Yearly World XIs since WWI [theoretical]

[ataraxia]

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11
WWI	JB Hobbs	W Bardsley	CG Macartney	WW Armstrong*	GA Faulkner	FE Woolley	C Kelleway	W Rhodes	JM Blackenberg	JW Hitch	H Strudwick +
1920	JB Hobbs	W Bardsley	CG Macartney	EH Hendren	WW Armstrong*	GA Faulkner	FE Woolley	JM Gregory	W Rhodes	WAS Oldfield +	JM Blackenberg
1921	JB Hobbs	W Bardsley	CG Macartney	EH Hendren	WW Armstrong*	GA Faulkner	FE Woolley	JM Gregory	W Rhodes	WAS Oldfield +	EA McDonald
1922	JB Hobbs	W Bardsley	CG Macartney	EH Hendren	HW Taylor	GA Faulkner	FE Woolley*	JM Gregory	W Rhodes	WAS Oldfield +	JM Blackenberg
1923	JB Hobbs	W Bardsley	CG Macartney	EH Hendren	HW Taylor	GA Faulkner	FE Woolley*	JM Gregory	W Rhodes	WAS Oldfield +	JM Blackenberg
1924	JB Hobbs	H Sutcliffe	CG Macartney	EH Hendren	HW Taylor	GA Faulkner	FE Woolley*	JM Gregory	W Rhodes	MW Tate	WAS Oldfield +
1925	JB Hobbs	H Sutcliffe	CG Macartney	EH Hendren	HW Taylor	FE Woolley*	JM Gregory	W Rhodes	MW Tate	WAS Oldfield +	CV Grimmett
1926	JB Hobbs	H Sutcliffe	CG Macartney	EH Hendren	HW Taylor*	JM Gregory	W Rhodes	MW Tate	WAS Oldfield +	H Larwood	CV Grimmett
1927	JB Hobbs	H Sutcliffe	WR Hammond	EH Hendren	HW Taylor*	JM Gregory	W Rhodes	MW Tate	WAS Oldfield +	H Larwood	CV Grimmett
1928	JB Hobbs	H Sutcliffe	DG Bradman*	WR Hammond	EH Hendren	JM Gregory	W Rhodes	MW Tate	WAS Oldfield +	H Larwood	CV Grimmett
1929	JB Hobbs	H Sutcliffe	DG Bradman*	WR Hammond	EH Hendren	FE Woolley	LEG Ames +	W Rhodes	MW Tate	H Larwood	CV Grimmett
1930	JB Hobbs	H Sutcliffe	DG Bradman*	GA Headley	WR Hammond	SJ McCabe	LEG Ames +	W Rhodes	MW Tate	H Larwood	CV Grimmett
1931	WH Ponsford	H Sutcliffe	DG Bradman*	GA Headley	WR Hammond	SJ McCabe	LEG Ames +	MW Tate	H Verity	H Larwood	CV Grimmett
1932	WH Ponsford	H Sutcliffe	DG Bradman*	GA Headley	WR Hammond	SJ McCabe	LEG Ames +	H Verity	H Larwood	CV Grimmett	WJ O'Reilly
1933	WH Ponsford	H Sutcliffe	DG Bradman*	GA Headley	WR Hammond	SJ McCabe	LEG Ames +	H Verity	H Larwood	CV Grimmett	WJ O'Reilly
1934	WH Ponsford	H Sutcliffe	DG Bradman*	GA Headley	WR Hammond	SJ McCabe	LEG Ames +	MW Tate	H Verity	CV Grimmett	WJ O'Reilly
1935	VSM Merchant	H Sutcliffe	DG Bradman*	GA Headley	WR Hammond	SJ McCabe	LEG Ames +	MW Tate	H Verity	CV Grimmett	WJ O'Reilly
1936	VSM Merchant	B Mitchell	DG Bradman*	GA Headley	WR Hammond	SJ McCabe	LEG Ames +	LN Constantine	H Verity	CV Grimmett	WJ O'Reilly
1937	VSM Merchant	L Hutton*	DG Bradman	GA Headley	WR Hammond	DCS Compton	LEG Ames +	LN Constantine	H Verity	WJ O'Reilly	J Cowie
1938	SG Barnes	L Hutton*	DG Bradman	GA Headley	WR Hammond	DCS Compton	LEG Ames +	LN Constantine	H Verity	WJ O'Reilly	J Cowie
1939	SG Barnes	L Hutton*	DG Bradman	GA Headley	WR Hammond	DCS Compton	LEG Ames +	LN Constantine	H Verity	WJ O'Reilly	J Cowie
WWII	SG Barnes	L Hutton*	DG Bradman	GA Headley	WR Hammond	DCS Compton	EWT Tindill +	GOB Allen	B Voce	WJ O'Reilly	J Cowie
1946	AR Morris	L Hutton*	DG Bradman	GA Headley	WR Hammond	DCS Compton	KR Miller	TG Evans +	RR Lindwall	WJ O'Reilly	AV Bedser
1947	AR Morris	L Hutton*	DG Bradman	GA Headley	WR Hammond	DCS Compton	KR Miller	TG Evans +	RR Lindwall	IWG Johnson	AV Bedser
1948	AR Morris	L Hutton*	DG Bradman	GA Headley	DCS Compton	CL Walcott +	KR Miller	RR Lindwall	JC Laker	AV Bedser	WA Johnston
1949	AR Morris	L Hutton*	GA Headley	DCS Compton	ED Weekes	CL Walcott +	KR Miller	RR Lindwall	JC Laker	AV Bedser	WA Johnston

