Test Cricket Decades Draft SF1: Mani vs Moby

[harms]

Welcome to the Test Cricket Decades Draft Round 1 match up. The two teams will be assessed based on a 3 match test series on the surfaces mentioned below. Only the test performances of the said players will be used for evaluation, no other format has any weight in the match up. The surfaces are:


1. Flat batting pitch with little help for any bowlers.
2. A greentop that aids pace bowling.
3. A slow dustbowl that aids spin bowling.

Please vote for the team that you think will prevail at the end of the series.



Mani

Openers -Sunil Gavaskar & M.Hayden

Batting opens with S.Gavasakar / M.Hayden(With Superior technique of S.Gavaskar and flamboyant batting of M.Hayden) I got the best opening combo out of the two team and are in the best position to see through the new ball attack which means my one down batsmen is not exposed to new ball early in the game.

R.Kanhai - Plays the specialist position No.3,R.Kanhai, technically strong against pace or spin.

" His batting which West Indies came to rely on for more than 16 years. He didn't score a century until his 13th Test but it was worth waiting for; he smashed 256 runs off the Indian attack at Calcutta. There were centuries too for Sobers and Basil Butcher as West Indies crushed their hosts by an innings and 336 runs. Kanhai followed this with 99 in the next Test as West Indies went on to win the series 3-0. Another double century followed on the same overseas tour, this time in Lahore as West Indies beat Pakistan by an innings. In all he hit 15 Test centuries, averaging 47.53 in Test matches"

W.Hammond/AB de Villiers /Sir Frank Worrell-All three very good batsmen of both pace and spin bowling and their records speak for themselves.
W.Hammond -"In a Test career spanning 85 matches, he scored 7,249 runs and took 83 wickets. Hammond captained England in 20 of those Tests, winning four, losing three, and drawing 13. His career aggregate of runs was the highest in Test cricket until surpassed by Colin Cowdrey in 1970; his total of 22 Test centuries remained an English record until Alastair Cooksurpassed it in December 2012.[notes 1] In 1933, he set a record for the highest individual Test innings of 336 not out, surpassed by Len Hutton in 1938. In all first-class cricket, he scored 50,551 runs and 167 centuries, respectively the seventh and third highest totals by a first-class cricketer.[3]With the ball, he took 732 wickets"

AB De Villiers - "Freak of nature"

AB had three different types of gears while playing in the nets. Sometimes he would watch it so closely that he would defend the ball completely under his eyes. I wish you could see me as I am standing now to imitate what he would do: the ball would basically rest at his feet and he would pick it up and give it back to you. That is quite annoying because as a fast bowler you want to rattle the batsman. This guy has complete control that he can defend the ball coming at 145kph and the ball would rest at his feet. That is a unique talent. That just doesn't happen. Nobody in the world that I have bowled to can do that.

Then there is the second gear that he turns to where he starts to really get into his movements, starts to walk around a lot more. He will stand on middle, and as you release the ball, he is standing two feet outside of off; he will be standing on off stump, and as you release the ball, he is standing one foot outside leg stump and lapping you.
Then he gets into the third gear, where he decides to concentrate on clearing the ropes. He will literally hit every ball in the sweet spot. He has the ability to make you feel completely helpless.
It is almost easier playing him in a match because if he does get out, he is actually out. In nets, even if he gets out he is still there for more time and he is going to smash you. It is torture. - Dale Stern

http://www.thecricketmonthly.com/st...-ability-to-make-you-feel-completely-helpless



Sir Frank Worrell - "West Indies' first appointed black captain was also their most charismatic and influential. Though a fine, stylish batsman, it is as a strong captain and an uniting force that he will be remembered. The affection with which his team was received in Australia during the landmark tour of 1960-61 is enshrined in the trophy named after him, which the two teams play for to date."

LMO-(A.Kippax/R.Hadlee /W.Akram/S.Warne) Arguably no team in the draft got better LMO than the one i have here,My team can bat till 9 that's a huge plus considring the format of the game. Kippax along with F.Worrell can build a cautious innings lower down he order where as R.Hadle/ Wasim Akram/S.Warne can come in and open up in case when we team need quick runs as well can play some responsible innings in case needed.

Bowling wins test matches,with superior bowling and combination of attack spearheaded by
Sir Richard Hadlee,Wasim Akram,Sir Andy Roberts and Sir Alec Bedser, All 4 premium strike bowler which much variety I got better chance to win this 3 match series Plus I got support from W.Hammond and Sir Frank Worrell with the medium pace can come in handy.

Spin - Shane Warne- Greatest Spin bowler the world had even seen.

You never going go find a spin bowler as good as Shane Warne, he's one in generation bowler the successful Aussie side of mid 90's and early 00's where gifted to have him in his side and was main man in their demolition job.He stands tall among leading Ashes wicket takers with 195 Wkt's with Lillee coming second with 167Wkt's. Man can litterer bowl 6 different balls in one single over,not only his turn that had caused the batsmen trouble but also the drift from the flight of the ball made it difficult to read the ball, his flippers and googly where lethal,his leg breaks where brutal that batsmen's constantly made mistakes in judgemental of the ball.

Well written article on Warne.
http://www.espncricinfo.com/magazine/content/story/493394.html

Sir Frank Worrell as Captain, No better man to utilise his resources better that Sir Frank Worrell.
Sir Frank was a man of strong convictions, a brave man, and it goes without saying, a great cricketer. Though he made his name as a player his greatest contribution was to destroy for ever the myth that a coloured cricketer was not fit to lead a team. Once appointed, he ended the cliques and rivalries between the players of various islands to weld together a team which in the space of five years became the champions of the world.

S.Warne will play in pitch 1(pitch which is flat) & 3(Pitch which assist Spin) while A.Roberts would play in pitch 2 which assist seam and pace




Moby

01. Sir Alastair Cook
02. Virender Sehwag
03. Sir Vivian Richards
04. Stan McCabe
05. Greg Chappell
06. Imran Khan (C)
07. Jack Gregory
08. Richie Benaud
09. Godfrey Evans (wk)
10. Harold Larwood
11. Sir Curtly Ambrose
12. Bill O'Reilly - comes in for the spin pitch, in place of Larwood.

The Openers

England's greatest run scorer, an absolute machine scoring over 12k runs averaging over 45 with 33 centuries and 57 50s, Cook has been the mainstay at the top of the English batting order in the modern era. Utterly reliable to see off the new ball, stay at the crease for ages and go on to score massive innings putting a huge price on his wicket.

Complementing him on the other end is the swashbuckling Sehwag, over 8k runs in his name averaging almost 50, including 23 tons and two massive triple tons. Sehwag will tonk any bowling attack on a batting surface and has the ability to kill the game in a session or two if allowed to let loose.

