Selecting a favourite player or team is often done objectively. While it wasn’t easy trimming down all the players who have represented Australia in the past 40 years, most of the player’s in the Ramble’s list of 23 were automatic selections. Trimming it down wasn’t as tough as it seemed, not when I based my side on legacy instead of bluff and blarney.
My batsmen are listed below:
| Tests | runs | fifties | centuries | average | |
| Matt Hayden | 103 | 8625 | 30 | 29 | 50.73 |
| Justin Langer | 105 | 7696 | 30 | 23 | 45.27 |
| Ricky Ponting | 151 | 12,333 | 56 | 39 | 53.85 |
| Greg Chappell | 87 | 7110 | 31 | 24 | 53.86 |
| Allan Border* | 156 | 11,174 | 63 | 27 | 50.56 |
| Steve Waugh | 168 | 10,927 | 50 | 32 | 51.06 |
Matt Hayden was often labelled a flat-track bully. The stats suggest he performed better in Australia but struggled overseas. Of his 30 centuries, 21 were scored at home, though he did score hundreds in South Africa, England, Pakistan and India. His strengths, though, were his ability to dominate an attack and bat for hours, compiling huge scores, including an Australian record 380 against Zimbabwe. Hayden intimidated bowlers with his size and routinely batted out of his crease.
For three successive years Hayden scored more than a thousand runs in Shield cricket. Given his chance, he choked, getting dropped several times when the big scores at domestic level weren’t replicated in Tests. As the best will do, Hayden learned from demotion and developed remarkable consistency, his average midway through his career peaking at 57.
Capable of monstering an attack, Hayden drove and cut with brutality. In England, and late in his career against South Africa, the swinging, seaming ball sorted him out, but he needs to be remembered as better than that.
From 103 Tests, Hayden took 128 catches, mostly fielding behind the wicket, in the gully and first slip. Any cricketer who takes more catches than Tests played is an asset. Hayden was a designated opener, not a batsman who grew into the role, like Justin Langer and David Boon. The average of 50.73, in the seventies and eighties, mightn’t have been as outstanding, but he would’ve played Test cricket in any era.
Justin Langer was gritty, a fighter, almost limited in stroke play but what talent he had exhibited aggressively. Not totally attractive to watch, without grace and ease, Langer and Hayden complimented each other as openers, having a clear understanding of strengths, weaknesses and psyche. Rarely did they run each other out, and there were cuddles instead of handshakes whenever one scored a hundred.
Langer is reportedly a martial arts expert. He loves boxing, and seemed to treat each ball as a punch or a kick. When he was hit on the helmet and knocked out by Makhaya Ntini, he likened the ball to a fight, I felt like I’d been hit by Lennox Lewis. Of his 23 hundreds, Langer scored eight overseas, against England, Sri Lanka, Pakistan and the West Indies.
Like Hayden, he played in an era mostly free of notable fast bowlers from the West Indies, but there were other speedsters just as capable.
Mark Taylor could’ve been substituted for Langer, but Taylor went through several horror trots, and was kept in the side by virtue of being captain. Like Langer, Taylor was limited, and he deserved to get dropped before a career redeeming hundred against England. David Boon, a smouldering keg of fight, missed out narrowly because he scored just six centuries overseas.
Langer’s average, the runs he scored and his performance overseas ensured his selection.
Ricky Ponting is Australia’s best batsman since Bradman, shading out Greg Chappell for the number two gig. Ponting’s record is impressive, 39 hundreds at an average over 50. Nineteen of those hundreds have been scored overseas, so he’s performed in all global conditions. For more than a decade Ponting has batted first drop, refusing all attempts to slide him down the order.
He’s a cinch to be remembered as an indifferent captain, with three Ashes series defeats pointing at failure. But his record of 48 Test victories as captain is the best in the game’s history. Before he retires he might lead Australia to 50 victories, a record that might never be broken.
Like all great captains, Ponting had great players at his command, particularly Shane Warne and Glenn McGrath. Other captains, Mark Taylor, Allan Border and Steve Waugh used Warne and McGrath too, but as captain, Ponting’s form never suffered the uncertainty those men faced. Recently, as reflexes have dulled, his form has slipped and he’s more accepting of a drift down the order.
Ponting was every bit as tough and belligerent as his predecessors, but because Australia have lost their edge he’s regarded as tactically deficient, a harsh call given the new era he’s trying to build.
