Tag: Malcolm Marshall

M & Ms

An all time XI of players whose given names begin with the letter M, a more than usually important honourable mentions section, which deals with several areas of controversy and a two part photo gallery.

Today I present an all time XI of cricketers whose given names all begin with the letter M, and an honourable mentions section of more than usual importance. I also have plenty of photos to share.

THE XI IN BATTING ORDER

  1. *Mark Taylor (Australia, left handed opening batter, captain). The second in a sequence of extraordinarily successful Aussie skippers, in that role he consolidated the achievements of Border who had taken over a team of also rans and passed his successor a team of champions and was succeeded by Steve Waugh. The wheels eventually came off the Aussie juggernaut under Waugh’s successor as skipper, Ricky Ponting, who suffered three Ashes series defeats, the last of which featured Australia on the wrong end of three innings defeats. His status as a batter was first shown in 1989 when he scored 839 runs in that year’s Ashes, a series tally beaten by only one Australian (Don Bradman, 974 in 1930), and bested by only Hammond among England players (905 in 1928-9). Probably his most famous moment came when he declared with himself on 334*, at the time a joint record individual score for an Australian with Don Bradman.
  2. Michael Slater (Australia, right handed opening batter). An attack minded opener who once scored 123* in a total of 184 all out, a performance that almost certainly won his side the match in question.
  3. Mahela Jayawardene (Sri Lanka, right handed batter). One of his country’s finest ever batters. He once scored 374 against South Africa, a test record for a right handed batter, in the course of which he shared a third wicket stand of 624, a first class record for any wicket, with Kumar Sangakkara. Almost 12,000 test runs at 49 show that he was far from being the Colombo specialist he was sometimes labelled.
  4. Martin Crowe (New Zealand, right handed batter). With the greatest of respect to Kane Williamson who has been part of a much stronger batting line up, he was probably the greatest batter his country has produced to date. His maiden test century, against England in the 1983-4 series between the two countries inspired his team mates to save a game in which they looked well beaten for most of the duration. This result in turn helped New Zealand to win a series against England for the first time ever, a feat they then repeated in England two and a half years later.
  5. Martin Donnelly (New Zealand, left handed batter). When he was in his prime cricket in New Zealand was almost entirely amateur, a fact that caused him to leave the game early, taking up a post as marketing manager at Courtauld’s of Sydney. In his brief career he became one of only two players to score Lord’s centuries in a Varsity match, a Gentlemen versus Players match and a test match. The last of this trio was an innings of 206. Also in a now legendary match between England and the Dominions, again at Lord’s, he was one of two Dominions players along with Keith Miller to score centuries, while a banquet of batting was completed by Hammond who scored twin tons for England.
  6. Mulvantrai Himmatlal ‘Vinoo’ Mankad (India, right handed batter, left arm orthodox spin bowler). This is probably the most controversial selection of my XI, but this guy was a lot more than the first to run out a non-striker for stealing ground in a test match – he completed the double of 1,000 runs and 100 wickets in his 23rd test match, a mark bettered only by Ian Botham (21 matches) ever since. His batting highlights included four double centuries, while his best test innings figures were an eight-for.
  7. +Mark Boucher (wicket keeper, right handed batter). Over 500 test match dismissals in the course of his very long career, and good enough with the bat to average 30 at test level.
  8. Malcolm Marshall (West Indies, right arm fast bowler, right handed batter). For my money the greatest fast bowler of the golden age of West Indies fast bowling, and therefore by definition among the greatest of all time. He was also a useful lower order batter.
  9. Mitchell Johnson (Australia, left arm fast bowler, left handed batter). This was another close call, the other candidate for the left arm fast bowler’s slot also being an Australian with the given name Mitchell, but my reckoning is that Johnson had a higher ceiling than Starc, and for that reason he gets the nod.
  10. Michael Holding (West Indies, right arm fast bowler, right handed batter). “Whispering Death” first gained legendary status at The Oval in 1976, when he conjured 14-149 (8-92 and 6-57) out of one of the flattest pitches imaginable, a surface on which every other bowler in the match took exactly as many wickets between them as he managed on his own, and he never lost the status he gained then for the rest of his playing career, also going on to a successful commentary career once his playing days were done.
  11. Muthiah Muralidaran (Sri Lanka, off spinner, right handed batter). More test wickets than any other bowler, 800 in 133 appearances at that level. In 1998 at The Oval, on a pitch that was flat to begin with and never turned truly spiteful he collected 16 English wickets across the two innings, a performance that separated the sides.

This side has a strong top five, a great and often underrated all rounder st six, one of the finest of all keeper/ batters and four mighty specialist bowlers, of whom three are definitely capable of chipping in with the bat as well. A bowling attack of Marshall, Holding, Johnson, Muralidaran and Mankad should never struggle unduly to take 20 opposition wickets.

