In which decade was cricketing talent most abundant in Test cricket?

[Harsh Thakor]

Lists of outstanding cricketers and world xi's of last 6 decades.Chosen the world xi's of the decades and listed other players.

1960's xi

Conrad Hunte
Hanif Mohammad
Rohan Kanhai
Graeme Pollock
Peter May
Gary Sobers'
Jackie Hendricks
Richie Benaud
Alan Davidson
Fred Trueman
Wes Hall

Others
Frank Worrell
Basil Butcher
Ken Barrington
Bill Lawry
Nawab of Pataudi
Vijay Manjrekar
Colin Cowdrey
Brian Statham
Graham Mckenzie
John Snow
Colin Milburn
Tom Graveney




1970's xi

Barry Richards
Gavaskar
Viv Richards
Ian Chappell(C)
Greg Chappell
Gary Sobers
Mike Procter
Alan Knott(W)
Andy Roberts
Dennis Lillee
Bishen Bedi

Other players
Clive Lloyd
Majid Khan
Jeff Thomson
Geoff Boycott
Michael Holding
Joel Garner
Derek Underwood
Tony Greig
John Snow
Rohan Kanhai
Mushtaq Muhammad
Asif Iqbal
Lawrence Rowe
Glen Turner
Colin Croft


1980's xi

Greenidge
Gavaskar
Viv Richards
Alan Border
Javed Miandad
Ian Botham
Jeff Dujon(W)
Imran Khan (C)
Richard Hadlee
Malcolm Marshall
Abdul Qadir

other players
Martin Crowe
Kapil Dev
David Gower
Mohammad Azaharuddin
Alan Lamb
Bob Willis
Geoff Lawson
Craig Mcdermott
Mike Gatting
Dilip Vengsarkar
David Boon
Mohsin Khan
Dean Jones
Greg Matthews
Ravi Shastri
Graham Gooch



1990's xi

Mark Taylor
Graham Gooch
Brian Lara
Sachin Tendulkar
Steve Waugh (C)
Jacques Kallis
Ian Healy (W)
Shane Warne
Wasim Akram
Curtly Ambrose
Alan Donald

other players
Salim Malik
Mark Waugh
Inzamam Ul Haq
Shaun Pollock
Saurav Ganguly
Rahul Dravid
Ian Fleming
Saqlain Mushtaq
Waqar Younus
Courtney Walsh
Shaun Pollock
Chris Cairns


2000's xi

MatthewHayden
Graeme Smith (C)
Ponting
Lara
Tendulkar
Kallis
Gilchrist (W)
Warne
Donald
Shoaib Akhtar
Murlitharan
Glen Mcgrath
Chris Cairns


Other players

Rahul Dravid
Brett Lee
Michael Clarke
Shane Bond
Murlitharan
Damien Martyn
Andrew Flintoff
Kevin Pieterson
Dale Steyn
Mohammad Yousuf
Herschelle Gibbs
Bret Lee
Mohammad Yousuf


2010 xi

Andrew Strauss
Alistair Cook
Hashim Amla
Virat Kohli (C)
Kane Williamson
JoeRoot
AB Devilliers (W)
Yasir Shah
Dale Steyn
Michael Stark
James Anderson

Other players

Mohammad Asif
James Swann
Tim Southee
Rabada
Vernon Philanderer
Stuart Broad



Analysis and Conclusion

With a gun on my head I would choose 1970's as the decade when cricketing talent flourished to the greatest extent .Imagine the likes of Sobers,Gavaskar,Chappell brothers ,Barry Richards,Mike Procter,Zaheer Abbas,Majid Khan,Dennis Lillee,Andy Roberts,Michael Holding ,Clive Lloyd,Alvin Kalicharan,Jeff Thomson,Derek Undewod,Bishen Bedi,Glen Turner ,Mushtaq Muhammad ,Tony Greig,Asif Iqbal and Gundappa Vishwanath all playing together.For creative genius this decade topped the list.Arguably the best ever Australian team ever played in this decade with the likes of Lillee-Thomson and Chappell brothers as well as great West Indies and Pakistani sides.Significantly Gavaskar,Viv Richards ,Chappell brothers and Lillee were at their best in this decade.

At 2nd place just a whisker behind I chose The main factor wa sthe emergence of 4 great all-rounders in Hadlee,Imran,Botham and Kapil.There were also batsmen of great calibre like Gavaskar,Viv Richards Gower,Vengsarkar ,Border,Miandad,Martin Crowe,Greenidge Etc.Abundance of great pace bolwers like Marshall.Hadlee,Imran ,Garner etc.

At no 3 the 1990's as although it had the greatest bowlers like Wasim,Waqar,Ambrose and Donald there were not as great all-rounders as before .Close to the best batsmen ever in Lara and Sachin but others were not as consistent or classy as the best of the 1970's.


I feel the lists demonstrate that the standard of the game has declined in the last 2 decades,in test cricket.I could make the 2strongest world xi's in the 1970's and then the 80's.

 

[Sarwar89]

And where will legendary Muhammad Hafeez fit into it ? In which decade ?

Will Hafeez or can he make his mark in any of those decades ?

 

[Harsh Thakor]

do come back here [MENTION=132916]Junaids[/MENTION] [MENTION=79064]MMHS[/MENTION] [MENTION=7774]Robert[/MENTION] [MENTION=538]bilal[/MENTION] [MENTION=139595]Ab Fan[/MENTION]

 

[Junaids]

Unquestionably the 1970’s in my opinion, but in large part because Kerry Packer’s World Series Cricket was at such a high level that it made the players better (Imran, Viv, Lillee) or drove them into oblivion (Greig).

 

[shaaik]

Couldn't agree more with the OP, 70s & 90s indeed were the 2 golden decades of cricket both talent and excitement wise.

 

[Gilly]

Steve Smith does not make the 2010 list but Asif does, interesting to see how that works?.

 

[ARK Rafay]

The 70s players. Each player legendary

 

[ARK Rafay]

Steve Smith does not make the 2010 list but Asif does, interesting to see how that works?.

And interesting to see James Swann there as well (S.K)

 

[Rahul1]

Lists of outstanding cricketers and world xi's of last 6 decades.Chosen the world xi's of the decades and listed other players.

