Was 1980s World XI the best Test team ever; Would it defeat a combined all-time XI?

[Harsh Thakor]

The test team of the decade of the 1980's was in my book the best test team ever which could have given the all-time world xi of remaining decades a run for their money.

1.Gavaskar
2.Greenidge
3.Viv Richards
4.Alan Border
5.Javed Miandad
6.Ian Botham
7.Jeff Dujon
8.Imran Khan
9.Richard Hadlee
10.Malcolm Marshall
11.Abdul Qadir

12th man Dennis Lillee

Gavaskar,Viv,Marshall,Imran and arguably Hadlee are eligible for an all-time xi.No team ever in the history of the game had more allrounders in a single team.3 genuine all-rounders make this close to an invincible team against those of other decades.


Imagine 1980's team against all-time rest of the world xi of all other decades.1980's team has more allrounders and as potent a bowling attack,if not more.From 1-3 the teams match but 4,5 and 6 tilt the favour in rest of the world team with the likes of Tendulkar,Lara and Sobers .

all-time world xi excluding decade of 1980's
1.Hobbs
2.Hutton
3.Bradman
4.Tendulkar
5.Lara
6.Sobers
7.Gilchrist
8.Akram
9.Warne
10.Ambrose
11.Mcgrath









test team of the 1990's
1.Anwar
2.Taylor
3.Lara
4.Tendulkar
5.Steve Waugh
6.Kallis
7.Healy
8.Warne
9.Wasim
10.Waqar
11.Ambrose

Phenomenal bowling attack and very talented middle-order but openers not strong enough relatively and only one a genuine all-rounder.Tendulkar,Lara,Warne and Wasim certainties for all-time team and arguably Kallis.



Test Team of 1970's

1Gavaskar
2.Barry
3.Viv Richards
4.Ian Chappell
5.Greg Chappel
6.Sobers
7.Mike Procter
8.Knott
9.Lillee
10.Andy Roberts
11.Bishen Bedi


Not as much all-round bowling skill as teams of 90's and 80's.Still outstanding batsmen Like Sunny,Bary,Viv and Greg combined with the greatest all-rounder ever,Gary Sobers.

5 players could probably make the all-time xi namely Sunny,Barry,Viv,Gary and Lillee.

 

[ToeCrusher2]

Hayden
Sehwag/G. Smith
Ponting
Tendulkar
Lara
Kallis
Gilchrist
Warne
Murali/Ambrose
Mcgrath
Steyn/Akram

This team would destroy the 80s team

 

[Chrish]

Barry Richards
Gavaskar
Bradman
SRT
Viv Richards
Sobers
Gilchrist
Warne
Steyn
Marshall
McGrath

Beat it if you can

 

[Junaids]

I think my 1970's team would actually beat the 1980's one!

1. Barry Richards
2. Geoff Boycott
3. Greg Chappell
4. Garry Sobers or Clive Lloyd
5. Graeme Pollock
6. Tony Greig (capt)
7. Mike Procter
8. Alan Knott (wk)
9. Dennis Lillee
10. Andy Roberts or Jeff Thomson
11. Vintcent Van Der Bijl

South Africa was by far the strongest team in the 1970's, and I've got Richards, Pollock, Procter and Van Der Bijl. Clive Rice would be incredibly close to selection too.

 

[Junaids]

Gavaskar,Viv,Marshall,Imran and arguably Hadlee are eligible for an all-time xi.No team ever in the history of the game had more allrounders in a single team.3 genuine all-rounders make this close to an invincible team against those of other decades.

Firstly, I think you're harsh omitting Clive Rice. He was a top class all-rounder and the best captain of the 1980's.

Secondly, I actually think that the all-rounders of the 1970s were even better than the 1980's ones.

1. Garry Sobers
2. Mike Procter
3. Eddie Barlow
4. Tony Greig

............in my opinion at least match

1. Imran Khan
2. Clive Rice
3. Ian Botham
4. Richard Hadlee
5. Kapil Dev

 

[squarecut]

World Xis only rarely beat a true national XI no matter how strong the world XI looks on paper.

 

[ToeCrusher2]

World Xis only rarely beat a true national XI no matter how strong the world XI looks on paper.

That's because a team of champions can't beat a champion TEAM

 

[The_Odd_One]

2000s team will beat every team.

