Aus Vs ROW

[Rachael]

CTOJ - I think you'd find Richardson a far better opener than Gibbs... and with a batting order that includes 5 of the world's best specialists.. plus Kallis, Pollock and Sangakkara... Freddie would have to make way for Harmison, Ntini, Tuffey, Vaas, Khan, Streak Hoggard or any one of 2-dozen other far, far more accomplished bowlers.

Personally I'd take: Richardson, Dravid, Kallis, Tendulkar, Lara, Laxman, Pollock, Read, Kumble, Murali, Harmison

The interesting team to think about would be a ROW 'B' team: Gibbs, Sehwag, Inzi, Thorpe, Youhana, Sangakkara, Streak, Akhtar, Ntini, Singh, Price

I think ROW 'A' would beat the Aussies comfortable.. but ROW 'B' would lose.

[Nikhil]

Originally Posted by Rachael

CTOJ - I think you'd find Richardson a far better opener than Gibbs... and with a batting order that includes 5 of the world's best specialists.. plus Kallis, Pollock and Sangakkara... Freddie would have to make way for Harmison, Ntini, Tuffey, Vaas, Khan, Streak Hoggard or any one of 2-dozen other far, far more accomplished bowlers.

Personally I'd take: Richardson, Dravid, Kallis, Tendulkar, Lara, Laxman, Pollock, Read, Kumble, Murali, Harmison

The interesting team to think about would be a ROW 'B' team: Gibbs, Sehwag, Inzi, Thorpe, Youhana, Sangakkara, Streak, Akhtar, Ntini, Singh, Price

I think ROW 'A' would beat the Aussies comfortable.. but ROW 'B' would lose.

Now now.. this is very interesting.

My A team would be:

Richardson, Sehwag, Dravid, Kallis, Laxman, Lara, Boucher, Pollock, Murali, Harmison and Bond.

Here Laxman ahead of Tendulkar, since Tendulkar is off colour of late and Laxman seems to get a notch up against them. This decision was very tough. Also I rate Bond much above Akhtar.

My B team would be:

Gibbs, Vaughan, Inzi, Sachin, Thorpe, Oram, Sangakkara, Kumble, Akhtar, Freddy and Ntini.

[Scott-Wozniak]

Sorry couldn't resist that title.

Can anyone please explain to me, why more than one person has put Pollock down as being their Captain of the ROW XI? Pollock doesn't even Captain his country, why do people feel he's the best person to captain a world XI, containing some of the finest players out there in world cricket? It's not a biggy, I'm just curious.

Scott

[Scott-Wozniak]

Originally Posted by honestbharani

No offence, but Fleming ahead of Lara...........I know everyone has opinion but if it is supposed to be for captaincy, then that is something that Rahul has done and done well........Actually winning matches and playing positive cricket, something alien to Fleming...

The team I selected has a wealth of batting talent in it, in my mind Fleming is probably the best Captain in the world right now, as well as being an extremely useful batsman in his own right. Don't get me wrong, I admire Lara, I also don't dislike his Captaincy, albeit a little 'unconventional', but in terms of 'captaincy' alone, Fleming would get the nod from me over Lara.

The reason NZ aren't that successful is not a reflection on Fleming's captaincy, they simply don't have the world class players other nations have. Although having said that NZ are not that far behind the 'pack' of England, India and Pakistan, which says to me - Fleming gets the best out of what limited resources he has at his disposal - hence my admiration for him as a Captain

Just my opinon.

Scott

[honestbharani]

Originally Posted by Scott-Wozniak

The team I selected has a wealth of batting talent in it, in my mind Fleming is probably the best Captain in the world right now, as well as being an extremely useful batsman in his own right. Don't get me wrong, I admire Lara, I also don't dislike his Captaincy, albeit a little 'unconventional', but in terms of 'captaincy' alone, Fleming would get the nod from me over Lara.

