Welcome to the latest installment in my extended analysis of how the all time XIs I created for each letter of the alphabet fare against one another. The Ds are in the spotlight today, coming into the day with 15 out of a possible 30 points.
THE Ds V THE Hs
The Hs are much stronger in batting. They also have to given the captaincy palm, while Healy was the better keeper, though Dujon’s superior batting somewhat compensates for that. The Ds are ahead on seam/ pace bowling, with Hammond third seamer for the Hs, but the Hs are far better equipped with spinners. I don’t think the Ds seam/ pace attack is quite sufficient to compensate for their obvious disadvantages in this contest and score it Ds 2, Hs 3.
THE Ds V THE Is
The Ds are massively ahead in batting and pace bowling, Dujon beats Imtiaz in both departments, while the Is are way ahead in the spin department. The Is spin superiority may win them one match, but even that is no certainty: Ds 4.5, Is 0.5.
THE Ds V THE Js
The Ds win the batting, though by less than the figures suggest. The Js win on captaincy, keeping and spin bowling, though the Ds are ahead on front line seam/ pace options, though this is slightly mitigated by the Js having Jessop as a back up option. I award this one to the Js: Ds 2 Js 3.
THE Ds V THE Ks
This is close on batting, the Ks have the better keeper and the better skipper (by far), the Ks pace trio is maybe marginally behind the Ds, but they have Kallis as 4th seamer to compensate for that. R Khan and Kumble give the Ks a definite advantage in spin bowling. The Ds are losing this one heavily: Ds 0.5, Ks 4.5.
THE Ds V THE Ls
Lawry comfortably beats Dent at number one, Dempster also wins vs Labuschagne, especially given that the latter is batting out of position. The number three slot features a clash of titans. I give the verdict to Dravid just about, on two grounds: 1) Dravid scored more total runs and 2)Lara’s two biggest test knocks both came on exceedingly flat decks in Antigua in games that England quite comfortably drew. Donnelly and Duleepsinhji have better averages than their opposite numbers, but much smaller sample sizes to achieve those numbers. D’Oliveira beats Langridge with the bat, while Dennett outranks Langridge as a left arm spinner. Dujon has Langley covered in both departments. Lillee, Lindwall and Lohmann outrank Davidson, Daniel and Donald as a pace/ seam trio, and Laker’s off spin is far more of an asset to his side than D’Oliveira’s medium pace is to his side. The Ls also have one of the greatest of all skippers, while the Ds are led by someone who never captained in actual life. Thus I score this one Ds 0 Ls 5.
THE Ds PROGRESS UPDATE
Even with one huge win the Ds have not had a great day, scoring just nine off a possible 25 points, which puts them overall on 24 out of a possible 55, 43.64%.
PHOTOGRAPHS
My usual sign off…
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