If given a choice I would pick Gilly ahead of Marsh as a wk – batsman.

But my selection was based on cricketers making most runs / taking most wickets / making most dismissals in Ashes series in England. On that account, Marsh is ahead.

Ddin’t Lillee and Thommo’s treatment of the poms in 75 effectively lead to Tony Greg to wear a motobike helmet?

Boycott was a tosser, but dad almost told me to watch how he batted – his footwork, especialy against spinners, was a great lesson.

Bacchus Marsh was a fine cricketer – but must check the stats to see why Gilchrist doesn’t rate. Clearly his batting makes him the obvious choice. So many of Marsh’s dismissals just come down to DK’s leg cutter.

This was the story doing the rounds at the time, but I think it was terribly unfair on Boycs. He was an outstanding batsman with a high opinion of his own ability.

He was dropped after the first home test against India in 1974 for slow scoring. He was so incensed by his sacking, he told the selectors to stick it! He also had a very low opinion of his then test skipper, Mike Denness.

When he returned in the 1977 Ashes series, he faced Thomson & Pascoe. In 1978/79 he faced Lillee & Thomson; in 1980 he faced Lillee & Pacoe; & in 1981 he faced Lillee again.

He also faced up to the Windies pace barrage of Roberts, Holding, Garner, Croft & Marshall. In the 60s he faced up to the Windies fastmen Hall & Griffith; as well as Australia’s McKenzie.

it should also be remembered that up until 1976, batsmen had no protective helmet. All they had was a groin protector, maybe some rib padding, their gloves & bat. Boycott showed as much courage as anyone against fast bowling.

I think the story that circulated at the time was both unnecessary & obviously untrue. It also defies history. At the beginning of the 1974/75 Ashes series in Australia, it wasn’t known if Lillee would make a successful comeback from back injury. While Thomson was considered just another overhyped ‘fly-by-nighter’.

It should also be noted, England bowled first in that 1974/75 series, & peppered the Aussies with plenty of short balls, not believing the Aussies were capable of responding in kind. By the end of the first test, both questions surrounding Lillee & Thomson had been resoundingly, make that frighteningly, answered.

So an apology to Boycs is in order. He was a disagreeable son-of-a-bitch, & a boring guy to watch, but hell, he could bat as well as anyone. And with courage also when necessary.

You know you have played a good innings (mostly with the middle of the bat) when the article makes readers hum songs of yesteryears and make them think of wine in the middle of the afternoon!

Thank yous all!!

Perhaps a bit off-topic here, but my favourite Ashes series was 1975 in England.

Yes, I thoroughly enjoyed the 1974/75 series in Australia, which we won 4-1. But 1975 was tougher. We won the first test by an innings, but the remainder of the series was an arm wrestle.

In the second test, some wonderful rear-guard Aussie batting kept us in the game. In the third test, a potentially exciting finish was firstly ruined by the pitch being vandlised, & secondly by rain that fell most of the last day anyway.

In the 4th & final test, England following on, managed to escape with a draw. This was also the year of the inaugural world cup, which preceded the Ashes series.

This was also the first, the very first, full Ashes series to be broadcast live by TV back to Australia. In 1972, only the 5th & final test had been broadcast live back to Aussie.

Australia’s best team in 1975 was: Rick McCosker, Alan Turner, Ian Chappell(c), Greg Chappell(vc), Ross Edwards, Doug Walters, Rod Marsh(k), Max Walker, Dennis Lillee, Jeff Thomson, Ashley Mallett, Gary Gilmour(12th). Veteran opener Ian Redpath was unavailable to tour.

England used many players, but its composite best team was: John Edrich(vc), Barry Wood, David Steele, Keith Fletcher, Bob Woolmer, Tony Greig(c), Alan Knott(k), Chris Old, Phil Edmonds, John Snow, Derek Underwood, Graham Roope(12th).

For England, opener Geoff Boycott was temporarily unavailable due self-exile, while pacemen Bob Willis & Mike Hendrick were injured following the Australian tour. Opener Dennis Amiss temporarily lost all form & favour.

These were great days. I was a teenager with little or no responsibilities, chasing sun, sand, surf, socialising & sex. Australia had a great cricket team & England, while inferior in talent, made the Aussies work hard for their wins. At the time, this was frustrating, but looking back, you appreciate the battle of wits all that much more.

There is a philosophy – the greater the victory, in overcoming the greater the opponent. In 1975, it was there to see & savour!

Those were the days, my friend, we thought they’d never end, we’d sing & dance, la, la, la, la, la, la….. (apologies to Mary Hopkin).

A difference of only three games in both batting and bowling .Both wicketkeepers identical.
What conclusions can be drawn from these observations. It’s too early for a glass of wine.
But OK, if you’re having one.

How good would our bowling be again if we had Warne, Lillee, McGrath, Alderman in one team. Look at those averages!

Brett,
Going by aggregates, Mark Taylor (1584 runs) did not head the list, Bradman did (2674 runs), followed by Allan Border (2082) and Steve Waugh (1633). In the team, Taylor was mentioned first because the team was given in batting order.

Here are top performances by Australian batsmen in Ashes in England, going by AVERAGES (qualification 500 runs):

Bradman tops ( 2674 runs at 102.84 in 19 Tests) followed by
Steve Waugh (1633 at 74.22 in 22), Dean Jones (566 at 70.75 in 6), Border (2082 at 65.06 in 25), Bill Ponsford (936 at 62.40 in 10),
Arthur Morris (1033 at 57.38 in 10), Matthew Elliott (556 at 55.60 in 6) and Taylor (1584 at 52.80 in 18).

Matthew Hayden averaged only 34.50 when hitting 552 runs in 10 Tests in England.

Interesting, based only on performances in England. However, at the risk of being a spoil-sport re Australia dominating the averages all the way.

That’s precisely what happened in this currently concluded series. Australia dominated both the batting & bowling statistics, but England won the series 2-1!

Thanks for the compliments. I treasure these.

Perhaps a better way to select all-time great Ashes XIs would have been to go by averages (instead of aggregatess). I’ll work on the averages of Morris, Hayden et al in Ashes in England. Give me a few hours.

I agree, stats tell only half the story.

Heading that list is Mark Taylor. Of his almost 1600 Test runs in England, some 900-odd came in the 1989 series, his ’93 return was pretty reasonable, and he prefers not to talk about ’97 where possible. Would he have had the same consistency as say, Morris, or even Hayden?

And we know from this series that stats don’t tell the full picture!! But great piece, some great names in there…