I think the team from the 95/96 season could give the 2001 team a good run.

Taylor
Slater
Boon
M.waugh
S.waugh
Blewett
Healy
Reiffel
Warne
McDermott
McGrath

Bowling attack is as good or better than 2001 and with warne at 9 it makes up for having no gilly at seven.

2001 might shade it but would still be a good contest.

Please Don't Yell.

I came onto the forum today to post a team from that very season.

The only change is I'd go for the XI that played in the second (and third) test(s) against Sri Lanka.

The difference?

Ponting for Blewett. Obviously Ponting wasn't the great that he is today, but he was in very good form at the time.

I think I'd prefer it over the 1995/6 team over the 2001 model.

Taylor being captain is a definite bonus in my book.

Cheers.

Yep i had a look through as i knew blewett got axed around that time but couldn't remember the test.

That 96 team with ponting for blewett really does look strong.

They bat a long way down, a great skipper one of the safest catching teams we ever had as well.

The mcgrath/mcdermott partnership was pretty short lived sadly i think that was their only full season together.

That should be "I'd prefer the 1995/6 team over the 2001 model".

I like the team because there are no weaknesses.

Taylor and Slater were a strong, well-established opening pair in good form.

Boon was the reliable and experienced first drop. He was on his way out, but still managed to average over 50 in his final series.

Mark Waugh and Steve Waugh were probably at the peak of their powers. Mark Waugh's average was still above 44 at the time.

Ricky Ponting was the young blood in the side. A future great who looked like he 'belonged' while playing in his very first series.

Ian Healy. One of the finest glovesman the world has ever known and a strong and dependable number 7.

An all-time great in Glenn McGrath. He reached his peak on the tour of the Carribean in 1995 and from that point on never looked back. Another all-time great in Shane Warne. Warne was at his peak from 1993-97.

Craig McDermott provided the experience to the bowling attack. And Paul Reiffel was a very solid third seamer. He was an extremely reliable person to have as your fourth-choice bowler.

Every batsman averaged over 40 and every bowler averaged under 30.

The team batted down to number nine.

Steve Waugh was still bowling regularly. His brother Mark provided a part-time spin option having switched to off-spin that season.

Then look at the slips cordon. Taylor, M Waugh, Warne. Steve Waugh in the gully. Ponting in the covers or at mid-wicket. David Boon at bat-pad. All three quick bowlers had strong arms and reasonably safe hands.

They were captained by an astute skipper who was prepared to take a gamble but also knew when to be conservative.

It's a very strong out fit that's also peppered with a few greats. I'd back the XI to hold its own against anybody.

Cheers.

Although mentioned early on in the thread the "Invincibles" team of 1948 was never listed here.

Here is the team that played the first test.
Hassett played at four after that.


SG Barnes c Evans b Laker 62 153 6 0
AR Morris b Laker 31 121 3 0
*DG Bradman c Hutton b Bedser 138 290 321 10 0
KR Miller c Edrich b Laker 0 6 0 0
WA Brown lbw b Yardley 17 58 1 0
AL Hassett b Bedser 137 354 20 1
IWG Johnson b Laker 21 38 3 0
+D Tallon c & b Young 10 39 1 0
RR Lindwall c Evans b Yardley 42 121 7 0
WA Johnston not out 17 27 2 0
ERH Toshack lbw b Bedser 19 18 3 0
Extras (b 9, lb 4, w 1, nb 1) 15
Total (all out, 216.2 overs) 509


The England side that they beat 4 nil was strong as well.

I don't like to say they were better than recent Aussie sides but look at those names.

That Bradman fellow looks like he may have been handy.

quote:

Originally posted by skully:
That Bradman fellow looks like he may have been handy.

Yes a hundred every three tests.

When you look at the players in the list above that he was surrounded by on both teams they were good,legends some of them.

Yet he was head and shoulders above them.

The batting in that Bradman team falls away after No 6.

Note also the scoring rate - comfortably under 2.5 per over, which by present standards is pretty funereal. It was offset by the much faster over rate in terms of runs per day, however.

quote:

Originally posted by Gabba Dan:

quote:

Originally posted by skully:
That Bradman fellow looks like he may have been handy.

Yes a hundred every three tests.