I put these test teams together earlier this month, complying with general CW player preferences mostly - however, I may have missed some worthy players and welcome suggestions to improve the sides. Edit: Note that this isn't based around form at the time, but rather overall ratings.

For a player to be eligible for a year's side, his test career must have included that year.

• For example, George Headley is eligible for the WWII side because he played test cricket either side of it (1930 to 1954). He obviously didn't play tests in it, but he is eligible due to his career span encompassing those years. This caveat doesn't just apply to the war sides, but rather every side.
• Dale Steyn is eligible for the 2004 and 2019 sides even though they are the very edges of his test career. Again, this applies to every side.

Which of these sides is the best?
Which is the best pre-1970?
Which is the worst?
Which is the worst post-1970?
Who is the worst player to appear in one of these sides?
Who is the worst player to appear in ten of these sides?

Some questions that could be answered here.

I apologise for the wall-of-text table, but I couldn't think of a better or easier way to present the data. XenForo is much better at this than vBulletin, but it does have its limitations. Like saying this post is too long to be posted in one piece.

 

[ataraxia]

1950	AR Morris	L Hutton*	GA Headley	DCS Compton	ED Weekes	CL Walcott +	KR Miller	RR Lindwall	JC Laker	AV Bedser	WA Johnston
1951	AR Morris	L Hutton*	GA Headley	DCS Compton	ED Weekes	CL Walcott +	KR Miller	RR Lindwall	JC Laker	AV Bedser	JB Statham
1952	AR Morris	L Hutton*	GA Headley	DCS Compton	ED Weekes	CL Walcott +	KR Miller	RR Lindwall	JC Laker	FS Trueman	AV Bedser
1953	AR Morris	L Hutton*	GA Headley	DCS Compton	ED Weekes	CL Walcott +	KR Miller	AK Davidson	RR Lindwall	JC Laker	FS Trueman
1954	AR Morris	L Hutton*	GA Headley	DCS Compton	GS Sobers	ED Weekes	CL Walcott +	KR Miller	RR Lindwall	JC Laker	FS Trueman
1955	AR Morris	L Hutton*	RN Harvey	DCS Compton	GS Sobers	ED Weekes	CL Walcott +	KR Miller	RR Lindwall	JC Laker	FS Trueman
1956	Hanif Mohammad	B Sutcliffe	RN Harvey	DCS Compton	GS Sobers*	ED Weekes	CL Walcott +	KR Miller	RR Lindwall	JC Laker	FS Trueman
1957	Hanif Mohammad	RB Simpson	RN Harvey	DCS Compton	GS Sobers*	ED Weekes	CL Walcott +	AK Davidson	RR Lindwall	JC Laker	FS Trueman
1958	Hanif Mohammad	RB Simpson	RN Harvey	ED Weekes	FMM Worrell*	GS Sobers	CL Walcott +	AK Davidson	RR Lindwall	JC Laker	FS Trueman
1959	Hanif Mohammad	RB Simpson	RN Harvey	PBH May	FMM Worrell*	GS Sobers	CL Walcott +	AK Davidson	RR Lindwall	JC Laker	FS Trueman
1960	Hanif Mohammad	RB Simpson	RN Harvey	PBH May	FMM Worrell*	GS Sobers	CL Walcott +	AK Davidson	RR Lindwall	HJ Tayfield	FS Trueman
1961	WM Lawry	RB Simpson	RN Harvey	PBH May	FMM Worrell*	GS Sobers	JHB Waite +	R Benaud*	AK Davidson	FS Trueman	JB Statham
1962	WM Lawry	RB Simpson	RN Harvey	KF Barrington	FMM Worrell*	GS Sobers	JHB Waite +	R Benaud*	AK Davidson	FS Trueman	JB Statham