1960's xi

Conrad Hunte
Hanif Mohammad
Rohan Kanhai
Graeme Pollock
Peter May
Gary Sobers'
Jackie Hendricks
Richie Benaud
Alan Davidson
Fred Trueman
Wes Hall

Others
Frank Worrell
Basil Butcher
Ken Barrington
Bill Lawry
Nawab of Pataudi
Vijay Manjrekar
Colin Cowdrey
Brian Statham
Graham Mckenzie
John Snow
Colin Milburn
Tom Graveney




1970's xi

Barry Richards
Gavaskar
Viv Richards
Ian Chappell(C)
Greg Chappell
Gary Sobers
Mike Procter
Alan Knott(W)
Andy Roberts
Dennis Lillee
Bishen Bedi

Other players
Clive Lloyd
Majid Khan
Jeff Thomson
Geoff Boycott
Michael Holding
Joel Garner
Derek Underwood
Tony Greig
John Snow
Rohan Kanhai
Mushtaq Muhammad
Asif Iqbal
Lawrence Rowe
Glen Turner
Colin Croft


1980's xi

Greenidge
Gavaskar
Viv Richards
Alan Border
Javed Miandad
Ian Botham
Jeff Dujon(W)
Imran Khan (C)
Richard Hadlee
Malcolm Marshall
Abdul Qadir

other players
Martin Crowe
Kapil Dev
David Gower
Mohammad Azaharuddin
Alan Lamb
Bob Willis
Geoff Lawson
Craig Mcdermott
Mike Gatting
Dilip Vengsarkar
David Boon
Mohsin Khan
Dean Jones
Greg Matthews
Ravi Shastri
Graham Gooch



1990's xi

Mark Taylor
Graham Gooch
Brian Lara
Sachin Tendulkar
Steve Waugh (C)
Jacques Kallis
Ian Healy (W)
Shane Warne
Wasim Akram
Curtly Ambrose
Alan Donald

other players
Salim Malik
Mark Waugh
Inzamam Ul Haq
Shaun Pollock
Saurav Ganguly
Rahul Dravid
Ian Fleming
Saqlain Mushtaq
Waqar Younus
Courtney Walsh
Shaun Pollock
Chris Cairns


2000's xi

MatthewHayden
Graeme Smith (C)
Ponting
Lara
Tendulkar
Kallis
Gilchrist (W)
Warne
Donald
Shoaib Akhtar
Murlitharan
Glen Mcgrath
Chris Cairns


Other players

Rahul Dravid
Brett Lee
Michael Clarke
Shane Bond
Murlitharan
Damien Martyn
Andrew Flintoff
Kevin Pieterson
Dale Steyn
Mohammad Yousuf
Herschelle Gibbs
Bret Lee
Mohammad Yousuf


2010 xi

Andrew Strauss
Alistair Cook
Hashim Amla
Virat Kohli (C)
Kane Williamson
JoeRoot
AB Devilliers (W)
Yasir Shah
Dale Steyn
Michael Stark
James Anderson

Other players

Mohammad Asif
James Swann
Tim Southee
Rabada
Vernon Philanderer
Stuart Broad



Analysis and Conclusion

With a gun on my head I would choose 1970's as the decade when cricketing talent flourished to the greatest extent .Imagine the likes of Sobers,Gavaskar,Chappell brothers ,Barry Richards,Mike Procter,Zaheer Abbas,Majid Khan,Dennis Lillee,Andy Roberts,Michael Holding ,Clive Lloyd,Alvin Kalicharan,Jeff Thomson,Derek Undewod,Bishen Bedi,Glen Turner ,Mushtaq Muhammad ,Tony Greig,Asif Iqbal and Gundappa Vishwanath all playing together.For creative genius this decade topped the list.Arguably the best ever Australian team ever played in this decade with the likes of Lillee-Thomson and Chappell brothers as well as great West Indies and Pakistani sides.Significantly Gavaskar,Viv Richards ,Chappell brothers and Lillee were at their best in this decade.

At 2nd place just a whisker behind I chose The main factor wa sthe emergence of 4 great all-rounders in Hadlee,Imran,Botham and Kapil.There were also batsmen of great calibre like Gavaskar,Viv Richards Gower,Vengsarkar ,Border,Miandad,Martin Crowe,Greenidge Etc.Abundance of great pace bolwers like Marshall.Hadlee,Imran ,Garner etc.

At no 3 the 1990's as although it had the greatest bowlers like Wasim,Waqar,Ambrose and Donald there were not as great all-rounders as before .Close to the best batsmen ever in Lara and Sachin but others were not as consistent or classy as the best of the 1970's.


I feel the lists demonstrate that the standard of the game has declined in the last 2 decades,in test cricket.I could make the 2strongest world xi's in the 1970's and then the 80's.

Who is James Swann?

 

[Gilly]

Strauss scored 1670 runs @ 32.7 with 3 hundreds
Warner with 6363 runs @ 48.2 with 21 hundreds.

Somehow Strauss is ranked higher.

 

[AlizeeFan]

Who is James Swann?

2010 version of Ravi Shastri.

 

[AlizeeFan]

Strauss scored 1670 runs @ 32.7 with 3 hundreds
Warner with 6363 runs @ 48.2 with 21 hundreds.

Somehow Strauss is ranked higher.

Ravi Shastri is there, but Pujara and Ashwin aren't there in the list. Even Jadeja is better than Shastri.

This is a random list at best.

 

[rudra]

This era. We have extremely talented pacers like steyn, rabada, phil, morkel, starc, cunmins, hazle, jimmy, broad, gabriel, boult, southee, bumrah, shami, abbas.....ishant aamir in patches.

There is no dearth of quality pacers in world cricket. Why under rate the present?

 

[Gilly]

This era. We have extremely talented pacers like steyn, rabada, phil, morkel, starc, cunmins, hazle, jimmy, broad, gabriel, boult, southee, bumrah, shami, abbas.....ishant aamir in patches.

There is no dearth of quality pacers in world cricket. Why under rate the present?

It is very common for sports supporters to rate the era they "grew up" in as the greatest. Commentators are prone to this also.

 

[Swashbuckler]

Strauss scored 1670 runs @ 32.7 with 3 hundreds
Warner with 6363 runs @ 48.2 with 21 hundreds.

Somehow Strauss is ranked higher.

Many such anomalies, I don't even bother with these lists anymore.

 

[Harsh Thakor]

Steve Smith does not make the 2010 list but Asif does, interesting to see how that works?.

Major Error of leaving out Steve Smith, Sorry ofcourse Smith in it before Kohli.Really sorry for forgetting as he was a unanimous choice.Please PP viewers apologize for error and accept this xi for 2010 decade .Still xi of a considerably lower standard to previous decades.


My corrected list for 2010 xi

Andrew Strauss
Alistair Cook
Hashim Amla
Steve Smith
Virat Kohli (C)
Kane Williamson
AB Devilliers (W)
Yasir Shah
Dale Steyn
Michael Stark
James Anderson

 

[Gilly]

Major Error of leaving out Steve Smith, Sorry ofcourse Smith in it before Kohli.Really sorry for forgetting as he was a unanimous choice.Please PP viewers apologize for error and accept this xi for 2010 decade .Still xi of a considerably lower standard to previous decades.My corrected list for 2010 xi

Andrew Strauss
Alistair Cook
Hashim Amla
Steve Smith
Virat Kohli (C)
Kane Williamson
AB Devilliers (W)
Yasir Shah
Dale Steyn
Michael Stark
James Anderson

Can you explain how Strauss get in before a superior talented Warner.