HONOURABLE MENTIONS

I will deal with some obvious controversies first, starting with…

THE NUMBER SIX SLOT

Two big names missed out here. Mike Procter, the South African genius whose international career was cut short by the enforced isolation of his country would be the choice of many, but I wanted a spin bowling all rounder, given the pace bowlers who were already inked in further down the order, and although Procter did have spin in his locker it was off spin, and I had an off spinner marked for inclusion as well. Mushtaq Mohammed, the Pakistan leg spinning all rounder who made his test debut at the age of 15 was another possibility, and I would not argue with anyone who picks him ahead of Mankad – my verdict went to the Indian who deserves better than to remembered for his association with one particular mode of dismissal.

NUMBERS FOUR AND FIVE

Martin Donnelly’s left handedness secured him the number five slot for reasons of balance. This left a big call to made at number four between two antipodeans who both graced that slot at test level, and Mark ‘Afghan’ Waugh missed out in favour of Martin Crowe. Again, this was a very close and possibly controversial decision, and I accept that those who favour ‘Afghan’ have a valid point of view.

THE OPENERS

The fact that I wanted Mark Taylor to captain the side dictated the selection of the left handed opener, and I like a left/ right opening combo if possible, which led to the selection of Slater as Taylor’s opening partner, a role he actually played. Matthew Hayden had a serious claim on the left handed openers slot but for the need for a captain, and Marcus Trescothick was also in the frame.

OTHER HONOURABLE MENTIONS

Michael Vaughan was another candidate for captain, but his natural slot in the order would be number three and that would mean dropping Mahela Jayawardene. Misbah-ul-Haq would also have his advocates for the captaincy role, but the only player I could have dropped to make way for him would have been Martin Crowe. Mansoor Akhtar had a good record in domestic cricket in Pakistan, but never delivered in international cricket. Mitchell Marsh of Australia would be one of the first names on the team sheet for a limited overs XI, but his test record is nothing special. Madhusudan Rege had his moments in Indian domestic cricket, but played at a time when conditions in that country were preposterously favourable to batting, and was a one=cap wonder at test level. Marizanne Kapp came closest among female players to challenging for a place in this XI. Mushfiqur Rahim, who recently made history as the first Bangladeshi given out for handling the ball (a dismissal along with the former ‘hit ball twice’ now lumped in under Obstructing the Field) was a potential rival to Boucher for the gauntlets, but I rate the Saffa as the finer keeper and reckon that this side is strong enough batting wise that the extra five runs or so per innings that Rahim might be worth would be unlikely to make a lot of difference. Mushtaq Ahmed, the Pakistan leg spinner of the 1990s and early 2000s, came very close, and if the match were being played at the Narendra Modi stadium I might drop Holding and go in with just Marshall and Johnson to bowl pace and spin trio of Muralidaran, Ahmed and Mankad. Moeen Ali would merit consideration for a limited overs XI, but does not qualify for an XI picked with long form cricket in mind – the notion that the extra batting he offers might even come close to compensating for the gulf in class between him and Muralidaran as bowlers is frankly risible as far as I am concerned.

PHOTOGRAPHS

Today’s photo gallery comes in two parts. First we have some pictures from the place where the West Norfolk Autism Group committee had their Christmas meal earlier today…

…and we finish with some of my usual pictures.

All Time XIs – Barbados Born

An all time XI of Barbados born players, highlighting the immense talent produced by that tiny coral island down the years. Also a photo gallery.

I have mentioned in some of my previous all time XIs posts the remarkable number of amazing cricketers produced by the tiny coral island of Barbados. Now I select an XI specifically to showcase the extent of the talent produced by this island with a population of under 300,000.

THE XI IN BATTING ORDER

  1. Gordon Greenidge (right handed opening batter). One half of the greatest opening pair the West Indies have ever had, and both hail from this island.
  2. Desmond Haynes (right handed opening batter). The other half of that legendary opening pair.
  3. *Frank Worrell (right handed batter, left arm medium fast bowler, captain). The total number of West Indies captains to truly overcome inter island rivalries totals two – this man and Clive Lloyd of Guyana. Worrell was a classy batter who scored his test runs at an average of 49, and his appointment as skipper ended one of cricket’s nastier shibboleths – the view that a mainly black team needed a white man to lead them.
  4. Everton Weekes (right handed batter). One of the most powerful stroke makers ever seen, but a firm believer in keeping the ball on the ground – he rarely hit sixes. He averaged 58.61 in test cricket, including a sequence at that level of five centuries in successive innings.
  5. Clyde Walcott (right handed batter, occasional wicket keeper, occasional medium pacer). Like Weekes a ferocious hitter of a cricket ball, and a colossal scorer even at test level (average 56). Additionally he once shared fourth wicket stand of 574 for Barbados with Frank Worrell, at the time an FC record for any wicket, though it was beaten only a few years later when Gul Mahomed and Vijay Hazare got to work for Baroda against Holkar, also for the fourth wicket, and that in turn was beaten by Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara for Sri Lanka against South Africa, when they put on 624 for the third wicket.
  6. Garry Sobers (left handed batter, left arm bowler of every type known to cricket). The most multi-skilled player ever to play the game.
  7. +David Murray (wicket keeper, right handed batter). Barbados’s finest ever keeper, and good enough to play for the West Indies.
  8. Malcolm Marshall (right arm fast bowler, right handed batter). One of the greatest fast bowlers ever to play the game and a more than useful lower order batter.
  9. Wes Hall (right arm fast bowler, right handed lower order batter). A legendary fast bowler of the late 1950s and early 1960s and a good enough lower order batter to score a first class century.
  10. Joel Garner (right arm fast bowler, right handed lower order batter). An awkward proposition because of the immense height from which he released the ball (above the height of many sightscreens), and capable of useful runs at need.
  11. Manny Martindale (right arm fast bowler, right handed tail end batter). Not many test appearances, as he belonged to the early days of West Indies test history, but he took his wickets at that level at 21 each, and over a larger sample size at FC level paid 25 each for his wickets.

