# My dream cricket team - if to 'play for my life'



## Logique (20 January 2010)

With apologies to the cricket haters out there. No match on today.
A dream team that as - I think it's Ian Chappell that sometimes puts it, can 'play for my life'.  Of players I've seen, hence no Bradman. I want grit as well as talent.

1. Mark Taylor (C) AUS - tough, resilient, great captain
2. Matty Hayden  AUS - run machine
3. Ricky Ponting  AUS - genius
4. Sachin Tendulkar  IND - genius
5. Alan Border  AUS - read comments M.Taylor - brilliant protector of the tail
6. Adam Gilchrist  AUS - genius
7. Shane Warne   AUS - flawed genius
8. Daniel Vettori (VC) NZ - read comments M.Taylor, great all round cricketer
9. Wasim Akram  PAK - left arm genius, and could bat
10. Dennis Lillee  AUS - genius, and fiery, no mug with the bat either
11. Curtly Ambrose  WIND - genius, and fiery

Apologies to Gordon Greenidge and Des Haynes, Muttiah Muralitharan, John Snow and Steve Waugh. Never saw Keith Miller, but I reckon he'd have been a useful addition.

Nobody could beat my team. Pace attack in particular absolutely sensational.


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## Duckman#72 (20 January 2010)

Logique said:


> With apologies to the cricket haters out there. No match on today.
> A dream team that as - I think it's Ian Chappell that sometimes puts it, can 'play for my life'.  Of players I've seen, hence no Bradman. I want grit as well as talent.
> 
> 1. Mark Taylor (C) AUS - tough, resilient, great captain
> ...




Couple of changes:

I wouldn't have Mark Taylor. When you have the ability of the cricketers you have chosen - you don't need a weak opening bat just for strategy.

I wouldn't have chosen Matt Hayden - flat track bully. Made big scores against some rubbish opposition. I remember how Matt Hayden went against an aging West Indies (he was dropped).

I wouldn't have chosen Alan Border - excellent player of his generation, and he was damn tough, however never really had a great rapport with fellow players. 

Daniel Vettori - wouldn't be in the side. Don't need a front line off spinner for a start and Muttiah would be better (although he chucks and picks up big bags against rubbish opposition)

My inclusions would be Haynes for Taylor, Boon for Hayden, Waugh for Border and to strengthen the batting I'd throw in Viv Richards (also handy off spinner)

Plenty of "sorrys" - Michael Holding, Malcolm Marshall, Allan Donald, Richard Hadlee

So the team would be:

Haynes
Boon
Ponting
Tendulkar
Richards (vc)
Waugh (c)
Gilchrist
Warne
Akram
Lillee
Ambrose

If you want tough and gritty, you shouldn't complain about the inclusion of Richards, Haynes, Boon and Waugh.

I've lost a bowler from your side, but I've added Richards and Waugh who could offer variety in attack. But honestly, you could pick a completely new 11 and have a very, very decent side. I wouldn't be too confident about your attack.

What about Holding, McGrath, Muttiah, and Garner? Or Botham, Marshall, Donald, Abdul Qadir? 

You need to put a time frame around this - I'm talking about 1982/3 onwards (from my earliest memories of cricket)

Duckman


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## GumbyLearner (20 January 2010)

Stats aside. I would have to include Geoff Boycott.
If you ever needed someone more boring to watch, who could stand at the crease, blunt the leather off the ball for 4 days and frustrate the heck out of the opposition. He was the guy.  

I'd include him instead of Tubby as Duckman pointed out.


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## GumbyLearner (20 January 2010)

Duckman#72 said:


> I wouldn't have chosen Alan Border - excellent player of his generation, and he was damn tough, however never really had a great rapport with fellow players.




I wouldn't have chosen Border either Duckman. But he was tough enough to make the transition from baseballer to cricketer.


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## Wysiwyg (20 January 2010)

Unfortunately only 11 players in a team so many top players left out.