1963	WM Lawry	RB Simpson	RN Harvey	RG Pollock	FMM Worrell*	GS Sobers	JHB Waite +	R Benaud*	AK Davidson	FS Trueman	JB Statham
1964	G Boycott	RB Simpson	KF Barrington	RG Pollock	RB Kanhai	GS Sobers	JHB Waite +	R Benaud*	FS Trueman	WW Hall	JB Statham
1965	G Boycott	RB Simpson	KF Barrington	RG Pollock	RB Kanhai	GS Sobers*	JHB Waite +	PM Pollock	FS Trueman	JB Statham	LR Gibbs
1966	G Boycott	RB Simpson	KF Barrington	RG Pollock	RB Kanhai	GS Sobers*	DT Lindsay +	PM Pollock	WW Hall	JA Snow	DL Underwood
1967	G Boycott	RB Simpson	KF Barrington	RG Pollock	RB Kanhai	GS Sobers*	MJ Procter	APE Knott +	WW Hall	JA Snow	DL Underwood
1968	G Boycott	RB Simpson	KF Barrington	RG Pollock	RB Kanhai	GS Sobers*	MJ Procter	APE Knott +	WW Hall	JA Snow	DL Underwood
1969	G Boycott	RB Simpson	RB Kanhai	RG Pollock	CH Lloyd	GS Sobers*	MJ Procter	APE Knott +	WW Hall	JA Snow	DL Underwood
1970	G Boycott	BA Richards	RB Kanhai	RG Pollock	GS Chappell	GS Sobers*	MJ Procter	APE Knott +	PM Pollock	JA Snow	DL Underwood
1971	SM Gavaskar	RB Simpson	RB Kanhai	GS Chappell	CH Lloyd	GS Sobers	Imran Khan*	APE Knott +	RGD Willis	JA Snow	DL Underwood
1972	SM Gavaskar	RB Simpson	RB Kanhai	GS Chappell	CH Lloyd	GS Sobers	Imran Khan*	APE Knott +	RGD Willis	JA Snow	DL Underwood
1973	SM Gavaskar	RB Simpson	RB Kanhai	GS Chappell	CH Lloyd	GS Sobers	Imran Khan*	APE Knott +	RJ Hadlee	RGD Willis	DL Underwood
1974	SM Gavaskar	RB Simpson	IVA Richards	GS Chappell	RB Kanhai	GS Sobers	Imran Khan*	APE Knott +	RJ Hadlee	AME Roberts	DL Underwood
1975	SM Gavaskar	RB Simpson	IVA Richards	GS Chappell	CH Lloyd	KD Walters	Imran Khan*	APE Knott +	RJ Hadlee	MA Holding	DL Underwood
1976	SM Gavaskar	RB Simpson	IVA Richards	GS Chappell	Javed Miandad	KD Walters	Imran Khan*	APE Knott +	RJ Hadlee	MA Holding	DL Underwood
1977	SM Gavaskar	RB Simpson	IVA Richards	GS Chappell	Javed Miandad	KD Walters	Imran Khan*	APE Knott +	RJ Hadlee	J Garner	DL Underwood
1978	SM Gavaskar	RB Simpson	IVA Richards	AR Border	GS Chappell	KD Walters	Imran Khan*	APE Knott +	RJ Hadlee	MD Marshall	DL Underwood
1979	SM Gavaskar	G Boycott	IVA Richards	AR Border	GS Chappell	KD Walters	Imran Khan*	APE Knott +	RJ Hadlee	MD Marshall	DL Underwood
1980	SM Gavaskar	G Boycott	IVA Richards	AR Border	GS Chappell	KD Walters	Imran Khan*	APE Knott +	RJ Hadlee	MD Marshall	DL Underwood
1981	SM Gavaskar	G Boycott	IVA Richards	AR Border	GS Chappell	KD Walters	Imran Khan*	APE Knott +	RJ Hadlee	MD Marshall	DL Underwood
1982	SM Gavaskar	G Boycott	IVA Richards pt	AR Border pt	GS Chappell pt	CH Lloyd	Imran Khan*	RJ Hadlee	RW Marsh +	MD Marshall	DL Underwood
1983	SM Gavaskar	CG Greenidge	IVA Richards	AR Border	GS Chappell	Imran Khan*	IT Botham	RJ Hadlee	RW Marsh +	MD Marshall	Abdul Qadir
1984	SM Gavaskar	CG Greenidge	IVA Richards	AR Border	GS Chappell	Imran Khan*	IT Botham	RJ Hadlee	RW Marsh +	MD Marshall	Abdul Qadir
1985	SM Gavaskar	CG Greenidge	IVA Richards	AR Border	SR Waugh	Imran Khan*	IT Botham	RJ Hadlee	SMH Kirmani +	MD Marshall	Abdul Qadir

