Tag: All time XIs

All Time XIs: England in Australia

An all time XI of England players whose finest hours came in Australia, and a photo gallery,

With an away Ashes series approaching I offer a variation on the all-time theme – an England side picked specifically with achievements IN Australia in mind (yes, sceptical Aussie readers, I can find 11, and that without too much difficulty).

THE XI IN BATTING ORDER

  1. *Len Hutton (right handed opening batter, captain). England’s successful skipper both at home in 1953, when he was the first professional to lead England in a home Ashes series, and away in 1954-5, also recorded a series batting average of 88.83 on the unsuccessful 1950-1 tour.
  2. Alastair Cook (left handed opening batter). 766 runs at 127.67 in the 2010-11 triumph, including 235 not out at Brisbane, 148 at Adelaide and 189 at Sydney. He also scored an unbeaten at 244 at Melbourne eight years later.
  3. Ken Barrington (right handed batter, occasional leg spinner). The Surrey stalwart had racked up nine test centuries on various overseas tours, including 1962-3 in Australia, when he fared magnificently, before scoring one in a home test match (256 versus Australia at Old Trafford in 1964).
  4. Wally Hammond (right handed batter, occasional right arm medium fast bowler). Almost a century after he set it his 905 runs at 113.125 in the 1928-9 Ashes remains a record for a series in Australia, and second on the all time list behind Don Bradman’s 974 at 139.14 in England in 1930. He was also joint leading run scorer four years later with 440 at 55.00, an aggregate an average exactly duplicated by Herbert Sutcliffe, and his scores in 1936-7 included an undefeated double century.
  5. David Gower (left handed batter). Four Ashes tours in all (1978-9, 1982-3, 1986-7 and 1990-1), with two of them in winning cause. In 1978-9 at Perth he came in on the first day with England in trouble at 41-3 and proceeded to score his maiden Ashes ton, with Boycott blocking at the other end. England won that match, still the only time they have ever won a test match in western Australia, and took the series 5-1. He scored centuries on all four of his Ashes tours, including an innings on the last of them that Bradman rated among the top five he ever saw in Australia.
  6. +Matthew Prior (right handed batter, wicket keeper). England’s keeper in the successful 2010-11 tour, and he was a big part of the reason for that success.
  7. Ian Botham (right handed batter, right arm fast medium bowler). Crucial to England’s 1978-9 triumph, and the 1986-7 trip saw the last of his 14 test centuries, and a five-for later in the series.
  8. Frank Foster (left arm fast medium bowler, right handed batter). A splendid all rounder until a motorcycle accident ended his career early, he was one of two bowling stars (the other is also in this XI) of the 1911-12 tour, when England lost the opener but won all four of the other test matches, with 32 wickets in the series.
  9. Hedley Verity (left arm orthodox spinner, right handed batter). One of the greatest masters of his craft ever to play the game. and a useful lower order batter. His role in the 1932-3 triumph was acknowledged by his skipper Douglas Jardine. He was the only bowler Donald Bradman admitted to facing as an equal, and I had very little hesitation in selecting him for the spinners slot.
  10. Frank Tyson (right arm fast bowler, right handed batter). One of two choices for this slot, it was pretty much a coin toss as to who should get the nod. I went for his 1954-5 heroics over those of Larwood two decades previously.
  11. Sydney Barnes (right arm fast medium bowler, right handed batter). 77 test wickets in Australia, in 12 matches in that country. At Melbourne in the 1911-12 series on a good track he had the top four Aussie batters back in the pavilion for a single between them in his new ball burst. England won that series 4-1, with Barnes claiming 34 wickets in the series.

This side has a very powerful top five, a keeper/ batter who succeeded down under, a legendary all rounder and four great and well varied bowlers. A bowling unit of Barnes, Foster, Tyson, Verity and Botham, with Hammond and Barrington available as back up options should be capable of functioning well on any surface.

HONOURABLE MENTIONS

There were three main rivals to my chosen openers: Andrew Strauss, who opened and captained on the 2010-11 tour and the old firm of Jack Hobbs and Herbert Sutcliffe. I wanted a right hander to go with Cook, which ruled out Strauss, and the need for a captain gave Hutton an additional advantage over the other contenders. Archie MacLaren had a great series in 1897-8, but that was a bit of a flash in the pan given his overall record, and England lost that series.

Eddie Paynter had a superb record against Australia and could have had David Gower’s slot. Among right handed players who might have featured in the middle order were KS Ranjitsinhji, Kevin Pietersen (whose test best of 227 was scored at Adelaide) and Ted Dexter, who electrified crowds in 1962-3. Colin Cowdrey made six tours of Australia, an England record, including answering an SOS call at the age of 42, 20 years after first travelling down under. I regretted not being able to include the left hander Frank Woolley. Denis Compton was never the player in Australia that he was elsewhere and had to be excluded. If Joe Root rights the one wrong on his stellar CV, the lack of a ton in Australia, he will merit consideration.

Andrew ‘Freddie’ Flintoff’s only visit to Australia in 2006-7 was a personal nightmare for him and ruled him out of consideration, while Ben Stokes has not yet fully delivered down under.

Among the keepers who could have been considered were LEG Ames (1932-3), Alan Knott (1970-1, and in defeat in 1974-5) and Bob Taylor (1978-9).

Derek Underwood performed a similar role in 1970-1 to that of Verity in 1932-3, and Johnny Wardle and Bob Appleyard both fared well in 1954-5. Graeme Swann fulfilled his brief of bowling economically in 2010-11, but flying home halfway through the 2013-14 tour tells against him.

Among the faster bowlers there are three honourable mentions: Harold Larwood in 1932-3 did what Frank Tyson did a couple of decades later and might well have had that slot. John Snow had a phenomenal tour in 1970-1. In 2010-11 James Anderson had a wonderful series, and had his moments on other tours as well.

PHOTOGRAPHS

My usual sign off…

I suspected that this series of cormorant/ heron pictures would provide today’s feature image…
A jay using a piece of scaffolding as a perch.
…until this Red Admiral appeared this afternoon.

