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Graham Thorpe selects the toughest XI

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emclub

T20I Debutant
Joined
Nov 2, 2010
Runs
6,608
Saeed Anwar

Micheal Slater

Brian Lara

Sachin Tendulkar

Jacques Kallis

Steve Waugh

Ian Healy

Wasim Akram

Shane Warne

Curtly Ambrose

Alan Donald

from 'The Cricketer Magazine'
 
Slater is the only one in there who was good rather than great. But I think Slater always did extra well against England.
 
Saurav said:
no McGrath,no Murali:murali
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Not to say that they shouldn't be there, but you can't really fault his choice of bowlers. It is after all who he rates as the toughest players who he's played against.
 
Note that he has three pacers and one spinner, just testament to the fact how comfortable he was against spin.
 
One awesome team that is. The pace attack is really proper out and out fast bowlers.
 
Very surprised to not see courtney walsh in there. The way he used to get Thorpe out with the slower ball was just comical.
 
Abid Z said:
Very surprised to not see courtney walsh in there. The way he used to get Thorpe out with the slower ball was just comical.
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Used to? You make it sound like he did it several times for fun!
 
Shane Warne and Wasim Akram. The two greatest bowlers I've ever seen.
 
Shahid20Ten said:
No Waqar there amazing...
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I know right; it's blatant racism :sarcasm: Ofcourse you forgot to mention how he didnt choose Glenn McGrath, Rahul Dravid, Courtney Walsh, Ricky Ponting etc, but hey he didnt choose Waqar and decided to go with the trundlers Ambrose and Allan Donald instead, the blasphemy!

Hadd hai bhai, Curtley Ambrose and Allan Donald are brilliant bowlers, and Thorpe was choosing his personal toughest XI, not the all-pakistan toughest xi. Such a pitiful victim mentality; you couldve used your post to compliment how he appreciated Saeed Anwar's inclusion whom almost everyone forgets to rate, but ofcourse you overlooked that.
 
Kallis ahead of Dravid ? Surely Thorpe has forgotten the phainty England has received from Dravid over the years.
 
The irony of Thorpe of all people picking a toughest XI will not be lost on Australians.

Those twin centuries Steve Waugh hit with a torn calf in the Ashes - do you know why he even played that match? Because Thorpe (at the time England's best batter) missed the whole Ashes with the same injury and Steve Waugh wanted to make sure Thorpe and England saw exactly how soft they were.
 
Kallis ain't tough...........he's a minnow basher and a choker

u can't be a choker and also be tough
 
Random Aussie said:
The irony of Thorpe of all people picking a toughest XI will not be lost on Australians.

Those twin centuries Steve Waugh hit with a torn calf in the Ashes - do you know why he even played that match? Because Thorpe (at the time England's best batter) missed the whole Ashes with the same injury and Steve Waugh wanted to make sure Thorpe and England saw exactly how soft they were.
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Oh yeah so Steve Waugh experienced the exact same amount of pain as Thorpe and Steve knew exactly what Thorpe was going through?
 
Bullet Drive said:
Oh yeah so Steve Waugh experienced the exact same amount of pain as Thorpe and Steve knew exactly what Thorpe was going through?
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Not sure the point here, the Aussies thought the English at the time were soft so Steve Waugh wanted to make the point that an injury which kept the best English batter out for the series would not stop him playing.

As I said, ironic to Aussie fans to see this list because Thorpe comes to mind when I think of soft cricketers, thanks to Steve Waugh. Which I am sure was partially Waugh's intention.
 
Random Aussie said:
The irony of Thorpe of all people picking a toughest XI will not be lost on Australians.

Those twin centuries Steve Waugh hit with a torn calf in the Ashes - do you know why he even played that match? Because Thorpe (at the time England's best batter) missed the whole Ashes with the same injury and Steve Waugh wanted to make sure Thorpe and England saw exactly how soft they were.
Click to expand...

Was not aware of that, but that is TYPICAL Steve Waugh. The Clint Eastwood of Cricket.
 
It's his personal choice I guess but Slats was an average cricketer.
 
LethalSami said:
Kallis ain't tough...........he's a minnow basher and a choker

u can't be a choker and also be tough
Click to expand...

Not so. Eliminate the minnows and he still has the best batting record this past decade. The only place he hasn't done too well is in England, which is even more of a reason to be wary of him because he'll want to set the record straight.
 
Thats a hell of a team. I really like the combination, cause when making a team its not only about filling it with all the greats but which group wud gell well nd add variations to the team !!

His bowling attack really compliments eachother in Wasim, Ambrose, Donald nd Warne

Also like the batting slots hes given the batsmen.
 