 

[Harsh Thakor]

Can you explain how Strauss get in before a superior talented Warner.

More technically sound and consistent

 

[Bhaijaan]

The 2000s easily followed by the 1980s:-

Hayden<Gavaskar
Sehwag>Greenidge
Ponting>Chappell
Tendulkar>Richards
Lara>Miandad
Kallis<Imran
Gilchrist>Knott
Warne>Qadir
Wasim<Lillee
McGrath>Marshall
Muralitharan>Roberts


Most of the 2000s players have huge claim at being the best ever in their respective positions.

 

[Harsh Thakor]

The 2000s easily followed by the 1980s:-

Hayden<Gavaskar
Sehwag>Greenidge
Ponting>Chappell
Tendulkar>Richards
Lara>Miandad
Kallis<Imran
Gilchrist>Knott
Warne>Qadir
Wasim<Lillee
McGrath>Marshall
Muralitharan>Roberts


Most of the 2000s players have huge claim at being the best ever in their respective positions.

What about 1970's?

 

[Harsh Thakor]

The 2000s easily followed by the 1980s:-

Hayden<Gavaskar
Sehwag>Greenidge
Ponting>Chappell
Tendulkar>Richards
Lara>Miandad
Kallis<Imran
Gilchrist>Knott
Warne>Qadir
Wasim<Lillee
McGrath>Marshall
Muralitharan>Roberts


Most of the 2000s players have huge claim at being the best ever in their respective positions.

I have made a seperate category for 1990's and 2000 Do take that into account.Also I am analysing overall talent in era or cricketing standard.

 

[Gilly]

More technically sound and consistent

Absolutely ridiculous, I'm on the edge of my seat waiting for your explanation how Strauss was more consistent.

Warner scores 50 every 2.7 innings compared to Strauss every 4.3 innings
Warner gets out for a duck every 22.8 innings compared to Strauss every 8.6 innings.

So unless there is some other way you judge a players consistency then you are wrong.

 

[Harsh Thakor]

Lists of outstanding cricketers and world xi's of last 6 decades.Chosen the world xi's of the decades and listed other players.

1960's xi

Conrad Hunte
Hanif Mohammad
Rohan Kanhai
Graeme Pollock
Peter May
Gary Sobers'
Jackie Hendricks
Richie Benaud
Alan Davidson
Fred Trueman
Wes Hall

Others
Frank Worrell
Basil Butcher
Ken Barrington
Bill Lawry
Nawab of Pataudi
Vijay Manjrekar
Colin Cowdrey
Brian Statham
Graham Mckenzie
John Snow
Colin Milburn
Tom Graveney




1970's xi

Barry Richards
Gavaskar
Viv Richards
Ian Chappell(C)
Greg Chappell
Gary Sobers
Mike Procter
Alan Knott(W)
Andy Roberts
Dennis Lillee
Bishen Bedi

Other players
Clive Lloyd
Majid Khan
Jeff Thomson
Geoff Boycott
Michael Holding
Joel Garner
Derek Underwood
Tony Greig
John Snow
Rohan Kanhai
Mushtaq Muhammad
Asif Iqbal
Lawrence Rowe
Glen Turner
Colin Croft


1980's xi

Greenidge
Gavaskar
Viv Richards
Alan Border
Javed Miandad
Ian Botham
Jeff Dujon(W)
Imran Khan (C)
Richard Hadlee
Malcolm Marshall
Abdul Qadir

other players
Martin Crowe
Kapil Dev
David Gower
Mohammad Azaharuddin
Alan Lamb
Bob Willis
Geoff Lawson
Craig Mcdermott
Mike Gatting
Dilip Vengsarkar
David Boon
Mohsin Khan
Dean Jones
Greg Matthews
Ravi Shastri
Graham Gooch



1990's xi

Mark Taylor
Graham Gooch
Brian Lara
Sachin Tendulkar
Steve Waugh (C)
Jacques Kallis
Ian Healy (W)
Shane Warne
Wasim Akram
Curtly Ambrose
Alan Donald

other players
Salim Malik
Mark Waugh
Inzamam Ul Haq
Shaun Pollock
Saurav Ganguly
Rahul Dravid
Ian Fleming
Saqlain Mushtaq
Waqar Younus
Courtney Walsh
Shaun Pollock
Chris Cairns


2000's xi

MatthewHayden
Graeme Smith (C)
Ponting
Lara
Tendulkar
Kallis
Gilchrist (W)
Warne
Donald
Shoaib Akhtar
Murlitharan
Glen Mcgrath
Chris Cairns


Other players

Rahul Dravid
Brett Lee
Michael Clarke
Shane Bond
Murlitharan
Damien Martyn
Andrew Flintoff
Kevin Pieterson
Dale Steyn
Mohammad Yousuf
Herschelle Gibbs
Bret Lee
Mohammad Yousuf


2010 xi

Andrew Strauss
Alistair Cook
Hashim Amla
Virat Kohli (C)
Kane Williamson
JoeRoot
AB Devilliers (W)
Yasir Shah
Dale Steyn
Michael Stark
James Anderson

Other players

Mohammad Asif
James Swann
Tim Southee
Rabada
Vernon Philanderer
Stuart Broad



Analysis and Conclusion

With a gun on my head I would choose 1970's as the decade when cricketing talent flourished to the greatest extent .Imagine the likes of Sobers,Gavaskar,Chappell brothers ,Barry Richards,Mike Procter,Zaheer Abbas,Majid Khan,Dennis Lillee,Andy Roberts,Michael Holding ,Clive Lloyd,Alvin Kalicharan,Jeff Thomson,Derek Undewod,Bishen Bedi,Glen Turner ,Mushtaq Muhammad ,Tony Greig,Asif Iqbal and Gundappa Vishwanath all playing together.For creative genius this decade topped the list.Arguably the best ever Australian team ever played in this decade with the likes of Lillee-Thomson and Chappell brothers as well as great West Indies and Pakistani sides.Significantly Gavaskar,Viv Richards ,Chappell brothers and Lillee were at their best in this decade.

At 2nd place just a whisker behind I chose The main factor wa sthe emergence of 4 great all-rounders in Hadlee,Imran,Botham and Kapil.There were also batsmen of great calibre like Gavaskar,Viv Richards Gower,Vengsarkar ,Border,Miandad,Martin Crowe,Greenidge Etc.Abundance of great pace bolwers like Marshall.Hadlee,Imran ,Garner etc.

At 3rd place I place the 1990's as although it had the greatest bowlers like Wasim,Waqar,Ambrose and Donald there were not as great all-rounders as before .Close to the best batsmen ever in Lara and Sachin but others were not as consistent or classy as the best of the 1970's.