Surrey v Somerset

A look at developments in the match currently taking place between Surrey and Somerset at The Oval, a composite Surrey/ Somerset XI and two photo galleries,

This post will feature a look at goings on in the match between Surrey and Somerset at The Oval, two photo galleries (reminder, click on the first photo in a gallery to view that gallery as a gallery and see the pictures at a larger size) and a composite XI (see feature image) for these two counties.

THE CURRENT MATCH

The latest round of county championship fixtures got underway yesterday morning, and the obvious fixture to follow was Surrey v Somerset. Surrey won the toss and decided to bowl first. At lunch, when Somerset were 87-0 (albeit with Sean Dickson having been injured and at least temporarily removed from the action) Somerset would have been the happier side. In the afternoon session the Surrey bowlers made things happen with a vengeance, and at 187-7 it was looking like their day. A fightback, to which the injured Dickson contributed by coming in to support Gregory at the end of the innings saw the Somerset innings end too late in the day for the Surrey reply to begin, with a total of 283 on the board. Jordan Clark had five wickets in the innings, and Atkinson, one of Wisden’s five cricketers of the year after his sensational start in test cricket last season, had also fared well with the ball. Somerset’s bowling was not at full strength – they had lost Matt Henry, the NZ ace, before the match started, and between the toss and the start of play Craig Overton suffered a back spasm, with Surrey (who would have been entitled to refuse to allow a change to be made after the toss) graciously acceding to Somerset’s request to replace him with Josh Davey. Burns and Sibley made it to lunch still together and with no serious alarms, the score then being 99-0. Barring a brief passage of play in which Burns went for 76 and Pope for 3 things have continued to look pretty comfortable for Surrey. They are currently 173-2, with Sibley 47 not out and Jamie Smith 26 not out. Sibley has just been bowled by Leach for 53 and it is 188-3. Surrey have passed 200 while I have been prepping this post for publication – the score is now 205-3, Smith 39 and Foakes 12.

GALLERY ONE

A SOMERSET/SURREY COMBINED XI

I refer readers to my all time XIs for each county (here and here) which will cover a lot of the players not mentioned in this post and give more details about the members of the XI. As the feature image shows I have made two changes to the Somerset XI since that post was created – golden age amateur Lionel Palairet gives way at number three to James Rew (although I have acknowledged it I consider his wicket keeping something of a red herring in terms of where his actual value lies), and Dom Bess, who I should never have named in the first place, has been replaced by Somerset’s actual great off spinner, Brian Langford. There is also one change to the Surrey XI, Foakes replacing Alec Stewart as keeper and middle order batter.

  1. Jack Hobbs (Surrey, right handed opening bat, occasional right arm medium pacer).
  2. John Edrich (Surrey, left handed opening bat)
  3. Ken Barrington (Surrey, right handed batter, occasional leg spinner)
  4. Graham Thorpe (Surrey, left handed batter, occasional right arm medium pacer)
  5. Peter May (Surrey, right handed batter).
  6. +Ben Foakes (Surrey, right handed batter, wicket keeper)
  7. *Sammy Woods (Somerset, right handed batter, right arm fast bowler, captain)
  8. ‘Farmer’ White (Somerset, left arm orthodox spinner, right handed batter)
  9. Joel Garner (Somerset, West Indies, right arm fast bowler, right handed batter)
  10. Jim Laker (Surrey, off spinner, right handed batter)
  11. Tom Richardson (Surrey, right arm fast bowler, right handed batter)

I designate Leonard Braund as ‘twelfth’: he has connections to both counties involved, having started at Surrey before moving west, as an all rounder (and he did open for Somerset quite often by the way) he could replace at least ten of the players in this XI without absolutely hamstringing it, and he was noted as an expert slip fielder which at least offers hope that he could perform competently behind the stumps as well.

Aside from Rew, now in the Somerset XI, but not capable of dislodging any of that Surrey 3,4 and 5 from the composite side as yet there are two other players who have emerged since I created the original XIs on which this post draws who have to be mentioned: Jamie Smith, currently England’s chosen test match wicket keeper (though somewhat miscast in that role in my view), who is a quality player, but I who will not name as keeper ahead of Foakes, and who has not yet done enough to claim a front line batting place, and Gus Atkinson, who for all his great start at the highest level has a way to go to be a serious threat to any of Garner, Richardson or Bedser (in the Surrey all time XI). It has been my policy when creating these XIs for counties or composites of two counties to only allow myself one overseas player, which is why Waqar Younis cannot be accommodated (Garner’s great height lends extra variety to the pace attack, which is why I plumped for him).

GALLERY TWO

Picking an All Time ODI XI

An attempt at selecting an all-time ODI XI, with mentions of a few players from before the ODI era who I might have considered had I not decided to stick to actual ODI players. Also a photo gallery.

I am writing this from King’s Lynn library (it has limited opening on Sundays, to those wh0 are ‘Open Library’ members). This topic was raised by the talksport2 commentary team in an ODI between India and England, and between the distractions of having my entire heating system replaced and my home broadband malfunctioning I have not previously got round to posting my own version.

THE BRIEF

I will be picking only people who have ODI experience, though I will then append a short subsection on who might have been considered had I opted not to thus restrict myself. The number six slot will feature two possibilities, as explained more fully when I get there. I will not include an honourable mentions section as to do justice to those it would have to be far too long. If you fancy suggesting alternatives you are most welcome, though I urge you to consider the effect of your choices on the overall balance of the side.