Hayden
Smith
Ponting
Tendulkar
Lara
Kallis
Gilchrist
Warne
Steyn
Akhtar
McGrath

 

[Cric1234]

2000s team will beat every team.

Hayden
Smith
Ponting
Tendulkar
Lara
Kallis
Gilchrist
Warne
Steyn
Akhtar
McGrath

Gavaskar
Hutton
Bradman
Richards
Sobers
Imran
Ames
Garner
Marshall
Laker
Trueman

 

[Leo23]

Barry Richards
Gavaskar
Bradman
SRT
Viv Richards
Sobers
Gilchrist
Warne
Steyn
Marshall
McGrath

Beat it if you can

steyn sticks out like a sore thumb in that lineup

mediocre record against two of the three best batting sides of his era (aus,eng) and had the luxury of not bowling to his own batting lineup which was the strongest of his era along with india

if he had to bowl to smith,kallis,amla,ab etc his record would have been a lot worse

 

[Chrish]

steyn sticks out like a sore thumb in that lineup

mediocre record against two of the three best batting sides of his era (aus,eng) and had the luxury of not bowling to his own batting lineup which was the strongest of his era along with india

if he had to bowl to smith,kallis,amla,ab etc his record would have been a lot worse

Steyn destroyed strongest batting line up ever assembled in Asian conditions twice which helped them draw back to back series. His SR is literally unmatched for his average and number of wickets.

Had he been playing on 70s-80s wickets his record would have been even more impressive

 

[The_Odd_One]

Gavaskar
Hutton
Bradman
Richards
Sobers
Imran
Ames
Garner
Marshall
Laker
Trueman

This is an all time XI and not just any decade's XI.

 

[The_Odd_One]

steyn sticks out like a sore thumb in that lineup

mediocre record against two of the three best batting sides of his era (aus,eng) and had the luxury of not bowling to his own batting lineup which was the strongest of his era along with india

if he had to bowl to smith,kallis,amla,ab etc his record would have been a lot worse

Steyn is right up there among top 5 test fast bowlers of all time.

 

[Cric1234]

Steyn is right up there among top 5 test fast bowlers of all time.

Only Bond has a better strike rate in recent times with a small sample Steyn strike rate is 10 points better than McGrath possibly the best strike bowler of all time.

 

[Romali_rotti]

Any world 11 side with Mcgrath & Warne would make it unbeatable imo. Mcgrath would just spin webs around the best bats of the 70s & 80s and Warne would just clean them up...

 

[Messiah]

steyn sticks out like a sore thumb in that lineup

mediocre record against two of the three best batting sides of his era (aus,eng) and had the luxury of not bowling to his own batting lineup which was the strongest of his era along with india

if he had to bowl to smith,kallis,amla,ab etc his record would have been a lot worse

typical delusional indian fan. u want to take out steyn and put in kohli right?

 

[Junaids]

Any world 11 side with Mcgrath & Warne would make it unbeatable imo. Mcgrath would just spin webs around the best bats of the 70s & 80s and Warne would just clean them up...

Warne, maybe.

But the batsmen of the 1970's played against better versions of McGrath.

Vintcent Van Der Bijl and Joel Garner were equally accurate but they were both significantly taller and got more lift than McGrath did, as well as hitting the ball harder.

I couldn't in all honesty pick McGrath ahead of either Van Der Bijl or Garner. He had nothing that they didn't have, but they both had attributes that he lacked.

 

[Junaids]

steyn sticks out like a sore thumb in that lineup

mediocre record against two of the three best batting sides of his era (aus,eng) and had the luxury of not bowling to his own batting lineup which was the strongest of his era along with india

if he had to bowl to smith,kallis,amla,ab etc his record would have been a lot worse

This is actually completely true.

Dale Steyn is an ATG, but he's right down towards the bottom of the Top Ten pacers of all-time.

His record against Australia raises serious questions about his standing.

His record against England basically proves that he's not that great.

And of course his record is bloated by 249 of his 417 wickets coming on favourable surfaces at home.

For the record:

Averages 27 in New Zealand
Averages 29 in Australia
Averages 32 in England

Steyn will never be near the top of the ATG list. He just never could prove himself in those key away series.

 

[Robert]

Quite peculiar that he averages 32 in England. One would have thought he would benefit more from the swing conditions we often have.