I feel the lists demonstrate that the standard of the game has declined in the last 2 decades,in test cricket.I could make the 2strongest world xi's in the 1970's and then the 80's.

Sorry Correction.In 2nd para I forgot to add 'team of the 1980's'. It should read

At 2nd place just a whisker behind I chose the decade of 1980's. The main factor wa sthe emergence of 4 great all-rounders in Hadlee,Imran,Botham and Kapil.There were also batsmen of great calibre like Gavaskar,Viv Richards Gower,Vengsarkar ,Border,Miandad,Martin Crowe,Greenidge Etc.Abundance of great pace bolwers like Marshall.Hadlee,Imran ,Garner etc.

 

[austerlitz]

1990s.

 

[Canford Cliffs]

How many tests Asif played in 2010s?

 

[Mainul]

Deserves a POTW.

 

[The Viper]

Absolutely ridiculous, I'm on the edge of my seat waiting for your explanation how Strauss was more consistent.

Warner scores 50 every 2.7 innings compared to Strauss every 4.3 innings
Warner gets out for a duck every 22.8 innings compared to Strauss every 8.6 innings.

So unless there is some other way you judge a players consistency then you are wrong.

Don’t expect a response lol. His criteria is weird. He says guys are consistent when they are the opposite lol. His threads are clearly made to glorify the older eras.

 

[Harsh Thakor]

Lists of outstanding cricketers and world xi's of last 6 decades.Chosen the world xi's of the decades and listed other players.

1960's xi

Conrad Hunte
Hanif Mohammad
Rohan Kanhai
Graeme Pollock
Peter May
Gary Sobers'
Jackie Hendricks
Richie Benaud
Alan Davidson
Fred Trueman
Wes Hall

Others
Frank Worrell
Basil Butcher
Ken Barrington
Bill Lawry
Nawab of Pataudi
Vijay Manjrekar
Colin Cowdrey
Brian Statham
Graham Mckenzie
John Snow
Colin Milburn
Tom Graveney




1970's xi

Barry Richards
Gavaskar
Viv Richards
Ian Chappell(C)
Greg Chappell
Gary Sobers
Mike Procter
Alan Knott(W)
Andy Roberts
Dennis Lillee
Bishen Bedi

Other players
Clive Lloyd
Majid Khan
Jeff Thomson
Geoff Boycott
Michael Holding
Joel Garner
Derek Underwood
Tony Greig
John Snow
Rohan Kanhai
Mushtaq Muhammad
Asif Iqbal
Lawrence Rowe
Glen Turner
Colin Croft


1980's xi

Greenidge
Gavaskar
Viv Richards
Alan Border
Javed Miandad
Ian Botham
Jeff Dujon(W)
Imran Khan (C)
Richard Hadlee
Malcolm Marshall
Abdul Qadir

other players
Martin Crowe
Kapil Dev
David Gower
Mohammad Azaharuddin
Alan Lamb
Bob Willis
Geoff Lawson
Craig Mcdermott
Mike Gatting
Dilip Vengsarkar
David Boon
Mohsin Khan
Dean Jones
Greg Matthews
Ravi Shastri
Graham Gooch



1990's xi

Mark Taylor
Graham Gooch
Brian Lara
Sachin Tendulkar
Steve Waugh (C)
Jacques Kallis
Ian Healy (W)
Shane Warne
Wasim Akram
Curtly Ambrose
Alan Donald

other players
Salim Malik
Mark Waugh
Inzamam Ul Haq
Shaun Pollock
Saurav Ganguly
Rahul Dravid
Ian Fleming
Saqlain Mushtaq
Waqar Younus
Courtney Walsh
Shaun Pollock
Chris Cairns


2000's xi

MatthewHayden
Graeme Smith (C)
Ponting
Lara
Tendulkar
Kallis
Gilchrist (W)
Warne
Donald
Shoaib Akhtar
Murlitharan
Glen Mcgrath
Chris Cairns


Other players

Rahul Dravid
Brett Lee
Michael Clarke
Shane Bond
Murlitharan
Damien Martyn
Andrew Flintoff
Kevin Pieterson
Dale Steyn
Mohammad Yousuf
Herschelle Gibbs
Bret Lee
Mohammad Yousuf


2010 xi

Andrew Strauss
Alistair Cook
Hashim Amla
Virat Kohli (C)
Kane Williamson
JoeRoot
AB Devilliers (W)
Yasir Shah
Dale Steyn
Michael Stark
James Anderson

Other players

Mohammad Asif
James Swann
Tim Southee
Rabada
Vernon Philanderer
Stuart Broad



Analysis and Conclusion

With a gun on my head I would choose 1970's as the decade when cricketing talent flourished to the greatest extent .Imagine the likes of Sobers,Gavaskar,Chappell brothers ,Barry Richards,Mike Procter,Zaheer Abbas,Majid Khan,Dennis Lillee,Andy Roberts,Michael Holding ,Clive Lloyd,Alvin Kalicharan,Jeff Thomson,Derek Undewod,Bishen Bedi,Glen Turner ,Mushtaq Muhammad ,Tony Greig,Asif Iqbal and Gundappa Vishwanath all playing together.For creative genius this decade topped the list.Arguably the best ever Australian team ever played in this decade with the likes of Lillee-Thomson and Chappell brothers as well as great West Indies and Pakistani sides.Significantly Gavaskar,Viv Richards ,Chappell brothers and Lillee were at their best in this decade.

At 2nd place just a whisker behind I chose The main factor wa sthe emergence of 4 great all-rounders in Hadlee,Imran,Botham and Kapil.There were also batsmen of great calibre like Gavaskar,Viv Richards Gower,Vengsarkar ,Border,Miandad,Martin Crowe,Greenidge Etc.Abundance of great pace bolwers like Marshall.Hadlee,Imran ,Garner etc.

At no 3 the 1990's as although it had the greatest bowlers like Wasim,Waqar,Ambrose and Donald there were not as great all-rounders as before .Close to the best batsmen ever in Lara and Sachin but others were not as consistent or classy as the best of the 1970's.


I feel the lists demonstrate that the standard of the game has declined in the last 2 decades,in test cricket.I could make the 2strongest world xi's in the 1970's and then the 80's.

Sorry PP viewers left out Zaheer Abbas in list of 1970's.He has to be there in the non-xi section almost at the top.Please bear with me.All but made to the xi.

 

[Kroll]

From a personal point of view in watching cricket for the last three decades. I'd say the 90's as it seems each team had a core set of very strong players. Even, Zimbabwe had a good set of players.

 

[Sarwar89]

This poster has not even mentioned players like
Legendary Dr WG Grace
Sir Donald Bradman
Len Hutton
Sydney Barnes
Clarrie Grimmet the legend
Larwood
Legendary Lohmann.

