGrath

Good luck in the 4th innings.

Batting is a mix of people familiar with the eden gardens pitch and world class players of spin.

 

[harsh.ag]

Given that the OP's side is not flexible for different grounds, it hardly seems fair for the opposition to have unique XIs for separate grounds. But then again, OP got the choicest players

 

[G.I.Joe]

I protest the inclusion of Eden Gardens. For a ground (mistakenly) considered so iconic, it has produced exactly one notable home grown Indian player. From a spectator to homeboy ratio point of view it performs far far worse than the national average, and that's saying something. I think people fall for the romanticism of the name and the sight of rows of concrete benches. There are no gardens there; it was by no stretch of imagination the residence of our incestuous ancestors, and you would require Daemon and his firefighting team on standby at all times.

Chepauk is a far better choice. Excellent track and has hosted some of the most glorious matches. Then there's the Wankhede or the Brabourne if being the nursery and crucible of Indian cricket counts for anything.