Questionable all-time squab

Fri, Oct 25, '13

The so-called 'bible' of cricket, Wisden, has put out an all-time Test 11 that is highly questionable. For those yet to see it, the 11, in batting order, are: Jack Hobbs, W.G. Grace, Don Bradman, Viv Richards, Sachin Tendulkar, Garry Sobers, Alan Knott, Wasim Akram, Shane Warne, Malcolm Marshall, and Sydney Barnes.

I won't argue with Jack Hobbs at the top of the order. The man averaged 56.95 after 61 tests with 15 hundreds and is statistically among the top openers of all time. Why, however, is W.G. Grace on this team? W.G.'s importance to the game cannot be questioned, and he, probably more than anybody else, helped to develop cricket as both an art form and a spectator sport. There may well be a case that he could be the most important cricketer of all time, but the man averaged a mere 32 in Test cricket, for God's sake! Surely, his actual record in Test cricket doesn't warrant him a place here.