 

[AAli98]

Apart from the ashes test cricket is on its last legs, put these 3 in a test match in uae theyl kill it off completely!

Elgar
Azhar Ali
Pujara

 

[Harsh Thakor]

This poster has not even mentioned players like
Legendary Dr WG Grace
Sir Donald Bradman
Len Hutton
Sydney Barnes
Clarrie Grimmet the legend
Larwood
Legendary Lohmann.

Geniuses all but of an era where overall cricketing standard was not at its peak.Ofcourws Hobbs,Bradman,Hutton or even Miller could make an all time xi.

 

[Sarwar89]

Geniuses all but of an era where overall cricketing standard was not at its peak.Ofcourws Hobbs,Bradman,Hutton or even Miller could make an all time xi.

Each era has its own standard.
Current Kohli would have been a success on uncovered pitches in 50’s?

No helmets ?

Helmets changed everything.

 

[Tusker]

Absolutely ridiculous, I'm on the edge of my seat waiting for your explanation how Strauss was more consistent.

Warner scores 50 every 2.7 innings compared to Strauss every 4.3 innings
Warner gets out for a duck every 22.8 innings compared to Strauss every 8.6 innings.

So unless there is some other way you judge a players consistency then you are wrong.

I can guarantee you that he will not respond to your post now. Strange fella ... he doesn't like anyone questioning his views

 

[jeeteshssaxena]

Sorry PP viewers left out Zaheer Abbas in list of 1970's.He has to be there in the non-xi section almost at the top.Please bear with me.All but made to the xi.

Gundappa vishwanath

 

[jeeteshssaxena]

Sorry PP viewers left out Zaheer Abbas in list of 1970's.He has to be there in the non-xi section almost at the top.Please bear with me.All but made to the xi.

Very good post. But gundappa vishwanath should also be there.
According to me 1990 was the best era,
simply bcos it had a better bowling lineup.
There is a huge difference in quality b/w qadir and warne.
The fast bowlers in 1980s and 1990s were equally good, mcgrath+donald+wasim/ambrose is as good as marshall+imran+hadlee.
Batting quality wise sachin+lara+waugh+kallis trumps border+miandad+viv+ botham.

 

[Buffet]

90s bowling talent was unmatched in history of cricket.

Best left arm pacer in history
Best Leg spinner in history
Best off spinner in history
Top 5-7 pacers in history in McGrath & Ambrose
Toe crusher Waqar
White lightening Donald
Pollock at his best


So much variety with so many ATG bowlers. Even second tier bowlers like Gillespie and Walsh were gun.

 

[Tusker]

Can you explain how Strauss get in before a superior talented Warner.

Forget Strauss over Warner ... he missed even mentioning the following Indian players (I guess it must have been due to the Gun that was pointed to his head ) :

1. Anil Kumble
2. Sehwag
3. VVS
4. Zaheer Khan
5. Harbhajan
6. MSD
7. Ashwin
8. Jadeja
9. Rahane
10. Pujara
11. Chandrashekhar
12. Prasanna
13. Venkatraghavan
14. Kirmani
15. Amarnath
16. Sidhu


Other notable omissions:
1. Ian Bishop
2. Herath
3. Sangakkara
4. Mahela
5. Matthews
6. Dilshan
7. Jayasuriya
8. Ross Taylor
9. Misbah
10. Younis Khan
11. Amir
12. Ben Stokes
13. Pat Cummins
14. Nathan Lyon
15. Trent Boult
16 . Mitch Johnson
17. Chanderpaul
18. Hooper
19. Gayle
20. Ritchie Richardson
21. Boucher
22. Kasprowicz
23. Jason Gillespie
24. Faf Duplesis
25. Josh Hazlewood
26. Saeed Anwar
27. Amir Sohail
28. Ijaz Ahmed
29. Sarfraz Nawaz
30. Mudassar
31. Kaneria
32. Mushtaq
33. Chris Martin
34. McCullum
35. Vettori
36. Astle
37. Stuart McGill
38. Ryan Harris
39. Siddle
40. Matt Prior
41. Hoggard
42. Darren Gough
43. Caddick
44. Alec Stewart
45. Michael Vaughan
46. Ashley Giles
47. Kluesner
48. Cullinan
49. Cronje
50. Ntini
....
....
....

 

[Tusker]

And still missed some big names

51. Aravinda De-Silva
52. Ranatunga
53. Wasim Bari
54. Hashan Tilakaratne
55. Merv Hughes
56. Wasim Raja
57. Shakib
58. Tamim

pretty sure we can keep adding

 

[Heisenberg111]

1990's followed by 80's.

 

[Harsh Thakor]

Gundappa vishwanath

Absolutely .I am surprised that I even forgot the name of Gundappa Vishwanath .To me the closest to Viv Richards,Chappell brothers and Gavaskar in that era.Please count him on that list.After Viv and Barry Richards the most talented batsmen of his era even more so than Gavaskar or Chappel brothers.Vishy was like a lotus blooming talikg artistry to regions of divinity.

 

[Harsh Thakor]

Very good post. But gundappa vishwanath should also be there.
According to me 1990 was the best era,
simply bcos it had a better bowling lineup.
There is a huge difference in quality b/w qadir and warne.
The fast bowlers in 1980s and 1990s were equally good, mcgrath+donald+wasim/ambrose is as good as marshall+imran+hadlee.
Batting quality wise sachin+lara+waugh+kallis trumps border+miandad+viv+ botham.

Would Vishy make the world xi of the 1970s?In my view just misses out to Ian or Greg Chappell and marginally ahead of Clive Lloyd and Zaheer Abbas.Like your view.Very pleased that you recognise his true greatness.

 

[Tusker]

Absolutely .I am surprised that I even forgot the name of Gundappa Vishwanath .To me the closest to Viv Richards,Chappell brothers and Gavaskar in that era.Please count him on that list.After Viv and Barry Richards the most talented batsmen of his era even more so than Gavaskar or Chappel brothers.Vishy was like a lotus blooming talikg artistry to regions of divinity.

Its not just Vishy you forgot see post#38 and 39 ... there is a boat load of players that you forgot. I know you don't like to respond when people point at flaws in your posts but this is yet another example of why Iam critical of most of your posts.

 

[Harsh Thakor]

Its not just Vishy you forgot see post#38 and 39 ... there is a boat load of players that you forgot. I know you don't like to respond when people point at flaws in your posts but this is yet another example of why Iam critical of most of your posts.

Errors can be made.Afterall such a huge list.Forgot names of Gundappa Vishwanath,Mohinder Amarnath,Sannath Jayasuriya ,Aravindam De Silva ,Mahela Jayewardene and Kumar Sangakaara.Will add now.Very sorry to miss some important names.