THE XI IN BATTING ORDER

  1. +Adam Gilchrist (Australia, left handed opening batter, wicket keeper). This man changed ideas as to what could be expected of the wicket keeper with the bat. Some subsequent attempts to find a version of him have neglected to pay sufficient attention to the keeping skills of the player concerned, but he was top notch in that department as well as with the bat.
  2. Rohit Sharma (India, right handed opening batter). He holds the highest ever ODI score, 264, and has also scored two other ODI double centuries, the only player to have as many as three to his name. Overall he has some 11,000 ODI runs to his name, and his century tally is third on the all-time list.
  3. Viv Richards (West Indies, right handed batter, occasional off spinner). The first player to really master the art of ODI batting. The 189* he scored in a total of 272-9 at Old Trafford in 1984 was for a long time the highest ever ODI score.
  4. Virat Kohli (India, right handed batter). Has to rank as the all time number one ODI batter. I could not accommodate both him and Sachin Tendulkar in this XI, and in ODI terms Kohli is ahead of his predecessor. Kohli’s century making rate of better than one every six ODI innings puts him way ahead of the competition.
  5. AB de Villers (South Africa, right handed batter, occasional wicket keeper, occasional right arm medium pacer). Known as ‘Mr 36o’ for his ability to score runs to literally any part of the field he was epoch making batter, a competent keeper and had occasional successes bowling medium pace.
  6. *Imran Khan (Pakistan, right handed batter, right arm fast bowler, captain). One of the greatest of all all rounders. He came out of retirement to lead Pakistan to victory in the 1992 world cup. In the event of the pitch warranting a spin bowling all rounder rather than a pace bowling one Shakib Al-Hasan of Bangladesh would take his slot and the captaincy.
  7. Wasim Akram (Pakistan, left arm fast bowler, left handed batter). A record that speaks for itself.
  8. Joel Garner (West Indies, right arm fast bowler, right handed batter). The most economical bowler in ODI history, and achiever of the highest ever ODI ranking points total.
  9. Muthiah Muralidaran (Sri Lanka, off spinner, right handed batter). When Sri Lanka won the 1996 world cup their bowling was so dominated by spin that the new ball pair of Vaas and Wickramasinghe often bowled only their opening spells, not being recalled later in the innings. The leader of the Sri Lankan spin unit that won them the world cup that year was Muralidaran.
  10. Adam Zampa (Australia, leg spinner, right handed batter). Shane Warne was not quite the force with a white ball that he was with a red one, though of course he was capable being the matchwinner with a white one, but for my money with the white ball and only with the white ball Zampa outranks his fellow Aussie, which is why I pick him here.
  11. Glenn McGrath (Australia, right arm fast bowler, right handed batter). The key bowler in Australia’s most dominant period in men’s white ball cricket, during which they won three straight world cups (1999, 2003 and 2007).

This side features a very powerful top five, all rounders at six and seven and four great bowlers. Yes, with Garner as high as eight the tail starts quite early, but I am not expecting them to be called on to bat with massive frequency. I also reckon that the bowling unit, with two tall, lethally accurate, right arm pacers, an all time great left arm pacer, two great specialist spinners and either a fourth fast bowler or a third, different (SLA, as opposed to OS and LS already there) spin option will be quite capable of defending even an under par total. With regards to the balance of the side I have followed my usual principle of giving the bowling unit primary importance – history is well stocked with winning sides who had great bowling but comparatively modest batting, while there have been very few whose balance has been the other way round.

PLAYERS FROM BEFORE THE ODI ERA

I consider three players from before ODI cricket was a thing to have strong cases for consideration:

Garry Sobers (West Indies, left handed batter, left arm bowler of every type known to cricket). Accommodating him in place of any of that top five would be extremely hard, but the most complete player the game has ever known, and one whose approach to batting was very attack minded would have to at least be considered.

Frank Woolley (England, left handed batter, left arm orthodox spin bowler). Given his outstanding FC record and his attacking approach he would replace Shakib Al-Hasan as my alternative selection to Imran Khan on spinning surfaces, and may even straight out replace Imran on any surface. The prejudices of his era stopped from getting regular captaincy experience, but I think he would have done the job well given proper opportunities.

Gilbert Jessop (England, right handed batter, right arm fast bowler). He is also a potential replacement for Imran. His feats of rapid scoring are legendary, he once bowled unchanged through an FC innings while conceding only three (Northamptonshire 12 all out, Dennett 8-9 with his left arm spin, Jessop 2-3 at the other end) runs and his fielding was the stuff of legend.

PHOTOGRAPHS

My usual sign off…

All Time XIs – South Africa Since Readmission

The third and final part of mini-series looking at South African cricket history. As usual I also have a fine photo gallery.

This is third part of a mini-series looking at South Africa’s cricket history (follow the links to part one and part two to complete the picture) looking at the period since they were readmitted to international cricket.

THE XI IN BATTING ORDER

  1. *Graeme Smith (left handed opening batter, captain). A superb playing record and a very good win percentage as captain, a role he first took on at a much younger age than most test captains.
  2. Herschelle Gibbs (right handed opening batter). To complement the decidedly functional left hander we have a rather more aesthetic right hander, but one who scored plenty of runs.
  3. Hashim Amla (right handed batter). The only South Africa ever to score a test triple century, just one of many magnificent innings he played over the years.
  4. AB de Villiers (right handed batter, occasional wicket keeper, occasional medium pacer). Best known for his deeds in limited overs cricket, Abraham Benjamin de Villiers was still good enough facing a red ball to average 50 with the bat at test level.
  5. Jacques Kallis (right handed batter, right arm fast medium bowler). If one had to pick a single player as the greatest ever produced by South Africa most people would name this man.
  6. Brian McMillan (right handed batter, right arm medium fast bowler). One of the best players of the period immediately after South Africa were readmitted. He was already close to 30 when the opportunity to play test cricket arose, but still averaged 40 with the bat at that level and took some useful wickets along the way.
  7. +Mark Boucher (wicket keeper, right handed batter). One of the greatest keepers ever to play the game and a handy lower middle order batter.
  8. Keshav Maharaj (left arm orthodox spinner, right handed batter). South Africa is not a country that many visiting spinners of recent times would have fond memories of, and his test record (158 wickets at 31.99 to date) has to be viewed through the lens of how difficult it is to bowl spin in that part of the world these days.
  9. Kagiso Rabada (right arm fast bowler, right handed batter). At 28 years of age he has plenty of power to add to his achievements, and he has already achieved enough that he will rank among the greats of the game even if he does nothing more.
  10. Allan Donald (right arm fast bowler, right handed batter). He had the opportunity to qualify for England through residence, playing county cricket for Warwickshire in the 1980s, but chose not to do so, believing that South Africa would be readmitted in time for him to play for them. They were, and although Donald was nearer 30 than 20 by the time the opportunity came he showed the world what followers of county cricket had already been well aware of – he was both seriously quick and seriously accurate.
  11. Dale Steyn (right arm fast bowler, right handed batter). At his peak he was indisputably the best fast bowler in the world, and his record, as with Donald and Rabada, puts him among the finest ever.