Venom and Grace

Justin Langer
Desmond Haynes
Greg Chappell
Viv Richards
Sachin Tendulkar
Jacques Kallis
Adam Gilchrist
Shane Warne
Sir Richard Hadlee
Dennis Lillee
Michael Holding

12th man -- Ian Botham


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## AussiePaul72 (20 January 2010)

Logique said:


> With apologies to the cricket haters out there. No match on today.
> A dream team that as - I think it's Ian Chappell that sometimes puts it, can 'play for my life'.  Of players I've seen, hence no Bradman. I want grit as well as talent.
> 
> 1. Mark Taylor (C) AUS - tough, resilient, great captain
> ...




I can't believe everyone so far has overlooked Pidgeon (Glenn McGrath). I haven't time to put together my whole team but he's definitely there!


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## Buckfont (20 January 2010)

Mark Taylor, great, great, cricketer. Shocking commentator. I`d stick to air conditioners.


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## brty (20 January 2010)

Maybe I'm a bit older than the rest of you but what about Sir Garfield Sobers?? You would have to have him in a side that included players from the early '70's, or for that matter any side.

brty


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## overit (20 January 2010)

Virenda Sehwag
Matt Hayden
Brian Lara
Sachin Tendulkar
Jacques Kallis
Ian Botham
Adam Gilchrist
Wasim Akram
Shane Warne
Dennis Lillee
Curtly Ambrose

Match winners, superstars and all rounders.


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## Garpal Gumnut (20 January 2010)

overit said:


> Virenda Sehwag
> Matt Hayden
> Brian Lara
> Sachin Tendulkar
> ...




I'd agree with Warnie and Tendulkar.

gg


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## Fleeta (20 January 2010)

My first memories of cricket were the late 80s

1. Grenidge
2. Haynes
3. Richardson
4. Logie
5. Richards
6. Hooper
7. Dujon
8. Ambrose
9. Marshall
10. Patterson
11. Walsh

Still the scariest team ever...


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## Sean K (21 January 2010)

Logique said:


> 1. Mark Taylor (C) AUS - tough, resilient, great captain
> 2. Matty Hayden  AUS - run machine
> 3. Ricky Ponting  AUS - genius
> 4. Sachin Tendulkar  IND - genius
> ...



Warne and Vittori? I'd leave out Vittori and add an allrounder. Kallis probably. Toss up between an Akram, Hadlee and McGrath. Taylor, Hayden and Border are questionable. Grenidge, Haynes, Richards, Lara, Waugh all probably get a game before them in my team.


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## GumbyLearner (21 January 2010)

What about Carl OOOOOOOOOper!

He could bat, bowl & FIELD ! Maybe a 12th man at least?


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## GumbyLearner (21 January 2010)

Remember the thread is premised with 'Play with for your life'.

So I stick with my selections

Carl OOOopper
&
Geoff Boycott

I don't want to die fellas!


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## Wysiwyg (21 January 2010)

Fleeta said:


> My first memories of cricket were the late 80s
> 
> 1. Grenidge
> 2. Haynes
> ...



Most of the WSC team I remember from that era.

Gordon Greenidge
Desmond Haynes
Viv Richards
Clive Lloyd
Sorta Know 
Ringza Bell
Murray
Michael Holding 
Andy Roberts
Colin Croft
Joel Garner


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## GumbyLearner (21 January 2010)

Wysiwyg said:


> Most of the WSC team I remember from that era.
> 
> Gordon Greenidge
> Desmond Haynes
> ...




You are still neglecting Carl OOOOper & *Roger Harper!* 
Best One-day fielding average in history, can bowl and can bat and YOUR LIFE depends on it!!!!! 

VIV RICHARDS would be there for sure in my line up!


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## Judd (21 January 2010)

Mark Taylor (C)
Matty Hayden
Ricky Ponting
Sachin Tendulkar
Kim Hughes
Adam Gilchrist
Shane Warne
Daniel Vettori
Wasim Akram
Dennis Lillee
Jeff Thompson

Kim Hughes is included as he, along with Viv Richards, Clive Llyod, was one of the most elegant batsman I have seen.