 

[Tusker]

Errors can be made.Afterall such a huge list.Forgot names of Gundappa Vishwanath,Mohinder Amarnath,Sannath Jayasuriya ,Aravindam De Silva ,Mahela Jayewardene and Kumar Sangakaara.Will add now.Very sorry to miss some important names.

You don't have to be sorry. The point is every decade starting from the 90s will have much larger no.of great cricketers because of the simple reason that there are more countries playing cricket due to addition of SA, SL and now BD yet you claim 70s as the best ever and having a large collection of talented players. Thats just simply not true at all. It doesnt pass the logic test.

There is also the simple life fact that by-and-large everything improves over a period of time. If you want to keep telling us that players like Barry Richards were extraordinary players despite the obvious technical flaws that are clearly visible in his batting then it highlights your massive bias towards older era's without any logical or factual basis to back up the high rating. But you will please the likes of [MENTION=132916]Junaids[/MENTION] and [MENTION=7774]Robert[/MENTION] quite a bit by regularly doing this 70s > Rest.


However if you want the facts bound people to take your posts seriously you need to be able to up your standards quite a bit. You clearly have extraordinary passion for the game but your threads suffers from major errors , attention to detail , poor formatting and above all huge bias and willingness to even consider opposing points of view.

 

[Harsh Thakor]

Lists of outstanding cricketers and world xi's of last 6 decades.Chosen the world xi's of the decades and listed other players.

1960's xi

Conrad Hunte
Hanif Mohammad
Rohan Kanhai
Graeme Pollock
Peter May
Gary Sobers'
Jackie Hendricks
Richie Benaud
Alan Davidson
Fred Trueman
Wes Hall

Others
Frank Worrell
Basil Butcher
Ken Barrington
Bill Lawry
Nawab of Pataudi
Vijay Manjrekar
Colin Cowdrey
Brian Statham
Graham Mckenzie
John Snow
Colin Milburn
Tom Graveney




1970's xi

Barry Richards
Gavaskar
Viv Richards
Ian Chappell(C)
Greg Chappell
Gary Sobers
Mike Procter
Alan Knott(W)
Andy Roberts
Dennis Lillee
Bishen Bedi

Other players
Clive Lloyd
Majid Khan
Jeff Thomson
Geoff Boycott
Michael Holding
Joel Garner
Derek Underwood
Tony Greig
John Snow
Rohan Kanhai
Mushtaq Muhammad
Asif Iqbal
Lawrence Rowe
Glen Turner
Colin Croft


1980's xi

Greenidge
Gavaskar
Viv Richards
Alan Border
Javed Miandad
Ian Botham
Jeff Dujon(W)
Imran Khan (C)
Richard Hadlee
Malcolm Marshall
Abdul Qadir

other players
Martin Crowe
Kapil Dev
David Gower
Mohammad Azaharuddin
Alan Lamb
Bob Willis
Geoff Lawson
Craig Mcdermott
Mike Gatting
Dilip Vengsarkar
David Boon
Mohsin Khan
Dean Jones
Greg Matthews
Ravi Shastri
Graham Gooch



1990's xi

Mark Taylor
Graham Gooch
Brian Lara
Sachin Tendulkar
Steve Waugh (C)
Jacques Kallis
Ian Healy (W)
Shane Warne
Wasim Akram
Curtly Ambrose
Alan Donald

other players
Salim Malik
Mark Waugh
Inzamam Ul Haq
Shaun Pollock
Saurav Ganguly
Rahul Dravid
Ian Fleming
Saqlain Mushtaq
Waqar Younus
Courtney Walsh
Shaun Pollock
Chris Cairns
Mushtaq Ahmed


2000's xi

Matthew Hayden
Graeme Smith (C)
Ponting
Lara
Tendulkar
Kallis
Gilchrist (W)
Warne
Donald
Shoaib Akhtar
Murlitharan
Glen Mcgrath
Chris Cairns


Other players

Rahul Dravid
Brett Lee
Michael Clarke
Shane Bond
Murlitharan
Damien Martyn
Andrew Flintoff
Kevin Pieterson
Dale Steyn
Mohammad Yousuf
Herschelle Gibbs
Bret Lee
Mohammad Yousuf


2010 xi

Andrew Strauss
Alistair Cook
Hashim Amla
Virat Kohli (C)
Kane Williamson
JoeRoot
AB Devilliers (W)
Yasir Shah
Dale Steyn
Michael Stark
James Anderson

Other players

Mohammad Asif
James Swann
Tim Southee
Rabada
Vernon Philanderer
Stuart Broad



Analysis and Conclusion

With a gun on my head I would choose 1970's as the decade when cricketing talent flourished to the greatest extent .Imagine the likes of Sobers,Gavaskar,Chappell brothers ,Barry Richards,Mike Procter,Zaheer Abbas,Majid Khan,Dennis Lillee,Andy Roberts,Michael Holding ,Clive Lloyd,Alvin Kalicharan,Jeff Thomson,Derek Undewod,Bishen Bedi,Glen Turner ,Mushtaq Muhammad ,Tony Greig,Asif Iqbal and Gundappa Vishwanath all playing together.For creative genius this decade topped the list.Arguably the best ever Australian team ever played in this decade with the likes of Lillee-Thomson and Chappell brothers as well as great West Indies and Pakistani sides.Significantly Gavaskar,Viv Richards ,Chappell brothers and Lillee were at their best in this decade.

At 2nd place just a whisker behind I chose The main factor wa sthe emergence of 4 great all-rounders in Hadlee,Imran,Botham and Kapil.There were also batsmen of great calibre like Gavaskar,Viv Richards Gower,Vengsarkar ,Border,Miandad,Martin Crowe,Greenidge Etc.Abundance of great pace bolwers like Marshall.Hadlee,Imran ,Garner etc.

At no 3 the 1990's as although it had the greatest bowlers like Wasim,Waqar,Ambrose and Donald there were not as great all-rounders as before .Close to the best batsmen ever in Lara and Sachin but others were not as consistent or classy as the best of the 1970's.


I feel the lists demonstrate that the standard of the game has declined in the last 2 decades,in test cricket.I could make the 2strongest world xi's in the 1970's and then the 80's.

Very Sorry pakpassion viewers

These are my important additions .I rush could not remember everyone .Please see.Some were major omissions .

