All Time World Test Spud XI

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Re: World's Worst Team of the Decade

My Australian team of spud One Day International cricketers that I've seen play.

Michael Slater
Jimmy Maher
Michael Di Venuto
Brad Hodge
David Hussey (c)
Ian Harvey
Tim Zoehrer (wk)
Gavin Robertson
Brendon Julian
Brett Dorey
Mick Lewis

12th man Simon Katich
 
Re: World's Worst Team of the Decade

Kram81;386543 said:
My Australian team of spud Test cricketers that I've seen play (at least at some level..)

Matthew Elliot
Chris Rogers
Mike Veletta
Michael Bevan
Brad Hodge
Greg Blewett
Tim Zoehrer (wk)
Nathan Bracken
Bryce McGain
Joe Angel
Shaun Tait

12th man Dan Cullen


Tough on Zoehrer but I had to pick a keeper.

Sorry Boris but I had to ignore your 2 or 12+ Test rule, too hard :)
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not all players of the 2000s - if you wanted a list of dud Aussie players from the 80s you could fill a rather large book.

Greg Blewett - a bit harsh I would rank him as one of Australia's best batsmen of the 90s

But if we could stick to the 2000s...

Sherwin Campbell could get a mention - got completely slaughtered by Glen McGrath in the 2000/1 Australian tour and was immediately dropped (while vice captain) and only played one more test where he got a pair IIRC

Darren Gough - career cut short by injury and came back for one more series in 2002 (I think) - failed miserably and promptly retired.

Marlon Samuels - cocky little prick who famously asked his school teacher why would he bother studying when he'll be playing test cricket for the west indies? Failed to live up to expectations. Personally I preferred his lesser known brother Robert

Wicketkeeper - I don't think its fair to put in Geraint Jones or Chris Read - Read was solid enough when given the chance, and Jones was a key contributor to the ashes return in 2005. My choice would go to the Indian teenager Phativ Patel who's glove work was spectacularly bad - and only kept his place because of his youth and a couple of decent scores with the bat.

edit: captain should be Jimmy Adams - Led West Indies to a 5-0 whitewash in Australia 2000/1 - was probably the worst batsman of the series and was dropped straight after while captain.
 
Re: World's Worst Team of the Decade

Sober Symonds;386607 said:
I'll play your game Boris. In fact, I'll go further and do the work for you.

At first read I thought you may have had harmless intentions, but I should have realised it was another cynical way to bag some more Victorians. I hope it proves to be therapeutic for you.

Hodge scored pretty much nothing when he came into the Test team, hey? Apart from 60 on debut, a 40, another 60, oh and the 200no ... what more would you like from someone in six Tests? Even if he'd made a duck in every other innings (never managed any of those), he'd still have come out of it better than the majority of those who have ever been given a cap.

But I've got a team to pick for you:

Matthew Elliott
Chris Rogers
David Hussey
Andrew McDonald
Ian Harvey
Phil Emery*
Clint McKay
Shane Harwood
Mick Lewis
Colin Miller
Brad Williams

* Sorry, he's not Victorian and he's outside the last decade, but our 'keepers don't get chosen to play for Australia and I've not known a dud gloveman from anywhere else in that time.
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I knew you'd say something about this :D

I think you are missing the point though. I like Brad Hodge a lot, and think he should have been playing a lot more, perhaps should have been selected instead of Hussey at the time. It's not a question whether or not the player is any good, because for any player to get anywhere near international level they have to be bloody good, but whether or not they were a flop when they did get there. Hodge averaged 30 without the help of his double century which was aided by bad bowling and he didn't look settled at all. He was a little bit of a dud for that series which is part of the reason he was no longer selected after that.

He didn't look comfortable and therefore is nowhere near the greatest player of the decade. Now that he is retired there is no possible way he is improving on it, so I would have to call him a dud at Test and ODI levels.

I am in no way picking on him because he is a Victorian, purely coincidental. Marvelous player and should have had a better career.
 
Re: World's Worst Team of the Decade

I did. Tough job, but the hard calls had to be made and a Vic is, after all, a Vic.

Yes Boris, we've spoken about Hodge ad nauseam, and you conceded he was a good player, unlucky, wrong time, etc. etc. Whatever, it's a stretch to put him in the dud category. If he didn't make 200 - not out, against the next best Test team, his average would have been 30.:eek: Did I ever tell you about my aunty?

I would still struggle to squeeze a bloke with an average of 30 into what you've entitled the "World's Worst Team of the Decade", but you say it's got nothing to do with where he's from. Give me a break.

Bad bowling ... didn't look settled ... I've heard it all.
 
Re: World's Worst Team of the Decade

Mate, Hodge had many oportunnities but sadly was complete poo at international level, anyone that actually watched the game instead of ****ing themselves over any player that had previously pulled on a Bushranger uniform on would've noticed this..

Build a bridge, the guy was rubbish and failed, time to get over it..
 
Re: World's Worst Team of the Decade

It's not a 'who could have done well', but rather a who should have done well, but didn't.
 
Re: World's Worst Team of the Decade

Kram81;386779 said:
Mate, Hodge had many oportunnities but sadly was complete poo at international level, anyone that actually watched the game instead of ****ing themselves over any player that had previously pulled on a Bushranger uniform on would've noticed this..

Build a bridge, the guy was rubbish and failed, time to get over it..
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I guess Steve Waugh must have been really bad then, since he averaged 5 less than Hodge.
 