IIRC Kapil averages 40 in England which is even more surprising for a FM swinger of his standing.

 

[ToeCrusher2]

Quite peculiar that he averages 32 in England. One would have thought he would benefit more from the swing conditions we often have.

IIRC Kapil averages 40 in England which is even more surprising for a FM swinger of his standing.

Kapil also averages 35 with the bat in England, clearly he didn't play in the most bowling friendly conditions while he was touring England

 

[Leo23]

This is actually completely true.

Dale Steyn is an ATG, but he's right down towards the bottom of the Top Ten pacers of all-time.

His record against Australia raises serious questions about his standing.

His record against England basically proves that he's not that great.

And of course his record is bloated by 249 of his 417 wickets coming on favourable surfaces at home.

For the record:

Averages 27 in New Zealand
Averages 29 in Australia
Averages 32 in England

Steyn will never be near the top of the ATG list. He just never could prove himself in those key away series.

brilliant post
[MENTION=139975]The_Odd_One[/MENTION] [MENTION=140320]Messiah[/MENTION] [MENTION=138493]Chrish[/MENTION] [MENTION=142823]Joseph Gomes[/MENTION]

 

[Harsh Thakor]

Barry Richards
Gavaskar
Bradman
SRT
Viv Richards
Sobers
Gilchrist
Warne
Steyn
Marshall
McGrath

Beat it if you can

Great side.Why do you exclude Wasim?

 

[Harsh Thakor]

I think my 1970's team would actually beat the 1980's one!

1. Barry Richards
2. Geoff Boycott
3. Greg Chappell
4. Garry Sobers or Clive Lloyd
5. Graeme Pollock
6. Tony Greig (capt)
7. Mike Procter
8. Alan Knott (wk)
9. Dennis Lillee
10. Andy Roberts or Jeff Thomson
11. Vintcent Van Der Bijl

South Africa was by far the strongest team in the 1970's, and I've got Richards, Pollock, Procter and Van Der Bijl. Clive Rice would be incredibly close to selection too.

The South African cricketers in sum total did not prove themselves enough in proper test cricket like Botham,Hadlee or Imran .I think sum total of them plus Marshall gave the 80's team an edge.Viv Richards would edge Greg Chappell,Gavaskar would overshadow Boycott and argubaly.Marshall would overpower Lillee.Imran was better captain than Tony Greig while Qadir's googly was more lethal than any spin bowler ever.80's team has stronger depth in batting.The real strong point of 1970's team was Sobers,the best all-rounder ever.Stil as pure match-winners Imran and Botham could match Gary at their best.

 

[Harsh Thakor]

Firstly, I think you're harsh omitting Clive Rice. He was a top class all-rounder and the best captain of the 1980's.

Secondly, I actually think that the all-rounders of the 1970s were even better than the 1980's ones.

1. Garry Sobers
2. Mike Procter
3. Eddie Barlow
4. Tony Greig

............in my opinion at least match

1. Imran Khan
2. Clive Rice
3. Ian Botham
4. Richard Hadlee
5. Kapil Dev

All-rounder of 1980's had much more professional experience and proved themselvse much more in test cricket apart from Garfield Sobers.Marshal,was an allrounder in his own right.The sum of Marshal,Imran,Hadlee and Botham would overpower the 1970's all-rounders.Remember how both Botham and Imran could turn games 180 degrees.

 

[Harsh Thakor]

2000s team will beat every team.

Hayden
Smith
Ponting
Tendulkar
Lara
Kallis
Gilchrist
Warne
Steyn
Akhtar
McGrath

great team but Wasim and Tendulkar were not at their best in this decade,You are very close but this team does not have the number of great allrounders of the 1980's and marginally lower bowling talent than the 1990's when Ambrose ,Waqar and Donald played and Wasim was at his peak.

 

[Harsh Thakor]

Warne, maybe.

But the batsmen of the 1970's played against better versions of McGrath.

Vintcent Van Der Bijl and Joel Garner were equally accurate but they were both significantly taller and got more lift than McGrath did, as well as hitting the ball harder.

I couldn't in all honesty pick McGrath ahead of either Van Der Bijl or Garner. He had nothing that they didn't have, but they both had attributes that he lacked.

