The XI cricketers I wish I’d seen

Here at The Full Toss we’re very fond of our fantasy and composite XIs, like the best and worst players we’ve ever seen. But here’s one we’ve never tried before – the eleven test cricketers I wish I could have seen play, had I been alive at the time, and old enough to appreciate them properly. As ever, we want to hear your own ideas and personal selections.

So here it is – my fantasy team of the cricketing greats whose talents the timing of my birth (1974) denied me either seeing, or seeing properly. I hope you can forgive my rather disjointed batting order and preponderance of all-rounders.

1. Geoffrey Boycott108 tests; 8114 runs at 47.72.

This might seem an odd choice, given Fiery’s reputation for stolidity and sheer dullness at the crease. But I’ve always been fascinated by the Boycs mythology. Was he really as selfish and boring as the detractors said? Why did he – almost KP-like – arouse such controversies? Given that Boycott is such an absorbing personality as a commentator, and has such pungent views on the art of batting, how could you not want to have seen him play himself? Nowadays he can talk the talk; but did he walk the walk?

2. Sir Jack Hobbs 61 tests; 5,410 runs at 56.94. First class: 61.760 runs at 50.70; 197 centuries.

Not for nothing was the man who still holds the world record for first class centuries (as immortalised in Slumdog Millionare) known as The Master. Hobbs excelled in almost every aspect of batting, but particularly an art my generation never witnessed – survival, and then run-making, on treacherously wet and drying wickets. English cricket’s second genuine superstar, after WG Grace, Hobbs was also a pioneer: the first truly great batsman to emerge from a working class background and play as a professional – some fifty years before they were allowed even to share the same dressing room as the amateurs.

3. Sir Viv Richards. 121 tests; 8,540 runs at 50.23.

This one is a slight cheat, because IVA was certainly still playing when I began watching cricket in 1983, and continued to do so for nearly another decade. But I was bit too young to appreciate his mastery, and I never quite got to see him at the peak of his powers, such as when he exploded on to to the test scene during the 1976 tour of England. Neither did I really witness any of his classic, definitive test innings. Until 1990, the West Indies home series weren’t televised.

So I’ve always had to take people’s word for it that Viv was, in some respects, the greatest batsman of all time. By all accounts he had a uniquely destructive power and range – merciless, voracious, unbowlable-to. Which would have been good to watch, unless it was against England.

4. Sir Garry Sobers. 93 tests. 8,032 runs at 57.78. 235 wickets at 34.03. 

Do you remember the occasional 1980s BBC programme 100 Greatest Sporting Moments? It was usually deployed as a filler if a live event under-ran. The one I remember best comprised the famous clips of Sobers hitting Glamorgan’s Malcolm Nash for six sixes off at over at Swansea in 1968. He was the first batsman to achieve this feat in first-class cricket.

This is the only proper recording of Sobers I’ve ever seen – and it provided a tantalising, if brief, insight into the legend surrounding cricket’s greatest all-rounder. To me, he’s always sounded like one of those bastards at school who has naturally brilliant at everything, without really trying.

Sobers was an elegant but vastly accumulative batsman of exceptional footwork. He turned his maiden test century, aged 21, into 365 not out, a world record which lasted thirty six years. As a bowler, he could swing and seam it at pace, as well as bowling slow left arm, wrist spin, and chinamen. He also took 109 test catches, most of which followed a very late and rum-fuelled night at the casino tables.

5. Keith Miller 55 tests. 2,958 runs at 36.97; 170 wickets at 22.97.

Cricket’s first rock star. Perhaps its only one. Playboy. Heart-throb. Fighter pilot. Carouser. Rebel. In the middle, he was volcanic, reckless, and exquisite. Miller hit the ball miles, bowled lightning-fast, and went out on the piss all night. Don Bradman hated him. Andy Flower probably would have done too.

6. Sir Ian Botham in the 1970s Overall career: 102 tests; 5,200 runs at 33.54; 383 wickets at 28.40.

Beefy’s was a career of two halves. I only saw the second – from around 1983 – so I remember him as paunchy, increasingly creaky, and scratchy with the bat. He still took wickets, but more by guile and reputation than anything else.