1970's
others added

Gundappa Vishwanath
Zaheer Abbas
Alvin Kalicharan
Wasim Raja
Gary Gilmour
Bob Massie
Doug Walters
Dennis Amiss
Rick Mcosker
Erapalli Prasanna


1980's -added players

Mohinder Amarnath
Alan Lamb
Mudassar Nazar
Sandip Patil
Ijaz Ahmed
Terry Alderman
Roy Dias
Jeff Dujon
Duleep Mendis




1990's other players added

Sannath Jayasuriya
Aravinda De'Silva
Robin Smith
Alec Stewart
Anil Kumble
Harbhajan Singh
Graham Thorpe
Arjuna Ranatunga
Ken Rutherford
Andrew Jones
Mushtaq Ahmed
Roshan Mahanama
Atapattu


2000 decade-other players added

Mahela Jayewardene
Kumar Sangakaara(may make world 2010 xi)
Tim Southee
Brendon Mcullaum
Ajantha de'Silva
Makya Nitini

Sanga may well play in 2010 xi but it is a very close finish with AB Devilliers


2010 xi -revised list

Andrew Strauss
Alistair Cook
Hashim Amla
Steve Smith
Virat Kohli (C)
Kane Williamson
AB Devilliers (W)/Kumar Sangakaara
Yasir Shah
Dale Steyn
Michael Stark
James Anderson

 

[Harsh Thakor]

Very Sorry again. must Add Virendra Sehwag to 2000 list.A certainty.He could well open in the xi and be a contender to Mathew Hayden or Graeme Smith.Apologize to viewers.

 

[Harsh Thakor]

The 2000s easily followed by the 1980s:-

Hayden<Gavaskar
Sehwag>Greenidge
Ponting>Chappell
Tendulkar>Richards
Lara>Miandad
Kallis<Imran
Gilchrist>Knott
Warne>Qadir
Wasim<Lillee
McGrath>Marshall
Muralitharan>Roberts


Most of the 2000s players have huge claim at being the best ever in their respective positions.

Mcgrath not>Marshall

Richards virtually Tendulkar's equal.better match-winner

Imran may be better than Kallis and a better match-winner.

Knott was better keeper than Gilly


Greenidge was virtually the equal of Sehwag.Better record in wins.


Wasim was Lillee's equal if not better

Why not the 1970's with It's superstars ?

 

[Tusker]

Very Sorry again. must Add Virendra Sehwag to 2000 list.A certainty.He could well open in the xi and be a contender to Mathew Hayden or Graeme Smith.Apologize to viewers.

Not sure why you keep apologizing because there is no way one can remember all the great players from the past 5-6 decades. You are still missing quite a few ( Srinath, Morne Morkel, Vaas etc ) and it is a futile exercise considering you have set the bar too low by including the likes of Blewett, Shastri , Lawry, Milburn etc etc in your original list.

Mcgrath not>Marshall

Richards virtually Tendulkar's equal.better match-winner

Imran may be better than Kallis and a better match-winner.

Knott was better keeper than Gilly


Greenidge was virtually the equal of Sehwag.Better record in wins.


Wasim was Lillee's equal if not better

Why not the 1970's with It's superstars ?

They are superstars according to you. For instance I will tell you why Tendulkar is far better than Richards but you are not going to like the facts.

 

[InziFans]

Sanga over AB in Tests any day

 

[Harsh Thakor]

Sanga over AB in Tests any day

As a match-winner?Remember AB's strike rate?

 

[Harsh Thakor]

Not sure why you keep apologizing because there is no way one can remember all the great players from the past 5-6 decades. You are still missing quite a few ( Srinath, Morne Morkel, Vaas etc ) and it is a futile exercise considering you have set the bar too low by including the likes of Blewett, Shastri , Lawry, Milburn etc etc in your original list.




They are superstars according to you. For instance I will tell you why Tendulkar is far better than Richards but you are not going to like the facts.

Richards could be the equal of Tendulkar if not better.Greenidge in the 80's for a while was the best batsmen in the world.Lawry had an average of over 47 which was outstanding.Lille was almost the equal of Marshall and Wasim and arguably better than Mcgrath.Barry Richards was the most complete batsmen ever.

 

[InziFans]

As a match-winner?Remember AB's strike rate?

Definitely. Sanga has 16 MoMs in 134 games. ABD has 5 in 114. Sanga played more clutch innings - the 192 at Hobart for instance. His only problem is that he had weak support and not enough opportunities to play in SENA.

 

[Tusker]

Richards could be the equal of Tendulkar if not better..

How ? Considering that Viv never had to face WI fast bowlers and there was no SA and SL were minnows in his time and the AUS team he faced was nowhere as great as the aussie teams that Tendulkar played against ?

 

[BaankeJi]

Richards could be the equal of Tendulkar if not better.Greenidge in the 80's for a while was the best batsmen in the world.Lawry had an average of over 47 which was outstanding.Lille was almost the equal of Marshall and Wasim and arguably better than Mcgrath.Barry Richards was the most complete batsmen ever.

No VVS in 2000 xi?

 

[Harsh Thakor]

No VVS in 2000 xi?

Would miss out by a whisker .Again very sorry for leaving hi out of others .Closest to the very best and most talented.Great choice.

 

[PakLFC]

1970's for me. Every top team had genuine fast bowlers other then India who still don't and world class batsmen.

 

[Third_Umpire]

90s.... best time to watch cricket. Some high quality evenly balanced teams, Aus, SA, Pak, Windies, SL, NZ...India and England were the laggards. 3 good world cups, 92, 96, 99. Great times

 

[Harsh Thakor]

[MENTION=7774]Robert[/MENTION] I am waiting for your contribution here without fail.

 

[Tusker]

Richards could be the equal of Tendulkar if not better.Greenidge in the 80's for a while was the best batsmen in the world.Lawry had an average of over 47 which was outstanding.Lille was almost the equal of Marshall and Wasim and arguably better than Mcgrath.Barry Richards was the most complete batsmen ever.

How ? Considering that Viv never had to face WI fast bowlers and there was no SA and SL were minnows in his time and the AUS team he faced was nowhere as great as the aussie teams that Tendulkar played against ?

No response to this?

 

[Ab Fan]

Very Sorry pakpassion viewers

These are my important additions .I rush could not remember everyone .Please see.Some were major omissions .

1970's
others added

Gundappa Vishwanath
Zaheer Abbas
Alvin Kalicharan
Wasim Raja
Gary Gilmour
Bob Massie
Doug Walters
Dennis Amiss
Rick Mcosker
Erapalli Prasanna


1980's -added players

Mohinder Amarnath
Alan Lamb
Mudassar Nazar
Sandip Patil
Ijaz Ahmed
Terry Alderman
Roy Dias
Jeff Dujon
Duleep Mendis




1990's other players added

Sannath Jayasuriya
Aravinda De'Silva
Robin Smith
Alec Stewart
Anil Kumble
Harbhajan Singh
Graham Thorpe
Arjuna Ranatunga
Ken Rutherford
Andrew Jones
Mushtaq Ahmed
Roshan Mahanama
Atapattu


2000 decade-other players added

Mahela Jayewardene
Kumar Sangakaara(may make world 2010 xi)
Tim Southee
Brendon Mcullaum
Ajantha de'Silva
Makya Nitini

Sanga may well play in 2010 xi but it is a very close finish with AB Devilliers


2010 xi -revised list

Andrew Strauss
Alistair Cook
Hashim Amla
Steve Smith
Virat Kohli (C)
Kane Williamson
AB Devilliers (W)/Kumar Sangakaara
Yasir Shah
Dale Steyn
Michael Stark
James Anderson

You should get in Ashwin in place of Yasir because Ashwin is a useful batsmen and runs from tail play major role as well.

