Test Decades XIs
- Thread starter Supreme General
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Supreme General
Associate Captain
- Joined
- Dec 10, 2022
Yeah... from here on in, things are going to get very controversial concerning some major snubs in the teams.
Supreme General
Associate Captain
- Joined
- Dec 10, 2022
1980s
Sunil Gavaskar (65/125)- First batter to reach 10,000 test runs, one of the batters I would have opening in my All-time test XI and a great player of pretty much of any type of bowling. Aside from his commentary sounding like nails on a chalk board at times, everything he did in a cricket stadium was just exquisite apart from that famous protest ODI knock in 1975.- Gordon Greenidge (75/108)- An irresistible attacking opening batter that bowlers all over the world came to fear especially if he had slight injury and would score bucket-loads of runs with his opening partner Desmond Haynes. His shot making was breath-taking and a marvel for anyone to behold not just at test level but at domestic First-class level as well
- Viv Richards (78/121)- It's Viv Richards. He is aura personified: from his swagger, facing 90mph bouncers in a cap and hooking them into the stands and the way he would blast the ball to the boundary. A true box-office cricketer who needs no introduction.
- Javed Miandad (76/124)- Saw cricket in a different way to so many of his peers and those who came before him. The man who made hitting up and over cover fashionable and is the greatest Pakistani batter they have produced to date whose average for his entire career never dropped below 50. Just a world-class batter.
- Allan Border (97/156)- The yang to the Richards and Miandad Yin. Allan Border was in the you are taking my life before you take my wicket mould. He came into an Australian team in a low ebb and left it as the best side in the world, a hero to so many Australians who grew up in that era. AB would never back down from a fight and his record against the might West Indian attacks just show his determination with bat in hand.
- Ian Botham (75/102)- Ian Botham's overall career numbers don't do him justice really. Blighted by injuries that cost him a yard or two of pace with ball and less fluid with the bat mixed in with his grand playboy image that the flowing mullet really helped to elevate. Nevertheless, in his pomp, Beefy is up there amongst the absolute greatest all-rounders to play the game.
- Imran Khan (54/88)- Talking of great allrounders, Imran Khan during the 1980s scored 2430 runs at 44 and took 256 wickets at 19, those are mindboggling numbers. Not just that, he did them consistently in all conditions against the best teams as shown with his performances vs West Indies and Australia home and away with them being the best sides during his career.
- Jeff Dujon (64/81)- He maybe batting 8 here but Dujon is far from a specialist wicketkeeper, he had almost 10,000 FC runs at an average of 39, his test average is just a shy below 32. In his 81 caps, he never appeared in a losing series just showing to what a dominant side he belonged to. Great and athletic behind the stumps and capable with the bat for the team.
- Richard Hadlee (53/86)-How about another legendary all-rounder? The greatest Kiwi cricketer and you would find very few people who would disagree. A lot better with the bat to be batting 9 but his bowling record with high pace that turned to lethal swing bowling is out of this world. The Notts legend, took 431 test wickets at 22.29 and 1,490 FC wickets at a ludicrous 18.11.
- Malcolm Marshall (63/81)- In many people's eyes, the ultimate fast bowler. 376 test wickets at 20.94, is the second best economy for anyone with 200 test wickets. his average in the 1980s was below 20. Bowled rapid and unlike the other West Indian bowlers of the time he did at a height of below 6ft. No-brainer pick
- Joel Garner (49/58)- Big Bird clocked in at 6ft 8in, even his fuller deliveries had batters on the back front. His test average is 0.03 off his teammate Marshall's and is widely considered as the greatest ODI bowler of all time. Unfortunately at the end of his career reoccurring back and shoulder injuries but an end to one of the most unique and talented bowlers in cricket history.
- Martin Crowe (45/77)- Even with the presence of Kane Williamson, Martin Crowe can still hold a potential claim to being New Zealand's greatest batter. Having to learn how to bat at test level from a young age making his debut at 19 and then crippling injuries that ruined his prime make his numbers not stand out as much. However, the accounts of his contemporaries and people of the time speak testament to how naturally talented the Kiwi really was.
- Abdul Qadir (57/67)- The player credited in reviving the leg spin art before Shane Warne skyrocketed to stardom. Qadir was widely considered the best spinner of his generation. A generation which was dominated by fast bowlers, Qadir managed to find his niche and excelled in it to become one of the best leg spinners of all time.