At his peak, Ponting was a defensive bulwark, punctuated by impeccable placement and a graceful pull shot. Like Hayden, he could bully an attack, scoring quickly all round the wicket. His record stands out as a beacon, more runs, more centuries and more Test wins than any Australian captain.
Excellence aside, he’s the Ramble’s vice-captain.
Greg Chappell was a standout in an era of brutal, tough cricket, leading Australia through a turbulent period that split the game. World Series Cricket, a Kerry Packer invention, pitted best against best, the toughest cricket, Chappell said, he’d ever played. A majestic batsman, he could dominate an attack or frustrate it with delicate singles. Of the batsmen listed in my team, Chappell probably faced the toughest bowlers, particularly those from the West Indies.
Refusing to captain Australia on several overseas tours, to Pakistan and England, is Chappell’s only blight. He wanted the captaincy at home and wasn’t interested across the ocean. Temporarily stepping down, bestowing the captaincy to Kim Hughes caused a rift in the team. Some people liked Hughes, others didn’t. Chappell commanded like an inflexible patriarch. Hughes was his little brother.
In 1981, Chappell scored seven consecutive ducks, a horror trot against the men from the Caribbean, Pakistan and in domestic cricket. The impotent absence of runs was a mental issue, though like other Australian captains, he recovered to retire on his own terms.
If rated by grace, Chappell sits behind Mark Waugh as Australia’s most seductive batsman to watch. Unlike Waugh, Chappell eked everything from his ability and didn’t find interesting ways of getting out. Mark Waugh, on unearned class, is unlucky to miss out, but with durability a key point, Chappell must be selected.
A tactically sound captain, his reluctance to leave Australia and ordering his brother, Trevor, to bowl an underarm, were mitigating factors in overlooking him for the captaincy.
Allan Border knew his limitations. A man could watch Border bat and feel as though he’d seen nothing impressive. Knowing his limitations, though, was Border’s strength. He grafted runs, a slow grind, his temperament ruined by the lack of fight around him. It took Border four years to build toughness in the men he commanded. For years he batted first drop in an ordinary team, against the West Indies and England. His average against the West Indies isn’t great, a shade over 39, but the early years against the best from his era were good.
Of Border’s 27 hundreds, 13 were scored overseas, forcing runs in all conditions. His 63 fifties is an Australian record. Late in his career he endured shattering form, going 36 Tests without hitting a hundred. Through those Tests he scored 21 half-centuries but could never close the deal.
The first four years of captaincy were Border’s toughest. Australian cricket was rebuilding. Players like Dave Gilbert and Dirk Wellham mightn’t have played in another era. Border was always under pressure, if he failed, the team failed. In New Zealand he offered his resignation, disgusted at the lack of fight. Players were dropped, those who held their spots began to develop the required mental attitude.
Labelled Captain Grumpy, Border strove for greatness. When he retired, Australia was surging. For more than a decade the team rode on his coattails. Mark Taylor, Steve Waugh and Ricky Ponting can thank Border for much of what they achieved as captains.
Forgetting the splendour men like Chappell and Mark Waugh bought to the crease, and focusing on unmitigated determination, ensures Border is named as the captain of the Ramble’s Test side. He carried his country, leading a team depleted by the rebel tour to South Africa. No Australian captain, since Border, endured such hardship. He deserves to be captain.
Steve Waugh made his debut at 19, a prodigy, greatness imposed by aficionados. Labelled an all-rounder, it took 26 Tests before he made a hundred. His bowling was feisty, more suited to one-day cricket. After a dominating performance in England in 1989, Waugh was dropped in 1990, in favour of twin brother Mark. Upon his return against the West Indies he struggled at first drop and didn’t do much better down the order in the ensuing series. Scoring 157 in England in 1993 was a defining moment. Determined to keep the advantage, he gave up hooking, blotted the short ball at his feet and scored heavily.
Waugh wasn’t graceful, like Chappell or Ponting. He grafted better than Border and flattened attacks with attitude, famously telling Curtly Ambrose to go fuck yourself. Waugh learnt from Border, finishing his career at number six, as Border did, holding the tail together. Seventeen of his 32 hundreds were scored overseas, the only batsman in my team with a lopsided result in terms of centuries scored at home and abroad.
