Australian Cricket Team Appreciation Thread

[timothius]

From 1995 onwards Australia has been the self proclaimed greatest cricket team. It wasn't until 2000 when they actually had some results to even remotely back up that claim - and never truly proved themselves to be the greatest team at the time... let a lone ever. That aside - I'm gulliable, I listen to whatever the Australian print and television media tells me and you know what... These guys are the greatest ever! Binger, Pidgeon, Gilly & Dizzy, not only are they cricketing gods, but they are awesome at giving nicnames.

Let us now pay homage and respect to this decade of domanance.

Steve Waugh

Shane Warne

Ricky Ponting

Michael Slater

Jason Gillespie

Mark Waugh

Now mods, I know after pasting this series of sexual commandos that you will be inclined to move this to Pleba. Fear Not! They do actually roll the arm over and play a round of cricket every once in a while.

Let us worship now.

 

[Axver]

I see Jason Gillespie is currently going for the Jesus look. What, is he trying to be the Australian Cricketing Messiah to save them from suckdom?

The above evidence shows he's got a loooong way to go.

 

[bono_man2002]

"ewwww Cricket ball germs"

 

[timothius]

^Lou Vincent... born to an Australian father and raised there from the age of 10-20.

 

[blueeyedgirl]

to this whole thread.

Australian cricket has never been the same since Lillee retired.

 

[timothius]

I don't hear worship.

 

[timothius]

Come on Aussie, come on, come on....
Post in this thread, come on.

Don't you love your country?

 

[Axver]

Come on Aussie, come on, come on....
Post in this thread, come on.

Don't you love your country?

I think they're too embarrassed to appreciate their pack of over-rated cricketers.

 

[blueeyedgirl]

The lyrics to "Come on Aussie" celebrate the golden era of 70's cricket, not this pack of over-bleached babies. You'd never catch Lillee using hair product.

 

[timothius]

I disagree all eras of Australian cricket are equally abhorent.

 

[Axver]

I disagree all eras of Australian cricket are equally abhorent.

Now there's a statement I can appreciate!

 

[Tania]

Most 100s

Sr No Name Team 100s
1 S. Tendulkar* India 34
2 S. Gavaskar India 34
3 S. Waugh Australia 32
4 B.Lara* West Indies 30
5 D. Bradman Australia 29
6 A. Border Australia 27
7 G. Sobers West indies 26
8 G. Chappell Australia 24
9 IVA Richards West indies 24
10 Javed Miandad Pakistan 23
11 R.Ponting* Australia 23
12 J Kallis* South Africa 22
13 Inzamam-ul-Haq* Pakistan 22
14 M. Azharuddin India 22
15 G Boycott England 22
16 M. Cowdrey England 22
17 W. Hammond England 22
18 JL Langer * Australia 21
19 G.Kirsten South Africa 21
20 R. Harvey Australia 21
21 D. Boon Australia 21
22 P. de Silva Sri Lanka 20
23 G. Gooch England 20
24 K. Barrington England 20
25 ML Hayden * Australia 20
26 R Dravid * India 20
27 M. Waugh Australia 20

Thought I would just pop this one in. Scanned up and scanned down and then scanned it again and guess what? NOT ONE SINGLE KIWI MADE IT IN THE TOP 27 LISTED

How many Aussies 11, yes eleven, e-lev-en. That right, almost half of the list.

 

[blueeyedgirl]

Christ, even BOONIE made the list!!!!