The Middle Order

​

At no. 3, is the GOAT of batting with swagger, none other than Vivian Richards. The West Indian great stands with over 8k runs averaging over 50 including 24 tons, in an era dominated by the greatest fast bowlers. Needless to say he's the leader of this batting unit and the man we aim to revolve the innings around.

At no. 4, comes in a man who made Bradman envious with his batting ability. Stan McCabe, amassed 2.7k runs averaging 48 being a part of the Bradman's side that toured England in 32-33. A rare name to come out of the bodyline series with 385 runs @ 43, McCabe's greatest innings came when the team needed him the most, often on surfaces where no one else was able to get going and made his presence invaluable as a batsman against the toughest attacks. He did all that with incredible style and grace, making him one of the greatest Australian batsmen of all time.

At no. 5, is Greg Chappell. Similar to Viv, his greatest feats came in the era that was dominated by incredible fast bowlers, in his case including the West Indies pace battery. Chappell is regarded as one of the greatest batsmen of all time, getting over 7k runs averaging almost 54!! including 24 tons. Able to handle any amount of hostile bowling and able to smash them to pieces, he will be a standout presence in that middle order alongside Viv and McCabe.

The Lower Order

​

It has to be said that with that kind of batting order above, the batting ability of the lower order will be rather academic. However, at 6 we have s brilliant lower order batsman in Imran Khan. Almost 4k runs @37 and 6 100s. In Benaud, there is a more than capable batsman who scored over 2k runs averaging almost 25 and well capable of holding the crease. With Evans and Gregory (avg. 36) completing the lower order, the tail has enough in it to add some valuable scores to the likely high scores from the batting talent above them, or see off time if that is the requirement on the pitch.

In Godfrey Evans, we have the greatest wicket keeper of all time as per Wisden. A GOAT in that category, valuable to keep against Benaud's trickery as well as the pace and bounce of Hall and Ambrose.

The Bowling

​

This is a death line up now. Absolutely devastating pace bowlers, two of the greatest spinners of all time, loads of variety and class among all of the 6 bowlers.

Pitch assisting Seam
Opening Bowlers: Imran Khan and Curtly Ambrose
First Change: Harold Larwood
Second Change: Richie Benaud
Fifth Bowler: Jack Gregory

Pitch assisting Batting
Opening Bowlers: Imran Khan and Curtly Ambrose
First Change: Harold Larwood
Second Change: Richie Benaud
Fifth Bowler: Jack Gregory

Pitch assisting spin
Opening Bowlers: Imran Khan and Curtly Ambrose
First Change: Jack Gregory
Twin Spin Attack: Bill O'Reilly and Richie Benaud

Opening the bowling are two of the greatest bowlers of all time: Imran Khan and Curtly Ambrose.

Imran Khan will be providing the accuracy, ability to move it both ways and bring tremendous amount of deadly swing both with the new and old balls.

Few would dispute that Imran was the finest cricketer Pakistan has produced, or the biggest heartthrob. Suave, erudite and monstrously talented, he gave cricket in the subcontinent real sex appeal in the 1970s and 1980s. As such he and TV completed the popularisation of the game in his country which Hanif Mohammad and the radio had begun. Thousands, if not millions, who had never dreamt of bowling fast on heartless baked mud suddenly wanted to emulate Imran and his lithe bounding run, his leap and his reverse-swinging yorker. He also made himself into an allrounder worth a place for his batting alone, and captained Pakistan as well as anyone, rounding off his career with the 1992 World Cup. He played hardly any domestic cricket in Pakistan: instead he just flew in for home series from Worcestershire or Sussex, or rather from the more fashionable London salons. His averages (37 with the bat, 22 with the ball) put him at the top of the quartet of allrounders (Ian Botham, Richard Hadlee and Kapil Dev being the others) who dominated Test cricket in the 1980s. And whereas Botham declined steadily, Imran just got better and better: in his last 10 years of international cricket he played 51 Tests, averaging a sensational 50 with the bat and 19 with the ball. He gave no quarter during some memorable battles with West Indies - Pakistan drew three series with them at a time when everybody else was being bounced out of sight - and he led Pakistan to their first series victory in England in 1987, taking 10 for 77 with an imperious display in the decisive victory at Headingley.

Ambrose is deadly accurate and a wicket taking machine who will make the life of any opening pair hell. 405 wickets averaging less than 21 and a SR less than 55.

First change will be Harold Larwood, the legendary spearhead of the bodyline attack in that infamous series of the same name. A right-arm fast bowler who combined unusual speed with great accuracy, he was considered by many commentators to be the finest bowler of his generation.

When Larwood is replaced by O'Reilly, first change will be Jack Gregory.

As a fast bowler, people of today who never saw him will get a fair idea of his presence and method if they have seen Wes Hall, the West Indian. Gregory, a giant of superb physique, ran some twenty yards to release the ball with a high step at gallop, then, at the moment of delivery, a huge leap, a great wave of energy breaking at the crest, and a follow-through nearly to the batsman's doorstep.

He lacked the silent rhythmic motion over the earth of EA (Ted) McDonald, his colleague in destruction. Gregory himself bowled as though against a gale of wind. It was as though he willed himself to bowl fast, at the risk of muscular dislocation. Alas, he did suffer physical dislocation, at Brisbane, in November 1928, putting an end to his active cricket when his age was thirty-three.

Two of the greatest spinners of all time in Richie Benaud and Bill O'Reilly. The two will be absolutely unplayable when bowling in tandem and especially on the spin surface, the two will wreck havoc.

One of the greatest spinners of all time in Richie Benaud. With almost 250 wickets @ 27 and an economy of 2.1, Benaud was the lynchpin of the 1950s Aussie generation both as a leader and as their leg spinner.

Benaud was not a large spinner of the ball, but he was known for his ability to extract substantial bounce from the surface. In addition to his accurate probing consistency, he possessed a well-disguised googly and topspinner which tricked many batsmen and yielded him many wickets. In his later career, he added the flipper, a combination of the googly and top spinner which was passed to him by Bruce Dooland. Coupled with his subtle variations in flight and angle of the delivery, he kept the batsman under constant pressure. Benaud had the tendency to bowl around the wicket at a time when he was one of the first players to do so; it had an influence on spin bowlers like Shane Warne and Ashley Giles. Benaud was regarded as one of the finest close-fielders of his era, either at gully or in a silly position. As a batsman, he was tall and lithe, known for his hitting power, in particular his lofted driving ability from the front foot.

Partnering him will be someone who is regarded the greatest spin bowler by many and an absolute legend of the art, Bill O'Reilly.