Under Waugh, Australia was ruthless, but Waugh wasn’t infallible, famously losing a series to India in 2001 after enforcing the follow-on in the second Test. Australia won sixteen consecutive Tests under Waugh, a record, the previous best being eleven by the West Indies.
Like Border, Waugh was dependable when it was a tough wicket. Unlike Border, Waugh had a great side to captain, and that is the reason he wasn’t named as captain of my team.
| Tests | wickets | runs | average | best | 5w | 10w | |
| Shane Warne | 145 | 708 | 17995 | 25.41 | 8-71 | 37 | 10 |
| Denis Lillee | 70 | 355 | 8493 | 23.92 | 7-83 | 23 | 7 |
| Craig McDermott | 71 | 291 | 8332 | 28.63 | 8-97 | 14 | 2 |
| Glenn McGrath | 124 | 563 | 12186 | 21.64 | 8-24 | 29 | 3 |
There is little about Shane Warne that hasn’t already been said, so I’ll be brief. Warne is the best bowler I have ever seen. A leg-spinner, unable to intimidate batsmen with the bouncer, Warne used a savvy attitude, drift and sharp spin to get wickets. The flipper, at his peak, was unplayable. Following shoulder surgery, he couldn’t bowl the flipper with the same lethal intent, unable to spin the ball as much, getting dropped in the West Indies in favour of Stuart McGill and threatening to retire.
The comeback was filled with guile and bluff, better control, flatter bowling and subtle variations. He frightened batsmen with trickery and thrived on hesitancy. Warne has won more games for Australia than any other cricketer since Bradman. Watching him bowl was like watching a great illusory artist, a magician who forced the batsmen to watch the hand, hypnotising them, all a beguiling drama. Warne wrote his own scripts, and dumb batsmen submitted to the beat-down.
Warne was hit for more sixes than any other bowler in the history of cricket, an unfortunate record. He wasn’t as affective following the shoulder operation, his average slipping from 21 to 27, before finishing at 25.41. Without injury, Warne might’ve taken more wickets and retained the flipper, but he was brilliant anyway.
Denis Lillee, like Chappell and Border, played in one of the toughest eras of cricket in the game’s history. He formed a deadly combination with Jeff Thompson in the mid-seventies, two lightening quick bowlers who terrorised England and the West Indies. Lillee was perhaps the first bowler struck down with a stress fracture in his back, a bad one. During the comeback, he had to learn to run first before learning to bowl again. Reinstated to the Test side, Lillee never attained the pace he had, but bowled within himself, swing, seam and a wicked leg-cutter.
Tall, hairy with a fashionable moustache, Lillee could bowl short, explosive spells or feature unchanged for a session. Aggressive, short tempered, he epitomised everything fast bowlers aspired to. He hit batsman with the short ball then sledged them. Sir Richard Hadlee, a New Zealand legend, used to conjure up Lillee during difficult moments, what would Lillee do.
Lillee, for all his hair and flair, reinvented himself beyond injury. At reduced pace, effectiveness undiminished, he continued to spearhead Australia’s attack. When he broke the world record for Test wickets against the West Indies in 1981, the MCG crowd sung Waltzing Matilda, and Lillee shed a tear. He finished with 355 Test wickets from 70 Tests. If not for World Series Cricket, Lillee would’ve been the first bowler in the history of the game to claim 400 wickets. Exile from the Australian team reduced his official tally of wickets, but his efforts in the Packer circus and afterwards is enough to bestow upon him the honour of Australia’s greatest fast bowler.
Craig McDermott had pace and aggression. He could swing the ball, find the seam, bowling with relentless aggression and a redheaded belligerence. Despite the statistics, he edges out Brett Lee from my team. Lee was quicker, but didn’t swing the ball as much. A strike bowler, Lee didn’t always open the attack. When McDermott was at his peak, the opening over was his. He also played against better quality opposition than Lee did.
McDermott played his first Test against the West Indies at 19, in 1984/85. Not long after he was dropped from the team. Australia’s coach, Bob Simpson, told him to drop the pace and concentrate on accuracy, to hold up an end and dry up the runs. West Indies legend Joel Garner offered alternate advice, just run in and bowl fast. Upon his return to the Australian team, McDermott, for several years, became Australia’s best bowler.
