Harsh Thakor Posted February 27, 2019 Share Posted February 27, 2019 (edited) Test cricket had a transformation in the 1970's reaching a zenith of competitivity never attained before,like a renaissance period.Fast bowling went through a transformation as well as the standard of batting, like a golden era being ushered.The trend continued through the 1980's with the emergence of the 4 great all-rounders and possibly even improved in the 1990's.The comeback of South Africa as a major cricketing power made a great impact on the decade of the 1990's and after as well as the emergence of Sri Lanka as a major cricketing power. The 1970's featured the introduction of great batsmen like Viv Richards,Sunil Gavaskar,Chappell brothers,Clive Lloyd,Zaheer Abbas ,Majid Khan,Alvin Kalicharan,Gundappa Vishwanath,Glen Turner,.Glen Turner etc.,It also had the greatest of bowlers in Dennis Lillee,Andy Roberts,Michael Holding,Jeff Thomson,,Bishen Bedi,Prasanna,Derek Underwood,Joel Garner,Imran Khan,Richard Hadlee etc.The genesis of West Indies becoming arguably the greatest team ever was in the 1970's when the seeds were sown.The seeds of careers of Miandad,Boder,Kpail Dev,Vengsarkar and Border were sown in the 1970's. The 1980's again featured Viv Richards,Gavaskar,Greg Chappell,Clive Lloyd ,Zaheer Abbas,Joel Garner and Michael Holding but were joined by Ian Botham,Imran Khan ,Kapil Dev and Richard Hadlee as great fast bowers and all-rounders as well as stars like Border,Miandad,Marshall,Gower,Gooch,Qadir Crowe,Vengsarkar and gave birth to the careers of Wasim Akram,Steve Waugh and Sachin Tendulkar. The 1990's had more fast bowlers than any era before ,fielding at it's highest standard and gave rise to a new epoch in Australian cricket in becoming a superpower again.Geniuses arose like Lara,Tendulkar and other batting greats like Inzamam ,Steve and Mark Waugh,Aravinda De Silva,Jayasuriya,Salim Malik,Ponting etc.Bolwing standards surpased any era with the presence of Wasim,Waqar,Donald ,Macgrath ,Ambrose,Walsh,Srinath,Pollock. 2000's featured greats like Ponting,Kallis ,Jayewardene,Sangakaara ,Piterson,Mcgrath and Warne as well as the continuation of Lara,Tendulkar,Inzamam I would like to split eras not in decades but in 5 year periods from 1970.After the selected teams I have put the names of the other notables of those periods. 1970-74 Boycott Barry Richards Rohan Kanhai Ian Chappell Graeme Pollock Gary Sobers Mike Procter Alan Knott Dennis Lillee John Snow Lance Gibbs Other stars were Vishwanath,Kalicharan ,Lawrence Rowe,Gavaskar,Jeff Thomson,Dennis Amiss,Tony Greig ,Clive Lloyd,Doug Walters. 1975-79 Gavaskar Barry Richards Viv Richards Ian Chappell Greg Chappell Ian Botham Alan Knott Andy Roberts Dennis Lillee Michael Holding Bishen Bedi Other prominent players-Clive Lloyd Mushtaq Muhammad ,Mike Procter,Asif Iqbal,Majid Khan,Richard Hadlee,Alvin Kalicharan.Gundappa Vishwanath,Zaheer Abbas,Jeff Thomos,Geoff Boycott etc. 1980-84 Greenidge Gavaskar Viv Richards Greg Chappell Alan Border Ian Botham Jeff Dujon Imran Khan Joel Garner Dennis Lillee Abdul Qadir Other greats include Kapil Dev.Clive Lloyd,Malcolm Marshall,Joel Garner,Richard Hadlee ,Mohinder Amarnath ,Kim Hughes,Alan Lamb,David Gower. 1985-89 Gavaskar Greenidge Viv Border Miandad Kapil Dev Dujon Imran Hadlee Marshall Qadir other prominent stars are Gower,Vengsarkar,Botham,David Boon,Steve Waugh,Craig Mcdermott,Geoff Lawson,Alan Lamb ,Graham Gooch,Mohammad Azharrudin ,Martin Crowe ,Terry Alderman . 