This side has a stellar top six, a keeper who could bat and four great fast bowlers, most of whom had at least some capability with the bat as well. The spin bowling is weak, with Sobers the only front line option in that department, but that reflects the fact that conditions in Barbados have generally favoured fast bowlers and not spinners. Still not many places with similar populations could offer up an XI that would come close to challenging this one.

HONOURABLE MENTIONS

Some my chosen XI moved away from Barbados, but all played for the West Indies. Four Barbadian born cricketers moved to England and have played for their new country: Roland Butcher (right handed batter), Gladstone Small (right arm fast medium bowler), Chris Jordan (right arm fast medium bowler, right handed batter and ace fielder) and Jofra Archer (right arm fast bowler). Of these four the only one who might challenge for a place is Archer, and his injury history counts against him. Having covered that I now deal with a player who I regard as deserving a paragraph to himself in this section…

CONRAD CLEOPHAS HUNTE

The third of the three unequivocally top of the range test openers to come out of Barbados. I left him out, because although I have little doubt that considered in isolation he outranks Haynes, and maybe even Greenidge I felt that proven effectiveness of Greenidge and Haynes as an opening combination meant that I had to pick them, which meant that I could not accommodate Hunte.

The spin bowling issue is problematic – leg spinning all rounder David Holford is not worth a place in either department, and the best specialist spinner that Barbados has produced, Sulieman Benn, has a very ordinary test record. One possible solution to getting a second front line spinner into the XI is to drop Martindale, drop Murray and the three remaining quicks a place each down the order and select Hayley Matthews, an off spinning all rounder with a great record for Barbados and West Indies women’s teams at number seven.

There are a stack of fast bowlers who could not be accommodated who would be instant selections in many another team: Wayne Daniel, Sylvester Clarke Herman Griffith and Charlie Griffith the four most obvious specialists plus a trio of all rounders – Jason Holder, Franklyn Stephenson and Ottis Gibson.

Some of you will have ideas of your own about players who could have been mentioned or selected – fire away with your comments.

PHOTOGRAPHS

My usual sign off…

A Combined Surrey/ Hampshire XI

A combined Surrey/ Hampshire XI for the ages and a substantial photo gallery.

With the match I am following between Surrey and Hampshire heading for a great finish I pick a combined Surrey/ Hampshire XI for the ages. Because I want to showcase both counties I have shown a little bias towards players associated with both. My XIs for each county individually can be seen here and here.

THE XI IN BATTING ORDER

  1. Jack Hobbs (Surrey, right handed opening batter, occasional medium pacer). The Master has an irrefutable case for selection.
  2. John Edrich (Surrey, left handed opening batter). Those who remember my original Hampshire XI (or who have followed the link in the introductory paragraph to check it out) will have noted that the opening slots were the toughest to fill for that county, whereas I was spoiled for choice in this area when it came to Surrey. Only Yorkshire, with Herbert Sutcliffe and Len Hutton, and possibly Gloucestershire with WG Grace in their historic ranks would be able to claim this slot in a combined XI with Surrey.
  3. CB Fry (Hampshire, right handed top order batter). When I originally selected my county all time XIs I assigned him to Sussex, but after Sussex he spent a few years with Hampshire, and since his FC career began at Surrey and he was born in southwest London I felt it appropriate to include him here.
  4. Phil Mead (Hampshire, left handed batter). He failed to impress Surrey, and moved south to Hampshire in consequence. He ended his career as the fourth leading scorer of both FC runs and hundreds, and the leading scorer of both for any one team.
  5. Kevin Pietersen (Hampshire and Surrey, right handed batter, occasional off spinner). Had an outstanding record, though his departure from Hampshire was as acrimonious as his earlier departure from Nottinghamshire had been. The fact that he had associations with both counties got him the nod over Peter May who also had a formidable record.
  6. +Ben Foakes (Surrey, wicket keeper, right handed batter). A shoo-in for this slot – a superb keeper and a genuine front line batter.
  7. *Percy Fender (Surrey, leg spinner, right handed batter). His approach to batting would make him an ideal choice for number seven in an XI of this nature and he was a fine bowler and a very astute captain.
  8. Malcolm Marshall (Hampshire, right arm fast bowler, right handed batter). Even at test level as he was almost good enough with the bat to be considered an all rounder, and Hampshire treated him as such. Probably the greatest fast bowler of the great age of West Indies fast bowling, and an obvious choice for the overseas slot.
  9. Jim Laker (Surrey, off spinner, right handed batter). Possibly the greatest of all off spinners. His peak came in 1956 with 46 Ashes wickets at 9.60 in the five test series and an all-ten for Surrey v The Australians in a tour match.
  10. Derek Shackleton (Hampshire, right arm medium fast, right handed batter). Only one bowler ever took at least 100 first class wickets in each of 20 successive seasons, and that bowler was Derek Shackleton. Only Wilfred Rhodes who achieved the feat 23 times in his extraordinary career has managed 100 wickets for the season more often than Shackleton. He played the inaugural season of the John Player League, and with in the year of his 45th birthday managed to bowl 80 overs for just 168 runs in this 40 overs per side tournament.
  11. Tom Richardson (right arm fast bowler, right handed batter). Between the start of the 1894 season and the end of the 1897 season the fast bowler claimed 1,005 wickets, including a then season’s record tally of 290. The 88 wickets he claimed in 14 test appearances provide the proof that he could do it against the best opposition around.