Tommo is there becasuse he scared sh*tless every batsman who faced him.


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## GumbyLearner (21 January 2010)

Geoff Boycott for boredom and endurance, Roger Harper for versatility, Carl Hooper for all-round ability and Viv Richards for "Go fetch it" psychology!


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## Wysiwyg (21 January 2010)

GumbyLearner said:


> Geoff Boycott for boredom and endurance, Roger Harper for versatility, Carl Hooper for all-round ability and Viv Richards for "Go fetch it" psychology!




What do you think is the reasoning behind the Mark (tubby) Taylor gig? Nothing out of the box in batting or captaining.

Chubby with the bat handle stuck in his belly button.


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## GumbyLearner (21 January 2010)

Smack the cover off it Viv

Has to be there


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## GumbyLearner (21 January 2010)

Just thought i would throw in a slip slop slap message


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## Stan 101 (21 January 2010)

So in the light of the thread's name I've had a good think about this.

Openers... Some of the first that came to mind were Haynes, Grenidge, Hayden, Langer, Boon. Funny that no english openers came to mind. I can really only think back to the days of WSC. 
Grenidge was actually not in the same league as his partner of many years. He was cavalier and often was chasing small totals or had a red hot bowling cordon on his side. 
Hayden and Langer imo weren't facing pure class opening bowlers for the majority of their innings and played in a dominating team. Boon was tough and played class pace alot but often threw his wicket away after getting a start. 

My dark horse was John Wright of NZ. He was hard to get out and seemed to love a challenge. He was a fighter but I will go with Sunil Gavaskar and Andy Flower. Gavaskar made runs and often went on and made big scores. His record is still excellent on pitches all around the world. Flower was not only in a team that was on a hiding to nothing all the time, but Zimbabwe the country was imploding around him. His record is fine.

At number three there are so many choices including I.Chappell, Ponting Tendulkar, Dravid and Martin Crowe but I must go with Lara for the simple fact that he played a lot of cricket when the West Indies were the whipping boys of world cricket and Lara had the weight of the Caribbean nations on his shoulders and he still excelled everywhere.

Plenty of options at 4, too.. I'm not going with Tendulkar as I personally never saw the best of him. I saw him get out a lot for single figures, though and although he is class, from what I saw I would not like him playing for my life especially against the short ball. I would like to see Viv Richards, though. Scared of no man, no bowler and proved it by never wearing a lid. Could turn a test in not a session but in a matter of overs and often went on to make huge scores against class opposition all around the world. Enough said..He was the man.

Number 5 had me thinking Steve Waugh initially and could easily substitute him in but for me it is that irritatingly hard to get out Javed Miandad. Miandad could get under a bowlers skin and had an excellent capacity to find singles to turn over the strike. Just what you need when you are up against it.

At 6 I really wanted to fit in Kapil Dev for obvious reasons but I just don't think I can find the room. I could have also gone with Sarfraz Narwas. I'll stick with Border because that man pees determination. He lead by example, is versatile and is the man I'd have keeping and end tight with the ball, alternating with Viv Richards as my spin attack.

7 brings me to a keeper. Many would go with Gilchrist and as much as he was a game changer and stunning bat he wasn't an excellent keeper and I want every ball caught when my life is on the line. The other thing going against Gilchrist for me was that he was always just one ball away from getting out whether he was on 10 or 110 and I saw a lot of Gilchrist live in Test Matches over his career. Others could have been Marsh but he was a slogger and often through his wicket away, Jeff Dujon, Mark Boucher but I'm going to go with Healy. He didn't look pretty but he could hang around, wasn't afraid to get hit to keep his wicket and that's who I want batting for my life.