Jo_Don said:
Not so. Eliminate the minnows and he still has the best batting record this past decade. The only place he hasn't done too well is in England, which is even more of a reason to be wary of him because he'll want to set the record straight.
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REMEMBER THIS. I will remind you about that if Kallis continues his usual failures against Eng.
Anfield said:
Minnow basher? How so? He hasn't done well in England and that's about it..
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Kallis wasn't that good vs Eng even at home.
and AUS? getting DEAD RUBBER TONS is enough? HE was very poor WHEN SERIES WAS ALIVE. Done it time and again vs Aus. Refer last series vs Aus (anyone remembers?) I CAn Challenge anyone who disagrees with that. What a joke, Kallis has been a failure vs Aus. don't think I have seen any TOP batsman having such a difference in performance in a live match and a dead rubber against one team.No matter whether it is home or away.
Kallis is the reason I stopped supporting SA at one time.
Have been a flintoff fan since 2004-05 and I Thank Kallis for that. lol.
 
Jo_Don said:
I said that he'll want to do better, not that he will. No need to look for excuses to bump threads.
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I actually have better opinion about Kallis now. But 5 ducks in last 7 tests not a good sign. Isn't it? I know he does have a 226 in there.
I am supporting SA btw.(except when KP bats), had been a neutral for a long time since 2005. Never cared for England after Flintoff retired and some of their deeds *(like bashing of KP at every opportunity).... Lost respect for England fans and media (there are other reasons I won't mention here).
 
Lethalweapon said:
I actually have better opinion about Kallis now. But 5 ducks in last 7 tests not a good sign. Isn't it? I know he does have a 226 in there.
I am supporting SA btw.(except when KP bats), had been a neutral for a long time since 2005. Never cared for England after Flintoff retired and some of their deeds *(like bashing of KP at every opportunity).... Lost respect for England fans and media (there are other reasons I won't mention here).
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Yeah, not good but it only illustrates how consistent he's been in the past. On the same basis, some may argue that Lara's huge scores inflated his average, therefore reducing his consistency. I'm not sure what your beef with Kallis is, but you're entitled to your opinion :)

He also has the most MOTM awards in test history, and second most (after Murali) MOTS awards. That's no easy feat, and certainly not one indicative of a minnow basher and a choker. This is after all test cricket, not ODIs. And if any good batsman cannot bash a minnow, what does that say about him? If Kallis, Ponting, Dravid and Tendulkar all averaged 20 against Bangladesh and Zimbabwe, we'd all be lambasting them on the basis that they can't bat against a minnow.

Agreed about the English media. They're now labelling the English bowling attack as being as good as the dominant Aussie one. It's pathetic. Suddenly now that they're beating the WI, they forgot how they were whitewashed by Pakistan. Our own media doesn't do that, and we have a guy who averages 15 and another with the second best strike rate in history.

http://www.espncricinfo.com/england-v-west-indies-2012/content/current/story/566645.html
 
Jo_Don said:
Yeah, not good but it only illustrates how consistent he's been in the past. On the same basis, some may argue that Lara's huge scores inflated his average, therefore reducing his consistency. I'm not sure what your beef with Kallis is, but you're entitled to your opinion :)

He also has the most MOTM awards in test history, and second most (after Murali) MOTS awards. That's no easy feat, and certainly not one indicative of a minnow basher and a choker. This is after all test cricket, not ODIs. And if any good batsman cannot bash a minnow, what does that say about him? If Kallis, Ponting, Dravid and Tendulkar all averaged 20 against Bangladesh and Zimbabwe, we'd all be lambasting them on the basis that they can't bat against a minnow.

Agreed about the English media. They're now labelling the English bowling attack as being as good as the dominant Aussie one. It's pathetic. Suddenly now that they're beating the WI, they forgot how they were whitewashed by Pakistan. Our own media doesn't do that, and we have a guy who averages 15 and another with the second best strike rate in history.

http://www.espncricinfo.com/england-v-west-indies-2012/content/current/story/566645.html
Click to expand...

I specifically mentioned 2005 series SA vs Eng in SA before. I 'expected' Kallis to do well. He failed me. I respected Flintoff till then, became a fan then. I had supported SA since 2000 after they beat us and have always been superior to Aus or any team here. after that loss in 2005 I had become a neutral. (I was never bothered with India's losses to SA even at home).
 
Gilly said:
He picked two very average openers, he probably wanted to appeal to everyone.
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??? Dude why would he care about 'everyone' or 'anyone', he stated what he felt was his personal best XI. jeez.
 
Lethalweapon said:
REMEMBER THIS. I will remind you about that if Kallis continues his usual failures against Eng.


