How fair were all-time XI selections of former players?

[Harsh Thakor]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ls_uGmX-HVw

Recently there has been a spate of all-time XI selections by former players like Waqar,Rameez,Donald,Gooch,Stewart ,Rod Marsh ,Sanjay Manjrekar and many others.I have applauded some,but been neutral or even critical of others.

I feel the selection of Alan Donald was most unfair to obliterate Wasim Akram and Sachin Tendulkar,and noone thus from the sub-continent.He rated Wasim as the most complete pacemen of all and Tendulkar the best bat of his era bit excluded both of them in selection.I feel he could have replaced Ambrose with Wasim and Tendulkar as an opener ,to do both justice.The variety of Wasim would have been the ideal foil for the control of Mcgrath and pace of Marshall.

The all-time teams selected I liked most or felt wee most fair were those of Alec Stewart,Sanjay Manjrekar and Mike Brearley,which did utmost justice to their eras.Brearley included likes of Gavaskar,Chappell brothers,Lillee and Roberts.Stewart chose stalwarts like Wasim,Gooch,Steve Waugh,Ambrose and Warne.Manjrekar chose greats like Gavaskar,Sobers,Tendulkar,Lara,Steve Waugh Imran,Wasim ,Marshall etc.

I complement Rod Marsh for including 3 Pakistanis,deservingly in his XI which were Miandad ,Imran and Qadir.Great judgement in choosng Javed's tenacity or guts against the calss of Greg Chappell and Qadir's wizardry above the art of Bishen Bedi.

Rameez Raja chose a well balanced team but made an error by choosing Mcgrath over Wasim.Wasim was not as nagging or relentless as Mcgrath but was more lethal or penetrative.I would back Wasim more to make crucial breakthroughs,particularly on pitches unfriendly to pace bowlers.Not for nothing did Lara,Kallis ,Sangakkara or Laxman rate Wasim the hardest pace bower they ever faced.Neverthless I complement Rameez picking Sehwag,Sobers,Viv,Tendulkar and Lara.

Younis Khan made a mistake in leaving out Gavaskar and choosing Hanif and choosing Hadlee instead of Wasim.Still I admire his choices of Sehwag,Tendulkar and Sobers.I complement Graham Gooch for choosing Wasim but am critical of him leaving out Gavaskar and choosing partner Boycott.

To me Bob Willlis unfairly left out greats like Botham,Wasim ,Tendulkar,Lara and Gavaskar. I disagree with team having both Sobers and Kallis .If taking only playing era and then choosing Kallis I would support it.

Overall I preferred choice of Steve Waugh or Botham instead of Kallis if you evaluate influence or impact on game .



Allan Donald’s all-time XI:

Matthew Hayden (Australia), Justin Langer (Australia), Jacques Kallis (South Africa), Brian Lara (West Indies), Sir Viv Richards (West Indies – captain), AB de Villiers (South Africa), Adam Gilchrist (Australia – wicketkeeper), Shane Warne (Australia), Malcolm Marshall (West Indies), Curtly Ambrose (West Indies), Glenn McGrath (Australia)

Ramiz Raja’s all-time XI: Virender Sehwag, Sunil Gavaskar, Sir Viv Richards, Sachin Tendulkar, Brian Lara, Sir Garfield Sobers, Adam Gilchrist (wk), Imran Khan (c), Malcolm Marshall, Glenn McGrath, Shane Warne


Younis Khan's All Time Playing XI:

Hanif Mohammad (Pakistan), Sachin Tendulkar (India), Jacques Kallis (South Africa), Brian Lara (West Indies), Sir Vivian Richards (West Indies), Adam Gilchrist (Australia), Imran Khan (Pakistan), Shane Warne (Australia), Sir Richard Hadlee (New Zealand), Glenn McGrath (Australia), Muttiah Muralitharan (Sri Lanka)

Mike Brearley’s All-Time XI:

Sunil Gavaskar (India), Gordon Greenidge (West Indies), Greg Chappell (Australia), Sir Viv Richards (West Indies), Ian Chappell (c) (Australia), Sir Ian Botham (England), Alan Knott (wk) (England), Imran Khan (Pakistan), Abdul Qadir (Pakistan), Dennis Lillee (Australia) and Sir Andy Roberts (West Indies).