That leads to the bowlers.. The first thing I thought of was height but as it got down to it, I just didn't have the room for so many excellent bowlers from eras I'm lucky enough to have witnessed. In no particular order:

Alan Donald, Chaminda Vaas, Waqar Younis, Bruce Reid, Ewan Chatfield, Shane Bond, John Snow, Bob Willis, Angus Fraser, Phil Defreitas,  Joel Garner, Colin Croft, Jeff Thompson and on and on.

But I'll go with Malcolm Marshall at 8. Complete bowler with deceptive pace change and a handy bat.
9. Wasim Akram was as excellent a bowler at the start of an innings as he was at 60 overs. It was always like something would happen when the ball was in Wasim's hand.
10. Late inclusion of Merv Hughes. He had real mongrel; a real mean streak with the ball in his hand. This was often countered with his wit and banter. He would bowl all day till he fell over and for me that means more than Hadlee's clinical excellence. Merv could swing a ball in a better than average way so he got the chocolates.

11. D.K.Lillie. Like all great fast bowlers he got better with age when raw pace started to fade. Would give his all for the team on the field. A workhorse when the hard work was needed but could be graceful, wily and devastating all in the same spell.

So here's my team to play for my life.

1.  S Gavaskar
2.  A Flower
3.  B Lara
4.  V Richards
5.  J Miandad
6.  A Border
7.  I Healy
8.  M Marshall
9.  W Akram
10. M. Hughes
11. D lillie
12. S. Waugh (medium pace) or K Dev.

cheers,


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## Logique (22 January 2010)

Thanks everyone for interesting responses. During the lunch and tea intervals I'll crunch the numbers and come up with the ASF popular team. 

It already looks like I'm not going to get my way with selections.


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## Boognish (22 January 2010)

1.   Greg Chappell
2.   Brian Lara
3.   Ricky Ponting
4.   Don Bradman
5.   Allan Border
6.   Jacques Kallis
7.   Adam Gilchrist
8.   Richard Hadlee
9.   Shane Warne
10. Wasim Akram
11. Glen McGrath


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## Sean K (22 January 2010)

Boognish said:


> 1.   Greg Chappell
> 2.   Brian Lara
> 3.   Ricky Ponting
> 4.   Don Bradman
> ...



You need a couple of openers in there Boog.

Did you see Bradman play? 

I can't see how Tendulker can be left out. Or Lillee. 

I am being biased by preferring Warne, as is others here. Muralitharan is the objective choice for a spinner, even if he chucked it.


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## Boognish (22 January 2010)

Ah if it's only players I have seen play then swap Bradman with Tendulkar.  And this is the team I would want playing for my life.  I reckon Chappell and Lara could open if asked to.

And for mine, Warne is a better bowler than Murali.


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## Binxx (22 January 2010)

Try and beat this combo!

1. Sunil Gavaskar (Scored most of his runs against fiery WI attack of the 80's)
2. Virendra Sehwag (Only person to have come close to score 3 triples. Got out on 293. Scoring rate is phenomenal)
3. Brian Lara (No better #3)
4. Sachin Tendulkar (Sheer talent and genius. Scored most of his runs against the best Aus attack) 
5. Viv Richards (Sheer arrogance and brilliance)
6. Adam Gilchrist (No better keeper batsman to date)
7. Shane Warne (Remember Mike Gattings wicket? Flawed genius)
8. Malcolm Marshall (Great bowlers hunt in pairs. He set up his colleagues nicely)
9. Wasim Akram (Best left arm bowler)
10. Glenn McGrath (Most thinking bowler and would setup the batsmen)
11. Curtly Ambrose (Fearful bowling even when not at 100%.)


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## Sean K (22 January 2010)

Boognish said:


> And for mine, Warne is a better bowler than Murali.



I have problems with this. Murali on stats is the best ever bowler in history at all forms of the game. Like Bradman is the best batsman. I think we are biased.

How do we justify Warne over Murali?


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## Sean K (22 January 2010)

Binxx said:


> Try and beat this combo!
> 
> 1. Sunil Gavaskar (Scored most of his runs against fiery WI attack of the 80's)
> 2. Virendra Sehwag (Only person to have come close to score 3 triples. Got out on 293. Scoring rate is phenomenal)
> ...