This side has a powerful batting line up, three of the finest fast bowlers ever to play the game, a quality spinner, a great keeper, a great captain, and two of the six batters would be legitimate bowling options as well.

HONOURABLE MENTIONS

The biggest miss by far was Shaun Pollock. I do not like not having any spin available, and Boucher at six and Pollock at seven would be something of gamble. I always select with long form cricket in mind, so I want the best keeper. But for this latter I could get Pollock in on a minor gamble by playing Quinton de Kock as keeper, have him bat at six (dropping McMillan), Pollock at seven, one place above his most frequent slot for SA, and then my four chosen bowlers.

Dean Elgar was a gritty and determined left handed opener, but with Smith inked in I wanted my second opener to be right handed, so he missed out. Gary Kirsten, another tough left handed opener can have a coaching gig – another job he has done well.

Had Daryll Cullinan been able to handle Australian leg spinners as well as he did other bowlers he would have given me more pause than he actually did. He averaged six runs less per knock at test level than de Villiers to whom I gave his regular number four slot.

Francois ‘Faf’ Du Plessis was a good middle order batter, but South Africa’s power in that department over the years keeps him out. Also in his last innings against England he repeatedly handled the ball – England complained about it, but wrongly IMO did not use the ultimate sanction of appealing against him – the umpire would have had to raise the finger.

Ashwell Prince had a respectable test record but again the strength of the middle order keeps him out.

I would have liked to be able to include Paul ‘frog in a blender’ Adams, but his record was unfortunately not as remarkable as his bowling action.

Two seriously fast bowlers who had to miss out were Mornantau ‘Nantie’ Hayward who was to inconsistent to challenge my actual choices and Anrich Nortje who does not yet have the weight of achievement to merit selection.

PHOTOGRAPHS

My usual sign off…

All Time XIs – South Africa 1971-91

A look at South African cricketers in that country’s period as a pariah nation. Also a bumper photo gallery.

In my previous post I looked at South Africa’s first incarnation as a test playing nation. Now I look at the period when the repugnant policies of the apartheid government finally caused South Africa to be banned from the international arena. Some of the players named in this XI did play test cricket, but in all cases they were prominent on the world stage at a time when playing for South Africa was not officially possible., and none played for any country other than South Africa.

THE XI IN BATTING ORDER

  1. Barry Richards (right handed opening batter). Rated by Donald Bradman as the best right handed opener he ever saw in action.
  2. Jimmy Cook (right handed opening batter). His three test appearances, after SA’s readmission, came too late for him to show his true skills at that level, but over 20,000 FC runs at 50 including 64 centuries indicate a player of class.
  3. Ken McEwan (right handed batter). Essex fans of a certain vintage will recognize the name of one of the most talented batters they ever had at their disposal.
  4. Eddie Barlow (right handed batter, right arm medium pacer). The man who singlehandedly breathed new life into a moribund Derbyshire in the 1970s. He was one of two possible captains for this XI, but I have decided he has to settle being vice captain.
  5. Clive Rice (right handed batter, right arm fast medium bowler). A very long career, including many years service for Nottinghamshire, yielded him 26,000 runs at almost 41 and 930 Fc wickets at 22.5. A wicket taking rate of less than two per match (482 FC appearances in total) militates against him being labelled as a genuine all rounder but as you will see this side is not short of bowling resources.
  6. +Lee Irvine (left handed batter, wicket keeper). Played SA’s last four tests before isolation, averaging 50 with the bat in that brief international career. He ended up just shy of 10,000 FC runs, at just over 40 a time, and held 240 catches and made seven stumpings as a keeper. He played for Essex at one time.
  7. *Mike Procter (right arm fast bowler, occasional off spinner, right handed batter, captain). In first class cricket, including a long spell at Gloucestershire, he averaged 36 with the bat and 19 with the ball, and his aggression would make him a good fit for number seven in a powerful line up.
  8. Stephen Jefferies (left arm fast medium bowler, left handed batter). Had an all ten in the course of his first class career, and once reduced an English one day cup final to near farce by ripping out the top four in the opposition line up in his opening burst, virtually settling the match before it was more than a few overs old. Good enough with the bat to have amassed 14 first class fifties and averaged 25 in that department.
  9. Garth Le Roux (right arm fast bowler, right handed batter). A ferocious proposition, even on the docile surfaces that Hove (where he played a lot of his county cricket) generally produces. Like Jefferies he was a reasonably useful lower order batter, averaging 25 in that department, which in his case means that his averages are the right way round – he took his wickets at under 22 a piece.
  10. Denys Hobson (leg spinner, right handed batter). Generally reckoned to be the best South African spinner of the period concerned, his 374 FC wickets came at 27.52 a piece. Hobson is the only member of this XI who never played county cricket, a detail that led to him missing out on World Series Cricket.
  11. Vince van der Bijl (right arm fast medium bowler, right handed batter). His first class career yielded 767 wickets at 16.54 a piece, including a season at Middlesex where he was massively popular.

The batting line up is powerful, and there is plenty of depth with Procter a genuine AR and Jefferies and Le Roux as noted both handy lower order batters. The bowling, with a front line attack of Van der Bijl, Le Roux, Jefferies, Procter and Hobson plus Rice as sixth bowler, and Eddie Barlow unlikely ever to get a look in is simply awesome. The spin department is unquestionably light, with Procter’s off spin incarnation the only remotely serious support for Hobson’s leggies, but this attack should be well capable of capturing 20 opposition wickets on any surface nevertheless.

HONOURABLE MENTIONS

Graeme Pollock played on through the 1970s, but having (correctly IMO) named him in the first squad I decided to keep him out of this one. Other than that I have little to add to the above.

PHOTOGRAPHS

My usual sign off…

All Time XIs – South Africa 1889-1970

An XI from South Africa’s first period as a test playing nation and a huge photo gallery.

This is the first of what will be three posts about South African cricket – I will also cover the period of isolation and their second incarnation as a test nation. I have previously done an all time SA post (click here, although a current version would show some changes).