 

[Tania]

Then I found this one. Most runs scored. Oh, lookie here, we have a kiwi at No 41

Sr. no Players Country
Matches
Innings
NO
Runs Average HS 100 50
1 Allen Border Aus 156 265 44 11174 50.56 205 27 63
2 Steve Waugh Aus 168 260 46 10927 51.06 200 32 50
3 B.Lara* WI 117 206 6 10818 54.09 400* 30 46
4 Sachin Tendulkar * Ind 123 198 21 10134 57.25 248* 34 41
5 S.Gavaskar Ind 125 214 16 10122 51.12 236* 34 45
6 GA Gooch Eng 118 215 6 8900 42.58 333 20 46
7 Javed Miandad Pak. 124 189 21 8832 52.57 280* 23 43
8 Ivan Richards WI 121 182 12 8540 50.23 291 24 45
9 Alec Stewart Eng 133 235 21 8463 39.55 190 15 45
10 DI Gower Eng 117 204 18 8231 44.25 215 18 39
11 G Boycott Eng 108 193 23 8114 47.72 246* 22 42
12 GS Sobers Wi 93 160 21 8032 57.78 365* 26 30
13 Mark Waugh Aus 128 209 17 8029 41.81 153* 20 47
14 M.Atherton Eng 115 212 7 7728 37.70 185* 16 46
15 R Dravid* Ind 89 151 18 7696 57.86 270 20 36
16 M.Cowdrey Eng 114 188 15 7624 44.07 182 22 38
17 Inzamam-ul-Haq* Pak. 101 168 18 7620 50.80 329 22 39
19 C.Greenidge W.i 108 185 16 7558 44.72 226 18 34
20 M.Taylor Aus. 104 186 13 7525 43.50 334* 19 40
21 C.LIoyd Wi 110 175 14 7515 46.68 242* 18 39
22 G.Kirsten SA 101 176 15 7289 45.27 275 21 34
23 D.Haynes Wi 116 202 25 7487 42.30 184 18 38
24 D.Boon Aus 107 190 20 7422 43.66 200 21 32
25 J.Kallis* SA 93 155 26 7337 56.87 189* 22 37
26 W.Hammond Eng. 85 140 16 7249 58.46 336* 22 24
27 R.Ponting* Aus 91 149 20 7225 56.00 259 23 28
28 G.Chappell Aus 87 151 19 7110 53.86 247* 24 31
29 D.Bradman Aus 52 80 10 6996 99.94 334 29 13
30 L.Hutton Eng. 79 138 15 6971 56.97 364 19 33
31 D.Vengsarkar Ind 116 185 22 6868 42.13 166 17 35
32 J.L.Langer* Aus 91 156 8 6808 46.00 250 21 27
33 K.Barrington Eng. 82 131 15 6806 58.67 256 20 35
34 GP Thorpe Eng 100 179 26 6744 44.66 200* 16 39
35 S.Jayasuriya* SL 98 167 14 6485 42.38 340 14 29
36 A.De Silva Sl 93 159 11 6361 42.98 267 20 22
37 R.Kanhai Wi 79 137 6 6227 47.53 256 15 28
38 M.Azharuddin Ind 99 147 9 6215 45.04 199 22 21
39 R.Harvey Aus. 79 137 10 6149 48.42 205 21 24
40 G.Viswanath Ind 91 155 10 6080 41.93 222 14 35
41 S Fleming * NZ 96 165 10 6050 39.03 274* 8 40
42 S Chanderpaul * WI 88 147 20 6032 47.87 203* 14 35
43 R.Richardson Wi 86 146 12 5949 44.40 194 16 27
44 ML Hayden * Aus 70 123 10 5868 51.92 380 20 20
45 DCS Compton Eng 78 131 15 5807 50.06 278 17 28
46 Saleem Malik Pak 103 154 22 5768 43.70 237 15 29
47 C. Hooper Wi 102 173 15 5762 36.47 233 13 27
48 N.Hussain Eng 96 171 16 5764 37.18 207 14 33
49 M. Crowe Nz 77 131 11 5444 45.37 299 17 18
50 JB Hobbs Eng 61 102 7 5410 56.95 211 15 28
51 K. Walters Aus 74 125 14 5357 48.26 250 15 33
52 I. Chappell Aus. 75 136 10 5345 42.42 196 14 26
53 J. Wright Nz 82 148 7 5334 37.83 185 12 23
54 M. Slater Aus 74 131 7 5312 42.84 219 14 21
55 Kapil Dev Ind 131 184 15 5248 31.05 163 8 21
56 WM Lawry Eng 67 123 12 5234 47.05 210 13 27
57 HH Gibbs* SA 70 117 6 5227 47.09 228 14 18
58 IT Botham Eng 102 161 6 5200 33.55 208 14 22
60 JH Edrich Eng 77 161 9 5138 43.54 310* 12 24
61 A Ranatunga Sl 93 155 12 5105 35.70 135* 4 38
62 MS Atapattu * SL 83 144 15 5064 39.25 249 16 13
63 Zaheer Abbas Pak 78 124 11 5062 44.80 274 12 20
64 ME Trescothick * Eng 64 121 10 5038 45.38 219 12 26