Kallis wasn't that good vs Eng even at home.
and AUS? getting DEAD RUBBER TONS is enough? HE was very poor WHEN SERIES WAS ALIVE. Done it time and again vs Aus. Refer last series vs Aus (anyone remembers?) I CAn Challenge anyone who disagrees with that. What a joke, Kallis has been a failure vs Aus. don't think I have seen any TOP batsman having such a difference in performance in a live match and a dead rubber against one team.No matter whether it is home or away.
Kallis is the reason I stopped supporting SA at one time.
Have been a flintoff fan since 2004-05 and I Thank Kallis for that. lol.
Click to expand...

Kallis has 1293 runs with average of 54, so your statement is misleading. Kallis has not done well in England with the bat averaging 29, but he has 35 wickets with the ball averaging 27. That makes him a really good bowling allrounder in English conditions.
Nearly all great players have a weak spot in some country. Kallis only has a weak spot in Sri Lanka, averaging 35, which is a bit weak but not terrible. He also has some useful wickets in Sri Lanka.
When all facets of the game are taken into consideration, he is the greatest test player of the last 20 years.
 
Jo_Don said:
Agreed about the English media. They're now labelling the English bowling attack as being as good as the dominant Aussie one. It's pathetic. Suddenly now that they're beating the WI, they forgot how they were whitewashed by Pakistan. Our own media doesn't do that, and we have a guy who averages 15 and another with the second best strike rate in history.

http://www.espncricinfo.com/england-v-west-indies-2012/content/current/story/566645.html
Click to expand...

Seeing as it is an Australian-born England bowling coach saying that on his birthday and possibly after some drinking as a result and not the English media... Why lambast the English for that, or rather extend the exaggeration to everyone? Even Anderson and Swann would be chuckling about that one, I doubt they think they're that good, or that others see them as such.
 
Random Aussie said:
The irony of Thorpe of all people picking a toughest XI will not be lost on Australians.

Those twin centuries Steve Waugh hit with a torn calf in the Ashes - do you know why he even played that match? Because Thorpe (at the time England's best batter) missed the whole Ashes with the same injury and Steve Waugh wanted to make sure Thorpe and England saw exactly how soft they were.
Click to expand...

I'm sure Thorpey would have played if he was able to get onto the park, so Waugh's injury would not have been that serious.

FWIW, Thorpe would be in my Top XI England players of the last three decades.
 
Ruri said:
Seeing as it is an Australian-born England bowling coach saying that on his birthday and possibly after some drinking as a result and not the English media... Why lambast the English for that, or rather extend the exaggeration to everyone? Even Anderson and Swann would be chuckling about that one, I doubt they think they're that good, or that others see them as such.
Click to expand...

He knows who butters his bread.

How about this one: "Strauss' new Australians ready for South Africa" by Mark Nicholas? http://www.espncricinfo.com/magazine/content/story/566565.html

I'm aware that it doesn't apply to everyone (and I never said that it did), but the ones who do go OTT are very vocal about it.
 
Lethalweapon said:
REMEMBER THIS. I will remind you about that if Kallis continues his usual failures against Eng.


Kallis wasn't that good vs Eng even at home.
and AUS? getting DEAD RUBBER TONS is enough? HE was very poor WHEN SERIES WAS ALIVE. Done it time and again vs Aus. Refer last series vs Aus (anyone remembers?) I CAn Challenge anyone who disagrees with that. What a joke, Kallis has been a failure vs Aus. don't think I have seen any TOP batsman having such a difference in performance in a live match and a dead rubber against one team.No matter whether it is home or away.
Kallis is the reason I stopped supporting SA at one time.
Have been a flintoff fan since 2004-05 and I Thank Kallis for that. lol.
Click to expand...

I don't know that much about Kallis' stats vs. other countries, but I know that he's been a thorn in Pak's side many-a-time. I rate him very highly.
 
Gilly said:
He picked two very average openers, he probably wanted to appeal to everyone.
Click to expand...

Calling Anwar average is pretty ignorant. Did you watch cricket when Anwar was playing? He is very highly rated by class players from many countries.
 
That is a very strong team! Bowling attack is the stuff of dreams!

Slater used to be my favorite player.
 
Robert said:
I'm sure Thorpey would have played if he was able to get onto the park, so Waugh's injury would not have been that serious.

FWIW, Thorpe would be in my Top XI England players of the last three decades.
Click to expand...

Sure, he was your best batsman at the time I think.

But perception becomes reality, over time. Was kinda mean of us to put that story out there but it was the English so it's acceptable.
 
Blistering Barnacle said:
Not according to Warne:

http://www.thatscricket.com/news/2008/09/30/shane-warne-100-greatest-cricketers.html

He rates Langer below Slater, and Slater below Anwar.

Furthermore, you called him "very average". That's not a good description of a guy with an average of 45 in tests and 39 in ODIs, having played the bulk of his career in the 90s, and who has a fantastic MoM percentage.
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And Warne ranks Lee better than Ahktar, so I assume you agree with that too.

