Who would you bring back from retirement?

[stephen]

I think picking a bowler for Australia is silly. The improvement you'd get from Warne over Lyon isn't anywhere near as big as the improvement you'd get from Chappell (or Ponting or Border or whoever you think the next bat Aussie bat is) over Wade.

I more wanted Warne because he's awesome to watch rather than because he's a huge upgrade on Lyon but point taken. I'd actually rather forgotten that the incumbent middle order contained Wade. So yeah I agree that a Waugh or Border would improve our side the most.

 

[trundler]

Pakistan haven't had a decent opening partnership in my lifetime. Middle order and bowling have been gun at different times but top order has always sucked. Hanif or Anwar at the top would be nice too.

 

[Line and Length]

Allan Border at 5 to replace Wade, or even better Keith Miller to replace Head or Wade at 5-6

Yes - Miller (my boyhood hero). He'd be a pretty handy ODI player I reckon.

 

[Daemon]

I think a VVS would be more useful - issues around 5/6 imo

I think Vihari is a decent lower order bat and his troll-spin can be handy.

To address this question we should look at what loses us overseas Tests most often. Of late, this has clearly been the top-middle order, so the obvious choices are Gavaskar and Tendulkar.

Tendulkar is the better batsman, though probably not by that much, and would refuse to bat anywhere else but 4, which means Kohli comes 3 down. Not the worst thing in the world given Kohli's own new ball issues.

On the other hand, given the fast bowling resources available to most teams today, opening has become ridiculously difficult. Apart from some reasonable numbers put up by Dimuth, Latham and Warner and young unproven talent, there's not much to speak of. Fast bowlers have been dominating.

I think I'd go Gavaskar.

 

[trundler]

Yea this is a much better forum when everyone parrots my opinions

 

[StephenZA]

Jacques Kallis

This pretty much solves most of SA batting woes and strengthens the bowling line-up in one swoop. Also shows how important it is RSA get Mulder into the team asap.

 

[morgieb]

Seems like everyone's answer is a batsman bar Sri Lanka and maybe New Zealand.

 

[Migara]

Seems like everyone's answer is a batsman bar Sri Lanka and maybe New Zealand.

Our batting in tests is not that inferior from 10 years back. Pace bowling is probably stronger. Spin bowling, is even worse than that of 90's England.

 

[Lillian Thomson]

Normally it would be Ian Botham every time. But with Stokes there and the batting a bit thin on proven quality I'd go for Wally Hammond.

 

[Nintendo]

For Australia, you're either looking at an opener like Simpson to partner warner or a middle-order option to replace wade. Current line up would benefit from a border/waugh more than a Simpson IMO; gives us a new captain post-Paine's retirement, (Simpson can also do this to be fair) but a middle-order option also solves the "Smith goes all go." issue we currently have.

 

[StephenZA]

Seems like everyone's answer is a batsman bar Sri Lanka and maybe New Zealand.

I think it is pretty much accepted that all the teams have vulnerable batting lineups at the moment; one or two good/potential great batsmen surrounded by mediocre batsmen.

 

[h_hurricane]

Kapil.. easy.

I would have Kapil back as well over any one else. Just to prove the doubters that he would have had quite a better bowling average these days without any decrease in his batting average. Bowling him along with Bumrah and Shami will be great to watch. He will also be wrapped in a cotton wool these days,just like Bumrah, a luxury he couldn't afford in his playing days.

 

[trundler]

I would have Kapil back as well over any one else. Just to prove the doubters that he would have had quite a better bowling average these days without any decrease in his batting average. Bowling him along with Bumrah and Shami will be great to watch. He will also be wrapped in a cotton wool these days,just like Bumrah, a luxury he couldn't afford in his playing days.

Yeah but you're replacing a decent cricketer with an ATG one in that case. If you get Gavaskar in you're replacing someone who's pedestrian (especially away) with an ATG (potential GOAT opener even).

 

[h_hurricane]

Yeah but you're replacing a decent cricketer with an ATG one in that case. If you get Gavaskar in you're replacing someone who's pedestrian (especially away) with an ATG (potential GOAT opener even).

Two major issues which India had in all their overseas tours recently.

1.Inability to close out the tail. One very good bowler over a decent one could solve this issue. Too often one would see scores like 100/7 and then the opposition would gallop to 250 all out. Remembering all those Sam Curran nightmares. Depending on the conditions, one could have Kapil,Bumrah,Shami,Jadeja and an extra batsman or Kapil,Bumrah,Shami,Ishant,Jadeja(an extra bowler). That is the luxury an ATG all rounder adds. I guess it will be the same for other teams as well. Like Botham for England.

2. Indian tail folding up too quickly in recent times. This has been historically our issue. Kapil could blast a quickfire 50-70 and make a difference in a low scoring match.

Gavaskar will be a great choice as well in the current setup. He would have averaged 50 in any era he played. Raw stats do him justice.

Raw stats do not do justice to Kapil Dev. I just feel his real potential would have been realized playing with the current Indian team.

 

[smalishah84]

Seems like everyone's answer is a batsman bar Sri Lanka and maybe New Zealand.

And Pakistan

 

[harsh.ag]

Australia - Border at #5
England - Hutton to open
India - Gavaskar at #5
NZ - Hadlee at #8
Pakistan - Imran at #7
Saffers - Graeme Pollock at #4
SL - Murali at #11
Windies - Sobers at #4

 

[Howe_zat]

I'm not sure SL would pick Murali, as much as he is the best Sri Lankan cricketer. They always seem to find a capable spin attack, whereas a top order batsman like Sangakkara I don't see them replacing for a long time.

 

[vcs]

DWTA. No one really comes close to the amount of matches Murali won them (even though that's unfair on batsmen like Sanga because they can't really win you matches, only put you in a position to). Herath was terrific but Murali was a one-man army who got them wins everywhere except Australia and India.

 

[trundler]

Australia could do with McGrath too. Their bowling is good but not really great. Peak Australia could lose a batsman every now and then but whenever McGrath got injured they went down a couple of levels. McGrath instead of Starc means bowling has way more control and dependability (and is generally much better). Australia wouldn't have lost to India if they had McGrath instead of Starc. The bowling really let them down at Melbourne. Of course any great cricketer would improve the test side they're drafted into by definition though.

 

[vcs]

Haha Starc actually bowled well in Melbourne though. It was just a dead pitch (hard to score, not much for the bowlers either) that only Bumrah was able to bring to life in his 1st innings spell. I know Cummins took a bag in India's 2nd outing, but the match was finished by then.