Bill O'Reilly was probably the greatest spin bowler the game has ever produced. Bill Tiger O'Reilly was unquestionably one of cricket's great figures: as a player, as a character and later as a writer on the game. His cricket was proof that spin bowling was not necessarily a gentle art. He was 6ft 2in tall, gripped the ball in his enormous right hand and released it at a pace that could be almost fast-medium. It would then bounce ferociously on the hard pitches of his time and, on occasion, knock wicket-keepers off their feet. He bowled leg-breaks and, especially, top-spinners and googlies, backed up by an intimidating manner. Jack Fingleton said he was a flurry of limbs, fire and steel-edged temper. It has been suggested that his action and the general commotion before delivery were born of a deep sense of frustration at not being able to bowl fast enough to knock the batsman down. Off the field, his gruffness was mitigated by his intelligence, erudition, wit and twinkling eyes.

He played 27 Test matches and took 144 wickets - 102 of them Englishmen and the vital wicket of Walter Hammond ten times - averaging 22.59. But his figures have to be judged by the fact that all but one of his Tests came in the 1930s, when other bowlers were dominated by batsmen to an unprecedented extent. No one ever dominated O'Reilly. Even when England made 903 at The Oval in 1938, he bowled 85 overs and finished with figures of three for 178. And before that, he had secured the Ashes by taking five for 66 and five for 56 at Headingley.

 

[Mani]

Good Luck Moby, just realised it has started.
Thanks @harms

 

[Moby]

@Himannv @Indnyc @harshad @12OunceEpilogue @prath92 @NM @The Cat @KM @Interval

 

[Moby]

@Skizzo @Edgar Allan Pillow @crappycraperson @12OunceEpilogue @Boycott @Di Maria's angel @The Red Viper

 

[Moby]

First thing I'd like to point out is AB as a wicket keeper sticks out like a sore thumb here, given he will be keeping for a spinner like Warne. AB hasn't kept to a spinner as tricky and unpredictable as Warne and he had keepers like Healy who were brilliant at reading the bowler. It is bound to reduce Warne's impact here if the keeper cannot keep up and let's go of even a couple of chances, especially against a batting order like mine.

Reason I point it out is because in comparison, I have someone who is regarded as the greatest wicket to have played the game in Godfrey Evans. Not only is he easily the better man with the gloves man for man, he kept wickets to spinners like Jim Laker and Johnny Wardle, with the former being one of the greatest names in the game himself.

In the keeper department, I feel have an advantage.

 

[Moby]

Second thing would be, despite Mani having Warne in his team, I would say on the spinning track, I would be able to punish the opposition more than he can do mine.

While Warne is definitely the one with the best claim to GOAT credentials, I have two spinners both of whom aren't far behind Warne in the ATG rankings, and on the spinning track I will have the two of them bowling in tandem, which is going to be absolutely unplayable once the track wears out.

Having Richie Benaud from one end and Bill O'Reilly from the other and having to face that for ages is an absolute nightmare and the combined impact from that tandem will prove to be bigger than Mani's spin department. Either one of them would be a massive force to reckon with by himself, but having both is a special weapon to have.

 

[Moby]

Would also have to point out that Kippax is a very weak link at this stage, and would likely make very little impact against an attack like mine.

 

[Moby]

Good Luck Moby, just realised it has started.
Thanks @harms

Good luck mate.

 

[Himannv]

@Moby you have a better middle order, but his bowling and opening combination is better plus he has more pure batsmen in his lineup. Point taken about ABdV and Kippax, but bowlers win matches and Kippax bats all the way down at 7.

You really need O'Reilly in your lineup somehow or your attack will be underwhelming compared to his. Hadlee, Akram, Roberts, and Warne is excellent.

 

[Moby]

@Moby you have a better middle order, but his bowling and opening combination is better plus he has more pure batsmen in his lineup. Point taken about ABdV and Kippax, but bowlers win matches and Kippax bats all the way down at 7.

You really need O'Reilly in your lineup somehow or your attack will be underwhelming compared to his. Hadlee, Akram, Roberts, and Warne is excellent.

I bat all the way down till 8. Imran and Gregory have batting averages in mid-30s, while Benaud was a proper all rounder himself.

But as we have discussed before, it isn't the quality of batting in the tail or lower order that will make an impact in these matches. All depends on your primary batting forces. Against the kind of bowling attacks on display here neither lower order will have any chance whatsoever, even on the batting pitch.

My batting order overall is easily better here, in Viv and Chappell I have two legit ATGs there who are the ones capable of retaliating against the kind of bowling on show here. In terms of openers, Gavaskar is the best opener here but Cook isn't far behind him, both in terms of providing the anchor up front and piling on the runs for ages.

But Viv-McCabe-Chappell is a game changer here, and when talking about batting that advantage would make a bigger impact than any lower order strength which would easily be bundled imo. Still good to have someone who can do more than just holding the bat in case they are needed to simply support a set batsman, but the majority of run making will have to be done by the 5 specialist batsmen and that should be considered.

As for the bowling unit, Imran - Ambrose - Larwood - Benaud is pretty tasty as well. Imran at his peak was superior to Akram, while there isn't much between Ambrose and Hadlee, both tremendously accurate and disciplined, however Ambrose as the added advantage of getting the extra bounce at a higher pace.

On the spinning pitch, I have Imran - Ambrose - Benaud - O'Reilly - Gregory, as opposed to Akram - Hadlee- Roberts - Warne. Having both Benaud and O'Reilly would favour my team on the spinning pitch and that's a massively unplayable tandem to have.

 

[Mani]

Moby had drafted brilliant team but coming to this match up the biggest disadvantage his is opener, Sehwag and Cook against Wasim / Hadlee vs Gavaskar and Hayden vs Imran & Ambrose, Sehwag struggle against conditions that favours swing, his averages in England,NZ and even in SA are really poor, coming against the best left arm swing bowler would be big ask from him, which exposes his first down too early.

My middle order R.Kanhai/W.Hammomd/ABD and Worrell are great players of spin bowling, their's records in sub continent speak for themselves,Hammond never played in sub continent but his record against India is at 79 from 6 matches plus the openers, Gavaskar and Hayden got good record in the Indian sub continent which favours spin, Also how can forget the Hayden's tour of India in 2001, his comeback series,

http://www.espncricinfo.com/indvaus2008/content/story/371816.html

He's playing two spinners for the pitch favours spin which straight aways favours my batsman's who are really good at dealing it.
On the other hand Warne is Warne he can get wickets on any pitch, wether its supports seam or flat he gets his wickets, greatest spin bowler world had ever seen.

