Australia's all time best ODI XI
Lindsay
I was a little stuck about whether to simply pick the best 11 players I
could find or whether to pick the best *team* I could think of , taking the
balance of the team into account. I chose the latter and consequently ended
up not picking someone who would make my top 11 players.
For Australia , one day cricket didn't get too seriously or regularly played
until World Series Cricket and afterwards. Not surprisingly there are no
players from pre- WSC vintage in my side.
1. Mark Waugh
2. Adam Gilchrist.
Despite David Boon being my hero, these 2 players score more quickly and
make serious all round contributions , Mark Waugh with ball and fielding ,
Gilchrist with keeping. Marsh, Boon and Taylor cannot match that. Ian Healy,
excellent keeper and fine lower order one day batsman that he was, cannot
match Gilchrist's explosive ability to win one day matches for his
team.Also, picking Gilchrist allows one to pick an extra batsman/ all
rounder in the team , giving it an extra edge.
3. Dean Jones:
4. Greg Chappell:
5. Steve Waugh
6. Ricky Ponting
7. Allan Border (c)
Dean Jones was a very quick scorer, superb runner between wickets, capable
of building an innings and scoring quickly when
needed, a competent fielder.Greg Chappell was a great batsman with a very
good one day record, superb fielder, and a very useful one day bowler.It's
customary to assume players in these sides are in their prime; for Steve
Waugh , his one day prime was in the late 80's and early 90's , when he was
a very fast runner between wickets , a superb fielder, a quick scorer late
in an innings and a very capable bowler, particularly late in the
innings.The Steve Waugh of that time frame walks into this side.Ricky
Ponting is a fast scoring batsman with a lot of shots and is an incredibly
skilled fielder.
I've picked Ponting ahead of Michael Bevan largely for reasons of balance.I
feel that this batting line up will generally have someone who will hold the
innings together and work the ball nicely if needed. So Bevan's greatest
skill isn't as necessary here.Bevan's bowling , like Ponting's is pretty
useless. They match each other between the wickets , but Ponting can score a
bit more quickly late in an innings than Bevan. Importantly , Ponting is
considerably superior to Bevan in the field.That fielding skill, combined
with his greater hitting prowess, was what beat out Bevan.
Allan Border was a quick scoring batsman late in an innings and very
capable of holding an innings together if needed. He was a super fielder ,
with a deadly arm from mid-wicket , a useful back-up spin bowler.
Additionally , he was a superb one day captain, very good at organising the
field and restricting totals. I feel he is the best of the many one day
captains in this side , which is why I gave him the job of captain :)
8. Simon O'Donnell
9. Shane Warne
10: Dennis Lillee
11. Glenn McGrath.
Simon O'Donnell was a very good bowler in one day cricket, capable both of
restraining opponents and taking wickets.He was an explosive batsman late
in an innings , capable of giving a team quick runs with some big hits. A
good fielder as well. O'Donnell was a key part of australia's one day
strength and success from 1987-1991 and his absence in the 92 World Cup
really hurt Australia.
Shane Warne has been a superb one day bowler, able to contain opponents but
also extremely good at taking wickets.Warne is a good hitter late in an
innings but isn't as useful a fielder or runner between wickets as most of
his team mates. Peter Taylor came up for consideration, he was a very good
one day spinner, able to restict teams well and nudge a few runs when
needed. I felt Warne's greater penetration gave him the edge.
Dennis Lillee was a consummate one day bowler, very accurate, hostile,
competitive,able to strike or contain.Lillee was not a good batsman but
could score quickly when he did bat.A safe fielder.
Glenn McGrath is another top quality bowler,on a par with Lillee, able to
strike or contain, very accurate, competitive.not quick around the field but
has a very strong throwing arm, not the best catch in the side either but
generally safe. Of course , if McGrath is needed to bat , the game is almost
certainly lost.
What I like about the team is its depth: O'Donnell comes in at 8 and Warne
at 9! Of course , the middle order is likely to be a bit changeable
according to the fortunes of the game. If Lillee McGrath and Warne all bowl
out , that leaves S.Waugh,S.O'Donnell and Greg Chappell to split 20 overs
with support from Mark Waugh and Allan Border if needed. The captain has a
lot of options with his bowling attack.The fielding will be very strong
indeed and the running between wickets will also be powerful.
