Best all-time Test team of right-handers?

[Harsh Thakor]

My best all-time test right handers xi


1.Barry Richards
2.Sunil Gavaskar
3.Don Bradman
4.Viv Richards
5.Sachin Tendulkar
6.Ian Botham
7.Imran Khan
8.Alan Knott
9.Shane Warne
10.Malcolm Marshall
11 Dennis Lillee

12th man Glen Mcgrath

Barry was the most explosive and complete of opening batsmen .Suny the ultimate batsmen to score a hundred .Bradman the ultimate batting machine.Viv the most intimidating of al batsmen.Sachin the most complete of all batsmen.Botham ,the best match-winner of all on his day as an all-rounder.Imran,the ultiomate fast bowling allrounder.Knott,the most skilled of keepers.Warne,the most lethal of al spinners.Marshall,the most creative or innovative genuine quickie.Lille,the most complete and agressive paceman of them all.


The likes of Keith Miller,Jack Hobbs,Len Hutton Glen Mcgrath or Richard Hadlee missed out by just a whisker.On a green top I would have chosen Mcgrath or Hadlee who in terms of control scaled heights no paceman did. On batting tracks Mcgrath and Hadlee lacked the agression, craft or versatility of Lillee and Marshall to overcome the opposing batsmen.Miller was virtually the equal of Imran or Botham but did not have as long a career.On figures Jacques Kallis would have been an automatic selection but I fel he did not posessed the match-wining flair if Botham or Imran .No doubt he was arguably next only to Sobers amongst all-rounders but I give more worth to fast-bowling all-rounder.After Sobers no al-rounder could at his best turn a game with both ball and bat as much as Ian Botham.Prefered Gavaskar to Hutton and Hobbs because he proved himself against the most lethal paceman while Barry Richards would win more games than Hobbs or Hutton.

If the game was played on a wet track then I would have chosen Jack Hobbs George Headley and Victor Trumper.On treacherous tracks they overshadowed Bradman.If the wicket cracked with an uneven bounce then unanimously I would include Curtly Ambrose.

 

[Ab Fan]

Barry out. Hobbs In.

Rest I agree.

 

[Harsh Thakor]

Barry out. Hobbs In.

Rest I agree.

Infact maybe then Barry instead of Sunil beacuse he would have been more of a match-winner.Bradman rated him the best batsmen he ever saw.Even if Hobbs ahead of an opening batsmen he did not play in era when bowling was absolutely lethal.No doubt arguably he wa sthe best of all batsmen in all types of conditions.Respect your choice.Really touch and go but respected modern era.Any view on Hutton?

 

[Hitman]

Keith Miller instead of Imran Khan. If you select Imran, you'll have to pick him purely as a bowler because he was never a bowler and a batsman at the same time. In the first half of his career he was a bowler, during later years he was a pretty useful batsman.

 

[Harsh Thakor]

Keith Miller instead of Imran Khan. If you select Imran, you'll have to pick him purely as a bowler because he was never a bowler and a batsman at the same time. In the first half of his career he was a bowler, during later years he was a pretty useful batsman.

Keith Miller almost made it sir very god choice By whisker chose Imran because of charisma and longevity.Miller to replace Botham ?

 

[Harsh Thakor]

Keith Miller instead of Imran Khan. If you select Imran, you'll have to pick him purely as a bowler because he was never a bowler and a batsman at the same time. In the first half of his career he was a bowler, during later years he was a pretty useful batsman.

Happy with rest of the team?

 

[Hitman]

Keith Miller almost made it sir very god choice By whisker chose Imran because of charisma and longevity.Miller to replace Botham ?

The thing is if you select Imran, you'll have to do so purely as a bowler. Because he was pretty much a nothing batsman during his peak years as a bowler. Don't you think there are better bowlers?

 

[Hitman]

Happy with rest of the team?

Pretty much. It's a toss up between Jack Hobbs and Barry Richards.

 

[RainMan_]

Gosh, I always thought Sunil Gavaskar was a left hander. Thx op. I've learned something new today.

 

[Ab Fan]

Infact maybe then Barry instead of Sunil beacuse he would have been more of a match-winner.Bradman rated him the best batsmen he ever saw.Even if Hobbs ahead of an opening batsmen he did not play in era when bowling was absolutely lethal.No doubt arguably he wa sthe best of all batsmen in all types of conditions.Respect your choice.Really touch and go but respected modern era.Any view on Hutton?

Barry played just 5 matches. So, I won't have him ahead of those two. Rest is up to what people agrees with.

I might also include Kallis ahead of Botham because in a strong side, you dont need someone who can win the match on his day but would prefer someone who will always be useful with the bat(Kallis is among the most consistent bat of all-time) and play a good supporting role as 5th bowler.

Bowling is fine. Hadlee, Wasim and McGrath are close but misses out.