Only 5 specialist batsman and an 'allrounder' in Gilchrist? Needs an allrounder bat/bowl in there too imo. Kallis or Botham instead of one of the quicks probably. I'd ditch Marshall for Kallis and bat him at 6. Gilchrist 7, Akram 8. Perhaps..


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## Trembling Hand (22 January 2010)

But guys you have left out the most important person. John Howard to be chief cricket administer,

http://www.theage.com.au/national/piechucker-howard-up-for-plum-job-20100122-mox0.html

He can also double up as chief pie chucker.


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## Boognish (22 January 2010)

Without looking, I wonder what percentage of Murali's wickets have been taken against Bangladesh and/or taken on turning subcontinent pitches, compared to his contemporaries.  Then there's the question of chucking, although in my opinion his action is probably ok.


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## Binxx (22 January 2010)

kennas said:


> Only 5 specialist batsman and an 'allrounder' in Gilchrist? Needs an allrounder bat/bowl in there too imo. Kallis or Botham instead of one of the quicks probably. I'd ditch Marshall for Kallis and bat him at 6. Gilchrist 7, Akram 8. Perhaps..




Good thinking, but probably don't need one 

Akram has 3 centuries with a HS of 275*
Warnie has 12 half centuries
Marshall has 10 half centuries

Even McGrath has a 50 in test cricket (Well this is more tongue in cheek)


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## Stan 101 (22 January 2010)

kennas said:


> How do we justify Warne over Murali?



Murali got bag and bags of wickets against minnows like Zimbabwe and Bangladesh. A breakdown of the quality of wickets would offer more insight.

Warne also cleaned up the tail a lot but could break the top order. are these two spinners held so high in rankings due to quality spinners being few and far between? Are they great bowlers or simply good bowlers who are endangered species and batsmen are bamboozled by lack of practice?

cheers?


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## Duckman#72 (22 January 2010)

kennas said:


> I have problems with this. Murali on stats is the best ever bowler in history at all forms of the game. Like Bradman is the best batsman. I think we are biased.
> 
> How do we justify Warne over Murali?




Kennas, we have no idea, who is umpiring the match. If I was picking the best umpires as well, over the past 20-30 years I'd say, Darryl Hair, Simon Taufel with Dickie Bird (3rd Umpire).  If these are the men in white, I'd say Muttiah would be no-balled. No good having a bowler "play for you life" if he isn't able to bowl. 

For mine Ian Chappell is a two-faced, weak commentator who fits nicely into the abysmal Channel 9 team. One of his more moronic comments: "To play for my life". What does that really mean:

For a batsman:
*To try their best to win and be attacking
*To try their best not to get out and therefore, not to lose the game
*Try their hardest to at least draw
*To play to and maybe above their actual ability (honest toiler - we all know players that squeezed every ounce out of their not so abundant ability)

For a Bowler
*To try their hardest to take wickets
*To try their hardest to contain and defend in the face of adversity
*To try their hardest not to lose
*To play to and maybe above their actual ability (honest toiler)

In other words: Are these guys picked to win the game? Or are they picked with the determination of not losing the game? Or are they picked based on their work ethic regardless of results? 

I think we would all agree that you might pick a different 1st drop on a 5th day minefield with the side at 1/12 still chasing 420, than you would on an opening day belter, coming in at 1/195. 

There has been some honest toilers and sympathy votes put forward for some players - Ewen Chatfield, Merv Hughes. These guys tried their guts out, but are they going to win the game for you?
Maybe winning the game isn't the criteria. Do you just want someone that is guaranteed will try 110%even if that isn't good enough to win the game.

Just to add to the Healy/Gilchrist debate - how many games can you remember did Gilchrist losing due to his glovework? How many games did he setup/win through his batting? Now compare that to Healy. Healy was a very capable gloveman - but in my opinion he was no matchwinning gloveman.