But he did bend his elbow.

quote:

Originally posted by skully:

quote:

Originally posted by Gabba Dan:

quote:

Originally posted by skully:
That Bradman fellow looks like he may have been handy.

Yes a hundred every three tests.

But he did bend his elbow.

Correction I checked again.
Bradman scored a century every three innings in which he played.

Unbelievable.

Maclaren*
Abel
JT Tyldesley
FS Jackson
Fry
Lilley+
Braund
Hirst
Jessop
Rhodes
Barnes

England v Aus at Sheffied in 1902 takes some beating - especially when Hayward, Ranjitsinhji, Lockwood and Blythe were not picked.

Shame England lost though.

quote:

Originally posted by Gabba Dan:
Although mentioned early on in the thread the "Invincibles" team of 1948 was never listed here.

Here is the team that played the first test.
Hassett played at four after that.


SG Barnes c Evans b Laker 62 153 6 0
AR Morris b Laker 31 121 3 0
*DG Bradman c Hutton b Bedser 138 290 321 10 0
KR Miller c Edrich b Laker 0 6 0 0
WA Brown lbw b Yardley 17 58 1 0
AL Hassett b Bedser 137 354 20 1
IWG Johnson b Laker 21 38 3 0
+D Tallon c & b Young 10 39 1 0
RR Lindwall c Evans b Yardley 42 121 7 0
WA Johnston not out 17 27 2 0
ERH Toshack lbw b Bedser 19 18 3 0
Extras (b 9, lb 4, w 1, nb 1) 15
Total (all out, 216.2 overs) 509


The England side that they beat 4 nil was strong as well.

I don't like to say they were better than recent Aussie sides but look at those names.

I think the 5th test team might edge that first test one. Harvey, Loxton and Ring in for Toshack, Johnson and Brown.

quote:

Originally posted by Hass:
Please Don't Yell.

I came onto the forum today to post a team from that very season.

The only change is I'd go for the XI that played in the second (and third) test(s) against Sri Lanka.

The difference?

Ponting for Blewett. Obviously Ponting wasn't the great that he is today, but he was in very good form at the time.

I think I'd prefer it over the 1995/6 team over the 2001 model.

Taylor being captain is a definite bonus in my book.

Cheers.

The difference between Hass' 1995/6 team and the 2001 team, first test v India were:

Hayden for Taylor
Langer for Boon
Dizzy and Flem for Billy and Pistol
Gilly for Heals

Ignoring form at the time, that would be a pretty fair trade I'd say.

quote:

Originally posted by JGK:

quote:

Originally posted by Gabba Dan:
Although mentioned early on in the thread the "Invincibles" team of 1948 was never listed here.

Here is the team that played the first test.
Hassett played at four after that.


SG Barnes c Evans b Laker 62 153 6 0
AR Morris b Laker 31 121 3 0
*DG Bradman c Hutton b Bedser 138 290 321 10 0
KR Miller c Edrich b Laker 0 6 0 0
WA Brown lbw b Yardley 17 58 1 0
AL Hassett b Bedser 137 354 20 1
IWG Johnson b Laker 21 38 3 0
+D Tallon c & b Young 10 39 1 0
RR Lindwall c Evans b Yardley 42 121 7 0
WA Johnston not out 17 27 2 0
ERH Toshack lbw b Bedser 19 18 3 0
Extras (b 9, lb 4, w 1, nb 1) 15
Total (all out, 216.2 overs) 509


The England side that they beat 4 nil was strong as well.

I don't like to say they were better than recent Aussie sides but look at those names.

I think the 5th test team might edge that first test one. Harvey, Loxton and Ring in for Toshack, Johnson and Brown.

Yes the team for the last test was even better.

Esp Harvey.

Harvey and Loxton probably surpass Brown and Johnson. However I'd say that Ring was much inferior to Toshack, allowing for different bowling styles. Toshack had quite a key containing role, and has very good Test stats.

quote:

Originally posted by peterg:
Harvey and Loxton probably surpass Brown and Johnson. However I'd say that Ring was much inferior to Toshack, allowing for different bowling styles. Toshack had quite a key containing role, and has very good Test stats.

Indeed. I actually said in an earlier post on this thread that if Toshack had played that 5th test instead of Ring then it would be very hard to go past that side.