Re: World's Worst Team of the Decade

This is the International forum, please do not hijack this thread into yet another circle jerk/hatefest over Hodge.

There are plenty of threads in the Australia forum where this subject can be discussed ad nauseum.
 
Re: World's Worst Team of the Decade

I'm pretty sure a Pakistani team would be pretty decent in size.

I can't make much of an addition to this because I tend to not remember those who failed...
 
Re: World's Worst Team of the Decade

Caesar;386911 said:
This is the International forum, please do not hijack this thread into yet another circle jerk/hatefest over Hodge.

There are plenty of threads in the Australia forum where this subject can be discussed ad nauseum.
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Just to re-emphasise.

As some have noticed, I will simply remove further offtopic posts.
 
Re: World's Worst Team of the Decade

Thanks Caeser.

I will repost my question after it was removed.

Anyone for subcontinental players?
 
Re: World's Worst Team of the Decade

Boris;386944 said:
Anyone for subcontinental players?
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Romesh Kaluwitharana
Venkatesh Prasad
Parthiv Patel
Saqlain Mushtaq
- probably about a dozen Pakistani openers

Moin Khan - worth a special mention not because he was that bad, but for his efforts during Nasser Hussein's historic series win in 2001 (?) - must be the first captain in the history of the game to appeal for bad light while fielding.
 
Re: World's Worst Team of the Decade

gandalf;386964 said:
Romesh Kaluwitharana
Venkatesh Prasad
Parthiv Patel
Saqlain Mushtaq
- probably about a dozen Pakistani openers

Moin Khan
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Context - I mean in reality none of those players are truly terrible if you look at their careers objectively.

Romesh Kaluwitharana -probably wasted his talent but he played as a keeper (some of the time) and was part of a team on the decline for parts of his career. Borderline I would say.

Venkatesh Prasad - had a thankless job as partner to Srinath. During his career he was emplyed as little more than someone to take the shine off the ball, playing on bare pitches with little to no help for his style of bowling. Again in the context of his career it is hard to say his was terrible simply because he did the job asked of him.

Parthiv Patel -picked when too young due to the intricacies of the Indian selection process. Sadly (for him), by the time he had matured (he's still only 24 now) Dhoni had firmly grasped the job of keeper. The guy can bat and is a decent keeper. Would need a run of games now to truly decide either way but again I can't say he was truly awful.

Saqlain Mushtaq - more a case of promise gone awry. 200 test wickets at under 30 is not the sign of a crap player, especially with you're a spinner. Plus he hit a test century. Career meandered due to injuries, poor choices and the system he played in. Not a poor player by any stretch of the imagination.

Moin Khan - wanting to win a game does not a poor player make. Annoying and deserving of a slap maybe but poor no.

The problem with this thread is that too many choices are personal, made because of seeing the player in one game/series or simply because you dislike them.

Lets try to remain objective and poor those who were truly awful for a meaningful period of time. Otherwise this thread is nothing more than a waste of pixels.
 
Re: World's Worst Team of the Decade

Would Ravi Bopara be put down near one of these teams?

I don't know much about him, but he did really look like a one hit wonder.
 
Re: World's Worst Team of the Decade

Boris;387075 said:
Would Ravi Bopara be put down near one of these teams?

I don't know much about him, but he did really look like a one hit wonder.
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Well it was 3 hits in 3 tests, but yes he would qualify
 
Re: World's Worst Team of the Decade

mas cambios;386988 said:
Lets try to remain objective and poor those who were truly awful for a meaningful period of time. Otherwise this thread is nothing more than a waste of pixels.
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This was always going to be an interpretive exercise, it doesn't really make sense to demand objectivity. I was responding to a specific question about sub-continent players and I rattled off the first players that came to my head. Also, regarding my selection:

Saqlain Mushtaq - your comments about his impressive record are largely irrelevant since most of that record was achieved in the 90s. Then along came the doosra, and with it the 2000s, and everything went downhill for poor Saqlain.

ditto for Kalu and even Moin - their best cricket was well and trully behind them once the 2000s arrived - but both had big reputations.

I was trying to go off what the author of this thread suggested:
It's not a 'who could have done well', but rather a who should have done well, but didn't.
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So I'm looking more at high profile players who were expected to do big things and proved dissapointing - unfairly perhaps in the case of Patel - but thats still the reality. They were never going to be "trully awful" players - I'm not even sure you can say that about any player who made the test arena.
 
Re: World's Worst Team of the Decade

I'm inclined not to pick good players who were on the downhill slope of their careers in the 2000s. I'm more about picking pure spuds. I'm not finished with my side yet, but so far these are my criteria:

- Regular player for their national team for an extended period
- Legitimate spud (not just poor form in the '00s)
- Significantly below the quality of his teammates (i.e. doesn't matter if he'd be a star for Zimbabwe, more about dragging his team down)
 
Re: World's Worst Team of the Decade

There's nothing against picking those who did go downhill after hitting the 2000s, since it is only a team of this decade, inferring that their 'careers' as spuds will only begin then, but I'm with Caesar, it makes it a much more true to the point team if only pure international duds are part of it.

It is a subjective exercise at heart, and I feel the most has been heard from this activity, got some good names in there.
 
Re: World's Worst Team of the Decade

Mohammad Ashraful would surely get a gig in this side. Genuine spud.
 
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