A twisted bowel in 1993 ruined his Ashes series, getting sent home following major surgery without playing a Test. In 1995, during a beach run in the West Indies, McDermott tore ankle ligaments, getting sent home without playing a Test. A persistent knee injury killed his career in 1997. Without injury, McDermott would’ve taken more than 300 wickets. He also featured in several desperate, futile run chases against the West Indies and South Africa where his batting belied his ability and average. Following a controversial decision in Adelaide against the Windies, rumour has it McDermott ruined a coke machine.
Glenn McGrath ruined batsmen, a shroud on their psyche. Tall and sleek, he was never considered quick, which is surprising for a man of his stature. At 195 centimetres, or 6’5”, the lack of muscular definition shredded 10 kilometres from his pace. He was routinely clocked at 132 kilometres per hour, much slower than Lee, Lillee, Thompson, McDermott and Hughes.
Without the blinking pace, McGrath defied his detractors and set the ball at a nagging length, the corridor of uncertainty. His height was a natural enhancement to bounce. On a helpful pitch he caressed the spot, short of a length, where the batsmen had to play. Like Warne, McGrath nominated his bunnies and wrote his own scripts, famously nominating the batsmen he would claim. His predictions proved true, particularly when he claimed a hat-trick against the West Indies in 2001.
McGrath excelled at putting the ball on the spot, six balls an over. Jeff Thompson said he didn’t enjoy watching McGrath bowl, because it was without passion. Thompson was half right. McGrath had passion, it just wasn’t punctuated with pace, bouncers or facial hair. Like all fast bowlers, McGrath sledged when things weren’t going right. The words, without his ability to bowl a bouncer, grew more hostile. In aggression, McGrath was interesting to watch. For the purists, he was purity, a seamer’s paradise, a snick here, an edge there, another wicket.
Glenn McGrath proved blinding pace isn’t required. He applied a constant tease, described as a metronome, yet predictability ensured insurmountable pressure, not much to hit from everything to play at.
To suggest McGrath was boring to watch is underappreciated grandeur. He was effective, far beyond any men he played with or against.
| Tests | dismissals | catches | stumping | runs | average | fifties | centuries | |
| Adam Gilchrist | 96 | 416 | 379 | 37 | 5570 | 47.60 | 26 | 17 |
Just 31 men have kept wicket for Australia, a short list in more than a hundred years of cricket. Rod Marsh retired in 1984. Ian Healy made his debut four years later. Through those four years, the selectors tried four keepers, one each year. Roger Woolley, Wayne Phillips, Tim Zoehrer and Greg Dyer represented Australia without much fanfare.
When Healy retired, Adam Gilchrist was ready to go.
Rod Marsh made 355 dismissals from 96 Tests. He was solid with the bat without being dependable, hitting three centuries. Averaging 26.51, a limited, hook happy left hander, his batting deteriorated late in his career, which coincided with a ball to the cheekbone delivered by Colin Croft, a fearsome West Indian at the Adelaide Oval in 1982.
Marsh, wearing a helmet without a visor, was late on an attempted hook. As the ball thwacked into his face, the helmet was dislodged, narrowly missing the stumps. Hurt, he dropped his bat and staggered away from the wicket. Croft offered no apology as his team-mates formed a huddle around Marsh.
A photo of the incident is compelling. Marsh is standing, stricken and prone, eyes closed. Clive Lloyd is in the background, head tilted to the left, watching silently. Viv Richards looks on, hands by his sides. Michael Holding is represented only by his hat. Des Haynes, with his hands by his sides, stares at Marsh. Andy Roberts stands beyond the group, perhaps remembering the batsmen he hit with the bouncer. Joel Garner holds Marsh’s aching head with his left hand, tenderly wiping blood from the wound with a white cloth in his right hand.
The umpires don’t feature in the picture, nor does a doctor. The Australian team, and Marsh, let Garner, an opposition fast bowler, clean the wound with a cloth. Who knows what qualifications Garner had at treating trauma. Back at the crease, Marsh batted heroically until overcome by double vision, and retiring hurt. When he returned to the crease, badly bruised, he added two more runs before getting out.
Marsh was part of the cricket renaissance, excellent behind the stumps, taking 95 catches from Lillee’s bowling. He argued with Greg Chappell when the captain infamously ordered an underarm delivery. Marsh tutored Ian Healy early in his career, threatening to stop offering advice if his pupil wouldn’t take it. The frank discussion shocked Healy, who made amendments.