 

[ataraxia]

1986	SM Gavaskar	CG Greenidge	IVA Richards	AR Border	SR Waugh	Imran Khan*	IT Botham	RJ Hadlee	SMH Kirmani +	MD Marshall	Abdul Qadir
1987	SM Gavaskar	CG Greenidge	IVA Richards	AR Border	SR Waugh	Imran Khan*	IT Botham	RJ Hadlee	IDS Smith +	MD Marshall	Abdul Qadir
1988	GA Gooch	CG Greenidge	IVA Richards	AR Border	SR Waugh	Imran Khan*	IT Botham	IA Healy +	RJ Hadlee	MD Marshall	Abdul Qadir
1989	GA Gooch	CG Greenidge	IVA Richards	SR Tendulkar	AR Border	Imran Khan*	IA Healy +	RJ Hadlee	MD Marshall	Abdul Qadir	CEL Ambrose
1990	GA Gooch	CG Greenidge	IVA Richards	SR Tendulkar	BC Lara	Imran Khan*	IA Healy +	RJ Hadlee	MD Marshall	A Kumble	CEL Ambrose
1991	GA Gooch	CG Greenidge	IVA Richards	SR Tendulkar	BC Lara	Imran Khan*	IT Botham	IA Healy +	MD Marshall	A Kumble	CEL Ambrose
1992	GA Gooch	MA Taylor	BC Lara	SR Tendulkar	AR Border	Imran Khan*	IT Botham	IA Healy +	Wasim Akram	SK Warne	CEL Ambrose
1993	GA Gooch	G Kirsten	BC Lara	SR Tendulkar pt	AR Border pt	SR Waugh* pt	IA Healy +	Wasim Akram	SK Warne	CEL Ambrose	GD McGrath
1994	GA Gooch	ML Hayden	BC Lara	SR Tendulkar pt	AR Border pt	SR Waugh* pt	IA Healy +	Wasim Akram	SK Warne	CEL Ambrose	GD McGrath
1995	GA Gooch*	ML Hayden	RT Ponting	SR Tendulkar	BC Lara	JH Kallis	IA Healy +	Wasim Akram	SK Warne	CEL Ambrose	GD McGrath
1996	G Kirsten	ML Hayden	RT Ponting*	SR Tendulkar	BC Lara	JH Kallis	IA Healy +	Wasim Akram	SK Warne	CEL Ambrose	GD McGrath
1997	G Kirsten	ML Hayden	RT Ponting*	SR Tendulkar	BC Lara	JH Kallis	IA Healy +	Wasim Akram	SK Warne	CEL Ambrose	GD McGrath
1998	G Kirsten	ML Hayden	RT Ponting*	SR Tendulkar	BC Lara	JH Kallis	IA Healy +	Wasim Akram	SK Warne	CEL Ambrose	GD McGrath
1999	G Kirsten	ML Hayden	RT Ponting*	SR Tendulkar	BC Lara	JH Kallis	AC Gilchrist +	Wasim Akram	SK Warne	CEL Ambrose	GD McGrath
2000	G Kirsten	ML Hayden	RT Ponting*	SR Tendulkar	BC Lara	JH Kallis	AC Gilchrist +	Wasim Akram	SK Warne	CEL Ambrose	GD McGrath
2001	V Sehwag	ML Hayden	RT Ponting*	SR Tendulkar	BC Lara	JH Kallis	AC Gilchrist +	Wasim Akram	SK Warne	AA Donald	GD McGrath
2002	V Sehwag	GC Smith*	RT Ponting	SR Tendulkar	BC Lara	JH Kallis	AC Gilchrist +	Wasim Akram	SK Warne	AA Donald	GD McGrath
2003	V Sehwag	GC Smith*	RT Ponting	SR Tendulkar	BC Lara	JH Kallis	AC Gilchrist +	SM Pollock	SK Warne	AA Donald	GD McGrath