This side has a formidably powerful batting line up, a great keeper and a very strong and well balanced bowling attack – there wouldn’t be many runs available against Marshall, Richardson, Shackleton, Laker and Fender on any surface.

HONOURABLE MENTIONS

I refer folks to my honourable mentions sections for each individual county for full detail, and add the following:

Ken Barrington, Robin Smith and Peter May were the unluckiest of the batters who I picked for their individual county XIs but not this one, with Graham Thorpe also worth a mention here.

No keeper for either county could challenge Foakes.

Among the seamers two giants of the game with the forename Alec were the biggest misses: Bedser of Surrey and Kennedy of Hampshire. Bill Lockwood and George Lohmann, both Surrey, were also huge names to leave out.

For the spinners two left armers, Tony Lock (Surrey) and Stuart Boyes (Hampshire) were the big misses. Laker was a lock for the off spinners place, and in view of my desire to have Fender captain and the fact that the best leg spinner to have played for either county, Shane Warne, was an overseas player and could not displace Marshall no leg spinner could be accommodated.

PHOTOGRAPHS

I have a fine photo gallery for you…

All Time XIs – The Grand Finale

Bringing the curtain down on an immense series that has taken us through the alphabet, 200+ years of cricket history and every inhabited continent in the world. The XIs are presented in reverse ranking order, with links back to the selectorial posts.

This post concludes our cricketing journey through the alphabet, a couple of centuries of history and every inhabited continent, with a listing of each XI in reverse ranking order from 26th up to first. I have appended extra comments along the way where my thinking may have changed, or where cricketing developments caught up with me during the course of this series, which has been running since late July. Each XI is also accompanied by a link to the relevant selectorial post.

26TH: THE Qs

The challenge for this letter was actually finding 11 players to constitute an XI, and not surprisingly the final result was decidedly ill assorted. They managed just 7 of a possible 125 points.

25TH: THE Zs

Click here for more information.

24TH: THE Is

While this XI has no great strength anywhere its biggest weakness was in the seam/ pace bowling department.

23RD: THE Xs

This was an XI which required a lot of chicanery to pull together. Between the creation of this XI and latter stages of the match ups a women’s tournament took place in New Zealand, and one development there was the arrival in the big time of off spinner Xara Jetly, who were I selecting this XI now would replace MaX Waller, who adds very little to the XI.

22ND: THE Us

Click here for more information.

21ST: THE Ns

Click here for more information.

20TH: THE Ys

The strong middle order, good spin pairing and one high class fast bowler saved this side from complete disaster.

19TH – THE Cs

Click here for more information.

18TH: THE Es

A good spin pairing, two pacers with remarkable records and a world class keeper, but not enough batting for comfort and Bill Edrich the best available back up bowler. More here.

17TH: THE Os

The same score as the Es, but the Os get the higher spot as they won the match up between the two sides.

16TH: THE Ds

Good batting, good pace/ seam bowling, good keeper but the Ds fall down on spin bowling and captaincy.

15TH: THE Js

The Js.

14TH: THE Vs

The Vs superb bowling unit did not quite propel them into the top half of the table, as they lost a split tie (both XIs scoring 69 out 125) to…

13TH: THE As

Solid batting, a top keeper and a superbly balanced bowling unit was just enough to get the As into the top half of the table, since they won their match up with the Vs.

12TH: THE Hs

Stellar batting, a great keeper and a sound captain, but not quite enough bowling to get them to the very top. Neil Harvey might replace Hussey in some people’s estimation, and I would probably have served this letter better had I steeled myself to pick an all rounder (probably George Hirst, with his bowling stock in trade being left arm pace) rather than Hendren, but dropping the scorer of the second most FC centuries ever would have been a huge call.

11TH: THE Ps

The Ps, just missing out on the top ten.

10TH – THE Rs

This exemplifies the advantage of having Rhodes available – you can pick him for any one of several roles depending on your needs. Here, Rhodes the specialist spinner was required and therefore I selected him in that capacity, the one in which he both started and finished his career. The Rs.