Duckman


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## awg (23 January 2010)

If you want to have the most winning team, then you would want to minimise drawn results.

So if you have the cream of the crop to select from, then Strike Rate would enter into selection, other things being equal.

In that case Adam Gilchrist is the fastest scorer in the history of Test cricket,
with a S/R of 82 runs per 100 balls. ( and an average over 48)

Viv Richards was second on the list in the 70s/100

Recently I saw Virender Sehwag had a  S/R of about 80 in Test cricket.

So those 3 would be high on the list in most peoples books anyway, I would pick all 3, meaning draws would be reduced.

probably apply a similar approach to the bowlers, I know Waqar and Akram for instance had good strike rates

sorry I cant find a reference to the article or post a link of S/Rs

but I remember that in the article, someone had analysed what was available of Bradmans innings ball-by-ball, and he was in the high 60s


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## awg (23 January 2010)

On the matter of an all-rounder, you must all be spring chickens, as no-one has even mentioned Sir Garfield Sobers 

unless a batting average of 57.78 and 235 wickets is not good enough for you?

For the young ones Jacques Kallis 54.80 and 259 wickets


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## brty (23 January 2010)

AWG,

You must be a bit older, and the eyesight maybe failing a bit...

I posted this a couple of days ago...



> Maybe I'm a bit older than the rest of you but what about Sir Garfield Sobers?? You would have to have him in a side that included players from the early '70's, or for that matter any side.




brty


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## Sean K (24 January 2010)

I can't remember where it was posted but I should say it here:

Victoria!!!

The little State down under has shaken off the NSW and QLD bias yet again.

Bad luck SA. Really.. 

And just 5 players down ..


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## ozymick (24 January 2010)

Team 1

Adam Gilchrist ( open with Gilly so I can get S Waugh in the team )
Sunil Gavaskar
Barry Richards  
Greg Chappell
Viv Richard
Alan Border
Steve Waugh
Shane Warne
Wasim Akram
Curtley Ambrose
D K Lillee
Glenn McGrath


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## Sean K (24 January 2010)

ozymick said:


> Team 1
> 
> Adam Gilchrist ( open with Gilly so I can get S Waugh in the team )
> Sunil Gavaskar
> ...



Great team.

But,

That's 12. Who is No 12?

Four pacers and a spinner? 

Need an all-rounder I reckon, again. Kallis for whoever. Waugh could have done it a while ago but got slack, or injured. 

Can't open with Gilly in a Test team, which we assume this is. Lose one of the attack.


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## Duckman#72 (24 January 2010)

kennas said:


> Great team.
> 
> Need an all-rounder I reckon, again. Kallis for whoever. Waugh could have done it a while ago but got slack, or injured.




All-rounders are over-rated in my opinion (at least in the modern era).

It seems that Australia has been searching for the "Holy Grail" of All Rounders over the past few decades with little success. Certainly Hadlee, Botham, Flintoff and Kallis have been wonderful players but..... as Don Bradman once said, if your batsmen are making runs, and your bowlers are taking wickets, you don't need an allrounder.

I think it is crazy picking a "dream team" and then assuming, after picking through the greatest players of the modern era, that the specialist players chosen won't make enough runs or take enough wickets.

Kallis is the only player capable of playing as a specialist batsman, but not good enough to be a key bowler. If you have Waugh and Richards in the side - that is enough variation in my opinion. 

Duckman


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## Sean K (25 January 2010)

Duckman#72 said:


> All-rounders are over-rated in my opinion (at least in the modern era).



Maybe I'm biased, I used to open the batting and bowling. :


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## Wysiwyg (25 January 2010)

kennas said:


> Maybe I'm biased, I used to open the batting and bowling. :



Lol. And you were wicket keeper too. :star:


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## Sean K (25 January 2010)

Wysiwyg said:


> Lol. And you were wicket keeper too. :star:



How did you guess? :star::star::star:


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## UBIQUITOUS (25 January 2010)

My team of the last 30 years. Note - I have Steyn in there because test bowling is about strike rates above other stats, and there are none more lethal than this man.

