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England XI vs South Africa XI (since 1990)

Which test team since 1990 is stronger?


  • Total voters
    15

PlayerComparisons

International Vice-Captain
It's well known that the bulk of England's all time greats come from the older generations. Have mentioned this before but I thought Coronis made an interesting point that the 1966 FIFA World Cup might be a contributing factor.
Even with less focus on cricket, you’d still expect England to produce at least a few bonafide ATG batsmen/bowlers but they haven’t debuted even one player since 1960 that would fit into all time test xi. Even New Zealand and Sri Lanka have produced one in that time. It’s quite shocking tbh.
 

reyrey

U19 Captain
I'm going with

G Smith
Gibbs
Amla
Kallis
De Villiers
Kirsten
De Kock
Pollock
Steyn
Maharaj
Donald


England:

Gooch (90s Gooch played 45 games and averaged 51.55)
Cook
Root
Pietersen
Thorpe
Stokes
Prior
Flintoff
Swann
Gough
Anderson

South Africa the slightly better team, but Swann could be the equalizer on a pitch that suits him.
 

Bolo.

International Captain
I'm going with

G Smith
Gibbs
Amla
Kallis
De Villiers
Kirsten
De Kock
Pollock
Steyn
Maharaj
Donald


England:

Gooch (90s Gooch played 45 games and averaged 51.55)
Cook
Root
Pietersen
Thorpe
Stokes
Prior
Flintoff
Swann
Gough
Anderson

South Africa the slightly better team, but Swann could be the equalizer on a pitch that suits him.
What type of pitch will Swann go hard on that Maharaj won't? They are really similar bowlers.
 

PlayerComparisons

International Vice-Captain
I'm going with

G Smith
Gibbs
Amla
Kallis
De Villiers
Kirsten
De Kock
Pollock
Steyn
Maharaj
Donald


England:

Gooch (90s Gooch played 45 games and averaged 51.55)
Cook
Root
Pietersen
Thorpe
Stokes
Prior
Flintoff
Swann
Gough
Anderson

South Africa the slightly better team, but Swann could be the equalizer on a pitch that suits him.
This is just for players that have debuted since 1990 (so no Gooch) as SA weren’t playing test cricket in the 80s and 70s
 

reyrey

U19 Captain
This is just for players that have debuted since 1990 (so no Gooch) as SA weren’t playing test cricket in the 80s and 70s
Original post said nothing about them debuting in 90s. Only including Gooch for his 90s performances should be fair as 45 games is a decent sample.

What type of pitch will Swann go hard on that Maharaj won't? They are really similar bowlers.
They only similarities is that they are spinners. One as far better than the other
 

PlayerComparisons

International Vice-Captain
Original post said nothing about them debuting in 90s. Only including Gooch for his 90s performances should be fair as 45 games is a decent sample.
Oops forgot to mention it in this thread, my bad. Meant for it to be for players that have debuted since the date mentioned like the other threads so I guess Stewart comes in for Gooch.
 
Last edited:

Bolo.

International Captain
Original post said nothing about them debuting in 90s. Only including Gooch for his 90s performances should be fair as 45 games is a decent sample.



They only similarities is that they are spinners. One as far better than the other
They are both finger spinners who relied mainly on flight and turning the ball big in one direction. Very similar bowlers.

I rate Swann a bit higher, but it's on account of him being more of a threat when things were not favourable. Maharaj had 4 best innings figures that are better than anything Swann had, while facing much more competition for wickets.
 

Coronis

International Coach
I'm going with

G Smith
Gibbs
Amla
Kallis
De Villiers
Kirsten
De Kock
Pollock
Steyn
Maharaj
Donald


England:

Gooch (90s Gooch played 45 games and averaged 51.55)
Cook
Root
Pietersen
Thorpe
Stokes
Prior
Flintoff
Swann
Gough
Anderson

South Africa the slightly better team, but Swann could be the equalizer on a pitch that suits him.
:laugh:
 

reyrey

U19 Captain
They are both finger spinners who relied mainly on flight and turning the ball big in one direction. Very similar bowlers.

