check this edited article which i've read in cricketnext.com.
**************************************************
Even as Steve Waugh’s Australians conquer and humble one opponent after the other in Test arena, questions are raised over whether his Australian team is the best ever to grace cricket grounds. Indeed, Waugh himself, a master of mind games, has this to say about his side, Many reckon Sir Donald Bradman’s Invincibles of 1948 were the best ever. Remove Bradman from that team and my side can compare very favourably with that team.
Let us look at the two sides. In the 1980s, the West Indies played 82 Test matches, winning as many as 43 and losing just eight. The Australians, from 1999 to 2003, have played 35 Test matches, winning as many as 27. They have five losses and just three draws. Incredible.
The Windies side that went to England and Australia in 1984-85 is considered to be the strongest ever to leave the shores of the Caribbean. For Australia, the team that humbled England 4-1 in the last Ashes series set the benchmark. Let us look at the individuals who made up the two sides.
Gordon Greenidge and Desmond Haynes, the two cavalier cricketers who could hit the ball as hard as anyone opened the batting for the Windies. This duo's celebrated career coincided with the golden era of West Indies cricket. They opened the batting for their team for 13 years and 89 Tests. They opened the batting together 148 times. Greenidge and Haynes shared four partnerships of over 200, inevitably the West Indies' record of 298 among them, and 12 more in three figures.
For the Aussies, the two left-handers, Justin Langer and Matthew Hayden, are just as destructive. Together, they piled up four double-hundred stands in the space of just ten matches. The Lang-Haydos combination immediately puts any combination on the back foot. The question is, would they have scored as freely, and as consistently, against the West Indies. But more of that later.
Number three for the Windies was that King of Destruction, a gentleman who answers to the call of Isaac Vivian Alexander Richards. There can be no competition here. While the Aussie number three Ricky Ponting is a great batsman in his own right, no-one can match the King, not even Sachin Tendulkar or Brian Lara.
At four for the Windies was Larry Gomes, while the Australians put out Damien Martyn after Mark Waugh’s retirement. Both Waugh and Martyn are more talented than the left-handed Gomes, who was dour, but don’t forget, Gomes has played many an innings and held the side together when all around him was falling apart. In India in 1983, Gomes on more than one occasion kept the Indian spinners at bay.
At number five is the battle of the equals. There is no denying the fact that Lloyd was a superior batsman to Steve Waugh, but in terms of grit, the Aussie test captain can challenge anyone. Both are cricket’s greats, the very finest, and it would be an interesting duel of the mind.
Number six for Australia is now manned by Darren Lehmann, while the West Indies never had a confirmed man for the job. It could be Lloyd himself many a time, or Augustine Logie in the latter years or Larry Gomes. The wicket-keepers’ duel is again an interesting one. On one hand, there is Geoffrey Dujon, a class batsman and a very high-quality wicket-keeper, while on the Australian side, there is Adam Gilchrist. The left-handed ‘Gilly’ would probably go down as a better batsman compared to the legendary West Indian but there is no doubt Dujon was a far, far better ‘keeper. And mind you, more than a handful with the bat.
The West Indies relied on the firepower of Malcolm Marshall, Michael Holding, Andy Roberts and Joel Garner to decimate the opposition. The Aussies are more or less the same with Glenn McGrath, Jason Gillespie and Brett Lee, but the difference can be Shane Warne. The Aussies posses a very high quality spinner, in fact, the best leg-spinner of modern era, someone who can do serious damage to the Windies batting line-up.
So, who do you think would have prevailed? Lloyd’s Army or Waugh’s Band of Brothers? The debate is unresolved.
**************************************************
Even as Steve Waugh’s Australians conquer and humble one opponent after the other in Test arena, questions are raised over whether his Australian team is the best ever to grace cricket grounds. Indeed, Waugh himself, a master of mind games, has this to say about his side, Many reckon Sir Donald Bradman’s Invincibles of 1948 were the best ever. Remove Bradman from that team and my side can compare very favourably with that team.
Let us look at the two sides. In the 1980s, the West Indies played 82 Test matches, winning as many as 43 and losing just eight. The Australians, from 1999 to 2003, have played 35 Test matches, winning as many as 27. They have five losses and just three draws. Incredible.
The Windies side that went to England and Australia in 1984-85 is considered to be the strongest ever to leave the shores of the Caribbean. For Australia, the team that humbled England 4-1 in the last Ashes series set the benchmark. Let us look at the individuals who made up the two sides.
Gordon Greenidge and Desmond Haynes, the two cavalier cricketers who could hit the ball as hard as anyone opened the batting for the Windies. This duo's celebrated career coincided with the golden era of West Indies cricket. They opened the batting for their team for 13 years and 89 Tests. They opened the batting together 148 times. Greenidge and Haynes shared four partnerships of over 200, inevitably the West Indies' record of 298 among them, and 12 more in three figures.
For the Aussies, the two left-handers, Justin Langer and Matthew Hayden, are just as destructive. Together, they piled up four double-hundred stands in the space of just ten matches. The Lang-Haydos combination immediately puts any combination on the back foot. The question is, would they have scored as freely, and as consistently, against the West Indies. But more of that later.
Number three for the Windies was that King of Destruction, a gentleman who answers to the call of Isaac Vivian Alexander Richards. There can be no competition here. While the Aussie number three Ricky Ponting is a great batsman in his own right, no-one can match the King, not even Sachin Tendulkar or Brian Lara.
At four for the Windies was Larry Gomes, while the Australians put out Damien Martyn after Mark Waugh’s retirement. Both Waugh and Martyn are more talented than the left-handed Gomes, who was dour, but don’t forget, Gomes has played many an innings and held the side together when all around him was falling apart. In India in 1983, Gomes on more than one occasion kept the Indian spinners at bay.
At number five is the battle of the equals. There is no denying the fact that Lloyd was a superior batsman to Steve Waugh, but in terms of grit, the Aussie test captain can challenge anyone. Both are cricket’s greats, the very finest, and it would be an interesting duel of the mind.
Number six for Australia is now manned by Darren Lehmann, while the West Indies never had a confirmed man for the job. It could be Lloyd himself many a time, or Augustine Logie in the latter years or Larry Gomes. The wicket-keepers’ duel is again an interesting one. On one hand, there is Geoffrey Dujon, a class batsman and a very high-quality wicket-keeper, while on the Australian side, there is Adam Gilchrist. The left-handed ‘Gilly’ would probably go down as a better batsman compared to the legendary West Indian but there is no doubt Dujon was a far, far better ‘keeper. And mind you, more than a handful with the bat.
The West Indies relied on the firepower of Malcolm Marshall, Michael Holding, Andy Roberts and Joel Garner to decimate the opposition. The Aussies are more or less the same with Glenn McGrath, Jason Gillespie and Brett Lee, but the difference can be Shane Warne. The Aussies posses a very high quality spinner, in fact, the best leg-spinner of modern era, someone who can do serious damage to the Windies batting line-up.
So, who do you think would have prevailed? Lloyd’s Army or Waugh’s Band of Brothers? The debate is unresolved.