Best ever South Australian X1

This is my greatest ever South Australian Sheffield Shield team

J Darling
L Favell
D Bradman
C Hill
G Chappell
G Giffen
B Jarman
J Gillespie
R Hogg
C Grimmett
E Jones

It was a difficult task, having to leave out Darren Lehmann , Ian Chappell, David Hookes, Vic Richardson as batsman
Perhaps I could have left out George Giffen and used Greg Chappell as the allrounder , and included another batsman
Ive left out a few good bowlers as well who could well have made it

Here are the squads Ive picked out
Batsman

Blewett
Bradman
Causby
I Chappell
Dansie
J Darling
R Darling
Favell
Hilditch
Hill
Hookes
P Hughes
Inverarity
Klinger
Lehmann
Nobes
W Phillips
Redandblack
V Richardson
Siddons
Woodcock

Wicket Keepers
Jarman
Nielson
Phillips
Wright

Allrounders
Cunningham
Giffen

Bowlers

Freeman
Gillespie
Hammond
Harris
Adelaide Hawk
N Hawke
Hogg
Jones
Prior
Tait
Wall

Spinners

Grimmett
Jenner
Mallett
May
Miller
Sleep

There were several players with 40 + games that might be considered



Hole
Alfred Jarvis
Langley
Lee
Lil
Lyons
Noblett
Pinch
Pritchard
Reedman
Ridings
Sellers
Waite
Walker
Wilson

I know little of these experienced players

These players were shoe ins but ...

Garner
Gibbs
B Richards
Sobers

Ian Chappell would be in front of Les Favell. Not an opener, I know, and Les was wonderful.

The batsman 4th from the bottom in your list is the other obvious omission.

must say redandblack was a good keeper in his day

Yes RB was a good keeper in the days of conscription

would it be better to pick a best team from 'your era' ? ie the players that you've seen over the years rather than going through the history books

My era

Blewett
Hilditch
I Chappell
G Chappell
Lehmann
Hookes
Phillips
Hawke
Gillespie
Mallett
Hogg

The tough choice was the keeper batsman, Flipper Phillips or Red and Black
On a spinners deck, TJ in for one of the quicks

I didn't fall over backwards taking the ball, scrappy.

Then again, Flipper might still bave a slight edge, not much in it

I'd say a bloke I played against, name started with an M, should be considered

Greg Chappell or Darren Lehmann ?

Greg is arguably the best SA batsman since Bradman of all Australian cricketers
But at First Class level who was better Greg or Boof ?

First Class stats

Greg Chappell
542 innings
24535 runs
247 not out best
52.20 average

Boof
479 innings
25795 runs
339 best
57.83 average

You cannot compare the 2 of them at Test Level
But the stats suggest Boof being a consideration at First Class/ Sheffield Shield level

As much as I loved Lehmann, G Chappell is clearly ahead as a batsman. Chappell is a class above most of the batsmen who have played for Australia over the years.

Boof made1260 more runs than Greg Chappell in First Class Cricket , and made them in 63 less innings
Stats wise he would appear to be better than Greg at FC Level

However when Greg played SS cricket, it was against better opposition , as more Test players played more often than in Boofs day

So Im with FOOTYFollower , yes Greg is my pick as the better batter in First Class cricket

Interesting stats on Gregs efforts with SA + QL

SA
89 innings
156 best score
3725 runs
46.56 ave
10 tons

QL
84 innings
194 best score
5037 runs
69.00 average
17 tons

Greg averaged a whopping 22.44 better average playing SS for the Queenslanders

Gregs actual Sheffield Shield average is 57.26
Greg if these stats are correct never made a double century at SS level

Greg Chappells debut SS game
Adelaide Oval
SA V VI
November 1966

SA 368
Favell 90
G Chappell 53
Connolly 4/83[20]

VI 479
Swanson 156
Potter 118

SA 344
Favell 118
KG Cunningham 116
G Chappell 62 not out
Connolly 5/100[31.5]

Greg came in at 4/257
Greg made 62 of the 87 runs from that point

VI 2/34

VI gets first innings points
At this point Greg was averaging 115 in SS cricket !

Greg Chappells International Debut
1970
AU V EG
Perth

EG 397
Luckhurst 131 [301] ZZZZZ what a bore this guy was
Mckenzie 4/66[31.4]

AU 5/107 in deep trouble when Greg came to the crease

AU 440
Redpath 171
Greg Chappell 108 century on debut
Snow 4/143[33.5]


EG 6/287 dec
Edrich 115[332] ZZZZZ what a bore this guy was
Gleeson 3/68[32]

AU 3/100
Lawry 38 not out [111]
Snow 2/17

Match drawn
Greg Chappell with a Test average of 108 at this stage !

I remember this match
I had my ABC Cricket Book
I watched the whole game on TV , and recorded all the batting and bowling details in my book
I still have that ABC book

Best SA team of my era:
1 Barry Richards
2 Les Favell
3 Ian Chappell (c)
4 Gary Sobers
5 Greg Chappell
6 David Hookes
7 Barry Jarman
8 Jason Gillespie
9 Joel Garner
10 Jeff Hammond
11 Ashley Mallett
12th Darren Lehmann

Apologies to all the wonderful players who missed out.
Anyone who played in the past 10 years need not apply.

A "born in SA" qualification would probably make it interesting.

Would count out a few such as Mallett, Bradman, Hogg, and quite a few others.

Adelaide Hawk
Noticed you included International players
Did you consider Lance Gibbs in before Ashley Mallett ?