Completely disagree. Mcgrath is almost an equal of Marshall and on par with Imran if not better.No bowler ever had more control or was more intelligent.He could ***** the weaknesses of opponents better than any bowler ever making even the likes of Tendulkar and Lasra grope.Rahul Dravid rated him the hardest bowler he ever faced.Fast-medium but unplayable at his best blending pace,control,speed and movement in perfect proportion.

 

[Saffer_XIII]

steyn sticks out like a sore thumb in that lineup

mediocre record against two of the three best batting sides of his era (aus,eng) and had the luxury of not bowling to his own batting lineup which was the strongest of his era along with india

if he had to bowl to smith,kallis,amla,ab etc his record would have been a lot worse

You realise that made absolutely no sense. 1st the 2 strongest sides are Eng and Oz, but then its SA and Ind. Huh?

 

[Chrish]

Great side.Why do you exclude Wasim?

Don't rate him..

If I were to choose one Pakistani player it would be IK (on bowling alone)

 

[R0H1T]

You realise that made absolutely no sense. 1st the 2 strongest sides are Eng and Oz, but then its SA and Ind. Huh?

Huh, indeed. During Steyn's reign at the top, the top two batting sides were SA & Ind, also the most consistent!

 

[The_Odd_One]

This is actually completely true.

Dale Steyn is an ATG, but he's right down towards the bottom of the Top Ten pacers of all-time.

His record against Australia raises serious questions about his standing.

His record against England basically proves that he's not that great.

And of course his record is bloated by 249 of his 417 wickets coming on favourable surfaces at home.

For the record:

Averages 27 in New Zealand
Averages 29 in Australia
Averages 32 in England

Steyn will never be near the top of the ATG list. He just never could prove himself in those key away series.

That does not prove anything.

Steyn still picked 31 wickets in 12 innings. That is almost 3 wickets per inning. Has a 10-fer in Melbourne that won SA a test. Australia was not even the best batting side of his time. The same is true for England.

Wasim Akram averaged 29 in England, 28 in India, 39 in SA, and 27 in WI. He must be worse than Steyn by the same logic.

What about Warne who averaged 43 in India and 40 in WI?

You can find faults in everyone's records.

The fact that Steyn averaged 21@37 SR in India against an ATG batting line-up trumps everything else. The fact that Steyn was consistently ranked #1 or #2 from 2007 to 2015 proves that Steyn is an upper tier ATG.

 

[The_Odd_One]

great team but Wasim and Tendulkar were not at their best in this decade,You are very close but this team does not have the number of great allrounders of the 1980's and marginally lower bowling talent than the 1990's when Ambrose ,Waqar and Donald played and Wasim was at his peak.

Kallis is only next to Sobers as a batting all-rounder.

That's why I picked Akhtar over Wasim in my 2000s side. McGrath and Steyn are among the top 5 pacers of all time. Warne is the GOAT spinner. You need a support bowler who can take out the wicket/pitch out of equation with his genuine pace. Hence, Akhtar is a good fit in that team.

 

[The_Odd_One]

Warne, maybe.

But the batsmen of the 1970's played against better versions of McGrath.

Vintcent Van Der Bijl and Joel Garner were equally accurate but they were both significantly taller and got more lift than McGrath did, as well as hitting the ball harder.

I couldn't in all honesty pick McGrath ahead of either Van Der Bijl or Garner. He had nothing that they didn't have, but they both had attributes that he lacked.

Garner vs McGrath is a valid comparison but McGrath wins it due to performing consistently for a longer period of time.

McGrath still averaged just .67 points higher in a tougher era for bowlers with 66 more tests and 304 test wickets.

 

[backfootpunch]

I think my 1970's team would actually beat the 1980's one!

1. Barry Richards
2. Geoff Boycott
3. Greg Chappell
4. Garry Sobers or Clive Lloyd
5. Graeme Pollock
6. Tony Greig (capt)
7. Mike Procter
8. Alan Knott (wk)
9. Dennis Lillee
10. Andy Roberts or Jeff Thomson
11. Vintcent Van Der Bijl

South Africa was by far the strongest team in the 1970's, and I've got Richards, Pollock, Procter and Van Der Bijl. Clive Rice would be incredibly close to selection too.

No Sarfraz Nawaz I'm afraid so that's a no