Alec Stewart’s All Time XI:

Graham Gooch, Desmond Haynes, Martin Crowe, Brian Lara, Sachin Tendulkar, Steve Waugh, Adam Gilchrist (wk), Wasim Akram, Malcolm Marshall, Shane Warne (C), Curtly Ambrose.


Rodney Marsh’s all-time XI

Barry Richards, Gordon Greenidge, Ian Chappell (C), Sir Viv Richards, Javed Miandad, Sir Garfield Sobers, Alan Knott (WK), Imran Khan, Andy Roberts, Dennis Lillee, Abdul Qadir


Graham Gooch's All Time XI: Barry Richards (South Africa), Geoffrey Boycott (England), Sir Viv Richards (West Indies), Sachin Tendulkar (India), Allan Border (Australia), Sir Ian Botham (England), Alan Knott (wk) (England), Shane Warne (Australia), Wasim Akram (Pakistan), Malcolm Marshall (West Indies) and Dennis Lillee (Australi

 

[Harsh Thakor]

Sorry PP viewers forgot about Waqar Younus XI which was well balanced and right up there with the best.Included Bradman,Sobers,Wasim,Lara and Tendulkar.Maybe he could have included Kallis somewhere ?I ponder whether it was more appropriate of players to select only those they saw rather than include those who played before their time or much after.In many respects makes sense to only choose those you have played with or seen.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Aw0k_I6aPE

 

[Harsh Thakor]

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[Thunderbolt14]

Rameez might have been wrong to include McGrath over Wasim but it is debatable. It actually shows he was more fair that he did not choose his country man

 

[therealAB]

So basically people not picking Pakistani's is biased [MENTION=132062]Harsh Thakor[/MENTION]
Hadlee, McGrath and Ambrose are all significantly better test bowlers than Wasim. What do you mean by 'more penetrative', he has the worst SR of any top tier pace bowler of the modern era.
Qadir is a shocking selection, averages over 40 outside of Asia. Had good variations, but control is the greatest skill of all and he had none

Also, did you suggest Tendulkar as an opener lol. The bloke refused to bat anywhere but 4, he would downright refuse to go in 1st. Who should Willis get rid of to put in the players you mentioned

Miandad over Border is also a shocker, Border was a batter test bat in every way

 

[Harsh Thakor]

Rameez might have been wrong to include McGrath over Wasim but it is debatable. It actually shows he was more fair that he did not choose his country man

You are so correct.Very fair indeed.

 

[Harsh Thakor]

So basically people not picking Pakistani's is biased [MENTION=132062]Harsh Thakor[/MENTION]
Hadlee, McGrath and Ambrose are all significantly better test bowlers than Wasim. What do you mean by 'more penetrative', he has the worst SR of any top tier pace bowler of the modern era.
Qadir is a shocking selection, averages over 40 outside of Asia. Had good variations, but control is the greatest skill of all and he had none

Also, did you suggest Tendulkar as an opener lol. The bloke refused to bat anywhere but 4, he would downright refuse to go in 1st. Who should Willis get rid of to put in the players you mentioned

Miandad over Border is also a shocker, Border was a batter test bat in every way

You have a point but the game is also about aesthetics and moral performance.Was Wasim not the most lethal paceman to the great batsmen and best in unhelpful conditions?Remember how much he wa s let down by his fielders.Was thee ever as versatile a pace bowler?Not for nothing was he chosen n so many crickters all time XI's.

Border was statistically a notch ahead but it was always Miandad who niggled opponents more or a wicket they prized more.Read the views of Viv ,Botham or Lillee.From 1987-89 Javed was the best tset batemen in the world which arguable Border never was.Not denying Border may have been a better test batsmen.

 

[therealAB]

You have a point but the game is also about aesthetics and moral performance.Was Wasim not the most lethal paceman to the great batsmen and best in unhelpful conditions?Remember how much he wa s let down by his fielders.Was thee ever as versatile a pace bowler?Not for nothing was he chosen n so many crickters all time XI's.

Border was statistically a notch ahead but it was always Miandad who niggled opponents more or a wicket they prized more.Read the views of Viv ,Botham or Lillee.From 1987-89 Javed was the best tset batemen in the world which arguable Border never was.Not denying Border may have been a better test batsmen.