He also ranks Mike Atherton better than Inzi.

If Warnes list is your measure of a players ranking then OK we will use that.
 
Gilly said:
And Warne ranks Lee better than Ahktar, so I assume you agree with that too.

He also ranks Mike Atherton better than Inzi.

If Warnes list is your measure of a players ranking then OK we will use that.
Click to expand...

I take it you are sticking by calling Anwar a "very average" player?

Because that is the whole point.

Out of curiosity, did you watch him play while he was at his peak? Did you watch cricket in the 90s?

As far as Warne's list, my point was a lot of class players rated Anwar very highly, and Warne's list is an example of it.

In my opinion, Anwar would walk into any team today and probably be the best batsman in more than half of the international teams.
 
Last edited:
At the request of Graham Thorpe’s family, the PCA has issued the following statement.

Graham Thorpe has recently fallen seriously ill and is currently in hospital receiving treatment. His prognosis is unclear at this stage and we ask for privacy for him and his family at this time. Our thoughts are with Graham and his family.
 
MenInG said:
At the request of Graham Thorpe’s family, the PCA has issued the following statement.

Graham Thorpe has recently fallen seriously ill and is currently in hospital receiving treatment. His prognosis is unclear at this stage and we ask for privacy for him and his family at this time. Our thoughts are with Graham and his family.
Click to expand...

This is extremely sad.

Sorry to hear about this.

Hope Graham gets better soon and my thoughts are with his family.
 
Sad news, hope he’s ok but sounds concerning.

Probably my favourite England batsman after Gower retired.
 
Sad news regarding Thorpe.

Always rated him very highly as a batter. Tough competitor who was always a key wicket for the opposition.

Hope he recovers fully.
 
https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2...ously-ill-and-receiving-treatment-in-hospital

The former Surrey and England cricketer Graham Thorpe, 52, is seriously ill in hospital, according to a statement issued by the Professional Cricketers’ Association at the request of his family.

“Graham Thorpe has recently fallen seriously ill and is currently in hospital receiving treatment,” the PCA said. “His prognosis is unclear at this stage and we ask for privacy for him and his family at this time. Our thoughts are with Graham and his family.”
 
<b>’So sad': Cricket world reeling over 'horrid' Graham Thorpe news</b>

The cricket world is holding its breath for England great Graham Thorpe after news emerged on Tuesday that he's "seriously ill" in hospital.

The Professional Cricketers' Association revealed on Tuesday that the former England batter and assistant coach has been hospitalised and is receiving treatment.

The PCA released a statement at the request of Thorpe's family, which read: "Graham Thorpe has recently fallen seriously ill and is currently in hospital receiving treatment.

"His prognosis is unclear at this stage and we ask for privacy for him and his family at this time.

"Our thoughts are with Graham and his family."

The 54-year-old served as England's assistant coach on their Ashes tour of Australia earlier this year.

He had recently accepted the job of Afghanistan head coach following his departure from the England set-up after the 4-0 defeat against Australia.

The Afghanistan Cricket Board, who confirmed Thorpe's appointment in March, tweeted: "We stand with Graham, his family and friends in this critical situation.

"The thoughts and well wishes of the Afghan nation and the ACB are with Graham and his family for his soonest recovery."

The England team posted on Twitter: “All of our thoughts are with Graham Thorpe and his family. We’re with you, Thorpey.”

English county side Surrey described Thorpe as a "favourite son".

"The thoughts of everyone at the club are with Graham, his wife Amanda, and family at this time," they wrote on Twitter.

"He is an icon of the English game, known by millions of cricket fans and forever a favourite son of Surrey CCC."

Supporters group the Barmy Army wrote: “Our thoughts are with Graham Thorpe who has recently fallen seriously ill and is receiving treatment. Get well soon Thorpey.”

Thorpe played 100 Test matches for England, scoring 6744 runs at an average of 44.66.

The stylish left-hander made 16 centuries at Test level, while also appearing in 82 one-day internationals for his country before retiring in 2005.

Thorpe started his coaching career in Australia, working with the likes of Steve Smith and David Warner in the NSW side.

He then joined the England and Wales Cricket Board as a batting coach.

He then worked as assistant with the senior side under Trevor Bayliss and Chris Silverwood, and stepped up to lead the team in the Sydney Test in January when Silverwood was out with Covid-19.

It was the only match of the five-Test series that England didn't lose, holding on for a thrilling draw on the final day.

https://au.sports.yahoo.com/sports/...ling-horrid-graham-thorpe-news-205012038.html
 
Happy birthday to the great man today. Wish him many more to come and a speedy recovery
 
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