I’ve always felt a bit cheated by this. When people say how superlatively brilliant he was, it never quite tallies with my childhood recollections. The Botham of 1980s vintage was the hoary roisterer with the excruciating mullet, more famous for lurid tabloid allegations and charity walks than his actual cricket.

The Botham of the late 1970s, by contrast, was a very different animal – and it’s hard for my generation to appreciate the impact he made at the time. He was fresh, innocent virile, and anti-establishment. He was a fine athlete, with a lean and powerful physique, who bowled genuinely fast. And he scored runs prodigiously. Between 1977 and 1980, Botham made eight test centuries, as well as taking 192 wickets. Against Pakistan at Lord’s in 1978, he blasted 108 and then skittled the tourists with 8-34. In the 1980 Bombay test, Beefy followed his first innings 114 with 6-58 and then 7-48.

That, alas, was the Botham I missed. Watching him on Question of Sport was a poor consolation prize.

7. Richie Benaud 63 tests. 2201 runs at 24.45. 248 wickets at 27.03.

He the Queen Mother of cricket commentary. He has jackets in cream, bone, white, off-white, ivory and beige. He says “Morning everyone”, and “marvellous effort, that”. But such is Benaud’s stature and ubiquity as a  broadcaster that it’s very easy to forget he was once a test cricketer himself, and a very fine one, as the above stats demonstrate, not to mention a hugely respected captain.

Not all commentators exhibit the same traits on mic as they previously did during their playing days. Mike Atherton and Nasser Hussain, affable and jocular in the Sky box, were tetchy curmudgeons in an England shirt. Bob Willis, wild and primal as a bowler, brings to his commentary all the vim and elan of a jaded waste services manager addressing a council meeting.

But you can bet your life that Saint Richie played his cricket with every ounce of the same dignity, precision, grace, and perception, which he exuded every time he picked up the microphone.

8. Alan Knott 95 tests. 250 catches; 19 stumpings. 4,389 runs at 32.75.

Doesn’t he just sound like a really bloody brilliant wicket keeper? And a very decent bat, too. But one thing’s bothering me – why don’t stumpers wear that kind of hat any more?

9. Imran Khan 88 tests. 362 wickets at 22.81. 3,807 runs at 37.69.

I’ve never liked Imran Khan – but to be fair, for all I know he might think I’m great. The issue for me is his self-regard, and the way he so obviously revels in his own importance and magnificence.

I imagine him spending an hour every morning in front of the mirror, just enjoying the sight of those chiselled features and sculpted jawline. And then he reads aloud a poem, for a chance to appreciate for himself that famous sonorous voice.

Perhaps I’d warm to Imran if I’d properly seen him play. In the mid to late eighties he always seemed to be retiring, or at any rate not doing the business when I was watching.

But the numbers above tell you what a extraordinary player he must have been: a menacing, hostile and sublimely skilful bowler, who also made six test centuries. His reputation intrigues me.

10. Derek Underwood 86 tests; 297 wickets at 25.83.

Whenever there’s talk of England’s all-time greatest bowlers, Deadly rarely gets a look-in, which is dreadfully unfair. He’s still the fifth highest test wicket taker in English history.

Perhaps it’s because he’s difficult to categorise. Underwood saw himself very much as a spinner, but operated off a seamer’s run at close to medium pace, and to many observers he usually seemed to cut the ball, rather than turn it conventionally.

However you describe his modus operandi, it was unique – and often devastating. His finest hour, perhaps, came at the climax of the Oval test of the 1968 Ashes, when he ran through the Aussies with 7-50, including four in twenty seven balls within the final thirty minutes – a spell which won the match and saved the series.

11. Harold Larwood 21 tests; 98 wickets at 28.35.

Larwood should have been knighted. Instead, he was chucked out of the team after Bodyline as a scapegoat for the MCC’s discomfort. Now, who does that remind you of?

Larwood had heroically bowled us to an emphatic reclamation of the Ashes on Australian soil, which doesn’t happen very often. Lord’s, grotesquely, asked him to apologise for the controversial tactics. He rightly refused, saying he bowled to his captain’s instructions. So they sacked him. It remains one of the most disgraceful acts in the MCC’s history, which is saying something.