 

[Harsh Thakor]

Barry played just 5 matches. So, I won't have him ahead of those two. Rest is up to what people agrees with.

I might also include Kallis ahead of Botham because in a strong side, you dont need someone who can win the match on his day but would prefer someone who will always be useful with the bat(Kallis is among the most consistent bat of all-time) and play a good supporting role as 5th bowler.

Bowling is fine. Hadlee, Wasim and McGrath are close but misses out.

wasim is a left-hander.so cant be considered.

 

[SL_Fan]

I'll go with

Barry Richards
Gavaskar
Bradman
Viv
Sachin
Kallis
Knott
Imran (c)
Warne
Marshall
McGrath

12th Murali

 

[Princejain191]

The thing is if you select Imran, you'll have to do so purely as a bowler. Because he was pretty much a nothing batsman during his peak years as a bowler. Don't you think there are better bowlers?

Not sure where this is coming from. At his peak, Imran almost averaged 40 with the bat and 18 with the ball. (and this is over 50 test matches)

http://www.espncricinfo.com/magazine/content/story/484478.html
This tells a story.

He was probably the most complete player in the 20th century.

 

[Harsh Thakor]

I'll go with

Barry Richards
Gavaskar
Bradman
Viv
Sachin
Kallis
Knott
Imran (c)
Warne
Marshall
McGrath

12th Murali

Prefer Mcgrath over Lillee?Was not Lillee more versatile and agressive?Was not Botham or Miller a greater match-winner than Kallis?Anyway great team.

 

[Harsh Thakor]

Not sure where this is coming from. At his peak, Imran almost averaged 40 with the bat and 18 with the ball. (and this is over 50 test matches)

http://www.espncricinfo.com/magazine/content/story/484478.html
This tells a story.

He was probably the most complete player in the 20th century.

Was not Botham marginally better in peak era considering agregate runs and wickets?Or even Miller?Not denying Imran was great.Never forget the not outs in his bating career.Not at his best with the bat when at his best with the bal from 1981-87.?Neverthless strong caase.

 

[SL_Fan]

Prefer Mcgrath over Lillee?Was not Lillee more versatile and agressive?Was not Botham or Miller a greater match-winner than Kallis?Anyway great team.

Apart from Marshall (who played when fast bowlers ruled the game) I don't think any one else has ticked more boxes than McGrath. Did well everywhere, against everyone, dominated pretty much all the top batsmen and turned it on when it mattered more often than not. That's good enough for me

With lefties having Gilly and up against Knott thought Kallis would bolster the batting as opposed to a bowling a/r. Enough bowling there I think anyways given Viv can chip in with a few as well.

 

[SL_Fan]

Kallis the a/r is often very under-rated. All in all in the modern game 13300 Tests runs @ 55 with 45 tons plus close to 300 Test wickets @ 32 and 200 catches. Unreal.

 

[Hitman]

Not sure where this is coming from. At his peak, Imran almost averaged 40 with the bat and 18 with the ball. (and this is over 50 test matches)

http://www.espncricinfo.com/magazine/content/story/484478.html
This tells a story.

He was probably the most complete player in the 20th century.

Till the end of 86' -

http://stats.espncricinfo.com/ci/en...6;spanval1=span;template=results;type=batting

Not the numbers of an all rounder. 2 centuries in 79 innings. Even that average of barely 31 odd is boosted by 12 not outs in 79 innings.

The point is he wasn't someone who could change a game with both the bat and the ball at same time at any stage of his career, something which Sobers and Botham were.

 

[Princejain191]

Till the end of 86' -

http://stats.espncricinfo.com/ci/en...6;spanval1=span;template=results;type=batting

Not the numbers of an all rounder. 2 centuries in 79 innings. Even that average of barely 31 odd is boosted by 12 not outs in 79 innings.

The point is he wasn't someone who could change a game with both the bat and the ball at same time at any stage of his career, something which Sobers and Botham were.

Imran wasn't maybe as good a batsman as a Botham, but he was a much better bowler. And it is childish to look at just 100s or games with 100s+fivers to judge these guys. Also, not sure why having so many not-outs isn't considered a good quality. Imran was more likely to contribute in a match than Botham. He has a higher batting average and a lower bowling average than Botham and both by some distance. He did better against the top 2 teams of the time (WI and Aus) in both batting and bowling than Botham did.

Now to Sobers - he was a batsman that could bowl a bit. Not an all-rounder for me. Averaged less than 1.5 test wickets per inning.

And I haven't even considered the personality and leadership skills of Imran. He revolutionised the game in Pakistan and probably Asia. Bought reverse swing to the game. He would probably be the first or 2nd name in my all-time XI team sheet. The guy averaged 38 in batting and 22 with the ball and did well in every single country. A genius.