9TH – THE Bs

In retrospect, given that Barnes could be said to attend to the leg spinners angle of attack with his ‘Barnes ball’, as explicated by Ian Peebles, himself an England leggie, it might have made this team even better to have selected Palwankar Baloo, Bishan Singh Bedi or left arm spinning all rounder Enid Bakewell in place of Benaud (who could instead be put in charge of the commentary team) to increase the variety available in the bowling department. Nevertheless, the Bs are a fine combination, and it says more about the top eight than it does about them that they ended up ninth.

8TH: THE Gs

If the Gs can be said to have a defect it is that none of their bowlers are left armed.

7TH: THE Ts

The Ts amassed the same number of points (90 out of 125) as the Ks and the Fs, but my tie-splitting procedure ranked them third out of three. Their batting was weakened slightly by the necessity of ensuring that there were relief bowling options available for three specialist quicks who demanded inclusion, a problem resolvable only by turning to the all round talents of Frank Tarrant.

6TH: THE Ks

Click here for more information.

5TH: THE Fs

For more information click here.

4TH: THE Ls

Strong and well balanced, but the Ls just missed out on a medal.

3RD: THE Ss

The Ss are a stellar combination, although Sangakkara would not be considered a top flight keeper and the spin options are limited.

2ND: THE Ms

A powerful batting line up and a superbly balanced bowling line up, with Mahmood’s leg cutter meaning that a specialist leg spinner is unlikely to be missed.

FIRST: THE Ws

A strong batting line up, a wonderfully balanced bowling attack (Wardle’s ability to bowl left arm wrist spin covers the lack of an off spinner), a quality keeper and one of the greatest of all captains. The Ws are worthy champions.

This has been a fun exercise, though challenging in parts (both weak letters where actually completing an XI takes effort and strong letters where in some cases a second or third XI would beat most of the rest of the alphabet, which require extended acknowledgements of players one has overlooked).

PHOTOGRAPHS

Not one of my largest photo galleries, but I hope you enjoy it…

All Time XIs – Match Ups 49

Continuing my extended analysis of how the all time XIs I created for each letter of the alphabet fare against one another.

Welcome to the latest installment in my extended analysis of how the all time XIs I created for each letter fare against one another. The Ms continue to occupy the spotlight, starting today with 73 of a possible 90 points to their name.

THE Ms V THE Ts

Both these sides have strong opening pairs (Trumper played in the late Victorian and Edwardian eras, when pitches were often rough – that average of 39 is worth at least 50 in the modern era). Macartney wins the batting match up at number three, but Tarrant ranks as the greater bowler. The Ts comfortably win the number four slot, while the Ms win the number five slot. Ross Taylor outranks Miller as a batter, but unlike the Aussie he does not offer a bowling option). Marsh was a finer batter than Bob Taylor, but the Pom was the finer keeper. The Ts three specialist quicks are certainly faster than the Ms pace/ seam attack, though both sides are superbly equipped in this department. Murali outranks Trumble. The two sides are both strong in batting, strong in pace bowling, well captained and equipped with great keepers. I think Murali, Mahmood’s leg cutters and Macartney offer more variation between them than Trumble and Tarrant, though the latter two were both great bowlers, and this may be the factor that splits the sides, so I score this one: Ms 3, Ts 2.

THE Ms V THE Us

The Ms are utterly dominant batting wise, with only Inzamam Ul Haq and Umar Akmal winning batting match ups for the Us, and Umar Akmal’s is negated by his being so inferior to Marsh as a keeper. Although Umran Malik is the quickest bowler in this match up he is as yet unproven, which means that all of Marshall, McGrath and Miller have to outrank him, as they equally clearly do Umar Gul and Ulyett. Murali likewise outranks Ur Rahman, though Underwood’s left arm slow medium may be considered more useful than Mahmood’s leg cutters. I cannot see the Us doing anything against the Ms and accordingly score this one Ms 5, Us 0.

THE Ms V THE Vs

The Ms dominate the batting, with only Verreynne winning a batting match up for the Vs, and that is negated by Marsh being the superior keeper. The Vs have a pace bowling line up that is pretty much on a par with the Ms, given that a) Vaas would fare better as part of strong attack than he actually did as part of a moderate one, and b)Vaas and Voce were both left armers, whereas all three of the Ms outright fast bowlers were right armers. Verity outranks Murali as a finger spinner, while Vogler’s leg spin would probably be more dangerous than Mahmood’s leg cutters, while Macartney’s left arm spin and Vine’s leg spin are much of a muchness. On all except a spinning surface I would expect the Ms powerful batting to carry the day and accordingly score this one Ms 4, Vs 1.

THE Ms V THE Ws

The Ms have the better opening pair, though Woolley offers a bowling option comparable to Macartney and Worrell offers a bowling option not mirrored in the Ms ranks. Weekes and Walcott each comfortably win their batting match ups, and S Waugh v Miandad is a dead heat. Watling slightly outranks Miller with the bat, but Marsh outranks him as a keeper. Woods outranks Marsh with the bat (Woods played in the 1890s and 1900s, and mainly in England, where pitches were often hard to bat on) and is on a par with Miller as a bowler. Whitty, Willis and Woods are pretty close to Marshall, McGrath and Miller as a pace trio, Wardle is at least a match for Murali, Warne is clearly ahead of Mahmood. I think the Ws have this, though not by a vast amount: Ms 2, Ws 3.