With Australia's best test team over this period , I've always thought the
equivalent West Indies side would beat it. I'm not so certain about the one
day side, as I feel an equivalent West Indies team will not have the batting
and bowling variety and depth that this side does. eg Greenidge Haynes
Richards Richardson Lara Lloyd Dujon Marshall Holding Garner Ambrose is a
lot shorter on depth and variety. Of course , they're all great players so
maybe that wouldn't matter much :)
Anyway , that's my team :)
Lindsay <making one of his occassional posts>
Paul
Heh,
This is my one day XI:
Adam Gilchrist
Mark Waugh
Dean Jones
Ricky Ponting
Steve Waugh (Captain)
Allan Border
Simon O'Donnell
Shane Warne
Dennis Lillee
Glen McGrath
Dean Jones is my choice for 1st drop with Ponting batting at the number 4
position.
Steve Waugh is the captain of the all time great one day side.
I have nothing much to say.
Cheers
PAUL
Matthew van de Werken
If Steve Waugh is captain, then it's the old Steve Waugh, so who's going to
be your fifth bowler?
I'd take the young Steve Waugh, with Captain Grumpy to lead.
Cheers,
MvdW
Phil Wise
"Matthew van de Werken" <mvd...@dingoblue.net.au> wrote in message
news:3cc7c97d$0$15473$afc3...@news.optusnet.com.au...
How many of the other dwarves can you fit into the team? I think I have
Ponting as Dopey and Gillie as Sneazy...
phil
>
> Cheers,
> MvdW
>
India Fan
"Paul" <uzi...@iprimus.com.au> wrote in message
news:3CC7C088...@iprimus.com.au...
> Lindsay,
>
> Heh,
>
> This is my one day XI:
>
> Adam Gilchrist
> Mark Waugh
> Dean Jones
> Ricky Ponting
> Steve Waugh (Captain)
> Allan Border
> Simon O'Donnell
> Shane Warne
> Dennis Lillee
> Glen McGrath
>
That seems like a one day X, not a X1...
Cricfan
> Lindsay,
>
> Heh,
I presume this list does not include cricketers who haven't
played ODI's. In other words, no Slasher MacKay, Stan McCabe,
Bradman, Trumper et al.
>
> This is my one day XI:
>
> Adam Gilchrist
> Mark Waugh
> Dean Jones
> Ricky Ponting
RP - replace with Micheal Bevan, bat lower down the order
> Steve Waugh (Captain)
> Allan Border
> Simon O'Donnell
S O'D - replace with Bruce Yardley
> Shane Warne
replace with Simon Davis if playing against India. Dunno why, but
Davis & Micheal Whitney used to give truckloads of problems to Indian
bats.
> Dennis Lillee
DKL - replace with Gary Gilmour (has a better record than DKL in WC75)
:-)
> Glen McGrath
>
The above list has 10 cricketers, so we need one more:
Add - Terry Alderman - if playing in England
Rodney Hogg - if playing in Aus
Ian Chappell, Doug Walters - if playing against India, Pak, SL
Cheers
Arun
Uday Rajan
>
> I presume this list does not include cricketers who haven't
> played ODI's. In other words, no Slasher MacKay, Stan McCabe,
> Bradman, Trumper et al.
I would hope that no ODI XI would include Slasher. In
terms of dourness at the crease, he was Australia's
answer to Trevor Bailey. Whoever nicknamed him
"Slasher" must have had a sense of humour.
Sailesh Krishnamurthy
Uday> Cricfan wrote:
>> I presume this list does not include cricketers who haven't
>> played ODI's. In other words, no Slasher MacKay, Stan McCabe,
>> Bradman, Trumper et al.
Uday> I would hope that no ODI XI would include Slasher. In terms
Uday> of dourness at the crease, he was Australia's answer to
Uday> Trevor Bailey. Whoever nicknamed him "Slasher" must have had
Uday> a sense of humour.
Maybe watching him caused people to slash their wrists in
frustration. *Shudder* .. I remember Tavare ..