I rate Swann a bit higher, but it's on account of him being more of a threat when things were not favourable. Maharaj had 4 best innings figures that are better than anything Swann had, while facing much more competition for wickets.
How exactly does Maharaj face much more competition for wickets?

Maharaj has 9 5fors in 54 games and 1 10 for

Swann has 17 in 60 and 3 10 fors

It's not even close
 

capt_Luffy

Cricketer Of The Year
I'm going with

G Smith
Gibbs
Amla
Kallis
De Villiers
Kirsten
De Kock
Pollock
Steyn
Maharaj
Donald


England:

Gooch (90s Gooch played 45 games and averaged 51.55)
Cook
Root
Pietersen
Thorpe
Stokes
Prior
Flintoff
Swann
Gough
Anderson

South Africa the slightly better team, but Swann could be the equalizer on a pitch that suits him.
For batting:

G Smith > Cook
Kirsten < Gooch
Kallis > Root
Amla > Thorpe
ABD > Pietersen
Gibbs > Stokes
De Kock > Prior
Pollock < Flintoff
Maharaj = Swann

Overall, a pretty big distance in favour of SA.


For bowling:

Steyn > Anderson
Donald >> Gough
Pollock >> Flintoff
Maharaj < Swann
Kallis = Stokes

Overall, an even bigger gap for SA. It's really not close in anyways.
 
Last edited:

Coronis

International Coach
How exactly does Maharaj face much more competition for wickets?

Maharaj has 9 5fors in 54 games and 1 10 for

Swann has 17 in 60 and 3 10 fors

It's not even close
What do those stats have to do with competition for wickets? If anything they’d favour his point, not yours.
 

Coronis

International Coach
For batting:

G Smith > Cook
Kirsten < Gooch
Kallis > Root
Amla > Thorpe
ABD > Pietersen
Gibbs > Stokes
De Kock > Prior
Pollock < Flintoff
Swann = Swann

Overall, a pretty big distance in favour of SA.


For bowling:

Steyn > Anderson
Donald >> Gough
Pollock >> Flintoff
Maharaj < Swann
Kallis = Stokes

Overall, an even bigger gap for SA. It's really not close in anyways.
Two questionable choices.
 

Johan

State Captain
I'm going with

G Smith
Gibbs
Amla
Kallis
De Villiers
Kirsten
De Kock
Pollock
Steyn
Maharaj
Donald


England:

Gooch (90s Gooch played 45 games and averaged 51.55)
Cook
Root
Pietersen
Thorpe
Stokes
Prior
Flintoff
Swann
Gough
Anderson

South Africa the slightly better team, but Swann could be the equalizer on a pitch that suits him.
That's insane
 

reyrey

U19 Captain
That's insane
Not at. That England team is full of big match players who performed when they played the very best. The SA only have a handful.

Darren Gough for example has a better bowling record in Australia than any of the SA bowlers
 

Johan

State Captain
Not at. That England team is full of big match players who performed when they played the very best. The SA only have a handful.
Gough, Flintoff and Swann cannot stand to the attack of Donald, Pollock and Maharaj, England might win a match but SA would win 95 out of 100 matches
 

reyrey

U19 Captain
Gough, Flintoff and Swann cannot stand to the attack of Donald, Pollock and Maharaj, England might win a match but SA would win 95 out of 100 matches
Pretty sure a team including Flintoff and 2 or 3 other England players from my XI won a series in SA where SA team included 5 or 6 from my XI
 

PlayerComparisons

International Vice-Captain
Not at. That England team is full of big match players who performed when they played the very best. The SA only have a handful.

Darren Gough for example has a better bowling record in Australia than any of the SA bowlers
Then why is SA better if England have a lot more big match players?
 

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