Coming into tail, agreed these batsmen would have no chance against the attack of this magnitude but the best resilience would be coming from my 8, Hadlee , 9.Wasim and 10.Warne they are more than just the bowler, Hadlee and Akram where bowling allrounders for their respective side, Warne always scores runs, he got 12 - 50's to his name, who would play for me at 10.

 

[Moby]

He's playing two spinners for the pitch favours spin which straight aways favours my batsman's who are really good at dealing it.
On the other hand Warne is Warne he can get wickets on any pitch, wether its supports seam or flat he gets his wickets, greatest spin bowler world had ever seen.

Can't agree with this really.

There's no batting line up who will comfortable against two spinners of the calibre of Benaud and O'Reilly on a deteriorating dustbowl, getting no relief due to insane pressure from both ends.

Also, the keeper advantage can really matter. In Evans, I have a master glovesman keeping to those two spinners and isn't likely to let any chance of a dismissal go waste, whereas AB is underwhelming as a keeper when keeping against Warne.

O'Reilly is still rated by many as the greatest spin bowler to have played the game. He'll be venom on that turning track, someone who was a massively attacking as a spinner, had height to get that uneven bounce and turn that would be a pain in the ass for your batting order. Would be glad to be corrected but I don't believe any of your batsmen have tackled spinners of that calibre, let alone two in the same team bowling from both ends.

Was he not the greatest?

Was he the greatest bowler of all? England's S. F. Barnes and George Lohmann once seemed to have been the only rivals for the title, all things considered. Some of the moderns, especially Lillee and Hadlee, have come into such discussions. O'Reilly quietly knew his own worth: when asked if he had ever run out a non-striker who was backing up too far he laughed and said that when he was bowling, no batsman was ever that keen to get to the far end. Any speculation about supremacy goes a long way to being settled by Sir Donald Bradman's statement that O'Reilly was the best bowler he ever faced or saw.

Even more interesting than his 144 wickets at 22.60 in 27 Tests is the fact that in his 19 Tests against England, over four series from 1932-33 to 1938, he bagged 102 wickets at 25.36. Three times he took 10 or more wickets in an Ashes Test, Australia winning each time. Only his pal Clarrie Grimmett took more (106) wickets in Ashes Tests for either side between the two world wars, and these came in three more Tests and at seven runs per wicket higher cost.

William Joseph O'Reilly was born on Dec 20, 1905 (R. G. Menzies' 11th birthday) in White Cliffs, in the far west of NSW, 'where the crows fly backwards to keep the dust out of their eyes'. His grandfather, Peter O'Reilly, had emigrated from Bally Connell in 1865, and Bill remained deeply proud of his Irish ancestry. In 1917 the family moved to Wingello, where Bill's interest in cricket was fired sufficiently for him to take a seven-mile walk along the railway track in his over-lengthening stride. His first 'cricket ball' had been a banksia root, chiselled into shape, but the decisive day came when his brother Jack returned from a visit to Sydney with the 'secret' of Arthur Mailey's googly. Young Bill soon mastered it with a tennis-ball, and his fate was sealed.

From school in Goulburn, he enrolled at teachers' college in Sydney, pursuing his cricket and also athletics, showing distinct promise at the triple jump, shot put and high jump. Cricket sometimes seemed an unduly tough game, as when he played at Bowral during the Christmas holidays in 1925 and bowled unavailingly while a diminutive 17-year-old named Bradman carved out an unbeaten 234 on the matting-over-concrete pitch. Bill always claimed that The Don was dropped twice by an overweight slip fielder who was busy lighting his pipe at the vital moment. The romantic ending came a week later, when the match was resumed (at Wingello, such were the rules) and O'Reilly bowled the embryo world champion immediately with a beautiful legbreak, behind his pads.

He played grade cricket for North Sydney, and a good spell against Johnny Moyes got him into the State practice squad after one match. Here the strength of young O'Reilly's character soon displayed itself as he rejected Mailey's advice on grip and bowling action. His first-class debut came in 1927-28, against the New Zealand side returning from England, but after two further matches for NSW he was given a teaching post in the bush. He fumed at this interruption, which, in retrospect, he reckoned cost him a place on Australia's 1930 tour of England.

Eventually he was transferred back Sydney, teaching in Kogarah, and became regular in the NSW side in 1931-32. Moreover, after only seven first-class mat he was given his first Test cap, taking two South African wickets at Adelaide for off 81.4 six-ball overs in a match dominated by Grimmett (14 wickets) and Bradman (299 not out). O'Reilly instantly relished the 'glorious company' he was keeping.

The giant in action: flailing limbs more in keeping with a fast bowler's action, but those strong fingers are braced to do their job© WCM


It took him, he said, about 50 years get over the 1932-33 'Bodyline' series which followed. He believed Australia should have retaliated to England's hostile stump attack. No great batsman himself, swished left-handedly or ran for cover when his turn came. But his role as bowler was grandly fulfilled, his 27 wickets in five Tests being next to Larwood's 33. 62 wickets that season, at just under apiece, topped the wicket-taking table; though he seldom changed his opinion anything, he was to admit in later years the once-hated Jardine was, in the confines of the press box, quite likeable.

In May 1933 he married Molly, barking on the best of marriages which to last into its 60th year before his death. The first of his three nine-wicket hauls came next season against Victoria at MCC, all his victims being past or future Test players, and then came his first overseas tour.

Australia's sweet success in England 1934 owed much to Bradman and Ponsford who both averaged 94, and to McCabe but the bowling responsibility rested on O'Reilly (28 wickets at 24.93) and Grimmett (25 at 26.72). Next-highest wicket-taker Wall with six. Affording the English aesthetic pleasure with his lumbering method, the 'Tiger' used his pace-change and spin variety to mop up 11 wickets the opening victory at Trent Bridge, his second-innings 7 for 54 becoming his Test career-best figures. In the third Test, at Manchester during a heatwave, he shocked England with the wickets of Walters, Wyatt and Hammond in four balls, reducing the score to 72 for 3. Hendren and Leyland centuries brought massive recovery (627 for 9 but O'Reilly toiled bravely on to take 7 for 189 in 59 overs. 'Never say die' is a cliche which could have been coined for him.

He still had a regret. Had his impulsive batting not let him down in the Lord's Test Australia might have saved the follow and he rather than Verity (15 wickets) would have had access to a pitch nicely gingered up by the rain. As it was, O'Reilly, with 30 not out at Old Trafford, made sure of avoiding the follow-on in the next Test.

