Tag: Muthiah Muralidaran

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.

Picking an all time Asian Test XI

Constructing an all time Asian XI, also sharing a petition and as usual including a photo gallery.

This post is my extended response to a tweet from Tanmay:

What would be your All Time Asian Test XI?

🇮🇳 • 🇵🇰 • 🇱🇰 • 🇧🇩

— TANMAY 🤡 (@spear_93) April 13, 2023

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I gave a brief twitter friendly answer yesterday, and I am now using this post to expand my thoughts and look at the architecture of an all time XI.

THE BRIEF

I have taken Tanmay’s question as referring specifically to players who played for Asian nations as opposed to players of Asian heritage who played for other nations. I also decided that for the purposes of this post only players with genuinely weighty test records should be considered – there have been players who have been brilliant at lower levels and struggled at the summit, and there have been players who have made incredible starts at test level and then fizzled out (look up Narendra Hirwani in the context of this specific post). I also require that any XI I name be well balanced and obviously capable of functioning as a unit, so I try to select varied players.

BUILDING OUR XI

We start with the openers. Here there is one candidate who overshadows all others, Sunil Gavaskar with over 10,000 test runs at an average above 50. Gavaskar’s partner should ideally pose a contrast, so I want a more attacking player, and preferably a left handed one. For me the person who fits the bill best in terms of Asian test players is Saeed Anwar of Pakistan.

The number three slot is non-negotiable in my opinion – Rahul Sharad Dravid with 13,288 test runs at an average of 53 is a lock for this slot

There would be more candidates for the number four slot but for the presence of Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar who preferred this slot in test matches.

At number five I want a left hander given that numbers three and four are right handers, and again there is one commanding candidate: Kumar Sangakkara, the second most prolific of all test match left handers behind Alastair Cook, and with a better batting average than the former England opener.

At number six I want an all rounder, and there is once again a clear cut candidate, who also happens to have been an outstanding captain, Imran Khan.

A wicket keeper who can make major contributions with the bat is a major asset to any side, and Mushfiqur Rahim, a fine keeper and one of the most consistent test batters Bangladesh has yet produced fits the bill nicely.

A number eight should be primarily a bowler, but ideally you want them to be reasonably capable with the bat as well, and Wasim Akram, one of the greatest of all left arm fast bowlers and possessor of a test match double century to boot would seem the ideal candidate.

Numbers 9, 10 and 11 are bowling slots, and we want at least one more fast bowler and at least one spinner. Waqar Younis of Pakistan and Muthiah Muralidaran of Sri Lanka answer these descriptions – the former a genuinely great right arm fast bowler and regular bowling partner of Wasim Akram as well and the latter an off spinner and holder of the record for career test scalps – 800 in 133 matches. For the number nine slot my preference is for a second spinner and one who does something different to Murali, and I opt for leg spinner Anil Kumble, fourth in the list of all time test wicket takers and a big contrast to Murali.

Thus we have constructed our XI and in batting order it reads:

Sunil Gavaskar
Saeed Anwar
Rahul Dravid
Sachin Tendulkar
Kumar Sangakkara
*Imran Khan
+Mushfiqur Rahim
Wasim Akram
Anil Kumble
Waqar Younis
Muthiah Muralidaran

This gives us a very powerful top five, one of the greatest of all all rounders, a quality keeper who is also a very good bat and four top line bowlers of great quality and variety. The bowling with three fast bowlers, one of whom bowls left arm for extra variation and two of the greatest spinners ever to play has both depth and variety as well. I hesitate to say that this side could beat an ROW all time XI because the latter, something like: JB Hobbs, H Sutcliffe (the best ever test match opening pair), *DG Bradman, SPD Smith, G St A Sobers, AW Greig, +AC Gilchrist, AK Davidson, MD Marshall, SK Warne, GD McGrath has arguably even stronger batting and definitely greater depth and variety in the bowling – between Sobers and Davidson any type of delivery that a left arm bowler can produce is covered, while Marshall, McGrath, Warne and Greig do likewise for right arm bowlers, but this Asian XI would be able to give even such formidable opposition as this a genuine contest.

THE MISSING

In an exercise of this nature many legendary cricketers are bound to miss out and probably no two people would pick the same XI. I would not argue against the likes of Virat Kohli, Javed Miandad or any of a fistful of left arm spinners: three all rounders, ‘Vinoo’ Mankad, Ravindra Jadeja and Shakib al Hasan and at least two specialists in the craft, Bishan Singh Bedi and Rangana Herath would all have their advocates, merely in favour of my own choices. Two contemporary greats who I decided did not yet have the weight of achievement at test level to merit selection but who I may well include should I revisit this in a few years were Rishabh Pant (who may very well displace Mushfiqur Rahim) and Rashid Khan (who faces an even more formidable obstacle in the form of Kumble).

PHOTOGRAPHS

Just before my usual sign off I have a petition to share: The Academy in Brixton is in danger and there is a petition on change.org to save it. I grew up in southwest London, close enough to Brixton that when I temped there for a period in 1997 I walked to and from work. Finally we come to the photographs…

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 25

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 instalment in my analysis of how the all time XIs I selected for each letter of the alphabet fare against one another. Today the Fs are the in the spotlight, and they start the day with 35 out of a possible 50 points.

THE Fs V THE Ls

The Ls are stronger in batting, winning all of the top six slots in this department, though the Fs win in positions 7-9 inclusive. The Ls also win the spin bowling department, with Laker and Langridge clearly the two best spinners in the contest. The Fs have an advantage in pace bowling, especially given that all three of the Ls pacers bowled right handed. This is close but I think the Ls have enough of an advantage to win: Fs 2, Ls 3.

THE Fs V THE Ms

The Ms outdo the Fs on batting and on pace bowling, and also have the best spinner on show, although the Fs have more depth in this department. The Fs will not go down without a fight, but they are outgunned: Fs 1, Ms 4.

THE Fs V THE Ns

The Fs have better batting than the Ns, a better keeper, better fast bowlers and better spinners: Fs 5, Ns 0.

THE Fs V THE Os

The Fs dominate in all departments: Fs 5, Os 0.

THE Fs V THE Ps

The Ps are stronger in batting than the Fs, but the Fs have the better bowling unit, and I expect this latter to be the telling factor. The Fs also have the better keeper. Fs 3, Ps 2.

THE Fs PROGRESS REPORT

The Fs have scored 16 out of 25 points today, moving them on to 51 points of out 75, 68% overall.

PHOTOGRAPHS

My usual sign off…