2004	V Sehwag	GC Smith*	RT Ponting	SR Tendulkar	BC Lara	JH Kallis	AC Gilchrist +	SK Warne	DW Steyn	M Muralitharan	GD McGrath
2005	V Sehwag	GC Smith*	RT Ponting	SR Tendulkar	BC Lara	JH Kallis	AC Gilchrist +	SK Warne	DW Steyn	M Muralitharan	GD McGrath
2006	V Sehwag	GC Smith*	RT Ponting	SR Tendulkar	BC Lara	JH Kallis	AC Gilchrist +	SK Warne	DW Steyn	M Muralitharan	GD McGrath
2007	V Sehwag	GC Smith*	RT Ponting	SR Tendulkar	KC Sangakkara	JH Kallis	AC Gilchrist +	SK Warne	DW Steyn	M Muralitharan	GD McGrath
2008	V Sehwag	GC Smith*	RT Ponting	SR Tendulkar	KC Sangakkara	JH Kallis	AC Gilchrist +	SM Pollock	DW Steyn	M Muralitharan	JM Anderson
2009	V Sehwag	GC Smith*	RT Ponting	SR Tendulkar	KC Sangakkara	JH Kallis	BJ Watling +	SE Bond	DW Steyn	M Muralitharan	JM Anderson
2010	V Sehwag	GC Smith*	RT Ponting	SR Tendulkar	SPD Smith	JH Kallis	BJ Watling +	SCJ Broad	DW Steyn	M Muralitharan	JM Anderson
2011	V Sehwag	GC Smith*	RT Ponting	SR Tendulkar	SPD Smith	JH Kallis	BJ Watling +	R Ashwin	PJ Cummins	DW Steyn	JM Anderson
2012	V Sehwag	GC Smith*	RT Ponting	SR Tendulkar	SPD Smith	JH Kallis	BJ Watling +	VD Philander	DW Steyn	NM Lyon	JM Anderson
2013	V Sehwag	GC Smith*	KC Sangakkara	SR Tendulkar	SPD Smith	JH Kallis	BJ Watling +	VD Philander	DW Steyn	NM Lyon	JM Anderson
2014	AN Cook	GC Smith*	KC Sangakkara	SPD Smith	V Kohli	Shakib Al Hasan	BJ Watling +	VD Philander	PJ Cummins	DW Steyn	JM Anderson
2015	AN Cook	DA Warner	KC Sangakkara	SPD Smith	V Kohli	Shakib Al Hasan*	BJ Watling +	VD Philander	PJ Cummins	DW Steyn	JM Anderson
2016	AN Cook	DA Warner	Younis Khan	SPD Smith	V Kohli	Shakib Al Hasan*	BJ Watling +	VD Philander	PJ Cummins	DW Steyn	JM Anderson
2017	AN Cook	DA Warner	Younis Khan	SPD Smith	V Kohli	Shakib Al Hasan*	BJ Watling +	VD Philander	PJ Cummins	DW Steyn	JM Anderson
2018	AN Cook	DA Warner	KS Williamson*	SPD Smith	V Kohli	Shakib Al Hasan	BJ Watling +	VD Philander	PJ Cummins	DW Steyn	JM Anderson
2019	TWM Latham	DA Warner	KS Williamson*	SPD Smith	V Kohli	Shakib Al Hasan	BJ Watling +	VD Philander	PJ Cummins	DW Steyn	JM Anderson
2020	TWM Latham	DA Warner	KS Williamson*	SPD Smith	V Kohli	BJ Watling +	RA Jadeja	VD Philander	PJ Cummins	NM Lyon	JM Anderson

