Jump to content

Would All Time South African XI be the best All Time XI?


Lurker

Recommended Posts

Typically while discussing each country's All Time XI it comes down to a battle between West Indies and Australia. Or rather Sobers vs Bradman. Or Aussie batting against pace battery. Pakistan and South Africa are close contenders. But is there a case to be made that an All time South Africa would be the strongest ever?? Here is a sample XI Barry Richards Graeme Smith© Hashim Amla Jacques Kallis Graeme Pollock ABDV/Dudley nourse Mike Procter /Shaun Pollock Mark Boucher(wk) Hugh Tayfield Alan Donald Dale Steyn That is a scary team! Made even scarier by the fact that the following players did not even make a cut. Aubrey Faulkner - 1754 runs@40 while batting, 82 wickets@26 Peter Polllock - 116 wickets@24 Eddie Barlow - 2516 runs@45, 40 wickets@30 Herschelle Gibbs - 6167 @42 Gary Kirsten - 7289 runs@45 Neil Adcock - 104 wickets@21 And on top of my head - Cronje, Fanie De Villiers, Ntini, Neil Adcock, Basil D Olivera, Garth Le Roux, Vince Van De Bijle, Clive Rice yada yada yada.

Link to comment

To your question-No because lack of quality spinner for one and also the ability to play quality spin which is always going to be a challenge. but relevant to your lineup that's an awesome one and also you forgot Makhaya Ntini who I feel was one of the vastly underrated bowlers of our time

Link to comment

^I meant Ntini in the reserves because obviously he wont get into the starting line up of the all-time X1 and obviously I havent seen some of the names in the line up play but apart from Amla and Gary Kirsten whom you put in the reserves,I seriously doubt the spin playing ability of the other members.

Link to comment
To your question-No because lack of quality spinner for one and also the ability to play quality spin which is always going to be a challenge. but relevant to your lineup that's an awesome one and also you forgot Makhaya Ntini who I feel was one of the vastly underrated bowlers of our time
Well Hugh Tayfield is one of the greatest off spinners. Aubrey Faulkner was decent leg spinner. But yeah I do concur that lack of spin bowlers is a problem. Then again thats the same for West Indies as well, no?
Link to comment

But going bak to your point what about Australia? I mean they have had everything in terms of Batting greats,Wk greats,SPin/Fast bowling legends. Surprisingly though I can't recollect Aussies having a Outstanding allrounder in the league of Botham.Kapil,Imran,Sobers though unless we can count Adam Gilchrist as one.

Link to comment

As pointed out, as good as Tayfied reportedly was, he was not as good as Gibbs the greatest of WI spinners. And if Kallis ( or Pollock) is the greatest SA batsman- both would still lag behind Sobers, Lara and Richards on the ATG batsman lists... not even getting to the pacemen where as great as Steyn and Donald are/were it is a no contest vs Marshall et al.. same would hold true when comparing with an Aussie XI...

Link to comment
Alf Valentine and Sunny Ramadhine were trail blazers for West Indies but I am not sure if they would make to top 10 spinners of all time list. Not a ding on them, they brought many a laurels for West Indies. Lance Gibbs is probably the best West Indies spinner but I am not sure if I see him get picked in all time West Indies XI. Generally West Indies XI is always 4 fast bowlers with Sobers as spin option.
Link to comment
But going bak to your point what about Australia? I mean they have had everything in terms of Batting greats,Wk greats,SPin/Fast bowling legends. Surprisingly though I can't recollect Aussies having a Outstanding allrounder in the league of Botham.Kapil,Imran,Sobers though unless we can count Adam Gilchrist as one.
Keith Miller. The boss of them all. B->B-> Alan Davidson and Ray Lindwall could also make a case of half decent all-rounder. And of course Richie Benaud too. Although these three wont be in the same league as Imran-Kapil-Botham.
Link to comment

If an all time India XI were to tour SA and play that side in a 3 match series, they'd lose but it would be close-ish fought series in my view. However if that SA side were to tour India and play a spin attack of Kumble, Prasanna and Mankad they would be routed!

Link to comment
As pointed out' date=' as good as Tayfied reportedly was, he was not as good as Gibbs the greatest of WI spinners. And if Kallis ( or Pollock) is the greatest SA batsman- both would still lag behind Sobers, Lara and Richards on the ATG batsman lists... not even getting to the pacemen where as great as Steyn and Donald are/were it is a no contest vs Marshall et al.. same would hold true when comparing with an Aussie XI...[/quote'] Pollock can certainly hold his own against Lillee, Marshall or anybody else. Dont forget Barry Richards once scored 300 runs in a day against Lillee at the top of his game. In fact Barry Richards performance was better than Viv Richards during World Series cricket, although Barry did play lot less than Richards. And yes pound for pound Marshall would be better than Donald and Steyn. Then again, he would be better than anyone else in my opinion. But surely Donald and Steyn could compete with likes of Holding and Roberts etc.
Link to comment

best allrounder(debatable )-imran the king khan best left armer of all time - wasim akram reverse swing king - waqar younis fastest bowler ever (with a very good record to boot )-shoaib akhtar pioneer of the doosra- saqlain mushtaq legspinner -abdul qadir(rated best by sir viv richards and dean jones although obviously not as good as warne ) SLA -iqbal qasim honestly for sheer variety and ability to perform in both tests and limited overs internationals , i doubt anyone other than australia comes even close to pakistan when it comes to bowling .

Link to comment

^ Yes Pak bowling is awesome but batting a lot less so!

Pollock can certainly hold his own against Lillee, Marshall or anybody else. Dont forget Barry Richards once scored 300 runs in a day against Lillee at the top of his game. In fact Barry Richards performance was better than Viv Richards during World Series cricket, although Barry did play lot less than Richards. And yes pound for pound Marshall would be better than Donald and Steyn. Then again, he would be better than anyone else in my opinion. But surely Donald and Steyn could compete with likes of Holding and Roberts etc.
Thinking about it, there is probably not much between Marshall and Steyn. Not entirely convinced by the hoopla around Richards given he barely had a test career, though as you rightly point out he did well vs good World Series attacks. Still think the Aus and WI sides had overall stronger sides, the greats were greater. Aussie spin attack serious point it in their favour
Link to comment
honestly for sheer variety and ability to perform in both tests and limited overs internationals , i doubt anyone other than australia comes even close to pakistan when it comes to bowling .
You need the variety if you are defending a total of 50 runs :giggle:
Link to comment

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...