04/24/24
March 20, 2005
Wicketkeeper Adam Gilchrist : is now at the peak of his powers. Almost all experts now put Gilchrist in the Greatest XI of all time. He also plays the game like he actually enjoys it - and turns Test Matches around in the blink of an eye. I know it's hard to start a cricket thread on this site, but...
The Greatest XI of all nationalities will always be subjective, but without thinking of batting order or how many bowlers, you will need a wicketkeeper, and Gilchrist will be your man. The other members? Choose from the likes of Bradman (Aus), Sobers (West Indies), Hammond (England), Tendulkar (India), Wasim Akram (Pakistan), Richard Hadlee (NZ), Muralitharan (SL) as just a representative sample.
posted by owlhouse at 10:56 PM on March 20, 2005
This site needs more cricket - I've just got back from India and was blown away by their enthusiasm for it. Anyway, how about Viv Richards? Surely he would make any greatest XI. Maybe Botham, Malcolm Marshall and how about Shane Warne?
posted by Pete at 01:10 PM on March 21, 2005
As a non-watcher, Botham, Bradman and Muralitharan (and yeah, Viv Richards) are the only names I've heard before. On of my coworkers actually showed me some test match highlights one Saturday afternoon, and I've never had as much of a grasp on the game as I do right now. If I lived somewhere where cricket was followed by more than one person at a time here and there, I could see myself getting into it.
posted by chicobangs at 10:31 AM on March 22, 2005
chicobangs, glad to hear you're interested in cricket. You would be surprised to hear how many people in the States are watching and playing cricket, just listen out for the English/Australian/Indian/South African or West Indian accents.
posted by Pete at 01:22 PM on March 22, 2005
finally cricket!! one would assume that normally the team would have 5 batsmen, one allrounder, one wicketkeeper,3 fast bowlers and one spinner....and i am sure there is simply not one team that would appeal to everyone...here goes my team:sunil gavaskar and sachin tendulkar to open the batting,don bradman,viv richards and steve waugh to follow,ian botham the allrounder,one wicketkeeper to pick,dennis lillee and michael holding to be the pace duo,bishen bedi and muralitharan as spinners....what do you say??
posted by moonie at 02:54 PM on March 22, 2005
Pete, those are exactly the connections I'm talking about. A woman from Nevis and one of my colleagues from Sri Lanka are the only two people who know anything about the game. The Sri Lankan introduced me to cricket one weekend, and I taught him a bit about curling, and I think he got it as much as I got what he was showing. But he's since been transferred, and the woman & I aren't exactly buddy-buddy, so it'snot like it comes up. It's kind of like pot to me; I'm not intrigued enough to hunt it down, but if it's around, I'll partake.
posted by chicobangs at 06:56 PM on March 22, 2005
Botham ahead of Hadlee? Are you nuts?
posted by rodgerd at 04:45 AM on March 25, 2005
Who are the other members of the Greatest XI of all time? Also, is that worldwide players or only Australians? Curious as to how the Greatest XI breaks down by nationality.