Cricket-Match-Special ... A forum for discussion

I suspect this may be one of the tougher categories. England was blessed with a stream of high quality openers from the 80s to the 2000s, although since 2012 that has rather dried up. Still, a lot of good options to choose from.

Vaughan was a very good opener, but once he started declining he protected himself from the new ball, and I'd be inclined to believe his decline would have been sharper had he still opened. For that reason, he isnt my pick.

Cook is surely a total shoe in.

Stewart is my second pick. In an era where England were totally rubbish, and when we regularly played 5 match series vs sides with excellent new ball attacks, Stewart produced excellent numbers. Had England not messed around with him, his record would be better. Still averaged 45 in an era where 45 felt like 50....as an opener.

Windies 1990, that double centuries stand out in my lifetime as worthy of mention of all time great matches by a player. Ambrose is my top bowler of all time, Walsh was exceptional, Bishop vicious.... on that pitch, pfft.... what a game

Sorry it was the 1994 tour he did the 2 x 100s... Bridgetown

I had Gooch as second after Cook, as he played some all time great innings and averaged over 40 as opener in an era on strong bowling. As I said in the main threatd Stewart was a fine player whose varied roles makes it hard to slot him in to an exercise like this. His record as an opener without the gloves was very good.

Gooch and Cook for me. Stewart would be close but he will be my keeper, batting at six/seven

Best England batter I've ever seen Is Vaughan, but only for a short time. I think injuries may have been a factor.

Gooch again was phenomenal for a few years, especially against WI.

I wouldn't pick Cook on a bowling day but I would on a batting day or in India.

I usually say Boycott and Gooch in my lifetime, but Cook comes in for GB.

I know Cook isn't overly popular on these boards, at least for being a poor captain, but you can't argue with that weight of runs. He scored hundreds in every country in all conditions. I think you could argue he is England's best ever in Asia.

Sure, he cashed in when the going was good, but who doesn't? At least when he got in he made it count, not everyone has the wherewithal to go big. And he did sometimes He did play well in bowling condition. His 88 v South Africa At the Oval in 2017 is one particular example I recall. Stokes and Moeen took the plaudits for the game, but on a very tricky first day with Philander doing all sorts with the ball, Cook dug in and set the platform for England to go on and make a good first innings score and set the game up.

Well I picked him! First on the team sheet in Asia. Would have been interesting to see him against WI at Headingley in the eighties though.

I had to have Gooch, so it was about his partner, for me.

I've always liked left/right opening combo's, so wanted a leftie. I thought Tres was a terrific opener, but a bit too similar to Gooch. Cook for me would be the ideal steady accumulating foil to Gooch... and it's impossible to ignore those 15,000 runs

Cook and Gooch. This was one of the easier picks for me

Can't see past Cook and Gooch. Weight of runs , notable innings : and with their contrasting styles they'd be an ideal combination.

I always had a lot of regard for Trescothick ; but couldn't justify him over either of these two.

The universal selection of Gooch is surprising to me.

He lead a rebel tour out to SA, something that he has never been repentant about in the slightest. When giving his reasons, he cited boredom as the main one. Even in the BLM era, the best regret he can serve up is that he shouldn't have accepted the captaincy of the tour, because it brought problems with it. But judging on others words, he played his part in twisting arms and recruiting players...without him, it's debatable the tour would have happened.

I'm willing to forgive and be practical about why players went.... But only those who acknowledge they have done wrong. Gooch disgraced the team, the game and his country, and should have never played in an England shirt again. It says a lot about racism at the ICC he, and others, were subsequently honoured in the hall of fame.

Even this aside, he was totally selfish. He had away tours cancelled, left tours, refused ot play, caused issues. He was a very average player away, something he seemed acutely aware of in making himself unavailable for tours. He played 80 home matches in 118 tests....

I can think of a player less deserving of an all time XI. He put himself over his team all the time. He put himself over the integrity of the game.

I did and do think about this. And Boycott. I previously posted that I'd suspended the two from my lifetime XI, but implying its absurdity! It's a team that will never take the field. Maybe if sci-fi became a reality and these players were actually to play a game, I might kick him out.

Arthur Crabtree wrote:I did and do think about this. And Boycott. I previously posted that I'd suspended the two from my lifetime XI, but implying its absurdity! It's a team that will never take the field. Maybe if sci-fi became a reality and these players were actually to play a game, I might kick him out.

These exercises are fantasy, but it's necessary to indulge that a little for the sake of discussion. They also tend to heighten negatives, but when comparing players of equal merits, these things make a difference. Of course, you could equally argue at Trescothick was an unreliable asset for England, but comparing mental illness to willfully supporting a racist dictatorship is quite a stretch in itself.

As I said, I remain practical about certain aspects of the rebel tours. I appreciate if someone offered me 4 years wages for 6 week's work, I'd accept it in most circumstances. But 40 years on, the absence of an apology and the insistence you've done no wrong is just petty, especially when invited to take in the context of BLM and reassess.

Gooch's attitude to it all seems like he has no sense awarenessof his actions, and I leave you to conclude what kind of a man might do that in this set of circumstances....I certainly made up my mind.