ESPNcricinfo World XI

[Jono]

I just found it typical of Chappell to pick his team based on how much the players dominated the opposition and thrilled the crowds instead of doing it properly.

Once he decided to do a Thrill-a-minute XI there was nothing wrong with his criteria; I just thought it was a bit of a cop out for him to do such a team to begin with, backing out of having to pick players who didn't necessarily fall in line with his stylistic preferences. At least he gave his team a proper label though instead of just calling it a World XI and making my blood boil.

What about a poetry in motion XI?

ESPNcricinfo all-time World XI: Suresh Menon picks and elegant XI | All-time XIs | Cricinfo Magazine | Cricinfo.com

 

[Smudge]

Absolutely nothing wrong with Harsha's XI. You may disagree, but hardly an unreasonable team

Indeed - I seriously hate the sneering denegration of players' favourite XIs by bookish nerds, tapping the keyboard furiously inbetween consulting their Wisdens and their personally-created runcharts, all in the name of ripping a international cricketing great's opinions to shreds.

Some people prefer some players in their all-time XIs, others prefer other players. Let's be honest, you could mix and match the top 50 players of all time in an XI and even the bookish nerds would be hard-pressed to question angrily why on earth such-and-such was included over another player. Although that obviously wouldn't stop them...

 

[ankitj]

Indeed - I seriously hate the sneering denegration of players' favourite XIs by bookish nerds, tapping the keyboard furiously inbetween consulting their Wisdens and their personally-created runcharts, all in the name of ripping a international cricketing great's opinions to shreds.

Some people prefer some players in their all-time XIs, others prefer other players. Let's be honest, you could mix and match the top 50 players of all time in an XI and even the bookish nerds would be hard-pressed to question angrily why on earth such-and-such was included over another player. Although that obviously wouldn't stop them...

Go whine somewhere else. This is a place for discussion and discussion is what we are doing. Your self-righteous rants add less value than most other comments here.

 

[Smudge]

Congratulations on spectacularly missing the point. I have no issues with discussion. Read my post again and get back to me when you understand it, sunshine.

 

[Himannv]

I just found it typical of Chappell to pick his team based on how much the players dominated the opposition and thrilled the crowds instead of doing it properly.

Once he decided to do a Thrill-a-minute XI there was nothing wrong with his criteria; I just thought it was a bit of a cop out for him to do such a team to begin with, backing out of having to pick players who didn't necessarily fall in line with his stylistic preferences. At least he gave his team a proper label though instead of just calling it a World XI and making my blood boil.

I dont think there's anything wrong with selecting an eleven like that. Pretty much anyone who knows a decent amount of cricket can pick a World XI with the usual suspects. Nothing wrong with a bit of variety and a different viewpoint IMO. That sort of thing is strangely lacking these days anyway.

What exactly do you mean by "doing it properly" anyway?

 

[honestbharani]

I dont think there's anything wrong with selecting an eleven like that. Pretty much anyone who knows a decent amount of cricket can pick a World XI with the usual suspects. Nothing wrong with a bit of variety and a different viewpoint IMO. That sort of thing is strangely lacking these days anyway.

What exactly do you mean by "doing it properly" anyway?

picking Kallis XI times, obviously..

 

[Flem274*]

Wasn't any Sinclair involved. Skippy is a must in any World XI.

 

[Avada Kedavra]

1.Gavaskar
2.Hobbs
3.Bradman(c)
4.Tendulkar
5.Kallis
6.Gilchrist(wk)
7.Imran Khan(vc)
8.Hadlee
9.Marshall
10.Muralitharan
11.Mcgrath

 

[Matt79]

Weird to see people not selecting Sobers. Ridiculous the lack of respect a few persistent knockers (*snigger*) have created here. He gets a spot purely as a batsman - the bowling is simply an added bonus that costs absolutely nothing.

 

[Ikki]

Sobers was put as an all-rounder so if you want 2 bowling all-rounders you can't pick him as a specialist bat unfortunately. Cricinfo should have made all-rounders available for their biggest strength alone as well, if applicable, IMO. That way you could have Hadlee, Imran and Sobers in your team if you wanted.