To take the thread in a slightly new direction, this Indian side from Kolkata in March 1998 looks pretty impressive to me:

1. Vangipurappu LAXMAN
2. Navjot SIDHU
3. Rahul DRAVID
4. Sachin TENDULKAR
5. Mohammad AZHARRUDIN (c)
6. Sourav GANGULY
7. Nayan MONGIA (wk)
8. Anil KUMBLE
9. Javagal SRINATH
10. Rajesh CHAUHAN
11. Venkatapathy RAJU

Obviously a lack of seam bowlers, but India have always been stronger at home, so 'strongest ever' implies playing in India I think.

Alternatively, one of the 'Three Musketeers' sides from the 60s/70s, or one with Kapil, Sunny and Dilip Doshi together in the early 80s might be better.

quote:

Originally posted by JGK:

quote:

Originally posted by peterg:
Harvey and Loxton probably surpass Brown and Johnson. However I'd say that Ring was much inferior to Toshack, allowing for different bowling styles. Toshack had quite a key containing role, and has very good Test stats.

Indeed. I actually said in an earlier post on this thread that if Toshack had played that 5th test instead of Ring then it would be very hard to go past that side.

Unfortuneatly the thread title does not allow for mixing but I agree.

It is interesting to note the changes made during the series due to injury and blooding.

quote:

Alternatively, one of the 'Three Musketeers' sides from the 60s/70s, or one with Kapil, Sunny and Dilip Doshi together in the early 80s might be better.

Some of the late 70s sides might have had a mix of the likes of Sunny, Kapil, Vengsakar, Vishy, Chandra, Jimmy, Kirmani, Prasanna, Chauan and Bedi.

That's true JGK, but it makes me a bit uncomfortable because Kapil was very young and the spinners were all well past their best (in some cases, simply not good enough anymore).

The team from Faisalabad v Pakistan in 1978 for example:

1. Sunil GAVASKAR
2. Chetan CHAUHAN
3. Surinder AMARNATH
4. Gundappa VISWANATH
5. Dilip VENGSARKER
6. Mohinder AMARNATH
7. Syed KIRMANI (wk)
8. Kapil DEV
9. Erapalli PRASANNA
10. Bishen BEDI (c)
11. Bhagwat CHANDRASEKHAR

On paper, it's a fantastic team.

Not with Surinder and the steady-but-never-brilliant Chauhan in the team.

I have no idea who Zahid Fazal is, and looking at his stats he was probably pretty pants, but if you ignore him then this team takes some beating:

Shoaib Mohammad
Rameez Raja
Zahid Fazal
Javed Miandad
Saleem Malik
Imran Khan*
Saleem Yousuf+
Wasim Akram
Mushtaq Ahmed
Abdul Qadir
Waqar Younis

In this match they beat the Windies - Greenidge, Marshall, Ambrose, etc. pretty comfortably and even some of the great Australian teams mentioned would struggle to beat them in home conditions in Pakistan. Abroad on bouncier wickets some of the batsmen might struggle but the bowling attack would still be very effective.

quote:

Originally posted by JGK:

The difference between Hass' 1995/6 team and the 2001 team, first test v India were:

Hayden for Taylor
Langer for Boon
Dizzy and Flem for Billy and Pistol
Gilly for Heals

Ignoring form at the time, that would be a pretty fair trade I'd say.

Yes, it is a pretty fair trade.

The 1995/6 team only shades it in my opinion because of the form at time.

As for the Invincibles.

I agree that they never got their "Best XI" on the pitch in the same match.

Ring played ahead of Toshack in the Fifth Test.

Ian Johnson played as a fifth bowler ahead of Neil Harvey in the First Test.

I don't think it matters whether the seventh batsman is Loxton or Brown, but would probably take Loxton because he provides another bowling option - which comes in handy if you're only playing four frontline bowlers ie. Lindwall, Miller, Johnston and Toshack.

So which team do I plump for.

The team from the First Test. Having Ian Johnson at 7 does weaken the batting, but for the strongest ever XI I don't think you can afford to have any weaknesses in the bowling.

So I can't decide between Invincibles 1st/2nd Test 1948 and Taylor's team 2nd/3rd Test 1995/6.

Cheers.