Greatest XI to actually take the field

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Greatest XI to actually take the field

Postby bigfluffylemon » Thu Feb 06, 2014 10:06 am

I'd like to propose a couple of discussion threads, mainly as I'm fed up with talking about England's implosion :strop

The first comes from a thought I had towards the end of the recent Ashes series where Australia created a record by fielding the same XI for five tests of a series. It got me thinking that even though we think of great teams, such as Waugh's Australia or Lloyd's West Indies, the teams themselves tend to be fluid. You rarely see the same XI more than a dozen times, and some players that are associated with a great team actually rarely played together. For example, the foursome of Marshall, Holding, Croft and Garner only actually came together in three test matches, none of which the West Indies actually won.

So, what was the best, strongest, greatest XI to ever actually take the field together?

I'll propose one team as a start for the debate, which I think is the greatest XI I've seen. I don't know enough about the players of the 80's West Indies, or the Invincibles, for example, to be able to pick XIs from those eras, but I hope someone will be able to enlighten me.

My team:

Australia v England, 5th Ashes test, the Oval 2001

ML Hayden
JL Langer
RT Ponting
ME Waugh
SR Waugh
DR Martyn
AC Gilchrist
B Lee
SK Warne
JN Gillespie
GD McGrath

Not a weak link among them, and probably five of the greatest players ever to play for Australia (Warne, McGrath, Ponting, Gilchrist and S Waugh) in the same team. It was a close run thing between this XI and the 1st-3rd tests (same XI, but Slater for Langer), but for my money Langer was better.

So, who's your pick?
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Re: Greatest XI to actually take the field

Postby Gingerfinch » Thu Feb 06, 2014 10:20 am

That side is hard to beat.

The West Indies side of 82-83 which played India was pretty damn good.

Greenidge
Haynes
Gomes
Richards
Lloyd
Logie
Dujon
Marshall
Holding
Roberts
Garner

No great spinner of course, but four great quicks, although Holding and Roberts were possibly past their best.

The good thing about that Aussie team was, none were either past their best, or new to test cricket.
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Re: Greatest XI to actually take the field

Postby D/L » Thu Feb 06, 2014 10:26 am

H Sutcliffe
R E S Wyatt
W R Hammond
Nawab of Pataudi Sr
M Leyland
D R Jardine*
H Verity
G O B Allen
L E G Ames†
H Larwood
W Voce

Many Aussies, of advancing years now, will probably agree with this suggestion.
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Re: Greatest XI to actually take the field

Postby bigfluffylemon » Thu Feb 06, 2014 10:51 am

D/L wrote:Many Aussies, of advancing years now, will probably agree with this suggestion.


:lol:
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Re: Greatest XI to actually take the field

Postby Arthur Crabtree » Thu Feb 06, 2014 8:06 pm

How about this side?

Hutton
Simpson
Compton
Edrich
May
Cowdrey
Bailey
Andrew
Tyson
Bedser
Statham

Brisbane 1954. Lost by an innings and 154 runs. Though with Wardle and Evans added, they won the series.

This side won the Ashes 1-0 at the Oval in 1953.

Hutton
Edrich
May
Compton
Graveney
Bailey
Evans
Laker
Lock
Trueman
Bedser
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Re: Greatest XI to actually take the field

Postby Arthur Crabtree » Thu Feb 06, 2014 8:13 pm

Best England in my time, this one against Sri Lanka in Cardiff, 2011:

Strauss
Cook
Trott
Pietersen
Bell
Morgan
Prior
Broad
Swann
Tremlett
Anderson

Trying to get a great Fletcher team is hard. Towards the end, you have to accept Geraint, but if you go back far enough to have Stewart instead, you lose Pietersen.
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