Highest Score * Star=Not Out
* Star Means Playing cricket . No Star Retired Last Updated 17/08/2005

 

[blueeyedgirl]

Tania, you're a star!!!!

 

[Tania]

Test Career Highest Batting Average:

An Aussie. Yes Sir Donald Bradman with 99.4

Any Kiwis? Nope not a one in the first 36. Australian's on the other hand have 8 in total


Lets go and see how we go with the bowling shall we?

 

[Tania]

Well, well, well and who is top?

An Aussie! With 600 test wickets its Shane Warne

Dick Dastardly Hadlee is the only Kiwi to make on the list at 7th.

Oh, the might of the Kiwi's.

 

[Axver]

I maintain that despite his 600 wickets, Shane Warne is completely over-rated.

Muttiah Muralitharan is far better in my opinion.

 

[blueeyedgirl]

Well, well, well and who is top?

An Aussie! With 600 test wickets its Shane Warne

Dick Dastardly Hadlee is the only Kiwi to make on the list at 7th.

Oh, the might of the Kiwi's.

Where's Lillee? Lillee is the greatest, not Warne!

LI-LLEE, LI-LLEE.........

 

[Tania]

D.K. came in at number 15 with 70 matches, 18 467 balls, 8 493 runs, 355 wickets, Average 23.92, economy 2.75, best bowling 7-83, 5 wicket hauls 23 and 10 wickets hauls - 7.


I would have to agree that Murali is a better bowler than Warnie but Warnie brought spin back to the forefront of the game when everyone tried to have an all out pace attack.

 

[Tania]

Now we move on to ODI and guess what?

An Australian tops the Highest Batting Average:

Michael Bevan with 53.88.

G. Turner from NZ comes in 4th but that's all folks! Not another Kiwi in sight. Meanwhile 7 Australian's have made the list.

 

[Tania]

Axver, Timothious, I'm lovin' this thread.

What a great idea you guys had!

Back shortly with some more statistics for your reading pleasure

 

[Tania]

Oh, here's one you might be interested in:

Most Ducks in Career - Adam Parore, from (guess, guess go on guess... Oh, alright then a Kiwi) came in 5th with 19.

Interestingly enough old Wasim Akram heads up this one with 28.

 

[Tania]

ODI Bowling - Best Bowling on Debut:

2nd - Australia (Anthony Dodimaide 5/21)

aaaannnnnndddd waaaaaayyyy down at No 18 the only bowler to make it for NZ Hadlee with 4/34.

 

[Tania]

ODI - Most Expensive Bowler

Let's see. Who do we think the prize should go to

Yep, you guessed it the Kiwi's.

M.Snedden's effort of 12 overs, 1 Maiden, 105 runs and 2 wickets against England at the Oval in 1983 has not been surpassed since.

Oh, I could go on

 

[timothius]

Biased. :rolleeys:



I cricket stats by the by.

Most of those stats are completely irrelevant. Even "Most Wickets" is pretty dubious due to the amount of cricket nowadays. Looking at the players who have taken 400+ wickets Hadlee's stats dwarf all. Average, Economy, Strike Rate, Games Played he owns.