In a spectacular spinners' treble, Grimmett and Fleetwood-Smith all reach 100 wickets during the tour, O'Reilly topping the list with 109 at 17.05. His wizen little mate Grimmett also took 109 (19.8 hardly ever removing his cap, unlike O'Reilly, who was unabashed at his baldness).

Not only did the tour produce his best Test figures, but his best-ever first-class analysis came in the Somerset match at Taunton: 9 for 38, five of them lbw. Cheap seven-wicket hauls came against Leicestershire and Glamorgan, and with the stumps flying and short leg taking catches off the splice, it was as if another 'demon' after Spofforth had come to haunt England.

Stunningly, he announced his retirement back in Australia. The O'Reillys now had a daughter and he had his teaching career to consider. Sydney Grammar School then came up with an offer which would allow him to continue to play at the highest level, and by 1935-36 he was off on tour again, this time taking South Africa by storm. He (27 wickets at 17.04) and Grimmett (44 at 14.59) demolished the opposition, setting up a 4-0 victory which sealed it as a tour which became, for O'Reilly, 'by far the most pleasant experience of my cricket career'. Soon, though, he was to feel almost as sad and indignant as Grimmett himself when the tiny New Zealand-born spinner was ditched. He was 44, but was still bowling so well that in his final three Tests he took 10,10 and 13 wickets.

O'Reilly, not unexpectedly, proved to be Australia's most penetrative bowler again in the thrilling 1936-37 series against England, taking 25 wickets at 22.20. The discontent now was internal. He, his cherished team-mate Stan McCabe, Fleetwood-Smith and Leo O'Brien were hauled up before members of the Australian Cricket Board on fuzzy and flimsy charges relating to behaviour but almost certainly not unrelated to a barely tangible religious divide which had evolved in the Australian side. O'Reilly remained not only mystified but unforgiving, but he went on to take 5 for 51 and 3 for 58 for his country in the fifth and deciding Test at Melbourne.

The batsman's view as O'Reilly bowls. He captured 102 England wickets in 19 Tests© WCM


A rare moment of batting glory occurred in the second Test when he top-scored with 37 not out (three sixes) in Australia's innings of 80 on a bad pitch, O'Brien, Bradman and McCabe all having succumbed to Voce without scoring. Put in as opener in the next Test, as nightwatchman, O'Reilly was out first ball. The overall attendance for the series was almost one million.

In the 1937-38 domestic season O'Reilly and Fleetwood-Smith each took 64 wickets, but the 'Tiger's' cost only 12.25. In grade cricket, of course, he did what S. F. Barnes used to do at non-first-class level: devastated the opposition with few exceptions. He topped the Sydney grade averages 12 times in 14 seasons, being absent in South Africa in one of them. Firstly for North Sydney and then for St George, he took 814 wickets in those years at 8.35 apiece. He could he paternal not only to promising young St George players such as Arthur Morris and Ray Lindwall but to opponents as well, provided they showed guts as well as skill. He was probably only once rendered speechless and that was when the teenaged Sid (S. G.) Barnes stretched up to pat him on the shoulder as they left the field for tea and condescendingly told the world's best bowler that he though he'd bowled pretty well.

Barnes was one of O'Reilly's team-mates on the 1938 tour of England. 'Tiger' never pretended to recall that venture with anywhere near the same pleasure as 1934. Grimmett was missing, for a start, and although O'Reilly's five wickets in each innings at Headingley set up a five-wicket victory which ensured retention of the Ashes, he never quite forgave the Oval groundsman for England's world record 903 for 7 in the last Test, when his 85 overs of sweat and toil brought him 3 for 178, including weary Hutton's wicket at 364. That and the Trent Bridge pitch were, he growled, 'dosed up to the eyeballs'.

This time he was the only one to take 100 wickets on tour, his 104 coming at his customary low price of 16.60, his achievement probably surpassing anything previous in that he now had little back-up. His pace was now brisker, his action still lumbering and windmill-like. His best figures, 8 for 104, came against Surrey, but he took 11 wickets against Gloucestershire and signed off in Belfast and Dublin with 11 wickets for 53 in three innings against Ire-land which gave him rare satisfaction.

Thus, apart from the 'oddity' Test match at Wellington after the war, when he took 5 for 14 and 3 for 19 on rickety knees in Australia's two-day victory over poor relation New Zealand, that was the end of Bill O'Reilly's Test career. In his 135 first-class matches, latterly as NSW's captain, he took 774 wickets at 16.60. In 133 matches, S. F. Barnes took 719 at 17.09. Dare one suggest that the Australian operated, in general, on firmer pitches and against stronger opposition?

As just one mark of O'Reilly's effectiveness, he dismissed England's supreme champion Hammond 10 times in 19 Tests. Suggestions that left-hander Leyland had his measure annoyed O'Reilly, who would defiantly point out that he got him nine times in 16 Tests. As for Sutcliffe, Bill got him six times in nine Tests, and his bellowed lbw appeals were about the only thing ever to ruffle the cool Yorkshireman.

In 1939 O'Reilly left school teaching for employment with the Lion Tile Company, and after the war he began writing on cricket for the Sydney Morning Herald, guided initially by the aptly named Tom Goodman. His offerings, not surprisingly, were direct, though crafted from a broad knowledge extending well beyond the cricket world. He sometimes became emotional, especially when a young spin bowler arrived on the scene. He championed the likes of Kerry O'Keeffe and David Hourn, and saw from the start what a talented player Steve Waugh was. His detestation of limited-overs cricket - the 'pyjama game' as he named it - with its spirit of restriction and denial and absence of subtlety, was expressed at every opportunity. Even last March, a friendly phone-call to him in Sydney triggered a tirade on the subject.

He scoffed at coaches, never forgave English cricket in that 'the English couldn't handle legspin so they decided to destroy it', and never lost his schoolmaster's instinct insofar as a letter of complaint from Geoff Lawson at the harshness of something O'Reilly had written about him was returned copiously marked with corrections to grammar. Here, after all, was a man who had met the great Australian literary figure Henry Lawson in 1914.

O'Reilly wrote books on the 1948 and 1950-51 Ashes series, Cricket Conquest and Cricket Task Force, and was the subject of R.S. Whitington's Time of the Tiger (1970), in which he recounts O'Reilly's meeting with SF Barnes, when the Englishman reacted to the remark that he didn't bowl the wrong'un, the googly, by saying, 'I didn't have to.' O'Reilly compiled his own life story, with Jack Egan's help, in 1985: Tiger 60 Years in Cricket. He also presented Egan's The Bradman Era video. In 1990, Jack McHarg wrote Bill O'Reilly: A Cricketing Life, a model in affectionate biography.

