**‘LLOYD’S ARMY WOULD HAVE MURDERED WAUGH’S AUSSIES’](http://www.cricketnext.com/news1/next/joshi/tap808.htm)
By Tapan Joshi
Mumbai, April 16, 2003
Sir Vivian Richards
Even as Steve Waugh’s Australians conquer and humble one opponent after the other in Test arena, questions are raised over whether his Australian team is the best ever to grace cricket grounds. Indeed, Waugh himself, a master of mind games, has this to say about his side, “Many reckon Sir Donald Bradman’s Invincibles of 1948 were the best ever. Remove Bradman from that team and my side can compare very favourably with that team.”
Bradman’s 1948 Invincibles were from an all-together a different era. An interesting thought came up the other day while discussing this matter with colleagues, as to how this Australian team would have fared against the legendary West Indies side of the 1980s, led by Supercat Clive Lloyd. Those who have suffered at the hands of the Windies recall the mental scars, and say the Caribbeans, with their relentless and intimidating fast bowlers and batting firepower, were the best of all eras.
Before we move onto our experts, let us look at the two sides. In the 1980s, the West Indies played 82 Test matches, winning as many as 43 and losing just eight. The Australians, from 1999 to 2003, have played 35 Test matches, winning as many as 27. They have five losses and just three draws. Incredible.
The Windies side that went to England and Australia in 1984-85 is considered to be the strongest ever to leave the shores of the Caribbean. For Australia, the team that humbled England 4-1 in the last Ashes series set the benchmark. Let us look at the individuals who made up the two sides.
Gordon Greenidge and Desmond Haynes, the two cavalier cricketers who could hit the ball as hard as anyone opened the batting for the Windies. This duo’s celebrated career coincided with the golden era of West Indies cricket. They opened the batting for their team for 13 years and 89 Tests. They opened the batting together 148 times. Greenidge and Haynes shared four partnerships of over 200, inevitably the West Indies’ record of 298 among them, and 12 more in three figures.
For the Aussies, the two left-handers, Justin Langer and Matthew Hayden, are just as destructive. Together, they piled up four double-hundred stands in the space of just ten matches. The Lang-Haydos combination immediately puts any combination on the back foot. The question is, would they have scored as freely, and as consistently, against the West Indies. But more of that later.
Number three for the Windies was that King of Destruction, a gentleman who answers to the call of Isaac Vivian Alexander Richards. There can be no competition here. While the Aussie number three Ricky Ponting is a great batsman in his own right, no-one can match the King, not even Sachin Tendulkar or Brian Lara.
At four for the Windies was Larry Gomes, while the Australians put out Damien Martyn after Mark Waugh’s retirement. Both Waugh and Martyn are more talented than the left-handed Gomes, who was dour, but don’t forget, Gomes has played many an innings and held the side together when all around him was falling apart. In India in 1983, Gomes on more than one occasion kept the Indian spinners at bay.
At number five is the battle of the equals. There is no denying the fact that Lloyd was a superior batsman to Steve Waugh, but in terms of grit, the Aussie test captain can challenge anyone. Both are cricket’s greats, the very finest, and it would be an interesting duel of the mind.
Number six for Australia is now manned by Darren Lehmann, while the West Indies never had a confirmed man for the job. It could be Lloyd himself many a time, or Augustine Logie in the latter years or Larry Gomes. The wicket-keepers’ duel is again an interesting one. On one hand, there is Geoffrey Dujon, a class batsman and a very high-quality wicket-keeper, while on the Australian side, there is Adam Gilchrist. The left-handed ‘Gilly’ would probably go down as a better batsman compared to the legendary West Indian but there is no doubt Dujon was a far, far better ‘keeper. And mind you, more than a handful with the bat.
The West Indies relied on the firepower of Malcolm Marshall, Michael Holding, Andy Roberts and Joel Garner to decimate the opposition. The Aussies are more or less the same with Glenn McGrath, Jason Gillespie and Brett Lee, but the difference can be Shane Warne. The Aussies posses a very high quality spinner, in fact, the best leg-spinner of modern era, someone who can do serious damage to the Windies batting line-up.