Such was Larwood’s potency we would probably have won in 1932-33 even without leg theory. In the context of the times, he was in effect one of the fastest bowlers there has even been, and relentlessly accurate with it.

Eighty years later, the Aussies are still moaning about Bodyline. And for that alone, Larwood deserves a place at the very summit of our affections.

******

So there’s my fantasy XI – who would be in yours? You might well be from a different generation: perhaps you watched Keith Miller? Or maybe you were too young to see Brian Lara or even Shane Warne? Whoever are the players you wish you’d seen, let us know below…

Maxie Allen

 

12 comments

  • I have seen all of these apart from Hobbs and Larwood, although Sobers was well past his best. Boycott was magisterial, Underwood truly deadly only on uncovered wickets. Richards simply the best batsman I have ever seen.

  • The most intriguing player I wish I’d seen is Sydney Barnes. Because he played so long ago and there’s barely any footage of him playing – even his bowling style is hard to categorise – there’s a real element of mystery in how such a great player could have played for England and had such a fantastic record while spending most of his career in league and minor county cricket.

  • What, no Bradman??? THE greatest player ever….how could one not want to see him bat? For those who have seen both Bradman and Viv Richards bat, I’m told Viv was a student in comparison – Bradman not only dominated, he had a style that was unpredictable, difficult to put a field to. It must of been a real treat to have seen him bat.
    For me it would be impossible to put XI players down, as history is littered by extraordinary players. WD Grace would be one I guess, to watch as he made the rules as the game went along. As a pioneer in bad sportsmanship, it must of been hilarious to watch!

    • How one can forget Sir Don !!! He is like a mountain in cricket no one can dare to ignore him among the greatest . He would have succeeded in any format of modern day cricket .

  • One player I would really have liked to have watched player was David Gower. He was so easy on the eye, played with a lazy sort of elegance and showed his natural ability. In an are when many players suffer from over coaching and are changed at an early age to textbook perfect carbon copies it would be a delight to see someone like Gower nowadays.

  • Frank Tyson, ramadhin and valentine, Barnes as the man below says, ranjitsinhji, Wally Hammond, wes hall, George headley, Jeff Thompson, more of Malcolm and Hadlee.

  • Cor what a team. I loved watching Viv and Ian. They were masters. Remember that Botham never wore a helmet in those days. Totally fearless. Keith Miller was such a great character. Have you heard the story about him? He was being interviewed: “Well how do you feel about the pressure Mr Miller?” To which Keith Miller replied: “Pressure? Messerschmitt up yer arse, that’s pressure!”

  • My cricket watching started in 1975 so my team would be of a slightly older vintage:
    Hobbs, Trumper, Bradman, Compton, G Pollock, Sobers, Ames, Larwood, Ramadin, Spofforth, Tyson (in ’54/55 form), 12th man; S.F. Barnes.

    Some thoughts on your team:
    Viv Richards – the greatest batsman I’ve seen (just ahead of Lara). His final stats don’t do him justice because he played on too for long. Between 1976-84 he was incredible.
    Gary Sobers – footage of his 254 for the Rest of the World vs. Australia which he rated as his greatest innings is on Youtube. The Aussie attack of Lillee, Massie, Walters, O’Keefe and Jenner was none too shabby.
    Ian Botham – you’re a bit unkind on him. He played some great cricket after 1983 with his bowling probably at its fastest in the 1985 Ashes. His comeback Test after the cannabis ban was also quite special and he was a crucial cog in the 90/91 World Cup side (our best ever ODI team).
    Imran – batting at No.9???????
    Knott and Underwood – I was one of about three people in the ground for this last day of this game:
    http://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Scorecards/44/44710.html
    Pitches were covered in 1984 but the covers had leaked and I saw Deadly on a ‘sticky dog’. The ball that dismissed Mark Nicholas reared up and nearly took his head off (pity about the ‘nearly’…..). Knotty though never looked like dropping a ball. I’m a Hampshire fan but didn’t mind for once seeing my county hammered as I knew I’d seen something special.

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