I continue my tour of cricketing given names with a look at the letter R, skipping over Q on the grounds of insufficient candidates being available for that letter. R offers a very different kind of challenge – there are huge numbers of players with overlapping skills sets and only 11 can make the final cut. I hope that the honourable mentions section, in which offer an alternative team formation that I elected not to go with will clarify these issues.
THE XI IN BATTING ORDER
- *Rohit Sharma (India, right handed opening batter, captain). A naturally aggressive batter, his test record is eminently respectable even if he is better known for his exploits in limited overs cricket. As both opener and captain he can be expected to lead from the front.
- Robert Baddeley ‘Bob’ Simpson (Australia, right handed opening batter, occasional leg spinner, vice captain). Although both my chosen openers are right handers it would be harder to find a more contrasting pair in terms of approach. At Old Trafford in 1964, the same ground where Ian Johnson’s side had spectacularly come to grief eight years earlier, Australia went into the match one up in the series and needing only a draw to ensure retention of The Ashes. The groundsman at Old Trafford produced one of the flattest pitches ever seen, and Simpson ensured that Australia would keep the Ashes, quite literally off his own bat – he won the toss, chose to bat first and was only dismissed on the third morning of the match, for 311. England responded in kind, and there was barely time for the second Australian innings to begin before the umpires called time – such bowling as was required in this third innings of a scheduled four was done by Titmus and Barrington with an old ball. In addition to his impressive test batting record Simpson’s leg spin was good enough that he enjoyed some success with it even at test level, and he was an outstanding slip fielder. I have named him as vice captain as a nod to his leadership qualities.
- Rahul Dravid (India, right handed batter). A test record that speaks for itself.
- Ricky Ponting (Australia, right handed batter, occasional medium pacer). One place down from his usual slot as I feel he would handle the lower position better than Dravid, though if Sharma were first out I might send him in to avoid having Simpson and Dravid bat together.
- Rohan Kanhai (West Indies, right handed batter). The Guyanese was rated a genius by CLR James, and almost 7,000 test runs at 47 provide some solid achievement to back up that assessment.
- Ryan ten Doeschate (Netherlands, right handed batter, right arm medium fast bowler). The Dutchman established a superb record in limited overs international (his country are not a test playing nation as yet), and his record in FC cricket, mainly over the course of a long and distinguished association with Essex is eminently respectable.
- Ravindra Jadeja (India, left handed batter, left arm orthodox spinner, outstanding fielder). A magnificent all round cricketer.
- R Ashwin (India, off spinner, right handed batter). Over 400 test wickets, and a batting record that includes five test match centuries.
- Ray Lindwall (Australia, right arm fast bowler, right handed batter). One of the best fast bowlers ever seen in the game, and good enough with the bat to have scored two test centuries along the way.
- Richard Hadlee (New Zealand, right arm fast bowler, left handed batter). The best bowler of any type ever to play for New Zealand, and a handy lower order batter, though the first in this line up to have had a test career and not scored a century at that level.
- +Rhianna Southby (England, wicket keeper, right handed batter). The most controversial pick of all my XI, but although there were many options for this letter I wanted to showcase one of the very best of contemporary wicket keepers. Her position in this order is less a reflection on her batting than an acknowledgement of the fact that all of my chosen bowlers were also talented in that department.
This XI is very strong in batting, keeping and spin bowling, with the seam/ pace element of the attack a little light, since the only pace/seam support for the Anzac new pall pairing of Lindwall and Hadlee would come from ten Doeschate.
HONOURABLE MENTIONS
This will be a multi-faceted section and I start with…
THE WICKET KEEPER/ ALL ROUNDER CONUNDRUM
Although there is one absolutely genuine all rounder in Jadeja available for this letter, there was no one available for the number six slot. Ron Archer of Australia might have become the perfect fit for that slot had he not suffered a freak injury when Australia visited Pakistan on their way home from the 1956 Ashes. The injury occurred at Karachi, where Archer caught his studs in a piece of matting and wrenched a knee, and it ended his bowling career at the age of 23, though he played one more season for Queensland as a specialist batter. Had he not suffered that injury he might have gone to become the replacement for Keith Miller that Australia were hoping he would, in which case selecting this side would have been a lot easier. There were three potential alternatives to Southby for the wicket keeper’s slot: Robert William ‘Bob’ Taylor, who made more FC dismissals than any other wicket keeper in history, Rod Marsh, holder of the record for test career dismissals at the time of his retirement, and Rishabh Pant of India. A possible alternative to my chosen line up which addresses the seam/ pace bowling potential issue would be to pick Pant in place of ten Doeschate and Robert George Dylan ‘Bob’ Willis in place of Southby at number 11, giving an XI of *RG Sharma, RB Simpson, RS Dravid, RT Ponting, RB Kanhai, +R Pant, R Jadeja, R Ashwin, RR Lindwall, RJ Hadlee, RGD Willis.