As for the rest of your stats most are pretty dubious... Most Expensive Bowling Performance is nearly as obscure as Adam Parore heading the list for "Highest Score Without A Boundary" with 96 against India. Does he get an apple for that?

There is a good case for the bowling performances of both Warne & Murali should be absconded from the record too.

 

[Axver]

There is a good case for the bowling performances of both Warne & Murali should be absconded from the record too.

I know about the case against Muralitharan (and disagree), but what case can be made against Warne besides the fact his behaviour off the field has brought the game into disrepute?

And I too the stats.

 

[Tania]

While I do not agree with what Shane Warne has done (he's a bloody idiot), and I don't know how his wife has put up with it for this long, it really is irrelevant to his cricketing abilities.

I would be interested to hear why you think he shouldn't be included.

Oh, and Murali, I disagree. While his action may be somewhat different it has been shown a number of times that it is acceptable and within the rules of cricket.

 

[Tania]

Most of those stats are completely irrelevant. Even "Most Wickets" is pretty dubious due to the amount of cricket nowadays. Looking at the players who have taken 400+ wickets Hadlee's stats dwarf all. Average, Economy, Strike Rate, Games Played he owns.

Well, lets take a look at this one:

G McGrath well known bowler for Australia vs R Hadlee, New Zealands best bowler (which I think he was. One of the few who truly had the killer instinct on the field. Something I think even the current English cricket team don't quite have yet).

G McGrath:

Matches - 111
Balls - 25 995
Runs - 10 875
Wickets - 513
Av - 21.19
Economy - 2.51
Best 8 -24 (8 for 24 is pretty bloody good bowling as far as I am concerned).
5W - 28
10W - 3

R Hadlee:

Matches - 86
Balls - 21 918 (so while 25 less matches, there is not much difference in the number of balls bowled)
Runs - 9 611 (again not much of a difference considering the difference in the number of matches played).
Wickets - 431
Av - 22.29
Economy - 2.63
Best - 9-52 (not bad but a lot more runs for one more wicket)
5W - 36 (impressive)
10W - 9 (also impressive)

I always wondered if Hadlee would have had the same sort of results had NZ had another bowler or two of a higher calibre.

 

[timothius]

Well, lets take a look at this one:

G McGrath well known bowler for Australia vs R Hadlee, New Zealands best bowler (which I think he was. One of the few who truly had the killer instinct on the field. Something I think even the current English cricket team don't quite have yet).

G McGrath:

Matches - 111
Balls - 25 995
Runs - 10 875
Wickets - 513
Av - 21.19
Economy - 2.51
Best 8 -24 (8 for 24 is pretty bloody good bowling as far as I am concerned).
5W - 28
10W - 3

R Hadlee:

Matches - 86
Balls - 21 918 (so while 25 less matches, there is not much difference in the number of balls bowled)
Runs - 9 611 (again not much of a difference considering the difference in the number of matches played).
Wickets - 431
Av - 22.29
Economy - 2.63
Best - 9-52 (not bad but a lot more runs for one more wicket)
5W - 36 (impressive)
10W - 9 (also impressive)

I always wondered if Hadlee would have had the same sort of results had NZ had another bowler or two of a higher calibre.

Key points:

McGrath bowled in an era with two distinct "bunny" teams Zimbabwe & Bangladesh.

While the overs are similar (666.666 overs difference funnily enough) McGrath has had acess to at least 25 more new balls if not 45-50 more... which is a significant advantage.

Furthermore comparing Hadlee's 9fer against Australia away and McGraths bowling against a second string Pakistain on a dangerous WACA pitch is not exactly a fair comparison. I think you will be hardpressed to find anyone who will agree that McGraths bowling surpassed Hadlee's.

Hadlee was a considerabley better batsmen.

Hadlee was a considerabley better feildsmen.

Hadlee did have good bowling team mates John Bracewell etc.