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The ATG Teams General arguing/discussing thread

Logan

U19 Captain
Since this decade is about to end, these are my picks for best players of the following decades

90s : Sachin and Donald

00s : Ponting and Murali

10s : Kohli and Steyn
 

ankitj

Hall of Fame Member
Smith and Steyn surely for 2010s, unless you are taking all formats into account.

Donald a decent shout for 1990s but Ambrose took more wickets at a better average.
 

Slifer

International Captain
Since this decade is about to end, these are my picks for best players of the following decades

90s : Sachin and Donald

00s : Ponting and Murali

10s : Kohli and Steyn
??? If for 2010s, has to be Steyn and Smith unless you mean across all formats.
 

Red

The normal awards that everyone else has
Team of 2019:

Mayank Agarwal
Tom Latham
Kane Williamson
Steven Smith
Virat Kohli *
Ben Stokes
BJ Watling +
R Ashwin
Neil Wagner
Mohammed Shami
Ishant Sharma

Did not pick Bumrah or Umesh despite averaging 13.xx because they only played 3 and 4 tests respectively. Wagner also played only 4 tests but took 4 fivers. Cummins had a good year and his ICC ratings are through the roof but didn't quite have the average comparable to others and only 1 fiver. Also when do I get to pick to Indian Seamers in the team? :ph34r:

Spinners choice was tricky. Lyon seems to have had an average year, same for Jadeja. Rashid Khan has great figures but didn't play strong teams. Settled for Ashwin who found some form in the domestic games.

Rohit Sharma averages 90 for the year, but all of it at home and there are good substitutes available for opener's slot unlike spinner's slot.

Edit: Kane Williamson in place of Marnus Labuschagne
Sharma over Cummins? lol

Sharma took 9 of his 25 wickets in the last test against Bangladesh, who don't have a single batsman in their top six averaging over 40, and their openers average 25 each :laugh:
 

Red

The normal awards that everyone else has
It's a tough call to make in regards to modern protective gear, but from personal experience, even when wearing a helmet and/or thigh pad, if some tearaway digs in a quick bouncer aimed at my head, my instinct is to gtfo of the way regardless. IMO reflexes are always a big factor.

Then again, it's pretty silly to compare myself to cricketers who are 1,000x better than I could ever dream to be on my best day.
One thing that would be magnificent to see would be Ponting against the WIs quicks. Best pull/hook shot I've ever seen and would absolutely take them on.

Langer is the guy who would also have done well against the WIs quicks, far more than Hayden would have IMO. Martyn too was excellent against quality pace.
 

AndrewB

International Vice-Captain
No room for Wilf, Andrew?

Problem is it'd be criminal to remove any of the players in your 1930 team. Though if it were a turning deck, who would you choose as your 2nd spinner?

As an aside, that top 6 is just otherworldly.
I forgot Rhodes played his last few Tests in 1930. I guess he comes in for Constantine if you want a second spinner.

To pick a year which gives a few players not mentioned much yet, 1971 gives you
Geoff Boycott
Sunil Gavaskar
Rohan Kanhai
Greg Chappell
Clive Lloyd
Garry Sobers
Imran Khan
Alan Knott+
Dennis Lillee
Bob Willis
Bhagwat Chandrasekhar

or a few years earlier (1967)
Geoff Boycott
Bob Simpson
Ken Barrington
Graeme Pollock
Clive Lloyd
Garry Sobers
Alan Knott+
Mike Procter
Wes Hall
John Snow
Lance Gibbs
 

jimmy101

Cricketer Of The Year
One thing that would be magnificent to see would be Ponting against the WIs quicks. Best pull/hook shot I've ever seen and would absolutely take them on.

Langer is the guy who would also have done well against the WIs quicks, far more than Hayden would have IMO. Martyn too was excellent against quality pace.
Yep, Ponting vs the Windies quicks would be mouth-watering. Punter had that fearlessness that is required to take them on imo, loved working the short ball & was a master of getting his body/hands into the right position to execute his shots, often with brutal results.

I've also wondered how Lara would fare against the WI attack from the 80's, watching him whip out some of those outrageous back foot cats & hook would be an absolute treat. Moreover, watching Viv against his own bowlers would have been amazing.
 

AndrewB

International Vice-Captain
If SA hadn't been banned from Test cricket, the 1974 side could have been quite handy:

Barry Richards
Sunil Gavaskar
Viv Richards
Graeme Pollock
Greg Chappell
Garry Sobers
Alan Knott+
Imran Khan*
Mike Procter
Richard Hadlee
Dennis Lillee

Even the second XI is impressive:

Geoff Boycott
Gordon Greenidge
Rohan Kanhai
Zaheer Abbas
Doug Walters
Tony Greig
Farokh Engineer+
Peter Pollock
Derek Underwood
Andy Roberts
Jeff Thomson
 

jimmy101

Cricketer Of The Year
Lee Irvine would be in with a shout to don the gloves for the 2nd XI. Though I'm not sure if he was a full-time 'keeper.
 

stephen

Cricket Web: All-Time Legend
I really don't know when or why this became about how Australia and the West Indies did against India. Since any hypothetical match up would probably be played in either the West Indies or Australia (although I guess the BCCI probably would fund the time travel technology required to make it happen so it could be played there).

The Indian side of the 80s was strong at home (India has been strong at home for a very long time), but the Indian sides of the 00s could likely have half their ATG batsmen. The side that beat Australia at home in 01 was a far stronger side than any side the West Indies faced in their prime. Sure, their bowlers sucked for the most part, but having Dravid, Tendulkar, Ganguly and Laxman is one Sehwag away from their strongest batting lineup that ever played together.

But maybe the West Indies would have destroyed that Indian team. Who can say?

It still has little relevance to any hypothetical match up between an 80s era WI side and a 00s era Australian side. A 2002 vintage Hayden was swatting ATG bowlers for fun. 2003 era Ponting was redefining the standard for back foot play. A 2005 Warne was bowling the Strauss ball. A 1987 Viv was smashing 6s with a twig. A 1983 Marshall was taking wickets for fun. A 1989 Greenidge was giving bowlers nightmares.

It'd be a tantalising match up. My only reservation is that the West Indies would struggle relatively more under modern playing conditions, while the Australians would have more issues if played under 1980s era conditions. The Australians covered more bases but the West Indies were perhaps more potent.
 

Logan

U19 Captain
??? If for 2010s, has to be Steyn and Smith unless you mean across all formats.
If it was just Tests, Smith was the best batsman this decade.

Across formats, Kohli was the best.

It is tough to ignore ODIs. They have



Smith and Steyn surely for 2010s, unless you are taking all formats into account.

Donald a decent shout for 1990s but Ambrose took more wickets at a better average.

I went for Donald over Ambrose. While Ambrose’s average was a shade better(20 vs 21), there was a noticeable difference in their strike rate(52 vs 45).

In the end, I chose Allan Donald. The top four fast bowlers(McGrath, Ambrose, Donald and Akram) all played roughly around the same number of Tests. Donald emerged with the best average in ODIs and best strike rate in both Tests and ODIs.
 

jimmy101

Cricketer Of The Year
Good point. I wonder how much of their penchant for playing at a slow over-rate came down to the bowlers' massive run-ups, & how much of it came down to just piss-farting around?

Australia in the 70's/80's didn't seem to have a problem when they had Lillee & Thommo running in from the fence. Granted, they usually had a full-time spinner in their side.
 

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