The reason NZ aren't that successful is not a reflection on Fleming's captaincy, they simply don't have the world class players other nations have. Although having said that NZ are not that far behind the 'pack' of England, India and Pakistan, which says to me - Fleming gets the best out of what limited resources he has at his disposal - hence my admiration for him as a Captain

Just my opinon.

Scott

Yeah, I understand it but I don't think a team of such stars actually needs any great captaincy and anyhow, I have seen Dravid lead sides before and I think he is in no way inferior to Fleming but I see your point, since Dravid is not a regular skipper......But my own opinion is that even Sourav is a better captain, more positive and better suited to leading such a brilliant side

[Mike_Hock]

Ok,


I thought Sachin HAD opened for India in the past, but a quick check proved me wrong. Therefore I would move Tendulkar down the order in place of Youhana, and bring Vaughan in as the second opener (For the test side at least).

Vaughan
Gibbs
Lara
Dravid
Tendulkar
Kallis
Taibu
Flintoff
Vaas
Murali
Harmison

As for playing Kallis, I feel he merits a place in the squad as a batsman alone. The fact that he bowls useful seemers is a bonus. Fredddie plays beccause he is box office. He is a entertainer and he is capable of turning a drawn match into a win.

Vaas has done as well as most agianst the Aussies in previous years (Ave of 28 with ball & 22 with bat), and I feel that he would complimet Harmison well with the opening ball. Also, I see you have gone for Akhtar. Why have you done this? All Akhtar is good for is out and out pace and the Aussies will murder him as they have done in the past (He averages over 38 against Aus).
As for Taibu, I felt it would be a moral boost for Zimbabwe if one of their players featured.

P.s, I do not know why you think you have such a great knowledge of cricket Scott. Everyone is entitled to their opinions, how else can you defend playing Fleming in place of the greatest batsman of our generation? as you would say, BLINK BLINK!

[flanflinger]

Why am I the only person to have selected Greame Smith? I rate him as a much better openeer than Gibbs, and also would solve the captaincy problem.

Good to see Rachel getting an opportunity to slag off Freddie, nothing ever changes. His batting average was higher than all the West Indians (apart from Lara), he was Englands 3rd highest wicketaker, what does he have to do for you to actually acknowledge that he is a good player!!

[Scott-Wozniak]

Originally Posted by flanflinger

Why am I the only person to have selected Greame Smith? I rate him as a much better openeer than Gibbs, and also would solve the captaincy problem.

FF

I don't know - why are you the only person to have selected Smith ? LOL.

I suspect it may have something to do with the fact that he's inexperienced at Test level, and whilst he's done well since he came into the side, he's hardly 'proven' over a long period of time like many of the other players being selected for the ROW XI. As for him as captain...

Scott

[Scott-Wozniak]

Originally Posted by Mike_Hock

P.s, I do not know why you think you have such a great knowledge of cricket Scott. Everyone is entitled to their opinions, how else can you defend playing Fleming in place of the greatest batsman of our generation? as you would say, BLINK BLINK!

Mike

I've never claimed to have a 'great knowledge of cricket' but I'm just as entitled to my opinions are you are. And for the reasons I've stated - I found some of your selections in what was meant to be a team comprising the best in the world v Australia to be perfectly honest - bizarre.

You select in Tendulkar probably one of the best middle order batsmen in the world and you put him in as an opener! You select in Taibu, at 20 probably one of the most inexperienced Wicket Keepers currently in Test Cricket, and play him ahead ahead of all the others. You select two allrounders, when most Test sides only have one, and forget completely who's meant to be captaining the side - as I said - bizarre!

My selection of Fleming was based on his captaincy alone. As I feel he's the best Test Cricket Captain in the world right now, you didn't even bother selecting a captain, so as I said - blink blink - bizarre!

Scott

[Rich Greenfield]

Gibbs
Vaughan*
Laxman
Tendulker
Dravid
Kallis
Boucher+
Flintoff
Pollock
Jones
H Singh