SA Footy

These players could of played over 70 Tests for most test nations, with Australia's dominence over the past 15 years we didn't get to see much of them at Test level if any sadly.

The Forgotten Generation

C.Rogers
J.Cox
M.Love
S.Law
J.Siddons
B.Hodge
D.Hussey
D.Berry
A.Noffke
S.Harwood
N.Bracken

12th T.Moody

Darren Lehmann is worth consideration too. He played under 30 tests, and may well have captained quite a few others test teams if born elsewhere.

Gilchrist and Michael Hussey would have been in the Test side much sooner than they did.

Bichel and DiVenuto are another two who played far less International Cricket than they should have.

There are so many guys you could put in the same bracket. Stuart MacGill is another example. If it wasn't for Warne he would have played a hell of a lot more. Amazing the depth Australia has had over the past 15 years or so.

Can't forget the quick bowlers that never got a genuine go. For example

Kaspowicz(he did get a go though, and did pretty well. should have played more)
B Williams
Nicholson
Dorey
Wright
Noffke
Rofe(back in the day)

Also maybe Jimmy Maher, Matt Elliot could have gone on a bit more with the bat if given the opportunity.

whilst these guys never had a chance to succeed, they also never had a chance to fail...

steakn wrote:Can't forget the quick bowlers that never got a genuine go. For example

Kaspowicz(he did get a go though, and did pretty well. should have played more)
B Williams
Nicholson
Dorey
Wright
Noffke
Rofe(back in the day)

Also maybe Jimmy Maher, Matt Elliot could have gone on a bit more with the bat if given the opportunity.

Kaspowicz(he did get a go though, and did pretty well. should have played more) - Had some chances but was generally used as an afterthought when the more front line bowlers were injured. Toiled hard in India which was not seen much by the Australian public much as the coverage at the time wasn't very good. Very good bowler who any captain would love to have.

B Williams - Was given his chance but injury really curtailed his chances. He relied on pace and once he hurt his back it was all over for him.

Nicholson - Not ever good enough.

Dorey - See Nicholson although Nicholson was closer to being good enough.

Wright - I have never seen enough of Wright to form an opinion. What i have seen he seems an honest enough bowler but probably just lacking in consistency. As i said though i haven't seen enough to give an informed opinion.

Noffke - Very, very unlucky cricketer. Can bat too. I am not sure how he keeps getting overlooked (yes i know he has been injured of late)

Rofe(back in the day) - Had one good season but was never realistically in line for higher honours. He is still only 28 but he simply doesn't have any tricks in the bag and struggles at domestic level let alone International level.

Also maybe Jimmy Maher, Matt Elliot could have gone on a bit more with the bat if given the opportunity. - Jimmy Maher was a very good player. Would have made a lot of runs at International level in both forms of the game IMHO. Just unlucky there were too many blokes ahead of him. Elliot was one of finest young batsmen you'll see. His knee injury really restricted as well as other issues. It is a shame because he could have been one of the best opening bats we have seen. Amazing talent.

Adam Dale can be another addition to the list

Pidge wrote:Adam Dale can be another addition to the list

I don't think he had enough tricks to be a long term Test bowler, he was handy at one day level though.

GWW wrote:

Pidge wrote:Adam Dale can be another addition to the list

I don't think he had enough tricks to be a long term Test bowler, he was handy at one day level though.

Agreed. Dale really made the most of what he had and good on him. Was a successful bowler in ODI for a short lived period of time. Batsmen worked him out eventually though.

rod_rooster wrote:

GWW wrote:

Pidge wrote:Adam Dale can be another addition to the list

I don't think he had enough tricks to be a long term Test bowler, he was handy at one day level though.

Agreed. Dale really made the most of what he had and good on him. Was a successful bowler in ODI for a short lived period of time. Batsmen worked him out eventually though.

Of what I saw (which is not much), I think he was a similar bowler to McGrath

Nathan ADCOCK!

Pidge wrote:

rod_rooster wrote:

GWW wrote:

Pidge wrote:Adam Dale can be another addition to the list

I don't think he had enough tricks to be a long term Test bowler, he was handy at one day level though.

Agreed. Dale really made the most of what he had and good on him. Was a successful bowler in ODI for a short lived period of time. Batsmen worked him out eventually though.

Of what I saw (which is not much), I think he was a similar bowler to McGrath

You definitely didn't see much then

If we are brutally honest we'd have to admit that these guys were unlikely to play extended international cricket, even if we didn't have as much depth as we did.

I'd call them good to very good State level players. Even when we didn't have depth there were guns at State level that didn't perform the same at International level - ie, Dyson, Kerr, Phillips, Wellham, Blewett, Veletta come to mind. You can't assume every high performing State player will make it.

My view is that most players who are good enough eventually get an opportunity to show it - ie, Martyn, Langer, Hayden, Lehmann. Often selectors see something negative that the average punter doesn't and that's why some players don't get the opportunities at the next level that we think they should.

Unlucky, possibly yes. Missed out on 50 tests, no.

Exceptions to my theory would be Boof, MacGill, Siddons and possibly Hodge who would have played more tests than they did in another era. But even then, apart from 1985 - 1990 when have we had an extended down period when these guys would have played?

What about local blokes like Bishop and Nobes, even Siddons maybe could played more?

Also, wasn't there a bloke (maybe Stuart?) took a hat-trick on debut in an ODI for Oz?

You blokes would know a lot more than me so I dunno whether any of the above would ever have had legitimate claims ... Some good names been thrown about on the thread thus far.

One thing I've never been sure of, is whether Australia dominated through sheer talent alone or whether other countries teams were too sub-standard, something which could have an effect on how good these players really are/were?

Definately Nathan Adcock. Great Cricketer. Best Spinner SA had.

Good thread this one. Jamie Siddons, Jimmy Maher and Stewart Law are the unluckiest players. Due to injuries, bowlers were more likely to get a shot. I reckon Nicholson did well to get a gig in the first place same as Chris Mathews, Greg Campbell and Jo Angel.

I can't think of any bowler who was really stiff to miss out like the batsmen above.

regards,

REB

Constance_Perm wrote:Also, wasn't there a bloke (maybe Stuart?) took a hat-trick on debut in an ODI for Oz?

Good memory CP! I'd forgotten all about him

http://content-aus.cricinfo.com/australia/content/player/7691.html

hondo71 wrote:

Constance_Perm wrote:Also, wasn't there a bloke (maybe Stuart?) took a hat-trick on debut in an ODI for Oz?

Good memory CP! I'd forgotten all about him

http://content-aus.cricinfo.com/australia/content/player/7691.html

Got lucky on that one Hondo, I can remember listening to the game in the office that day on the sly and unbeknownst to one another there was 4 of us doing the same thing and all got up excitedly at the same time to share the same news.

Anthony Stuart.
I reckon he was from Newcastle.