SJS
Hall of Fame Member
Here is a list with a change.
These are five teams of players in which all the players in each team made their test debut in the same calendar year. It was easier to do this excercise for recent years with more test teams and therefore more debutants per year and very difficult for the early years. Still I have managed to pick two sides from the 40's. one from the fifties, one from the seventies and one from the nineties.
From 1990 onwards one can pick a side with ease for almost every year but these are my five favourite sides in terms of class and overall balance. Here they are in batting order
The Class of 1946
The Class of 1948
The Class of 1958
The Class of 1978
The Class of 1992
The 1946 side has a very deep batting line up but the all rounders start early. This gives them the most powerful bowling line up of the five with Lindwall and Miller to bowl truly fast, Bedser one of the three greatest medium pacers of all time, a fantastic left arm spinner in Vinoo Mankad with Toshack for company, a superb right arm leg spinner in McCool and a fine off spinner in Johnson. Add to that Hazare and McCool's more than modest bowling skills and you have nine bowlers. seven of whom have taken a five for in a test innings three times or more !!
The batting is not as bad as it appears. The first eight have all scored test hundreds.
The 1948 side is very strong in batting with the three W's besides Harvey and Unrigar, but inspite of a plethora of all rounders, the real strike bowler is just one in Jim Laker.
The 1958 side is a fairly string batting side and with Hall and Gibbs has to of the top bowlers of the sixties but it doesn't look like an all conquering side somehow.
The 1978 side is well balanced and in Marshall and Kapil have two great user of the new ball besides the volatile Hogg and the steady Yardley. The batting is good without being imposing.
The 1991 side has a terrific attack headed by arguably the teo greatest spinners of all time - with over 1500 test wickets between them and counting. They have a great fast bowler in Donald with two decent assistants in Reifell and McMillan. The batting is headed by Flower and Inzy but again doesnt look imposing,
Anyway, I cant decide which of these five is the strongest - can you ?
These are five teams of players in which all the players in each team made their test debut in the same calendar year. It was easier to do this excercise for recent years with more test teams and therefore more debutants per year and very difficult for the early years. Still I have managed to pick two sides from the 40's. one from the fifties, one from the seventies and one from the nineties.
From 1990 onwards one can pick a side with ease for almost every year but these are my five favourite sides in terms of class and overall balance. Here they are in batting order
The Class of 1946
- Vinoo Mankad (LAS)
- Arthur Morris
- Rusi Modi
- Vijay Hazare (RAMP)
- Keith Miller (RAF)
- Colin McCool (LALS)
- Ray Lindwall (RAF)
- Godfrey Evans (k)
- Ian Johnson © (RAOS)
- Ernie Toshack (LAM)
- Alec Bedser (RAMP)
The Class of 1948
- Frank Worrell © (RALS)
- Alan Rae
- Neil Harvey
- Everton Weekes
- Clyde Walcott (k)
- Polly Umrigar (RAMP)
- Denis Atkinsen (RAMP)
- John Goddard (RAMP)
- Jim Laker (RAOS)
- Johnny Wardle (RALS)
- McCarthy (RAP)
The Class of 1958
- Subba Row
- Hunte
- Ted Dexter (RAMP)
- O'niell
- Butcher
- Saeed Ahmed
- Chandu Borde (RALS)
- Illingworth (RAOS)
- Eric Atkinson (RAFM)
- Wes Hall (RAF)
- Lance Gibbs (RAOS)
The Class of 1978
- Desmond Haynes
- John Wright
- David Gower
- Alan Border ©
- Mike Gatting
- Graeme Wood
- Kapil Dev (RAFM)
- David Murray (K)
- Malcolm Marshall (RAF)
- Bruce Yardley (RAOS)
- Rodney Hogg (RAP)
The Class of 1992
- Aamir Sohail
- Andy Flower (k)
- Damien Martyn
- Inzemam
- Jimmy Adams
- Hansie Cronje (k)
- Brian McMillan (RAMP)
- Shane Warne (RALS)
- Paul Reiffell (RAMP)
- Alan Donald (RAF)
- Muralitharan (RAOS)
The 1946 side has a very deep batting line up but the all rounders start early. This gives them the most powerful bowling line up of the five with Lindwall and Miller to bowl truly fast, Bedser one of the three greatest medium pacers of all time, a fantastic left arm spinner in Vinoo Mankad with Toshack for company, a superb right arm leg spinner in McCool and a fine off spinner in Johnson. Add to that Hazare and McCool's more than modest bowling skills and you have nine bowlers. seven of whom have taken a five for in a test innings three times or more !!
The batting is not as bad as it appears. The first eight have all scored test hundreds.
The 1948 side is very strong in batting with the three W's besides Harvey and Unrigar, but inspite of a plethora of all rounders, the real strike bowler is just one in Jim Laker.
The 1958 side is a fairly string batting side and with Hall and Gibbs has to of the top bowlers of the sixties but it doesn't look like an all conquering side somehow.
The 1978 side is well balanced and in Marshall and Kapil have two great user of the new ball besides the volatile Hogg and the steady Yardley. The batting is good without being imposing.
The 1991 side has a terrific attack headed by arguably the teo greatest spinners of all time - with over 1500 test wickets between them and counting. They have a great fast bowler in Donald with two decent assistants in Reifell and McMillan. The batting is headed by Flower and Inzy but again doesnt look imposing,
Anyway, I cant decide which of these five is the strongest - can you ?
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