THE XI IN BATTING ORDER

  1. Herby Taylor (right handed opening batter). The number of test match batters who could claim with any conviction to have mastered the great Syd Barnes totals one – this man, who in a series when Barnes took 49 wickets in four matches at less than 10 a piece before missing the fifth due to a dispute over terms and conditions scored 509 runs at 50.90.
  2. Trevor Goddard (left handed batter, left arm medium paced bowler). He was a regular opener, averaging 35 with the bat at test level and taking his test wickets (123 in 41 matches) at 26 a piece.
  3. Bruce Mitchell (right handed opening batter, occasional leg spinner). His bowling is not likely to be needed here as will be seen later. He 42 played matches over a 20 year span (split into two by WWII), scoring 3,471 runs at 48.88. He usually opened but I have put him one place lower in this XI to mix up the left and right handers.
  4. Graeme Pollock (left handed batter). He played enough test matches before isolation for his greatness to be confirmed, and because he never played county cricket he was barred from playing in Packer’s World Series Cricket, so his deeds post 1970 were largely confined to those performed in his native land, hence my decision to pick him in this XI rather than the next.
  5. *Dudley Nourse (right handed batter, captain). One of the legendary figures of South African cricket, averaging 53 at test level.
  6. Aubrey Faulkner (right handed batter, leg spinner). The most genuine of genuine all rounders, and as such one of the first names on the team sheet.
  7. +John Waite (wicket keeper, right handed batter). 141 dismissals in his 50 test appearances, and a good enough batter to average 30 at the highest level, with four centuries along the way, and that when he was often used as an opener, a tough ask for a keeper.
  8. Bert Vogler (leg spinner, right handed batter). 64 wickets at 22.73 in his 15 test appearances, and good enough with the bat to average 17 at test level with two half centuries.
  9. Hugh Tayfield (off spinner, right handed batter). One of the most economical of all test bowlers, once sending down 137 successive dot balls against England. He was also South Africa’s leading wicket taker of their first incarnation as a test nation with 170 scalps in 37 test matches at 25.91 a piece, and like Vogler he sometimes had his moments as a lower order batter.
  10. Peter Pollock (right arm fast bowler, right handed batter). As the elder of two brothers he had to get his younger brother out if he wanted a bat on their backyard games as a child, and since that younger brother was Graeme Pollock this took a fair bit of doing. 116 wickets in 28 test matches at 24.18 confirms that he developed into a decidedly good bowler. He was also far from being a rabbit with the bat.
  11. Neil Adcock (right arm fast bowler, right handed batter). A genuine number 11 with the bat, but 104 wickets at 21.10 each in 26 test matches confirms his greatness in his chosen department.

This side has great batting depth, with only Adcock absolutely incapable of assisting in that department and a well varied bowling attack. The seam department is a little light, with Goddard third in line in that department, but I would not anticipate this side struggling to take 20 opposition wickets.

HONOURABLE MENTIONS

I ruled out Barry Richards, reserving him for the 1970-91 side, as four test matches is an insufficient sample, and unlike RG Pollock he was seen all around the world after the enforced ending of his international career. That meant that other than my choices there were two serious candidates for the opening berths – Alan Melville and Eric Rowan. Melville, because of WWII, only got to play 11 test matches, though his record was outstanding in those matches. Rowan was nearly as awkward a customer for his team mates and the SA cricketing authorities as he was for opposition bowlers.

Two great figures from the early days of SA cricket, Jimmy Sinclair (their first ever test centurion) and Arthur William ‘Dave’ Nourse missed out because their records lacked sufficient substance to back up their legendary status.

The only rival for Faulkner’s slot was Eddie Barlow, but his test record was that of a batter who bowled, not an all rounder, so I opted for Faulkner as offering a more complete package. Some would have opted for Denis Lindsay as keeper, but he only had one really good series, whereas Waite was a consistent performer over a long period of time.

I regarded all my four specialist bowlers as having ironclad cases for inclusion. Of the quicker bowlers Peter Heine was the unluckiest to miss out based on concrete achievements. We have no way of knowing how great Krom Hendricks might have been if given the chance, and ‘Buster’ Nupen was superb on matting pitches but ineffective on turf, a disparity that is reflected in his modest test record. Athol Rowan was possibly an even more talented off spinner than Hugh Tayfield, but a knee injury sustained during WWII ruined his career.

PHOTOGRAPHS

My usual sign off…

County Stalwarts of my Lifetime XI

With precisely three weeks to go until the start of the English season I offer up an XI of county stalwarts who played in my lifetime. I also have a splendid photo gallery.

I present an XI of county stalwarts from my lifetime. I have allowed myself one overseas player only, and when it came to the home players the accent was on folk who were IMO treated shabbily by the England selectors. There will be a very brief honourable mentions section at the end. I also have a splendid photo gallery for you – the last couple of days have been genuinely springlike.