1990-94 Graham Gooch Haynes Lara Tendulkar Crowe Kapil Moin Khan Wasim Warne Waqar Ambrose Other stars are Alec Stewart, Donald ,Walsh,Salim Malik,Inzamam.Mushtaq Ahmed 1995-99 Anwar Jayasuriya Lara Tendulkar Steve Waugh Kallis Ian Healy Warne Wasim Akram Ambrose Alan Donald Other greats include Ambrose , Dravid,Muriltharan,Mark Waugh.Inzamam ,Azharuddin,Mcgrath.Chris Cairns,Inzamam ,Aravinda De Silva and Waqar. 1999-2004 Hayden Smith Ponting Dravid Tendulkar Kallis Gilchrist Warne Brett Lee Alan Donald Mcgrath Others include Shaun Pollock,Inzaman,Azhar,Inzamam,Lara 2004-09 Sehwag Hayden Ponting Lara Inzamam Kallis Gilchrist Dale Steyn Shane Warne Shoaib Akhtar Glen Mcgrath Others Dravid,Pollock,Damien Martyn ,Graeme Smith,Herschelle Gibbs 2010-14 Smith Alistair Cook Hashim Amla Kevin Pieterson AB Devilliers Kallis Dhoni Philanderer Mitchelle Johnson Steyn Swann Others prominent are Tendulkar,Ponting,Dravid . 2015-19 Cook Makram Steve Smith Virat Kohli Kane Williamson Joe Root A B Devilliers Ashwin Starc Tim Southee Bhumrah Others include Amla,Pujara,Ian Bell,Lyon In the end I would select between 1994-99, 1975-79 and 1984-89.In terms of balnace and abundance of talent 1994-99 team era would win with more teams in the scenario and thus more reserves of talent.Imagine the likes of Tendulkar,Lara,Wasim,Waqar,Warne,Murli,Dravid Donald,Ambrose,Walsh Waugh brother,Aravinda De Silva ,Sannath Jayasuriya all playing in one era. The 2nd xi of that era may have been another great team just like in 1975-79.1975-79 may have had more talented batsmen but not as many fast bowling greats,who were so versatile.1984-89 had the most all-rounders but Botham was not at his peak in that period.Still Marshall and Hadlee together were quite a handful combined with Kapil Dev.thus my final 3 best in order are 1.1995-99 2.1975-79 3.1985-89 Edited February 27, 2019 by Harsh Thakor Link to comment
Khota Posted February 27, 2019 Share Posted February 27, 2019 Today it is the best. These are all naive attempts to downplay India's achievements. The atheletes are better. Fielding is superior. Pace bowling is more sustained. This the the golden era. Rightarmfast 1 Link to comment
Straight Drive Posted February 28, 2019 Share Posted February 28, 2019 Pace bowling was at its best with WI pace quartet being the best pace attach ever. 1975 - 1984 Spin was best in 1960 and 1970 when our world class spin quartet played. That spin quartet is still the deadliest spin atatck in history of world cricket. Fielding has been best in this decade (2010 onwards). There is no match whatsoever. Link to comment
Jimmy Cliff Posted February 28, 2019 Share Posted February 28, 2019 Early 90s to early noughties. You had 4 world class pace attacks (AUS/SA/PAK/WI) for the best part of the period, 2 of the GOAT spinners , 3 ATG batsmen in their prime with 3 or 4 waiting in the wings. The GOAT wk-batsman emerging in the latter part of this phase. Even the relatively weaker sides were competitive if not dominant at home. The bore draws of the 80s were mostly a thing of the past. Then again maybe I've my nostalgia goggles on . 70s could have been up there if S.A. hadn't been banned when they had one of their best ever sides and if there had been no Packer World series which led to a lot of Tests featuring sub strength sides. Tibarn 1 Link to comment
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