Agrees Raj Singh Dungarpur, who has spent a lifetime watching cricket, “The Shane Warne factor is the most crucial one. I would, just on the basis of Warne’s skills, give an edge to Waugh’s men. The West Indian batsmen of the 1980s were never comfortable against quality spin because they never played quality spin.”
Former India captain Dilip Vengsarkar, who has played a lot of cricket in the 80s against the West Indians, and suffered many a blow on the body, said, “That West Indies team was a class apart. They just knocked their opponents over. I think that team would have beaten Steve Waugh’s side comfortably.” Vengsarkar gives his reasons, “The West Indian fast bowlers were as effective on any surface. Waugh’s side couldn’t win a Test series in India, while Lloyd’s team came and beat us three-nil in Tests and five-nil in one-dayers after we had just won the World Cup. They didn’t require wickets to suit their fast bowlers. They had batsmen who can master any bowling anywhere. Their batsmen scored a lot of runs against India in India, against England in England and against Australia in Australia. Where did the conditions affect them? Most of the Aussie batsmen struggled with the Indian spinning wickets in the last Test series here.”
Former India captain Polly Umrigar also gave the West Indies the edge. “The Australian strength lies in scoring a lot of runs quickly. I don’t see them scoring as quickly against the likes of Holding, Marshall, Garner and Roberts. In fact, it might be a question of survival for the Aussies. The Windies were intimidating, and there was no way the Aussies could have counter-attacked and got away all the time.”
Dungarpur, a great admirer of anything Australian, said, “Whenever the Windies were put under pressure, they have crumbled. Remember the 1983 World Cup finals. As a captain, Waugh is better than Lloyd and he can put them under pressure. And don’t forget, there is Warne.”
We ask Vengsarkar about the Warne factor. “I don’t think it would have worried the Windies. It’s not that they didn’t know how to play spin bowling. Viv Richards mercilessly hammered the likes of Venkataraghavan, while Clive Lloyd loved playing the spinners. With their strength and timing, more often than not the ball sailed out of the ground and Warne would have been punished as well.”
To emphasize his point, Vengsarkar said, “There were many strong Test teams going around when the Windies were ruling. Australia was not bad, England was not bad and India along with Pakistan was formidable as well. But they would just white-wash or brown-wash everyone. The West Indies in the 70s have taken on Ian Chappell and beaten him,” he laughed.
Nari Contractor, the former India captain who almost lost his life battling the West Indies fast bowlers on a cricket field, said, “The West Indies team of the 1980s would have murdered Steve Waugh’s side, no doubt about it. Cricket is not the same now. You have this one or two bouncer per over rule, to start with. Let any batsman, forget the Aussies alone, face up to five bouncers in an over and score at four runs per over. I challenge them to do it.” Touche.
That is one fact Vengsarkar emphasizes on. “The Windies didn’t hesitate to bowl about five bouncers in one over, even to tail enders. Let me tell you, four to five balls directed at your head cannot be easy for anyone, be it Matthew Hayden or Ricky Ponting.
So, who do you think would have prevailed? Lloyd’s Army or Waugh’s Band of Brothers? The debate is unresolved. **
What a great article written by Tapan Joshi. Very interesting indeed!
So who do you guys think is the better side.
I say Windies, their bowling attack was far more furious, and their batting was very dangerous. But then again, Aussies have more discipline, and do extremely well under pressure.
Here are the comparisions.
**
Gordon Greendige Matthew Hayden
Desmond Haynes Justin Langer
Viv Richards Ricky Ponting
Larry Gomes Damien Martyn
Clive Lloyd Steve Waugh
Augustine Logie Darren Lehman
Geoffery Dujon Adam Gilchrist
Malcolm Marshall Shane Warne
Micheal Holding Brett Lee
Andy Roberts Jason Gillespie
Joel Garner Glenn McGrath**