THE Ms V THE Xs

The Xs arguably win two batting match ups (DeXter over Macartney, though the latter offered more with the ball, and Xenophon Balaskas over Marsh) and the wicket keeping match up. The bowling is even more strongly stacked in the Ms favour, leading to an inevitable scoreline of Ms 5, Xs 0.

THE Ms PROGRESS REPORT

The Ms have scored 19 of a possible 25 points today, moving them on to 92 out of 115, exactly 80% so far.

PHOTOGRAPHS

My usual sign off…

All Time XIs – Match Ups 48

Continuing my extended analysis of how the all time XIs I selected for each letter of the alphabet fare against one another.

Welcome to the latest instalment in my extended analysis of how the all time XIs I selected for each letter of the alphabet fare against one another. Today the Ms are in the spotlight and they start with 54.5 of a possible 65 points banked. A quick announcement: with Elon the Execrable seemingly set to kill twitter I have set up an account on mastodon – https://mas.to/@autisticphotographer.

THE Ms V THE Os

The Os are massively outclassed all across the board. The only crumbs of comfort for them are the presence of O’Riordan’s left arm and of leg spinner Bill O’Reilly. The Ms are simply too strong and there can be only one score: Ms 5, Os 0.

THE Ms V THE Ps

The Ms have the better opening pair, but Ponting and G Pollock win the number three and four slots batting wise, although Macartney offers a bowling option. Miandad beats Pietersen in the number five slot. Pant wins the batting element of his match up, but Marsh was the finer keeper. Procter may well have had a Milleresque record had he got the opportunity to enjoy a long test career, and these two legendary fast bowling all rounders are well nigh impossible to separate both as players and as captains. S Pollock outbats Marshall but is outbowled by the latter, P Pollock is outranked by McGrath. Murali comfortably wins the battle of the off spinners over Prasanna, but Charlie Parker, shockingly treated by the England selectors of his day, has to rated above Mahmood. These two sides are both very strong in batting, the Ms have the better keeper and the better pace bowling unit, while Parker, a left arm spinner, gives the Ps attack a better overall balance. I think the Ms advantage in pace bowling is just enough for them to win this one by the barest of margins: Ms 3, Ps 2.

THE Ms V THE Qs

The Ms utterly dominate in batting and pace bowling, have the better keeper and the better skipper. Only in spin bowling do the Qs have anything to offer, but I think the gulf between the sides in other areas is so massive that even on a raging Bunsen they will be powerless: Ms 5, Qs 0.

THE Ms V THE Rs

The opening pairs are fairly evenly matched – each features a high quality left handed opener and a brilliant right handed opener whose test opportunities were limited. Richards clearly ranks ahead of Macartney with the bat, but the Aussie offers his side an extra bowling option. The Rs win the number four slot on sample size and the relative lack of support Root has had for much of his career. As against that Miandad outranks Ranjitsinhji, and Miller wins the batting match up at six. We have a keeping clash of titans, in which for me Russell narrowly outpoints Marsh. Roberts, Rabada and Richardson are just outmatched by Marshall, McGrath and Miller, Murali outranks Rhodes, Mahmood outranks Robins, and the Ms have a sixth bowling option in Macartney. The Ms have a definite advantage: Ms 3.5, Rs 1.5.

THE Ms V THE Ss

Morris rates ahead of Strauss, but Sutcliffe, provenly a big occasion player has to be rated ahead of Merchant, and therefore say that the Ss have the better opening pair. G Smith at three wins the batting match up against Macartney, with the usual caveat not applying, since the Ss have Sobers in their ranks. S Smith at four comfortably outranks Mead, Sangakkara at five wins the batting match up against Miandad, though Marsh wins the keeping match up comfortably. Sobers is well clear of Miller with the bat, but the Aussie’s fast bowling is ahead of any of the opposition save Steyn. The Ms have the best single spinner in this contest in the person of Murali. The Ms pace attack is superb, but all are right arm bowlers, whereas with Starc and the quicker version of Sobers the Ss have two left arm pacers. The quick version of Sobers is arguably the Ss fifth pace/seam option behind Stokes, so they have more depth in this department than the Ms. This is a mighty contest, but I think the Ss just have the edge: Ms 2, Ss 3

THE Ms PROGRESS REPORT

The Ms have scored 18.5 of a possible 25 points today, moving them up to 73 out 90 points, 81.11% so far.

PHOTOGRAPHS

My usual sign off…

All Time XIs – Match Ups 47

Continuing my extended analysis of how the all time XIs I selected for each letter of the alphabet fare against one another.

Welcome to the latest instalment in my extended analysis of how the all time XIs I selected for each letter of the alphabet fare against one another. Today starts with the Ls in the spotlight, with a score of 77 out of 105 and ends with the Ms taking their place there, having garnered 49.5 out of 60 points in the match ups in which they are alphabetically second.