Gavaskar
Tendulkar
Ponting (c)
Lara
Kallis
Gillchrist
Warne
Steyn
Garner
Marshall
Ambrose

12.Muralitharan depending on whether playing 1 or 2 spinners. Replace any of the 4 equally good quicks with him.


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## Logique (25 January 2010)

Awesome responses everyone, and some 'what was I thinking' moments, realizing I had overlooked some great cricketers. Re-stating that the team is of it's time (our time), hence no Bradman or Miller or Hammond, and a vote came in for G.Sobers.

*ASF popular team is as below, on votes to date*. I tried to retain the team concept, with specialists in position, but not many voted for for off-spinners, so we're light-on in that respect. Could be exposed if playing on the sub-continent.

Heck of a good team.

1. D.Haynes  WI,  ..5 votes
2. S.Gavaskar I, or M.Hayden Aus,  ..4 votes each
3. B.Lara WI, or R.Ponting Aus,  ..6 votes each
4. S. Tendulkar I, ..9 votes
5. V.Richards WI, ..8 votes
6. A.Gilchrist Aus, ..10 votes
7. J.Kallis SA, ..5 votes
8. S.Warne Aus, ..10 votes
9. W.Akram Pak, ..8 votes
10. D.K.Lillee Aus, ..7 votes
11. C.Ambrose WI, ..7 votes


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## Sean K (25 January 2010)

Logique said:


> Heck of a good team.
> 
> 1. D.Haynes  WI,  ..5 votes
> 2. S.Gavaskar I, or M.Hayden Aus,  ..4 votes each
> ...



Yep, heck of a team, well done Log.

I only question the batting order of 6-9. Maybe Akram before Warne and Kallis before Gilly? Thoughts?


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## Logique (25 January 2010)

Agreed kennas. 
Also I think we need to break the deadlock on positions 2. and 3., so that the four players become two.  I'm thinking 2.Gavaskar and 3.Ponting, but the members votes can decide it.

And how are we to select a captain and vice-c from this lot? I guess Gavaskar as captain with Richards as the vc.

Revised batting order:
1. Haynes
2. Gavaskar or Hayden   ..votes?
3. Lara or Ponting  ..votes?
4. Tendulkar
5. V.Richards
6. Kallis
7. Gilchrist
8. Akram
9. Warne
10. Lillee
11. Ambrose


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## nomore4s (25 January 2010)

Who would they play?


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## Sean K (25 January 2010)

Logique said:


> Agreed kennas.
> Also I think we need to break the deadlock on positions 2. and 3., so that the four players become two.  I'm thinking 2.Gavaskar and 3.Ponting, but the members votes can decide it.
> 
> And how are we to select a captain and vice-c from this lot? I guess Gavaskar as captain with Richards as the vc.
> ...



Gavaskar for me, but not as Captain. India went over 30 games without a win at one stage under his leadership. Maybe he might have done better with a different team...

It's hard for me to say, but Lara over Punter. 

To throw a cat amongst the pigeons; Warne for captaincy, Viv deputy.


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## Duckman#72 (25 January 2010)

kennas said:


> Gavaskar for me, but not as Captain. India went over 30 games without a win at one stage under his leadership. Maybe he might have done better with a different team...
> 
> It's hard for me to say, but Lara over Punter.
> 
> To throw a cat amongst the pigeons; Warne for captaincy, Viv deputy.




I agree - Warne for Captain. (Although a "dream team" isn't the place to try new things)

Gavaskar wasn't a team player. It is well known and written about  by Gideon Haigh that he played for himself No 1 and India No 2. As a result his players didn't respond to him. I guess 30 games without success highlights that. Can't make him captain on that basis. Although he gets my tick above Hayden, as he scored against quality opposition.