THE XI IN BATTING ORDER

  1. Daryl Mitchell (Worcestershire, right handed opening batter, occasional medium pacer). While the current pairing at the top of the England order of Duckett and Crawley seems to be functioning fairly well there was a long period after the retirement of Andrew Strauss when England could not find an opener to score consistent runs as Alastair Cook’s partner. Somehow, in spite of scoring almost 14,000 FC runs at an average of 38 Mr Mitchell’s name never came to the attention of the selectors (nb the Daryl Mitchell who plays for NZ is a middle order batter and is eight years younger than the Worcestershire opener).
  2. Chris Dent (Gloucestershire, left handed opening batter). Another, like Mitchell, who was superbly consistent (just over 11,000 FC runs at an average of 37, and no attention from the England selectors.
  3. Graeme Hick (Worcestershire, right handed batter, occasional off spinner). The only batter ever to score triple centuries in three different decades (1980s, 19902, 2000s). His test returns were decidedly modest (he averaged 31 at that level and only managed five centuries in quite a number of matches), but he was an absolute destroyer of county bowling (Ollie Pope, the current England number three, is at risk of ending his career with a similar record of having destroyed county bowling and not quite done the business at test level, although he has time to rectify that, and has already done more at test level than Hick managed in his career – nevertheless, the wrong way round disparity between the record of Pope of Surrey and that of Pope of England is cause for concern).
  4. James Hildreth (Somerset, right handed batter, occasional right arm medium pacer). It borders on ludicrous that a player who scored 18,000 FC runs at 44 finished his career without an international cap, but such was the fate of Somerset stroke maker James Hildreth.
  5. David Sales (Northamptonshire, right handed batter). A 17 year old announces himself at first class level by scoring 210* on debut – surely a case if ever there was one for fast tracking, but no. Sales, who added a triple century and a 276* to that debut knock along the way and tallied almost 14,000 FC runs at an average of just over 39 would end his career uncapped by his country.
  6. +Ben Foakes (Essex, Surrey, right handed batter, wicket keeper). The best keeper around in the men’s game today (the likes of Eleanor Threlkeld and Rhianna Southby are also superb practitioners of the stumpers art), and a fine middle order batter (Surrey habitually use him at number five, followed by a cluster of all rounders and bowlers). However, after a tour in which England suffered the fate of every recent visiting side from any country to India – namely got well beaten, there are already murmurs about England dropping him for the home summer. In this side, with a genuine all rounder, a bowling all rounder and a batter who bowls in the next three slots this wicket keeping all rounder is unlikely to find himself having to attempt to nurse along genuine tail enders as he did in each of the fourth and fifth tests of the recent tour.
  7. Darren Stevens (Leicestershire, Kent, right handed batter, right arm medium pacer). In his Leicestershire days he was treated as a specialist batter and his record in that department did not merit an England call up. He was already past 30 years of age when his move to Kent saw him morph into a genuine all rounder, and his age always counted against him in terms of England selection, even when he kept on going and going into his middle 40s with no sign of his skills declining.
  8. Richard Hadlee (Nottinghamshire, right arm fast bowler, left handed batter). I have deliberately chosen an overseas player who served one county for a number of years rather than one of the more modern foreign mercenaries who never develop any loyalties but play instead for whoever will pay them. The fact that he would be in any rational person’s top two or three overseas players of the period under consideration (1980s forward basically, given my age) gives him a strong case anyway. While batting was unquestionable the second string to the bow of one the greatest fast bowlers of all time, 12,000 FC runs at an average of 31 is definitely enough to class him as a bowling all rounder, as is the fact that in 1984 he achieved the season’s double of 1,000 runs and 100 wickets in first class matches, the first time anyone had achieved the feat since the reduction of the FC season in 1969 to make way for the John Player League, and achieved only once since then, by Franklyn Stephenson, also of Nottinghamshire. Of course in the 2020s 14 game FC season anyone achieveing this feat would be doing something on a par with George Hirst’s ‘double double’ – 2,000 runs and 200 wickets in first class matches for the season – of 1906.
  9. *Phil Carrick (Yorkshire, left arm orthodox spinner, right handed batter, captain). He captained Yorkshire at a time when that job was the biggest poison chalice in cricket. He also took 1,081 FC wickets at 29.82, and scored 10,300 FC runs at 22.00 – a handy person to be coming in at number nine.
  10. Steve Watkin (Glamorgan, right arm medium fast bowler, right handed batter). Many bowlers with far worse test averages than Watkin’s 27.72 got much more recognition than the tall Welsh seamer, who finished with three international caps. He was a workhorse for Glamorgan, at or near the top of the national bowling averages season after season. He did eventually gain the reward of being part of Glamorgan’s third (and to date last) ever championship winning side in 1996.
  11. Jamie Porter (Essex, right arm medium fast bowler, right handed batter). Generally speaking if you want to see a champion side look at the bowling -Yorkshire in the 1900s and 1930s were a much stronger bowling side than theyb were with the bat, and they dominated both decades, Surrey owned the 1950s , again with a bowling dominant side. Similarly Essex dominated the second half of the 2010s, and there were three main reasons for this – Porter and Sam Cook with the new ball and Simon Harmer’s off spin. Porter is now approaching his 31st birthday, which probably means that he will remain uncapped by England, which given that he has 466 FC wickets at 23.75 looks nearly as bizarre as does Hildreth remaining uncapped.

This side has a powerful top five, plenty of scope for runs from the middle and lower middle order, with Foakes and Stevens genuinely front line batters, Hadlee almost so and even Carrick better than most number nines would be in that department. The bowling, with Hadlee’s pace, two very different types of high quality medium-fast in Porter and Watkin, Carrick’s spin and Steven’s medium pace should not struggle to take 20 wickets either. Though I have acknowledged the bowling capacities of some of the batters, I do not see any of them, with the possible exception of Hick on a fourth day pitch, being needed.

HONOURABLE MENTIONS

Those who read my county all time XIs back in 2020 would have noted from them that if I choose an overseas player I nearly always go for a bowler, and that being the case along with my desire to pick a long serving county player narrowed the potential choices down to two – Hadlee, who I actually opted for, and Malcolm Marshall (Hampshire). There is little to choose between two such outstanding cricketers, and I would be happy to see Marshall at number eight as well.

The spinner was a difficult choice, because with Hick in the ranks I preferred either a left armer or a leggie as my primary spinner. No English leggie has had a really good record in recent years (and Matt Parkinson, the nearest thing to such and animal, would have meant a genuine nine, ten, jack), and not many left armers have been that special either (and the two most obvious candidates, Tufnell and Panesar would cause the same worry as Parkinson batting wise). I could have found another English pacer, and picked Warne as overseas player, but I did not think his period at Hampshire was extensive enough to qualify.

Had I not been concentrating my attention on those who were badly treated by selectors then Marcus Trescothick (Somerset) would have had Chris Dent’s slot. Two men of Kent, Mark Benson (one England cap in 1986) and David Fulton (uncapped by England) were in with a shout for Mitchell’s slot.

Two other opening bowlers to be ignored by England in spite of excellent FC records were Ben Coad (Yorkshire) and Ben Sanderson (Northamptonshire).

PHOTOGRAPHS

My usual sign off…

Early bird catches the worm(s)! This little blackbird was clearly having a successful morning.

All Time XIs – Past and Present Combined

An all time XI selected on a basis of juxtaposing ancient and modern – six players from way back, five players from the 21st century, interleaving with one another so that no two players from the same era are next to each other in the batting order, Also a bumper photo gallery.