THE Ls V THE Ws

The Ls have the better opening pair, but the Ws win the batting match uops at three, four, five, six and seven, though the Ls have the better keeper. The Ls have an advantage in pace/seam bowling, although Whitty’s left arm somewhat negates that. The Ws win the spin bowling, especially given that they have a third option in that department in Woolley. I think the Ws have this one, but not by a huge amount: Ls 2, Ws 3.

THE Ls V THE Xs

The Ls win all departments save keeping, where BoX outranks Langley, making this one very straightforward: Ls 5, Xs 0.

THE Ls V THE Ys

The Ls have the better opening pair and just win the match up at number three. The Ys win at number four. The Ys win the batting element of the match up at number seven, though Langley has to rate as the finer keeper. The Ls are massively ahead in pace/ seam bowling and also win the spin bowling, though less conclusively. The Ls are well clear overall and I see no possible scoreline other than Ls 5, Ys 0.

THE Ls V THE Zs

The Ls absolutely dominate the batting, have the better keeper, the better captain, by far the better pace/ seam bowling and the better spin bowling: Ls 5, Zs 0.

THE Ls FINAL SCORE

The Ls scored 17 points out of 20 in these last match ups, giving them a final total of 94 out of 125, 75.20% overall.

THE Ms V THE Ns

The Ms have the better opening pair by far, though the Ns win the batting match ups at three and four, albeit Macartney offers a genuine bowling option. Miandad blows Dave Nourse out of the water at number five, Miller outbats Noble and outbowls Sarfraz Nawaz, while both captains are superb. Nixon outbats Marsh, but the legendary Aussie was undoubtedly the greater keeper. Marshall and McGrath clearly outrank Ntini and Nortje as a new ball pairing. Muralidaran massively outranks Noble as an off spinner, and Mahmood’s leg cutters have no equivalent in the opposition ranks, while for all his status as a no3 batter, Macartney’s left arm spin outranks that of Nadeem. The Ms are at least a match for the Ns batting wise, and massively superior in bowling: Ms 5, Ns 0.

THE Ms PROGRESS REPORT

The Ms now have 54.5 out of a possible 65 points, 83.85% overall.

PHOTOGRAPHS

My usual sign off…

All Time XIs – Match Ups 45

Continuing my extended analysis of how the all time XIs I selected for each letter of the alphabet fare against one another.

Welcome to the latest instalment in my extended analysis of how the all time XIs I selected for each letter of the alphabet fare against each other. Today the Ls enter the spotlight, with 40.5 of a possible 55 points banked from the teams who are alphabetically ahead of them.

THE Ls V THE Ms

Considered purely an averages the Ls have the better opening pair, but 1) Labuschagne is batting out of position, 2)Morris and Merchant both played on uncovered pitches, Labuschagne didn’t, 3)Merchant’s test average is reduced by the fact that his career at that level was so very spread out – he played 10 test matches, spread over 18 years, with a world war in the middle, and in FC cricket where he played on a much more regular basis he averaged 71, second only to Bradman. In view of all of these considerations I give the Ms the better opening pair. The Ls have much the better number three, but Macartney compensates by offering a bowling option. Number four goes to the Ms, as does number five, though Lloyd rates above Miller as a captain. Miller wins the number six slot batting wise, and is of similar standard with the ball to Lindwall. Marsh comfortably wins the battle of the keepers. Both sides have superb new ball pairs, Laker and Murali are two titans of off spin bowling, while I think Langridge offers the Ls more variation than Mahmood does the Ms. I think the key here is Macartney, and for that reason I score this Ls 1.5, Ms 3.5

THE Ls V THE Ns

The Ls dominate everywhere except at number four batting wise. They also have the better keeper, a better pace attack and a better spin combination, while it is about even on captaincy. I see no way for the Ns to offer any sort of a challenge and score this one Ls 5, Ns 0.

THE Ls V THE Os

The Ls dominate, though the Os do boast the better keeper, and they have a more varied bowling unit. Still, this cannot be seen as other than exceedingly one sided: Ls 5, Os 0.

THE Ls V THE Ps

The Ls, the caveat about Labuschagne’s position notwithstanding, have the better opening pair, number three is a clash of cricketing titans, the Ps win the number four slot hands down and are marginally ahead at number five. Pant wins the batting element of his match up, though Langley was the finer keeper. Procter wins his batting match up, and probably rates close to Lindwall as a bowler. Lillee and Lohmann outrank S and P Pollock, and while Parker was a finer spinner than Langridge, Laker outranks Prasanna. I make the Ps a little stronger in batting, and the Ls stronger in bowling, and thus give the Ls the verdict: Ls 3, Ps 2.

THE Ls V THE Qs

Here the Ls absolutely dominate. The have the better batting by far, the better captain by far, the better keeper, they are utterly dominant in the pace bowling department, and though they have only two spin options to the Qs three those are the two best spinners on either side, thus there can be only one result: Ls 5, Qs 0.

THE Ls PROGRESS

The Ls have scored 19.5 out of 25 today, which moves them on to 60 out of 80, 75% so far.