What is moral performance lol?. Is it suing bottle caps?
Fine if it's aesthetics, then my team would be:
Anwar
Barry Richards
Mark Waugh
Crowe
Martyn
VVS
Tallon
Warne
Wasim
Jimmy
Holding

Therefore Waugh > Sachin. However, thats not true. For a team trying to win games, McGrath, Ambrose and Hadlee are better. McGrath was the most lethal paceman to the great batsmen, all over Kallis and very good vs Lara, Sachin. Wasim's overseas record is lacking compared to the aformentioned 3 fast bowlers, only averages below 24 overseas in SL, Bangla, NZ - no top nations, so not the most versatile fast bowler, that is Marshall who dominated everywhere.

Border's wicket was prized more than anyone's as he stood up when Aus was struggling. Dujon says his greatest cricketing regret was Border not getting twin hundreds at that famous Port of Spain game. Comparatively, Miandad was weak overseas as well as vs the WI against whom he struggled in general, whereas Border made runs vs the best.
David Warner niggles more than Smith, does that make him better our of interest. Border was also the top bat in the world from 84-86 so not sure what your point is here.
Border was the better bat, as well as a brilliant leader. Pick him

 

[Ab Fan]

I think all the selections made by the mentioned names are very fair.

Allan Donald's selection is very fair and while he could have put Tendulkar and Wasim there but he probably would have forgotten.

He should have also picked Graeme Smith over Justin Langer but he probably found it harder against them so he picked them.

 

[Hitman]

Also, did you suggest Tendulkar as an opener lol. The bloke refused to bat anywhere but 4, he would downright refuse to go in 1st. Who should Willis get rid of to put in the players you mentioned

How do you know that? Has any from the team confirmed it?

 

[Harsh Thakor]

I think all the selections made by the mentioned names are very fair.

Allan Donald's selection is very fair and while he could have put Tendulkar and Wasim there but he probably would have forgotten.

He should have also picked Graeme Smith over Justin Langer but he probably found it harder against them so he picked them.

Very fair asessment.I felt it had discriminatory overtones not to include any Asian cricketer .How do you feel about Tendulkar as an opener?

 

[Ab Fan]

Very fair asessment.I felt it had discriminatory overtones not to include any Asian cricketer .How do you feel about Tendulkar as an opener?

He would do well at any position. But given his hunger for runs and consistency, he should bat in the middle order. The best batter in your team should bat at 3 or 4.

 

[therealAB]

How do you know that? Has any from the team confirmed it?

Taking the ****. There were calls at times for him to change it up a bit in the 90's when he was India's best bat by far. Personally as the best bat, he chooses where he bats in a team. No issues with him batting 4, or Waugh, Border etc batting 5 where they are most comfortable

 

[NishanKonar]

Most former players tend to be more biased towards their own generation

Don Bradman selected Arthur Morris as opener, Don Tallon as wk & Billy O Reilly as spinner - players whom he played with as team mates. While he ignored likes of Hutton, Trueman, Malclom Marshall. Even Richie Benaud said Shane Warne had same accuracy as Reilly but spun the ball twice as much

 

[Harsh Thakor]

Most former players tend to be more biased towards their own generation

Don Bradman selected Arthur Morris as opener, Don Tallon as wk & Billy O Reilly as spinner - players whom he played with as team mates. While he ignored likes of Hutton, Trueman, Malclom Marshall. Even Richie Benaud said Shane Warne had same accuracy as Reilly but spun the ball twice as much

Fel the selections were fair like Alan Donald ,Rameez Raja,Alec Stewart or even Graham Gooch?

 

[therealAB]

[MENTION=132062]Harsh Thakor[/MENTION]
I'd appreciate it if you could reply to my post, feel like I put alot of effort and brought up some cogent points

 

[Harsh Thakor]

Fel the selections were fair like Alan Donald ,Rameez Raja,Alec Stewart or even Graham Gooch?

Feel Alan Donlad was unfair to exclude Asian or Willis wrong to exclude Tendulkar and Lara?Agree with my critque?

 

[Robert]

Fair? It’s all down to personal choice based on who caused who most problems.

 

[Harsh Thakor]

Fair? It’s all down to personal choice based on who caused who most problems.

Alan Donald's XI balanced or fair?Or Bob Willis XI?agree with my perspective on selections?