In this post I present an all time XI selected using very specific criteria – my players are either from the long past or are players at least some of whose career took place in the 21st century, and the interleave so that no two players from the same era are next to each other in the line up.

THE XI IN BATTING ORDER

  1. *WG Grace (England, right handed opening batter, right arm bowler of various styles through his career, captain). In spite of not getting to play test cricket until he was 32 years old he twice held the record individual score for England – 152 on debut in the first match on English soil in 1880, and 170 in the final match of the 1886 series, regaining the record from Arthur Shrewsbury who had set it the previous match with 164.
  2. Yashavsi Jaiswal (India, left handed opening batter). Has just had an amazing series against England (712 runs including two double centuries), and looks set to have a long career for India.
  3. Don Bradman (Australia, right handed batter). Quite simply the greatest test match batter the world has ever seen.
  4. Brian Lara (West Indies, left handed batter). Succeeded everywhere and against every type of bowling, including 688 runs against Sri Lanka in Sri Lanka against peak Muralidaran (off spinners are supposed to cause left handers particular problems).
  5. Aubrey Faulkner (South Africa, right handed batter, leg spinner). Has a case to be regarded as the most genuine of genuine all rounders, averaging 40.79 with the bat (just over 1,700 runs) and 26.58 with the ball (85 wickets). No one else to have played enough matches to qualify for consideration has ended with a batting average of over 40 and a bowling average of below 30.
  6. Ben Stokes (England, left handed batter, right arm fast medium bowler). A talismanic figure for England in recent years, with a value to the side that goes far beyond his mediocre looking figures at test level.
  7. +Leslie Ames (England, wicket keeper, right handed batter). The first test match class wicket keeper to also be a genuinely high class batter.
  8. R Ashwin (India, off spinner, right handed batter). One of the greatest of all off spinners, and a useful lower order batter as well.
  9. Syd Barnes (England, right arm fast medium bowler, right handed batter). 189 wickets in just 27 test appearances, at 16.43 a piece.
  10. Jasprit Bumrah (India, right arm fast bowler, right handed batter). India’s greatest ever fast bowler, and one of the greatest of all time.
  11. William Mycroft (Derbyshire, left arm fast bowler, right handed batter). Over 800 FC wickets at 12.09 a piece, but born just too early to play test cricket. In this XI he would probably come on first change after Barnes and Bumrah had done their stuff with the new ball.

This side has a powerhouse batting line up, and a bowling attack of Barnes, Bumrah and Mycroft to bowl pace/seam/swing and Ashwin and Faulkner to bowl spin, with Grace and Stokes in reserve, is not likely to have any great difficulty taking 20 opposition wickets. I will not produce an honourable mentions section on this occasion because it would have to be massive to do anything approaching justice to those who have missed out. Comments welcome, and if you are feeling really bold feel free to suggest an alternative XI selected on similar lines that you reckon could make a game of it with this one.

PHOTOGRAPHS

A bumper gallery for you today – while it has not been conspicuously sunny it has been reasonably pleasant outside…

All Time XIs – County Legends

An all time XI of some of the legends of county cricket, with the new season now 25 days away. Also a photo gallery.

Today I present an all time XI of players who all set records relating to English first class cricket, as an appetizer for the new season that is now a mere 25 days away. I have not included a specific overseas player although one of this XI was born abroad.

THE XI IN BATTING ORDER

  1. *WG Grace (Gloucestershire, London County, right handed opening batter, right arm bowler of various styles, captain). Joint leading achiever of the feat of 1,000 runs in a first class season (28 times).
  2. Wilfred Rhodes (Yorkshire, left arm orthodox spinner, right handed batter). No one took 100 first class wickets in a season more often than Rhodes (23 times), and no one achieved the double of 1,000 runs and 100 wickets in a season more often (16 times).
  3. Frank Woolley (Kent, left handed batter, left arm orthodox spinner). Achieved the “batting all rounder’s double” of 2,000 runs and 100 wickets for the season a record four times, joint record holder for 1,000 runs in a season.
  4. Denis Compton (Middlesex, right handed batter, occasional left arm wrist spinner). Most first class runs in an English season (3,816), and most first class centuries in an English season (18), both set in 1947.
  5. Phil Mead (Hampshire, left handed batter). Most runs (48,809) and most centuries (138) for a single first class team.
  6. George Hirst (Yorkshire, right handed batter, left arm fast medium bowler). The only player ever to score 2,000 first class runs and take 200 wickets in the same first class season (1906), record unbroken sequence of achieving a minimum of 1,000 and 100 (1902-12 inclusive).
  7. +Les Ames (Kent, wicket keeper, right handed batter). The “wicket keeper’s double” of 1,000 runs and 100 dismissals in first class matches in the same season was only ever achieved four times, and three of those were by Ames (John Murray of Middlesex achieved the other).
  8. Maurice Tate (Sussex, right arm medium fast bowler, right handed batter). The “bowling all rounder’s double” of at least 1,000 runs and 200 wickets in the same first class season was achieved by two people outside of Hirst’s 1906 ‘double double’, this man, and the guy one place below him in the order.
  9. Albert Trott (Middlesex, right arm slow bowler, right handed batter). From 1899-1901 he was the best all rounder in the world, and even after his star faded in later years he produced the occasional outstanding performance, notably against Somerset in 1907.
  10. Alfred Percy ‘Tich’ Freeman (Kent, leg spinner, right handed batter). In 1928 he achieved the only ever season’s haul of 300 first class wickets (304), and he took 200 or more in a record eight successive seasons including that one.
  11. Tom Richardson (Surrey, right arm fast bowler, right handed batter). The most wickets in a season by anyone other than Freeman (290), and he has records for fewest matches to reach 1,000 FC scalps (134) and 2,000 (327).

This side has a powerhouse batting line up, with everyone down to Trott at number nine capable of being a matchwinner in that department, and with Richardson, Tate and Hirst to bowl seam/swing/pace, Freeman, Trott, Rhodes and Woolley as front line slow bowlers and Grace and Compton also available to bowl taking 20 wickets should not pose a problem on any surface.