Just fits in three posts...

 

[Starfighter]

What are you basing these off? Blanckenberg is an interesting inclusion for the early 20s because he wasn't very successful on turf pitches, and Sobers is very contentious for the mid fifties when he didn't score his first ton until 1958 and was not captain until much later.

 

[Howe_zat]

I appreciate a good table as much as the next guy, but doesn't this miss the point of a world XI a little bit? It looks like you've mostly picked the conventional players based on who had the best overall career rather than who was playing the best at the time, and then matched the dates to when they debuted or retired rather than when they would have actually made a world XI.

Marshall and Imran for example should no doubt open the bowling in a 'team of the 80s' or possibly even all-time XI, but would anyone really be picking them to form the world attack in 1978, when Marshall was a 20 year old newcomer and Dennis Lillee was at his peak?

Conversely there's no doubt Ponting makes the world XI for most of his career, but he's not going to still be hanging around there in 2010 or 2011 when he was well past his best.

I reckon a 'world XI at the time' is a really good exercise for understanding the who's who of cricket at any given point, but ironing out the creases like this is actually kind of revisionist and makes cricket history look a lot less interesting than it actually is.

 

[Fuller Pilch]

How could Steve Waugh be in a World XI in 1986? He was lucky to be in a very weak Australian team. He really struggled in test cricket until the 89 Ashes. The likes of Crowe and Vengsakar were miles ahead.

 

[Fuller Pilch]

And surely Ben Stokes is the first player picked in the 2020 XI

 

[ankitj]

This is the nerdiness that I love about CW. It's also my dirty secret that I can't let people in real world know about for dear of judgment.

 

[TheJediBrah]

I appreciate a good table as much as the next guy, but doesn't this miss the point of a world XI a little bit? It looks like you've mostly picked the conventional players based on who had the best overall career rather than who was playing the best at the time, and then matched the dates to when they debuted or retired rather than when they would have actually made a world XI.

Yeah this. Pretty sure you've got a few players in the World XI for years that they didn't even play a single game.

Still a repsectable effort to put it all together

 

[Lillian Thomson]

At his peak Ian Botham was the greatest cricketer that ever lived (exaggeration to make a point) yet he only makes the World XI outside of these years and by 91/92 he was reduced to Derek Pringle standards yet is included.

 

[trundler]

Yeah, would be more consistent with their performances in the given period if we did it by decade. Still a grand effort to kick off an interesting conversation though.

 

[stephen]

The 1930 side with Hobbs, Sutcliffe, Bradman, Headley, Hutton and McCabe as the top 6 followed by Ames as keeper and then Rhodes, Tate, Larwood and Grimmett is by far the best side on display. Top 2 batsmen in history including the best opener and number 3. Sutcliffe is usually rated no less than a top 4 opener. Hutton is potentially the best middle order batsman after Bradman. Headley was known as the black Bradman. That batting is unparalleled. The bowling is filled with ATG players as well.

 

[the big bambino]

I think you'd have to rate pre ww2 years on fc cricket as there wasn't enough test cricket played to give a meaningful rating.

 

[Howe_zat]

At his peak Ian Botham was the greatest cricketer that ever lived (exaggeration to make a point) yet he only makes the World XI outside of these years and by 91/92 he was reduced to Derek Pringle standards yet is included.