My SA bred team
In our era
No Imports

W Phillips
Blewett
I Chappell
G Chappell
Lehmann
D Hookes
B Jarman
Hawke
Freeman
Gillespie
May

On a spinning deck TJ in for one of the faster bowlers

Gillespie was born in NSW, but only played for SA, so I guess he would still qualify.

TJ - Terry Jenner I presume - wasn't he born in WA, and played for that state before coming to SA??

Yes Terry Jenner is a Western Australian , along with Ashley Mallett

Perhaps the local team could play this team of Domestic ring ins

Law
Hilditch
Bevan
Siddons
Cosier
Inverarity
Wright
Jenner
Fleming
Mallett
Hogg

12th man Colin Funky Miller, for team morale

How many games did Cosier play for SA?

Anyone know what the story was behind him coming to play in SA?

I think the ultimate selection would be players who played for SA having played junior cricket in the SACA district comp, similar to the old State of Origin selection criteria. If they moved to SA after representing another state in junior or senior competition then they shouldn't qualify.

For example: Yes, Dizzy was born in NSW but moved to Adelaide early on as a kid and represented SA.

FOOTYfollower wrote:TJ - Terry Jenner I presume - wasn't he born in WA, and played for that state before coming to SA??

Correct. Came here from WA with Ashley Mallett in 1967-68.

FOOTYfollower wrote:How many games did Cosier play for SA?

Anyone know what the story was behind him coming to play in SA?

Just trying to get a regular game of Sheffield Shield to force his way into the Test team. He didn't play a lot with SA, was only here for 3 years so he would have played maybe 25 matches.

After missing a WSC contract, he accepted a contract to play in Queensland by radio 4IP, the same radio station that contracted Jeff Thomson.

Scrappy wrote:Adelaide Hawk
Noticed you included International players
Did you consider Lance Gibbs in before Ashley Mallett ?

I picked them on how they performed for SA. Using this criteria, Mallett was streets ahead.

Gary Cosier
Sheffield Shield matches

26 QL 1422 @ 33.06
24 SA 1504 @ 35.80 [Hawk said about 25 games, spot on ]
04 V1 133 @33.04

Born Anzac day 1953
Tests
897 runs
168 best
28.93 ave

First Class
5005 runs
168 best
32.92 ave

Played for The Australian schoolboys team that toured the West Indies in 1969
Red head and a beefy solid looking individual
I can recall him playing slashes outside off stump and scored heavily on the offside , but Im not sure Gary knew exactly where these shots were going at times !
Only had a moderate SS record but managed a call up for Australia

This was Garys debut game for Australia

AU V WI
DEC 1975
3rd test
MCG

WI 224
Fredericks 59
Thompson 5/62
Lillie 4/56

AU 485
Gary came in at 4/188 and made 108 [186]
Redpath 102
Roberts 4/126

WI 312
Lloyd 102 [121]
Lillie 3/70

AU 2/55
Cosier DNB

Gary Cosier joined a select group of players to make a century on debut in Test Cricket
Gray had a low average , which was surprising , I had thought he scored more prolifically in his overall career
But there was a bevy of great fast bowlers in his era of playing

Gil Langley played 26 test matches 1951-1957
Would Gil Langley be a better wicket keeper than Barry Jarman ?
Must have been a great sportsman, as captained Sturt in the SANFL

Scrappy wrote:Gil Langley played 26 test matches 1951-1957
Would Gil Langley be a better wicket keeper than Barry Jarman ?
Must have been a great sportsman, as captained Sturt in the SANFL

Gil Langley was chosen as the wicketkeeper in the SACA team of the century. I cannot find any link to that team now though. He was actually an Essendon premiership player and in later life was Speaker of the SA House of Assembly.

Barry Jarman was a mighty fine wicketkeeper though who suffered from being understudy to Wally Grout for nearly a decade. Like Bob Taylor when he was understudy to Allan Knott, Jarman was considered the second best wicketkeeper in the world at the time, but had the misfortune to live in the same country as the best wicketkeeper in the world. Ashley Mallett is adamant that Barry Jarman is the best wicketkeeper that he ever had keep to his bowling in any grade of cricket. That means that he rated Jarman a superior keeper to Rodney Marsh a fact that statistics don't back up, but an opinion I strongly agree with.

Continuing with the footy theme, Barry Jarman played a little bit of league football at West Torrens, but retired early after breaking his leg.

A very young Greg Chappell would play an imaginary game
Greg would throw a ball against a laundry wall and playing against the rebound
Greg would simulate a Test Cricket game
During these imaginary Test games Greg would commentate , and also keep a score
On one occasion Greg imagined being Gil Langley and hit the ball over 2 backyard fences
The shot was more than a six in Gregs mind, he consulted his mother over the matter, and Langley made a 12 from that shot

Barry Jarman Tests
19 matches
400 runs
14.81 average
50 catches
4 stumpings

Barry Jarman First class
191 matches
5615 runs
22.73 ave
196 best
5 tons
431 catches
129 stumpings

Gil Langley Tests
26 matches
374 runs
14.96 ave
83 catches
15 stumpings

Gil Langley First Class
122 matches
3236 runs
25.68 ave
160 not out best
4 tons
292 catches
77 stumpings

Look at the ratio of stumpings to catches ratio by both keepers in First Class matches
Would suggest a lot of keeping to spinners



Its impossible for me to say who was the better keeper Jarman or Langley