HONOURABLE MENTIONS

I will limit myself to two of these: James H Parks (Sussex) was the only ever cricketer to score 3,000 first class runs and take 100 first class wickets in the same season. Herbert Sutcliffe (Yorkshire) also merits a mention for scoring 1,000 or more FC runs in every inter-war season (1919-39 inclusive).

PHOTOGRAPHS

My usual sign off…

All Time XIs – Not Quite Test Class

A twist on one of my regular themes – Pick an XI of players whose averages suggest that they weren’t quite test class but who were nevertheless very valuable to their side.s.

Today in a twist on my usual theme I select a team of players who by their averages seem to fall short of test class but who were hugely valuable to their respective teams. I have allowed myself one sneaky selection who many would say should be disallowed due to the era in which he played, but the other 10 are bona fide qualifiers on my criteria.

THE XI IN BATTING ORDER

  1. John Wright (New Zealand, left handed opening batter, 5,334 runs at 37.82). A couple of runs per innings short of the usual modern day benchmark for front line test batter, but the gritty left hander was a crucial component of the New Zealand sides of the 1980s.
  2. Tamim Iqbal (Bangladesh, right handed opening batter, 5,134 test runs at 38.89). With a left handed sticker as one opener the ideal counterpart to him would be right hander with more attacking instincts, and the Bangladeshi, probably the classiest batter his country has produced to date fits the bill perfectly.
  3. Mark Butcher (England, left handed batter, very occasional right arm medium pacer, 4,288 runs at 34.58). He had a two-phase career, struggling initially but becoming a very important member of the England sides of his day later on. He was the matchwinner at Headingley in 2001 with a blistering 173* as England chased down over 300 in the fourth innings.
  4. *Nasser Hussain (England, right handed batter, captain, 5,764 runs at 37.18). It was he as captain who began England’s revival from hitting rock bottom in 1999, and he was by then a very highly respected batter. His career highlight came at Edgbaston in 1997, when after Australia were shot out for 118 batting first he scored 207.
  5. Clem Hill (Australia, left handed batter, 3,412 runs at 39.21). The sneaky pick – at the time of his retirement he had scored more test career runs than anyone else, and among those who played 10 or more tests only Ranji, with an average of 45 outranked him on that metric.
  6. Mulvantrai ‘Vinoo’ Mankad (India, right handed batter, left arm orthodox spinner, 2,109 runs at 31.47, 162 wickets at 32.32). Fails to qualify as test class in either department, but for all that he was one of India’s most important ever players. He often had to open the batting because there were few Indians in those days who had the technique to cope with the new ball when it was moving, and he also had to bowl huge numbers of overs because India were short staffed in that department owing to their domestic cricket being played on roads – the only two first class matches ever to produce an aggregate of over 2,000 runs were both played in India, and both during Mankad’s playing days.
  7. +Ben Foakes (England, right handed batter, wicket keeper, 1,107 runs at 29.91, 68 catches and eight stumpings). An all time great of the keeper’s art, but many question his place in the side on grounds of his batting. He bats in the top half of the order for Surrey, and there are few if any real bunnies in the Surrey line up, so he never has to try to shepherd them, as happened in the second innings at Ranchi, when he was stranded with only Bashir and Anderson for company.
  8. Jack Gregory (Australia, right arm fast bowler, left handed batter, 85 wickets at 31.15, 1107 runs at 36.96). Was part of a devastating new ball pairing with Ted McDonald in 1920-1, but once he lost the Tasmanian’s support at the other end when the latter moved to England to play as a Lancashire League pro and ultimately for Lancashire his bowling fell away, with injuries also taking toll – a knee injury terminated his career in the first match of the 1928-9 Ashes.
  9. Phillip DeFreitas (England, right arm fast medium bowler, right handed batter, 140 wickets at 33.57, 934 runs at 14.82). On the face of one of far too many England cricketers of that era whose averages were the wrong way round, but his bowling was often valuable for England, never more so than in 1991, in which season he recorded his best ever innings figures of 7-70. He was also a magnificent outfielder, with safe hands and a very powerful and accurate throw.
  10. Nathan Lyon (Australia, off spinner, 527 wickets at 30.35). Bowling average just the wrong side of 30, but this is an off spinner who has played half his matches or thereabouts in Australia, and the record of visiting off spinners in Australia makes pretty grim reading.
  11. Steve Harmison (right arm fast bowler, 226 wickets at 31.82). When he was first called up for England he was wild and wayward, with most of such wickets as he managed to take being caught at deep third man, but he had a great period in the middle of his career. In the first match of the 2005 Ashes he quite literally left his mark on the Australian top three – all copped bruises from him early in their innings.

This side has a solid looking top five, with a good mix of defence and attack, Mankad having the luxury of being in an all rounder’s best position, a great keeper and a quartet of frontline bowlers capable of great things. Gregory, Harmison and DeFreitas should form an effective pace/ seam/ swing trio and Lyon and Mankad are a contrasting pair of spinners. This side, for all that in theory all 11 of its members fall short of test class should be able to give a good account of itself, especially given that they will be well led by Hussain.

I am not doing an honourable mentions section this time, but there was a challenger for Mankad’s slot – Shakib Al Hasan of Bangladesh who averages 39 with the bat and 31 with the ball. I opted for Mankad on two grounds – firstly there is still time for Shakib to disqualify himself (most likely with the bat if he does manage it) and secondly I believe that Mankad would fare better as an all rounder in this XI than he did when having to virtually carry an ordinary India side on his shoulders. Also, though I do not list this as a reason there is another factor – I wanted to take the opportunity to showcase Mankad as a fine cricketer and not just as guy associated with a form of dismissal that for no good reason tends to generate controversy.

PHOTOGRAPHS

My usual sign off – I have a bumper crop at present, and this gallery could have been bigger had I wanted it to be so…

‘Cormorant Platform’ had a splendid turnout on Monday as these pictures show.
Yesterday was grey and rainy.
An ExCel bus on each side of the road – this is a designated driver change point, necessitated by the fact that the full route between Norwich and Peterborough takes over three hours.
This little critter was alongside Bawsey Drain this afternoon.