Marsh was a better keeper than Healy and Gilchrist but he misses out on batting ability.
Ian Healy was brilliant behind the stumps, Australia’s best keeper since Marsh. With four centuries and an average of 27.39, he had the same loose technique as Marsh but was a better bat. Both men faced the West Indies at their peak, and both had excellent bowlers to keep to. Healy, with 395 dismissals from 119 Tests, has a similar record to Marsh. They are almost inseparable in ability, temperament and aggressive attitude.
Healy’s basic instinct for sledging caused a few unsavoury moments. During a Test in the West Indies, Desmond Haynes approached Healy, bat extended like a sword, threatening to whack him if he didn’t shut up. West Indian legend Brian Lara was upset with Healy following a stumping in Brisbane in 1991. Controversy aside, Healy was a great keeper. His 29 stumpings compared to Marsh’s 12 is a misleading stat. Healy had Warne. Marsh didn’t.
The phrase, bowled Shane, uttered by Healy, was heard so often throughout effects microphones, almost becoming an Australian expression for excellence. If you say it, men understand it.
Against South Africa in the mid-nineties, Healy hit the winning runs in a crucial Test with a six over square leg off Hansie Cronje. Australia was eight down chasing 246. No matter the situation, Healy played his natural game, aggressive. He kept the same way. When he retired, he wasn’t missed like Marsh was.
Adam Gilchrist redefined the international role of keeper with his batting. Though he may not be regarded as proficient, technically, like Marsh and Healy, Gilchrist was much more a match winner, a genuine all-rounder. He personified aggression, a free-swinging left hander, averaging 47.60, with 17 hundreds, unprecedented for a keeper.
Gilchrist could’ve been in the team on batting alone, and must be remembered as the best keeper ever seen in the history of cricket. Few batsmen could render an attack impotent like Gilchrist could.
On debut against Pakistan he was booed by the Gabba crowd, shutting up the Healy devotees with 81 runs. In his second Test, he guided Australia to victory against Pakistan with an unbeaten 149. His highest score, 204 not out, was scored in South Africa. Captaining Australia in India, needing runs, with the Aussies hurt by injury, Gilchrist promoted himself to first drop, 49 valuable runs, helping ensure a draw.
From the first delivery he attacked, unafraid to loft the ball or slam it, elevated, through point. It didn’t matter if Australia was 5-95 or 5-295. His penchant for excitement often caused grief, out unnecessarily, but when it worked, he was compelling. In Perth he hit Test cricket’s second fastest hundred, from 57 balls against England in 2006.
In England in 2001, Gilchrist teamed up with Glenn McGrath for a 63-run, tenth wicket partnership. McGrath contributed one run to that partnership, and Gilchrist was out for 152. Of his 17 centuries, ten were scored overseas, a stellar effort, proof he wasn’t always a lower order bully, slapping the bowling silly after coming in when the score was already heavy.
Though many rate Healy and Marsh higher, on keeping ability, a look at the statistics proves Gilchrist wasn’t just a batsman. With 416 dismissals from 96 Tests, he took 61 more wickets than Marsh did from the same number of Tests. In 119 Tests, Healy didn’t get to 400.
Knowledgeable coves pinpoint a simple reason Gilchrist made more dismissals. He played in an era where the opposition wasn’t as strong. Marsh and Healy had great bowlers to keep to, but the opposition batsmen were better. Applying basic logic suggests the wickets, when Healy and Marsh played, weren’t as forthcoming.
But statistics provide simultaneous lies and truth. Gilchrist featured in 416 Test dismissals. That figure doesn’t include run-outs, which seems strange. He claimed more catches and stumpings than Marsh and Healy, and slammed more runs, twisting more matches in Australia’s favour.
Wicket keepers, into the future of the game, will be compared to Adam Gilchrist.
| Brett Lee | 76 | 310 | 9554 | 30.81 | 5-30 | 17 | 10 |
Brett Lee is the Ramble’s 12th man. He was almost considered for the spot occupied by McDermott, but the difference in quality of opposition was the principal factor. Lee took more wickets, including a better analysis of five and ten wicket hauls, but he tended to blast out the tailenders, whereas McDermott was better against the top order.