Early in 1988 came his final stint in the press box, high in the Noble Stand at the Sydney Cricket Ground, so altered from when he first knew it. It was one of life's unimagined privileges to sit with him throughout that match. The stiff discussions of previous years over the Falklands and the Irish question were put away, and again he described the placements of McCabe's hooks and pulls during his 187 in the Bodyline series. Interruptions were frequent. Every journalist in Australia wanted to interview him and photograph him. He was, after all, one of only three cricketers named among the 200 Greatest Australians to mark the Bicentennial. And yet the most memorable conversation eavesdropped upon was that between the old master and a teenage prodigy, Adrian Tucker, on the science of legspin.

May the old man have been spared the news that this brilliant prospect had abandoned the pursuit a couple of years later. Bill O'Reilly's personal warmth would have astounded many of those who had fought to guard their wickets against him. As an example his foreword to The Ashes '79 was embarrassing in its generosity.

In 1980 he was awarded the OBE, and was Australia's principal speaker at the Lord's Taverners' dinner during the Lord's Centenary Test match, a task he carried off courageously in spite of fatigue and a virus. It gave him a chance to remember his little mate Lindsay Hassett, who probably handled 'Tiger's' bowling better than any other -- and teased him into the bargain. Soon, O'Reilly's name was to be immortalised on a grandstand at North Sydney Oval and, later, at the SCG. It must at last have seemed that losing his left big toenail 17 seasons running had been worthwhile after all.

Bill's last few years were utterly miserable, the loss of a leg rendering him housebound. The good times were far distant. A lot of his mates were gone. We are left to argue as to whether he was the best bowler of them all. If the debate rests on figures, he is up there with the rarefied few. If it is to be on reputation and the apprehension felt by opposing batsmen, the testimony again is strong. Wally Hammond, England's greatest of the period, wrote: 'Time after time he got my wicket and I was left to puzzle discontentedly over what I had done wrong.' And Sir Len Hutton, who mastered him with the bat but could never break his will, said, in Golden Great Bowlers (a video in which O'Reilly's style can be savoured): 'Every ball that O'Reilly bowled was a potential wicket-taker. He didn't bowl what they call "rest balls". Every time that ball left his hand it was O'Reilly's intention to get somebody out. I enjoyed batting against him. He helped me to concentrate a great deal.' Enough said?

 

[Moby]

Also, Viv-McCabe-Chappell-Imran is easily a better batting line up than Kanhai-Hammond-AB-Worrell. Viv is far and away the best batsman on the pitch and both him and Chappell made their name during the most hostile bowling era of all time, and on the seaming pitch they have a far better chance of surviving and getting the runs than the opposition.

Chappell averaged in mid-50s while facing the likes of Windies pace battery. He smashed massive centuries against attacks like this: http://www.espncricinfo.com/series/...th-test-west-indies-tour-of-australia-1975-76 that included the likes of Roberts (facing him in this match) and Holding. You can see how the rest of the team collapsed while Chappell was playing in a different universe.

Not much needs to be said about Viv, absolute GOAT in terms of facing elite pace bowlers and showing them their place. Those two batsmen can easily be in the all time greatest test team, and compared to that, the opposition batting line up looks relatively weak, while also facing a brilliant pace attack spearheaded by Imran Khan and Curtly Ambrose.

 

[Moby]

Talking about Sehwag being suspect against swing, Zaheer made Hayden his bunny and here he's facing Imran who would massively trouble him with the kind of pace and swing he will come up with.

And can't ignore the biggest weakness between two teams, that is Kippax who shouldn't be playing at this stage of the tournament.

 

[Mani]

Talking about Sehwag being suspect against swing, Zaheer made Hayden his bunny and here he's facing Imran who would massively trouble him with the kind of pace and swing he will come up with.

And can't ignore the biggest weakness between two teams, that is Kippax who shouldn't be playing at this stage of the tournament.

Left arm bowler bowling to left arm batsmen might cause some some trouble with ball coming in but to my advantage you don't have any left arm bowler in your line up, where as on the other end Wasim would cause serious of damage to Cook and Sehwag.

 

[Moby]

Left arm bowler bowling to left arm batsmen might cause some some trouble with ball coming in but to my advantage you don't have any left arm bowler in your line up, where as on the other end Wasim would cause serious of damage to Cook and Sehwag.

I'll trust Cook in terms of seeing off your new ball attack and providing the defensive robustness he is known to do day in day out, the man has scored over 12000 test runs which shows incredible consistency and ability to stay on the crease for long periods.

Sehwag has always been a wild card, we all know that. He could get out on a duck or just as easily smash a quick 150 and put massive dents on the opposition on the first day. Both him and Hayden are the weaker openers of their respective pairs and would be expected to provide similar level of output, can go early or stay and demolish you.

However, the middle order that follows them in my team is easily superior to yours, and contains batsmen of the calibre of Viv and Chappell, who are the ones truly capable of standing against top tier bowlers and smashing them.

Here's Richards smashing a ton against Hadlee http://www.espncricinfo.com/series/...-test-new-zealand-tour-of-west-indies-1984-85 coming in at no. 6. Almost half the times he played Hadlee, he at least crossed a 50.

 

[Mani]

Also, Viv-McCabe-Chappell-Imran is easily a better batting line up than Kanhai-Hammond-AB-Worrell. Viv is far and away the best batsman on the pitch and both him and Chappell made their name during the most hostile bowling era of all time, and on the seaming pitch they have a far better chance of surviving and getting the runs than the opposition.

Chappell averaged in mid-50s while facing the likes of Windies pace battery. He smashed massive centuries against attacks like this: http://www.espncricinfo.com/series/...th-test-west-indies-tour-of-australia-1975-76 that included the likes of Roberts (facing him in this match) and Holding. You can see how the rest of the team collapsed while Chappell was playing in a different universe.

Not much needs to be said about Viv, absolute GOAT in terms of facing elite pace bowlers and showing them their place. Those two batsmen can easily be in the all time greatest test team, and compared to that, the opposition batting line up looks relatively weak, while also facing a brilliant pace attack spearheaded by Imran Khan and Curtly Ambrose.

Imran averages only only 37.6 coming at 6 for you, where as Worrell for me coming at 6 gives me the average of 49.4 and Kippax as a pure batsmen at 7 gives me 36.1, which clearly shows the depth in my batting line up.As well Kippax as batsmen will have good support from Hadlee and Akram who are well capable to give supporting hand my LMO than what your tail can give it to your line LMO.

Plus four of my batsmen's average well over 50's.

 

[Moby]

Imran also has a great record against Gavaskar. Imran took his wicket 11 times in 18 innings, where Indian and Pakistan played each other.

Gavaskar is the batsman Imran dismissed most times in his career, more than any other batsman he faced. That's bordering the bunny status.