Given that you have Starc, Steyn and Andy, a no. 8 should be a capable bat, so Ashwin gets in.

I would also love to have an all-rounder in form of Ben Stokes at 6 but that remains debatable. Williamson and Sangakkara are more suitable top order bats, at 3 or 4, while Root and de Villiers should be the pick for 5 or 7.

My 2010s XI will be: -

Cook
Warner
Amla/Williamson
Smith
Kohli
Stokes
ABD(wkt)
Ashwin
Starc
Steyn
Jimmy

 

[Hitman]

I started watching the game since the early 90's, and that was the era I enjoyed the most. Mostly got to do with the awesome fast bowlers of that time. But then again, that's just my perspective. The complete decline of the West Indies has been the worst thing since then. It's a tragedy.

 

[Ab Fan]

Lists of outstanding cricketers and world xi's of last 6 decades.Chosen the world xi's of the decades and listed other players.

1960's xi

Conrad Hunte
Hanif Mohammad
Rohan Kanhai
Graeme Pollock
Peter May
Gary Sobers'
Jackie Hendricks
Richie Benaud
Alan Davidson
Fred Trueman
Wes Hall

Others
Frank Worrell
Basil Butcher
Ken Barrington
Bill Lawry
Nawab of Pataudi
Vijay Manjrekar
Colin Cowdrey
Brian Statham
Graham Mckenzie
John Snow
Colin Milburn
Tom Graveney




1970's xi

Barry Richards
Gavaskar
Viv Richards
Ian Chappell(C)
Greg Chappell
Gary Sobers
Mike Procter
Alan Knott(W)
Andy Roberts
Dennis Lillee
Bishen Bedi

Other players
Clive Lloyd
Majid Khan
Jeff Thomson
Geoff Boycott
Michael Holding
Joel Garner
Derek Underwood
Tony Greig
John Snow
Rohan Kanhai
Mushtaq Muhammad
Asif Iqbal
Lawrence Rowe
Glen Turner
Colin Croft


1980's xi

Greenidge
Gavaskar
Viv Richards
Alan Border
Javed Miandad
Ian Botham
Jeff Dujon(W)
Imran Khan (C)
Richard Hadlee
Malcolm Marshall
Abdul Qadir

other players
Martin Crowe
Kapil Dev
David Gower
Mohammad Azaharuddin
Alan Lamb
Bob Willis
Geoff Lawson
Craig Mcdermott
Mike Gatting
Dilip Vengsarkar
David Boon
Mohsin Khan
Dean Jones
Greg Matthews
Ravi Shastri
Graham Gooch



1990's xi

Mark Taylor
Graham Gooch
Brian Lara
Sachin Tendulkar
Steve Waugh (C)
Jacques Kallis
Ian Healy (W)
Shane Warne
Wasim Akram
Curtly Ambrose
Alan Donald

other players
Salim Malik
Mark Waugh
Inzamam Ul Haq
Shaun Pollock
Saurav Ganguly
Rahul Dravid
Ian Fleming
Saqlain Mushtaq
Waqar Younus
Courtney Walsh
Shaun Pollock
Chris Cairns


2000's xi

MatthewHayden
Graeme Smith (C)
Ponting
Lara
Tendulkar
Kallis
Gilchrist (W)
Warne
Donald
Shoaib Akhtar
Murlitharan
Glen Mcgrath
Chris Cairns


Other players

Rahul Dravid
Brett Lee
Michael Clarke
Shane Bond
Murlitharan
Damien Martyn
Andrew Flintoff
Kevin Pieterson
Dale Steyn
Mohammad Yousuf
Herschelle Gibbs
Bret Lee
Mohammad Yousuf


2010 xi

Andrew Strauss
Alistair Cook
Hashim Amla
Virat Kohli (C)
Kane Williamson
JoeRoot
AB Devilliers (W)
Yasir Shah
Dale Steyn
Michael Stark
James Anderson

Other players

Mohammad Asif
James Swann
Tim Southee
Rabada
Vernon Philanderer
Stuart Broad



Analysis and Conclusion

With a gun on my head I would choose 1970's as the decade when cricketing talent flourished to the greatest extent .Imagine the likes of Sobers,Gavaskar,Chappell brothers ,Barry Richards,Mike Procter,Zaheer Abbas,Majid Khan,Dennis Lillee,Andy Roberts,Michael Holding ,Clive Lloyd,Alvin Kalicharan,Jeff Thomson,Derek Undewod,Bishen Bedi,Glen Turner ,Mushtaq Muhammad ,Tony Greig,Asif Iqbal and Gundappa Vishwanath all playing together.For creative genius this decade topped the list.Arguably the best ever Australian team ever played in this decade with the likes of Lillee-Thomson and Chappell brothers as well as great West Indies and Pakistani sides.Significantly Gavaskar,Viv Richards ,Chappell brothers and Lillee were at their best in this decade.

At 2nd place just a whisker behind I chose The main factor wa sthe emergence of 4 great all-rounders in Hadlee,Imran,Botham and Kapil.There were also batsmen of great calibre like Gavaskar,Viv Richards Gower,Vengsarkar ,Border,Miandad,Martin Crowe,Greenidge Etc.Abundance of great pace bolwers like Marshall.Hadlee,Imran ,Garner etc.

At no 3 the 1990's as although it had the greatest bowlers like Wasim,Waqar,Ambrose and Donald there were not as great all-rounders as before .Close to the best batsmen ever in Lara and Sachin but others were not as consistent or classy as the best of the 1970's.


I feel the lists demonstrate that the standard of the game has declined in the last 2 decades,in test cricket.I could make the 2strongest world xi's in the 1970's and then the 80's.

Why 13 players in 00s list?

 

[Harsh Thakor]

Sorry sir mistake.Remove Shoaib Akhtar and Chris Cairns Sorry for error.

 

[Harsh Thakor]

Why 13 players in 00s list?

Otherwise any comments on my evaluation.Do see corrections later

 

[Ab Fan]

Sorry sir mistake.Remove Shoaib Akhtar and Chris Cairns Sorry for error.

Thanks but please dont call me sir, that's insulting.

 

[Harsh Thakor]

Thanks but please dont call me sir, that's insulting.

Ok what do you feel on my analysis overall and which is your choice of best era?