The table is full of things like that, for example Steve Smith being included in the 2012-13 World XI when he actually wasn't in the Australia team, and Michael Clarke who was easily their best batsman at the time is absent. It comes from just saying Smith > Clarke overall and then putting in Smith from 2010 onwards because that's when he debuted.

 

[Howe_zat]

The 1930 side with Hobbs, Sutcliffe, Bradman, Headley, Hutton and McCabe as the top 6 followed by Ames as keeper and then Rhodes, Tate, Larwood and Grimmett is by far the best side on display. Top 2 batsmen in history including the best opener and number 3. Sutcliffe is usually rated no less than a top 4 opener. Hutton is potentially the best middle order batsman after Bradman. Headley was known as the black Bradman. That batting is unparalleled. The bowling is filled with ATG players as well.

Was anyone actually playing a team like that at the time though? 6 batsmen, keeper-bat and four bowlers with the allrounder at 8 is a very modern set up.

Les Ames didn't even play in England's first choice side that summer. He toured the West Indies in 1930 with what was pretty much a second XI and then George Duckworth kept wicket in the Ashes. And Duckworth was winning the championship for Lancashire at the time - I'd be willing to bet if you ask the cricket writers in 1930 to pick their keeper of the year, they'd probably go for him.

Wilfred Rhodes played his last game as a Test regular in 1921, then had a brief comeback for one test in 1926 because he was still taking Championship wickets, but by 1930 he was properly done, only playing the aformentioned second team series in the West Indies.

That batting is unparalleled, sure, but it's not what the batting was like in 1930.

 

[trundler]

Rhodes's best was actually overshadowed by Barnes in the 1900s. He wasn't a player for the 20s, let alone 1930s.

Ames played more against the lesser sides but he's still the only keeper to have scored 100 FC centuries so he can't have been half bad. Oldfield would be in the reckoning for that period too. Australia usually opened the bowling with trundlers like McCabe and then the spinners basically did everything else. England perhaps had better fast bowling riches and so played more proper pacers. Not sure if this was down to resources or selection policies. Fast bowling duos have been around for longer but the 3 pacer-1 spinner thing is very modern. A 1930s side would at least have 2 of Tiger, Grum and Verity.

 

[trundler]

1930 specifically would be too late for Hobbs and too early for McCabe. Headley had burst on to the scene but hadn't played a lot.

 

[ataraxia]

In copying-and-pasting I forgot to put in that this was purely theoretical - I absolutely understand that picking at the time would yield very different (and more interesting, yes) sides. This exercise was about the talent playing in a particular year rather than the players in form in a particular year.

What are you basing these off? Blanckenberg is an interesting inclusion for the early 20s because he wasn't very successful on turf pitches, and Sobers is very contentious for the mid fifties when he didn't score his first ton until 1958 and was not captain until much later.

There really weren't many good test bowlers then, and his batting and FC average added up for me when I was making these. I really don't know much about him, but he was rumoured to be a Nazi sympathiser so his inclusion may or may not fit in with the new forum.

Pretty sure you've got a few players in the World XI for years that they didn't even play a single game.

For example, George Headley is eligible for the WWII side because he played test cricket either side of it (1930 to 1954). He obviously didn't play tests in it, but he is eligible due to his career span encompassing those years. This caveat doesn't just apply to the war sides, but rather every side.

Hope this clears you up.

Fast bowling duos have been around for longer but the 3 pacer-1 spinner thing is very modern. A 1930s side would at least have 2 of Tiger, Grum and Verity.

Most of mine had three spinners lol.

PJ ***mins

S****horpe and Cummins... might need a switcheroo in which one is filtered out here.

 

[Red]

Pat Cummins will never be spoken of on this forum again.

 

[AndrewB]

In copying-and-pasting I forgot to put in that this was purely theoretical - I absolutely understand that picking at the time would yield very different (and more interesting, yes) sides. This exercise was about the talent playing in a particular year rather than the players in form in a particular year.

We had a draft a few years ago based on a similar premise: http://www.cricketweb.net/forum/threads/a-different-kind-of-test-cricket-draft.71487/