 

[Mani]

I'll trust Cook in terms of seeing off your new ball attack and providing the defensive robustness he is known to do day in day out, the man has scored over 12000 test runs which shows incredible consistency and ability to stay on the crease for long periods.

Sehwag has always been a wild card, we all know that. He could get out on a duck or just as easily smash a quick 150 and put massive dents on the opposition on the first day. Both him and Hayden are the weaker openers of their respective pairs and would be expected to provide similar level of output, can go early or stay and demolish you.

However, the middle order that follows them in my team is easily superior to yours, and contains batsmen of the calibre of Viv and Chappell, who are the ones truly capable of standing against top tier bowlers and smashing them.

Here's Richards smashing a ton against Hadlee http://www.espncricinfo.com/series/...-test-new-zealand-tour-of-west-indies-1984-85 coming in at no. 6. Almost half the times he played Hadlee, he at least crossed a 50.

Disagree there, Hayden and Langer formed the formidable opening pair the test had ever seen, next comes Greenidge and Haynes.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2009-01-13/langer-hails-best-ever-opener-hayden/265200

Hayden and Langer shared one of the most productive and enduring opening batting partnerships in Test cricket history - their union yielding 6,081 runs at an average of 51.53.

The pair combined for 14 first-wicket hundreds and 28 half-centuries, throughout 122 innings across a period of 11 years

Hayden along with Gavaskar(With more than 10k runs to his name) will be really hard for any bowling line up to get through.

 

[2mufc0]

Mani has the better bowling but Moby the better batting. Really close game.

 

[Moby]

Hayden along with Gavaskar(With more than 10k runs to his name) will be really hard for any bowling line up to get through.

A new ball pair of Ambrose and Imran is also as good as it gets really, and Imran has a great proven record vs Gavaskar, while Ambrose himself is a capable of running through most batting orders. I'd say both of them will trouble Hayden massively while having completely different bowling styles. Imran's deadly swing at full pelt and Ambrose's pace, bounce and unreal accuracy would be doing the job required here.

 

[12OunceEpilogue]

Mani has the better bowling but Moby the better batting. Really close game.

Aye, but I like what Moby has done combining O'Reilly and Benaud on the dustbowl. I also think he makes a good point about Imran versus Gavaskar. When you have a bowler with a good record against a batsman or vice versa you've every right to point it out as a potential game-changer.

On the other hand Mani's bowling is awe-inspiring, worries about Imran aside I prefer his opening pair and his middle order is fine, though Moby's is awesome too.

Kippax as a weak link is a given, but I think it's important to point out what Moby himself said about Imran at six during harshad's R1 match with KM:

Went with KM as there are very few weaknesses in that team. Excellent opening pair with a GOAT opener, solid, run accumulating middle order with resilient characters and a fearsome bowling attack. Probably Sanath being the 5th bowler is a bit underwhelming but otherwise a quality team.

Harshad has a great bowling attack. Khan, Holding and Davo will tear apart most batting line ups, however that middle order is a bit lacking in terms of a proper anchor and someone who can hold the entire innings together. Baz as mentioned is a bit odd as the no. 3. And I have reservations about Khan as a no. 6 batsman. While his career stats make him look like an very good solid batsman and an ATG bowler, in reality his career was broken down in two halves where in the first half he was the primary strike bowler for the team tearing it apart with the ball without being as good as a batsman he was in the second half when he started reducing the bowling burden, pushed up in the batting order and was able to get bigger scores. In short, if he's supposed to be the primary strike bowler for the team, then his batting wouldn't be as impressive as you'd want from a no. 6.

By your own standards you have a problem naming Imran at six while having him open the bowling.

 

[Mani]

A new ball pair of Ambrose and Imran is also as good as it gets really, and Imran has a great proven record vs Gavaskar, while Ambrose himself is a capable of running through most batting orders. I'd say both of them will trouble Hayden massively while having completely different bowling styles. Imran's deadly swing at full pelt and Ambrose's pace, bounce and unreal accuracy would be doing the job required here.

Its the left and right batting combination that would make the difference, bowler need to adjust his line and its not going to be easy against the batting pair of Gavaskar and Hayden, where on the other side I got Wasim and Hadlee supported by A.Roberts, difference of left arm bowler bowling into the batsmen(cook) and Hadlee who is much superior with his nagging line and length around the off stump to right hand batsmen is not easy to deal with.

 

[Mani]

Shane Warne

A magician and a match-winner

Quite simply he made legspin bowling sexy again. Admittedly, some of his legend revolves around his other exploits, but first and foremost Shane Warne became the superstar he did because of the manner in which he spun the cricket ball and the way he rose to the big occasions almost every time - be it in Ashes series or in World Cups. In an era when spin bowling was dwindling, Warne, more than any other bowler, revived the art.

The way he started his international career, though, not many would have anticipated such a glittering future. On his Test debut, against India in Sydney in 1992, Warne returned figures of 1 for 150, his only victim being double-centurion Ravi Shastri, who himself returned figures of 4 for 45 in Australia's second innings. Warne finished that series with an average of 228, and in his next Test, in Sri Lanka, he had figures of none for 107 in the first innings.

In the second innings Warne, with Test match stats of 1 for 335 till that point, showed the world the first glimpses of his special talent. Sri Lanka, requiring just 181 for victory in the fourth innings, were 150 for 7 when Warne came in and wrapped up the tail for the addition of only 14 more runs. The win gave Australia the series, and Warne was on his way. Later that year, in his first Boxing Day Test at his home ground, Melbourne, West Indies got their first taste of Warne magic, when his 7 for 52 fetched him the first of 17 Man-of-the-Match awards. (Incidentally, his last such award was at the same venue, exactly 14 years later.)

Warne didn't do a whole lot more in that series, but from 1993 onwards he was a factor in pretty much every series he played for the next five years. That ball to Mike Gatting in the 1993 Ashes started his legend, and it grew with almost every over he bowled. Apart from the sheer number of wickets he took, the other key of his bowling during this period was the stranglehold he maintained over opposition batsmen. Legspin is supposed to be difficult to control, but Warne gave nothing away: in five series between 1993 and 1995, his economy rate was less than two runs per over; in three of those series he averaged less than 20 as well.

He averaged nearly five wickets per Test for about five years beginning 1993, but then came a slump between 1998 and 2001, as a combination of a shoulder injury and plenty of matches against India led to a drastic fall in returns. Nine of the 14 Tests he played against India in his entire career came during this period, and in each of those three series he averaged more than 40. Overall, India was the one team he could never conquer - he averaged 47.18 against them, and under 30 against all other teams.