Duckman


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## Sean K (25 January 2010)

Duckman#72 said:


> I agree - Warne for Captain. (Although a "dream team" isn't the place to try new things)



Agree, but such a shame for the man. If he had have been able to keep his **** in his pants and not needed 'diuretics' for weight loss (steroids to fast track his recuperation from injury) and he would have been a great Australian captain and maybe would have played a couple more years. 

So, captain? 

Seriously missing a captain in this team.


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## Stan 101 (25 January 2010)

nomore4s said:


> Who would they play?




If it's okay with Logique i think we should try to name a team Jeffs or Geoffs to play the team you want to play for your life?

cheers,


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## Logique (26 January 2010)

Warnie for captain it is.

With due respect to site administration, my proposition would require their consent. We seem to have some refugees from the HC forum on ASF - I was thinking we challenge HC to submit their team, then send both team sheets off to the Ch9 cricket commentary team to adjudicate. 

Loser (which will be HC - as if they'd have a clue) must sit through an entire day of the Australian Open tennis. And all mens games. Sure, a cruel punishment - is there a human being alive who could withstand it - but it will teach HC a lesson. There'll be no Venus Williams in flesh-coloured pants to soften the blow for them over at HC.


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## UBIQUITOUS (26 January 2010)

On the Lara or Ponting 'debate' at no.3:

Lara scored 400* & 375 runs in 2 innings on extremely flat batting tracks in Antigua. Man it was a bore to watch him pummel 2 extremely weak England sides. These 2 innings combined with the other 7 200+ scores which Lara scored means that he scored about 1/5 of his 11953 runs in just 9 innings. 

So what was his average in his 223 innings? A quick calculation shows that it would be at a lowly 43. Yes we shouldn't just eliminate big innings, but when they skew the stats as much as Lara's then his records need to be treated with caution. Lara was as 'hot or cold' a batsman as you could ever see, and in my opinion only just scrapes into this team. Yes, he was a record breaker, but I certainly wouldn't put my life on him scoring. Simply having in a team is a gamble.

So I would go with Ponting at number 3. On a side note, Tendulkar and Kallis are the epitomy of consistency. They are run solid accumulators (if unspectacular), no matter what the conditions. Just thought I would add that point.


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## OK2 (26 January 2010)

The next addition to any future list would have to be Chris Gayle. It is scary to see him wind up and I have never seen a ball hit on to the roof of a Grandstand before he came along.


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## Duckman#72 (26 January 2010)

UBIQUITOUS said:


> On the Lara or Ponting 'debate' at no.3:
> 
> Lara scored 400* & 375 runs in 2 innings on extremely flat batting tracks in Antigua. Man it was a bore to watch him pummel 2 extremely weak England sides. These 2 innings combined with the other 7 200+ scores which Lara scored means that he scored about 1/5 of his 11953 runs in just 9 innings.
> 
> ...




Fully agree with those comments OK2. I left Lara out of my side - as he was neither "consistent" nor "tough" enough in my opinion. Statistics aren't everything.

I like the team Logique. Although - I'd vote for Pointing over Lara. And if you MUST pick an allrounder - this team is crying out for S Waugh. He would be logical choice for Captain and was tough as nails. Built his career on beltings by the West Indies, unlike Kallis who has had it pretty cruisy in comparison.

Duckman


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## brty (27 January 2010)

> Who would they play?




Ahh, the B team, which would include some of my A team, but seem to have missed out..

1   Barry Richards
2   Virender Sehwag
3   Graham Pollock
4   Greg Chappell (vc)
5   Javed Miandad
6   Alan Knott (k)
7   Sir Garfield Sobers (c)
8   Sir Richard Hadlee
9   Kapil Dev
10 Max Walker
11 Muttiah Muralitharan

Remember when they played a 'B' team from Australia in the ODIs. It got a little embarrassing as they beat the best from other nations, then started to beat the 'A' team.

The choice of 'Tangles' in the above may perplex some, but he was a superb inswing bowler and would give the captain the variety needed in playing for ones life. 
Good luck in getting that batting line-up out in a hurry..

brty


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