--
Pip-pip
Sailesh
http://www.cs.berkeley.edu/~sailesh
Cricfan
Perhaps I'm confusing him with someone else from the 60's.
My uncles claim to have seen him on Central College ground, Bangalore
(or was it someone else??) and apparently he was quite a good hitter.
Cheers
Arun
Winston Churchill
Slasher was more than capable of turning over the strike
regularly and would have been an invaluable 'stopper' as a
bowler. Although he took few wickets, he also gave away very
few runs, which would be just the ticket in an odo.
cheers
--
Winny
th...@yahoo.com
In office since 1997
Mad Hamish
wrote:
not having actually seen Slasher bat I could be mistaken, but I've got
the impression that he wasn't actually all that slow a scorer. He was
a nudger and a deflector but worked the ball very well for his runs.
Could have been very useful in the middle overs and his bowling is a
plus.
--
"Hope is replaced by fear and dreams by survival, most of us get by."
Stuart Adamson 1958-2001
Mad Hamish
Hamish Laws
h_l...@bigpond.com
Moby
> Apologies if this has been done recently :)
>
> I was a little stuck about whether to simply pick the best 11 players I
> could find or whether to pick the best *team* I could think of , taking the
> balance of the team into account. I chose the latter and consequently ended
> up not picking someone who would make my top 11 players.
>
> For Australia , one day cricket didn't get too seriously or regularly played
> until World Series Cricket and afterwards. Not surprisingly there are no
> players from pre- WSC vintage in my side.
>
> 1. Mark Waugh
> 2. Adam Gilchrist.
>
> 3. Dean Jones:
> 4. Greg Chappell:
> 5. Steve Waugh
> 6. Ricky Ponting
> 7. Allan Border (c)
> 8. Simon O'Donnell
> 9. Shane Warne
> 10: Dennis Lillee
> 11. Glenn McGrath.
All fine players I'm sure. But you've fallen into the usual "fan trap."
It's an odo team, yet you've chosen a "test-style" batting line-up. #s 3-7
are all good 3/4/5 batsmen, but none of them are the big hitters you need
at 6/7.
Moby
C.Kelly (BCTA)
Moby wrote:
> > 1. Mark Waugh
> > 2. Adam Gilchrist.
> >
> > 3. Dean Jones:
> > 4. Greg Chappell:
> > 5. Steve Waugh
> > 6. Ricky Ponting
> > 7. Allan Border (c)
> > 8. Simon O'Donnell
> > 9. Shane Warne
> > 10: Dennis Lillee
> > 11. Glenn McGrath.
>
> All fine players I'm sure. But you've fallen into the usual "fan trap."
> It's an odo team, yet you've chosen a "test-style" batting line-up. #s 3-7
> are all good 3/4/5 batsmen, but none of them are the big hitters you need
> at 6/7.
Are you a closet Tom Moody fan, Moby?
Cheers,
Christian Kelly
PS: WTF is Bevan?
Ken Higgs
"C.Kelly (BCTA)" wrote:
I'd be tempted to do away with Border, Waugh & Chapell altogether (I'm not too
aware of Chappell's record, tho'). Both the two former have reasonably average
odo records, ie haven't set the world on fire, scored a lot of runs, but more
from a point of view of having played lots of matches.
I'd have Ponting at 3, Jones at 4, Bevan at 5 and then I'd have a think about 6
& 7. Perhaps Moody, perhaps not.
Higgsy
Moby
Only in England.
Ken Higgs
Ken Higgs wrote:
>
>
> I'd be tempted to do away with Border, Waugh & Chapell altogether (I'm not too
> aware of Chappell's record, tho'). Both the two former have reasonably average
> odo records, ie haven't set the world on fire, scored a lot of runs, but more
> from a point of view of having played lots of matches.
> I'd have Ponting at 3, Jones at 4, Bevan at 5 and then I'd have a think about 6
> & 7. Perhaps Moody, perhaps not.
>
> Higgsy
Of course, having now checked, I see Chappell averaged @40 at a healthy SR of 74ish
(pretty good for the era he played in).
So I'd possibly have him at 5, Bevan at 6 and think about 7
Higgsy