OTHER HONOURABLE MENTIONS
Robert William ‘Bob’ Barber had his moments as a left handed attacking opener for England, including scoring 185 against Australia in an innings win in Australia, but his career record lacks the overall heft to displace Sharma. Richard Barlow who played for England in the 1880s, and remains the only person ever selected for an England men’s test team on the understanding that he was going to open both the batting and the bowling was another potential candidate, and his left arm seam bowling would have added variation to the attack, but if I apply my usual conversion method to his career averages his record adjusts to an average of 34.08 with the bat and 33.83 with the ball, not really good enough in either department. Roy Park was highly rated by some of his Australian contemporaries, including Warwick Armstrong, but his sole test innings lasted precisely one ball. Robert ‘Bobby’ Abel, the first England batter to carry his bat through a test innings, was clearly a very fine right handed opener of the more cautious type, and a case could be made for him getting Simpson’s slot.
The unluckiest middle order batters of those to miss out were a pair of West Indians with fine test records, Richie Richardson and Ramnaresh Sarwan. Neither of the individuals concerned would be out of place in the number five slot I awarded to Kanhai. Robin Smith was a fine number three for England, but he is a mere candle to the Alexandrian lighthouses of Dravid and Ponting.
Ryan Higgins, now re-ensconced at Middlesex after a few years away at Gloucestershire, has a fine county record, but he has not yet been picked for England. Rikki Clarke had a very fine FC record, but did not make the most of such chances as he got at international level. Rich Pyrah of Yorkshire was a very fine limited overs player but his record in long form cricket was no more than respectable. Rehan Ahmed, the young England leg spinning all rounder, may well force his way in in due course, but at the moment, especially with Simpson able to bowl a bit of leg spin if needed, he has to wait. Robert ‘Bob’ Relf of Sussex was a good enough county all rounder to deserve a mention. Robert ‘Bobby’ Peel of Yorkshire and England was a great left arm spin bowler who could bat, but not good enough to dislodge Jadeja. Similarly, Ray Illingworth was a fine cricketer, but no one is convincing me that he comes particularly close to challenging R Ashwin for that slot. Richie Benaud was a high quality leg spinning all rounder, and would have been captain had I been able to accommodate him in the XI. Since I cannot do that, he would be the ONLY candidate to head up the TV commentary team. Roy Kilner, with 14,000 Fc runs at 30 and 1,000 FC wickets at 18 was unlucky to be up against Jadeja for a slot. Given the galaxy of talent already covered, for all her unique status as an international captain who has turned out for The Metronomes there can be no place for the Brazilian all rounder Roberta Moretti Avery.
Rashid Khan, the Afghan leg spinner, was probably the best of the bowlers I could find no place for. Rangana Herath of Sri Lanka was a very fine left arm spinner, but like Peel and Kilner mentioned in the all rounders section suffered due to the overlap with Jadeja.
Richard Peter Borgnis as he appears in the record books (his actual full name was Richard Peter Hammond-Chambers-Borgnis) had an astonishing first class career – one match in which he scored a century and took a three-for.
Rahmanullah Gurbaz of Afghanistan would be in the mix were I picking with limited overs cricket in mind, but he is as yet unproven in long form cricket.
PHOTOGRAPHS
A multi-part photo gallery today. James and Sons had an auction this week, and I focus on two lots. Lot 304 was a Hassalblad camera in an aluminium case with a lot of extra bits and pieces and attracted considerable interest. I produced an extended gallery for it in order to deal with queries that were coming in, and the result was very pleasing – it sold for £1,000.
The second lot I focus on was number 574. This lot, a collection of cigarette/ trade cards, was knocked down to me for £10. I produced a good gallery for it…
Having taken possession of it I have been through it in much more detail than imaging for auction allows…
Now I end with a few of my regular photographs
aspiblog 