PHOTOGRAPHS

This photo gallery comprises pictures taken between Queen Elizabeth Hospital, where I attended this morning for glaucoma tests. I compromised on the journey, using the bus on the way in but walking all the way home, hence the fact that the first pic is in hospital grounds.

shared space with cars in the grounds of a hospital, and the protection given to pedestrians consists of PAINT
The Gaywood Clock, about half way home in distance terms, though not time as I called in at Gaywood library.
This muntjac was near the Gaywood river path.

All Time XIs – Match Ups 42

Continuing my extended analysis of how the all time XIs I selected for each letter of the alphabet fare against one another, ushering the Ks into the spotlight.

Welcome to the latest instalment in my extended analysis of how my teams fare against one another. Today the Ks enter the spotlight, with 37 of a possible 50 points banked from the matches against teams who precede them alphabetically.

THE Ks V THE Ls

The Ls have the better opening pair, though their advantage there is lessened by the fact that one of their openers is batting out of position. The Ls also have the better number three. However, Kallis outranks Lloyd with the bat, and offers an extra bowling option not available to the Ls. Both sides have excellent captains. The Ks win the wicket keeping battle. Lindwall, Lillee and Lohmann are a match for I Khan, King and Kortright, while Laker and Langridge are a better balanced spin combo than R Khan and Kumble. This is a proper battle, but I think Kallis just tips the scales the Ks way: Ks 3, Ls 2.

THE Ks V THE Ms

The Ms have much the stronger opening pair. The Ks win the number 3-5 slots, though number four only on sample size. Each side has one recognized bowler in their top five, and for my money Macartney outranks Kallis in that department. Miller against I Khan is just about the ultimate in match ups between fast bowling all rounders. The Keepers battle is also a clash of titans. Marshall outranks King as a bowler, but King is clear with the bat (King’s record in his era translates to averaging 30 with the bat and 23 with the ball on covered pitches). At the moment, though this is subject to change as the Afghan develops Mahmood outranks R Khan as a bowler. Murali outranks Kumble as a bowler. McGrath comfortably wins his match up against Kortright. The Ks, with their super powerful engine room at nos 3-5, and King at eight outranking Marshall in that department may just win the batting, but the Ms comfortably win the bowling. I make this a slightly more comfortable than regulation win for the Ms: Ks 1.5, Ms 3.5.

THE Ks V THE Ns

The Ks boss the top batting, with only Dudley Nourse close to his opposite number in that department among their top five. The Ks also have the better keeper, far the better pace bowling unit and the better spinners. Only in captaincy, where Noble is a worthy rival to I Khan to the Ns even come close, and that will not save them: K5 , Ns 0.

THE Ks V THE Os

The KO clash is indeed a KO – in the Ks favour. Oldfield, O’Reilly and Olivier win their match ups for the Os, but the other eight all go very comfortably in favour of the Ks. This has to be scored as Ks 5, Os 0.

THE Ks V THE Ps

The Ps have the better opening pair, although not by much, especially given that the one person who could claim to have sorted Ponsford out was an express paced bowler, Larwood. The Ks have two such, Kortright and I Khan, plus King who was also pretty sharp. Ponting and G Pollock win the number three and four slots more conclusively, Kallis winning the number five slot, and offering an extra bowling option into the bargain. Pant outbats Kirmani, but the older Indian was probably the better keeper of the two. Procter against I Khan is another titanic clash of fast bowling all rounders on the same lines as Miller against I Khan. King and S Pollock are hard to pick apart, as are P Pollock and Kortright. Parker and Prasanna are a better balanced spin pairing than R Khan and Kumble, and probably just about outrank them anyway. I just give this to the Ps: Ks 2, Ps 3.

THE Ks PROGRESS REPORT

The Ks have scored 16.5 out of 25 today, moving them up to 53.5 out of 75, 71.33% so far.

PHOTOGRAPHS

My usual sign off…

All Time XIs – Match Ups 39

Continuing my extended analysis of how the all time XIs I picked for each letter of the alphabet fare against one another.

Welcome to the latest instalment in my extended analysis of how the all time XIs I created for each letter of the alphabet fare against one another. The Js currently occupy the spotlight and they have so far scored 26.5 points out of 50 (there was a mistake near the end of yesterday’s post).

THE Js V THE Ls

The Ls are stronger in all departments, though their advantage in batting is not huge. The Js have too many X-factor players for me to forecast a whitewash, so I score this Js 1.5, Ls 3.5.

THE Js V THE Ms

This is close in batting, but the Ms are well ahead on bowling. I score this one Js 1, Ms 4.

THE Js V THE Ns

The Js are well ahead in this one: Js 4, Ns 1.

THE Js V THE Os

The Js comfortably outbat the Os, and also have the better pace/ seam attack, though O’Reilly ranks highest among the spinners on either side. Jackson outranks O’ Reilly as skipper. I score this one Js 4, Os 1.

THE Js V THE Ps

The Ps have the stronger batting and the better pace attack. The spin honours are split in my view, and I expect the Ps to win this quite easily: Js 1, Ps 4.

THE Js PROGRESS REPORT

The Js have scored 11.5 out of 25 today, moving them up to 38 out of 75, 50.67% overall.

PHOTOGRAPHS

My usual sign off…