He got his mojo back in 2001 against England - who else? - and did very well in his last five and a half years, averaging almost six wickets per Test and winning nine Man-of-the-Match awards. In fact, Warne's 2005 remains the best year any bowler has had in terms of wickets taken: he nailed 96 victims in 15 matches at an average of 22.02. No other bowler has taken more than 90 in a calendar year.


As mentioned earlier, Warne loved the big stage, and it hardly got bigger than when Australia were playing England for the Ashes. In 36 Tests against the old enemy, Warne took 195 wicketsat an outstanding average of 23.25. He played in seven series against them (excluding the home one in 1998-99, when he played one Test), and averaged less than 21 in three of them. The only instance it touched 30 was in his last series, at home in 2006-07, when he took 23 wickets at 30.34. His 195 wickets is comfortably the highest by any bowler in Ashes contests, well clear of Dennis Lillee's 167.

In the 2005 Ashes in England, Warne took 40 wickets, which is one of only eight instances of a bowler taking 40 or more wickets in a series. Not surprisingly, six of the eight batsmen he dismissed most often were from England

In the third and fourth innings of Tests, Warne turned lethal, conceding less than 23 runs per wicket. Nineteen of his 37 five-fors came in these innings, including his best figures in Test cricket: against England at the Gabba in 1994, where his 8 for 71 in the fourth innings consigned the visitors to a 184-run defeat.

Thanks to Australia's powerful line-ups during the period in which Warne played, most of his great efforts were in match-winning causes: he is the only bowler to take more than 500 wicketsin wins, and is likely to remain the only one for quite a bit longer.

http://www.espncricinfo.com/magazine/content/story/493394.html , for complete story.

 

[Mani]

Warne cut a swathe through batsmen in the early 1990s who had seen nothing remotely similar for generations - which was amazing. Then he cut another swathe and another - which was miraculous. After his Test debut in England, with its fabled "Gatting ball", Warne's bowling average was 28. It diminished to 22.55, grew to 26.7, and finally settled at 25.4. Until then legspin had been a speculative investment, cricket's venture capital; Warne made it into bowling bricks and mortar. Everything told you it should be otherwise. Batsman would get used to him. Coaches would work him out. Curators would prepare flat pitches. All these were before the physical dangers Warne posed to himself, for legspin involves colossal efforts at pivotal points in the human anatomy. And, to an extent, all the aforementioned possibilities eventuated. In each case, though, Warne rose to the challenge of counteracting them. He kept getting batsmen bowled. He get kept getting them lbw. He kept getting them WTF. He had almost no right to, but he did.

http://www.espncricinfo.com/magazine/content/story/493371.html

 

[Moby]

By your own standards you have a problem naming Imran at six while having him open the bowling.

Yeah, I completely stand by that and that is why I am not hyping Imran as a batsman who would be a key contributor here. Which I could easily if I consider his batting average in the second half of his career which is just as good as a middle order batsman. However, my 6-7-8 are all legitimate all rounders, who form the lower order of the team and in case Imran has to come lower in the order due to bowling a lot, he can easily come after Gregory and Benaud as those two have enough ability to play a supporting role.

And in either case, like I said in the OP, given the strength of my top and middle order, I wouldn't be relying on the lower order to do the bulk of the scoring. I don't see all of Cook, Viv, McCabe and Chappell getting dismissed without at least one or two of them getting huge runs on the scoresheet. These guys were used to being the sole contributor in their batting orders at times in hostile conditions so they would be bringing that ability here as well.

I fail to see the bowling comparisons here making a lot of sense. Imran is the best bowler between both teams, while Hadlee, Ambrose and Wasim are in a similar tier. Warne is the best spinner in the game but I offset that with having two elite spinners in my side, one of which himself has great claims to be the spin GOAT.

 

[12OunceEpilogue]

Yeah, I completely stand by that and that is why I am not hyping Imran as a batsman who would be a key contributor here. Which I could easily if I consider his batting average in the second half of his career which is just as good as a middle order batsman. However, my 6-7-8 are all legitimate all rounders, who form the lower order of the team and in case Imran has to come lower in the order due to bowling a lot, he can easily come after Gregory and Benaud as those two have enough ability to play a supporting role.

And in either case, like I said in the OP, given the strength of my top and middle order, I wouldn't be relying on the lower order to do the bulk of the scoring. I don't see all of Cook, Viv, McCabe and Chappell getting dismissed without at least one or two of them getting huge runs on the scoresheet. These guys were used to being the sole contributor in their batting orders at times in hostile conditions so they would be bringing that ability here as well.

I fail to see the bowling comparisons here making a lot of sense. Imran is the best bowler between both teams, while Hadlee, Ambrose and Wasim are in a similar tier. Warne is the best spinner in the game but I offset that with having two elite spinners in my side, one of which himself has great claims to be the spin GOAT.

I accept the difference between asking Imran to play six behind your superb 1-5 and what was harshad's R1 top order. My only issue is the undoubted tension between you pointing to Kippax as a weak link then calling your 6-8 interchangeable as your 1-5 will have made all your runs. Mani's 1-5 are no slouches themselves, he has Worrell at six and decent batting down to nine, so while I have no hesitation in judging your batting line-up to be the stronger I think you've been hasty in dismissing the lower order as a factor in this match.

The bowling is unclear given you've done well to combine Benaud and O'Reilly on the bunsen. However Hadlee, Wasim, Bedser and Roberts is brutal on the bowling wicket and Warne will get more joy than Benaud on the duvet in my opinion, despite Richie's extra bounce.

The match is very close, and I'm definitely open to switching my vote, but I'm just about with Mani as I feel his batting stands up and his bowling shades you.

 

[Mani]

Imran also has a great record against Gavaskar. Imran took his wicket 11 times in 18 innings, where Indian and Pakistan played each other.

Gavaskar is the batsman Imran dismissed most times in his career, more than any other batsman he faced. That's bordering the bunny status.

I didn't check the stats on number of dismissal Imran could manage on Gavaskar, what I managed was, Gavaskar maintained healthy average of 56.4 against the pakistan with 5 centuries and 12 50's during 78-87 period where Imran was at his peak.Also playing in Pakistan he averaged 58.8 which is not so easy considering the pakistan attack during that period.

http://stats.espncricinfo.com/ci/engine/player/28794.html?class=1;template=results;type=batting

 

[Moby]

This seems done. Well played @Mani and good luck for the final.

 

[Mani]

Thanks Moby, it was close one.

 

[2mufc0]

Wow didn't expect that scoreline. I actually chickened out voting as I thought both teams were excellent and I could make a case for either.

Mani's team is shaping up nicely for reinforcements.