 

[honestbharani]

Sobers was put as an all-rounder so if you want 2 bowling all-rounders you can't pick him as a specialist bat unfortunately. Cricinfo should have made all-rounders available for their biggest strength alone as well, if applicable, IMO. That way you could have Hadlee, Imran and Sobers in your team if you wanted.

you really should, IMO.. What they offer with the bat more than makes up for whatever extra the likes of McGrath or Marshall or Ambrose will offer.. Could include Shaun Pollock to that list as well while we are at it.. For all the talk of Donald being underrated, I feel itis Pollock who is really underrated by most people..

 

[ankitj]

you really should, IMO.. What they offer with the bat more than makes up for whatever extra the likes of McGrath or Marshall or Ambrose will offer.. Could include Shaun Pollock to that list as well while we are at it.. For all the talk of Donald being underrated, I feel itis Pollock who is really underrated by most people..

Echo your sentiments on Pollock. For a long time he had a better average than anybody with 200+ wickets! What's even more incredible is his economy rate in ODIs. His ER of 3.67 is considerable better than other 3 bowlers of late 90's with a sub 4.00 ER - Akram (3.89), McGrath (3.88) and Murali (3.92). That's quite something!

EDIT: Think I am now going to push up Pollock in my list of 25 bowlers for the ongoing rankings vote

 

[smash84]

you really should, IMO.. What they offer with the bat more than makes up for whatever extra the likes of McGrath or Marshall or Ambrose will offer.. Could include Shaun Pollock to that list as well while we are at it.. For all the talk of Donald being underrated, I feel itis Pollock who is really underrated by most people..

Agreed. Good All rounders bring so much more into the side than your good bowler or batsman.

And yeah Pollock is definitely under rated. He has pretty good stats too.

 

[Teja.]

Weird to see people not selecting Sobers. Ridiculous the lack of respect a few persistent knockers (*snigger*) have created here. He gets a spot purely as a batsman - the bowling is simply an added bonus that costs absolutely nothing.

I'd pick Sobers, if there were no limitations, purely as a batsman(and wouldn't want him to bowl). However with the Cricinfo limitations which allows you to pick only 2 all-rounders, I might as well boost my bowling attack by picking two ATG bowlers in that place who will have to bat in Imran & Hadlee. The clincher for me is that I can always select a batsman who is an equal to Sobers(or negligibly worse) as a specialist bat without having to waste an all-rounder spot.

 

[smash84]

I'd pick Sobers, if there were no limitations, purely as a batsman(and wouldn't want him to bowl). However with the Cricinfo limitations which allows you to pick only 2 all-rounders, I might as well boost my bowling attack by picking two ATG bowlers in that place who will have to bat in Imran & Hadlee. The clincher for me is that I can always select a batsman who is an equal to Sobers(or negligibly worse) as a specialist bat without having to waste an all-rounder spot.

What do you think will actually be ESPN's final XI? And does anybody know the date when it is supposed to come out???

 

[ankitj]

The article mentioned 18th as the date for announcement but now that article has been edited with no mention of a date. All day today I kept going to cricinfo page and checking.

 

[Teja.]

What do you think will actually be ESPN's final XI? And does anybody know the date when it is supposed to come out???

Reckon It'll be:-

Jack Hobbs
Sunil Gavaskar
Donald Bradman
Sachin Tendulkar
Viv Richards
Gary Sobers
Adam Gilchrist
Imran Khan
Shane Warne
Malcolm Marshall
Dennis Lillee

And Dunno.

 

[Ikki]

So essentially Benaud's XI but with Marshall instead of Barnes?

 

[smash84]

The article mentioned 18th as the date for announcement but now that article has been edited with no mention of a date. All day today I kept going to cricinfo page and checking.

Yeah man. You had said 18th earlier too. Even I was going to the site all day today but was disappointed to find only a graceful XI and not the all time XI.

So essentially Benaud's XI but with Marshall instead of Barnes?

I think the panel might not be too high on Marshall. They just might go with Richie's XI.

 

[Himannv]

What does everyone think of the Poetry in Motion XI?