Pick an era

Ok you have been given a time machine to go back to any era of cricket, be it from the 90's to the 1870's, but for the sake of this thread I would prefer if you went back to an era you didn't see. But if you watched cricket in the 80's for example and enjoyed it, then by-all means.

As for me I would go back to the 30's and it isn't just to watch Bradman bat. But for me I would have loved to have watched Bodyline and especially in Adelaide where a roit nearly broke out and where Bradman only averaged just over 50 (it would probably be considered a form slump for him ).

But also to watch the likes of one cricket's all-time great (IMO) left arm finger spinners Hedley Veriety (sp?) who had some success against Bradman and his record indicates he must have been damn near unplayable on a sticky wicket (because they were uncovered) which probably would have made the current greats as amatuer club cricketers.

I also would have loved the chance to watch the likes of Ponsford, Woodfull, Sutcfliffe, Hobbs bat, and should I not forget the great George Headley not should I not mention Archie Thompson (who was born in Scotland) who only got to play 8 Tests before tragically passing away at 23.

For bowling the likes of O'Reilly, Grimmett, Voce, Larwood would probably have been great to watch and I believe Alec Bedser came on to the scene in the 30's so I could had him to the list.

Not just the players but I would have loved to have gone to a FC, Tour, or Test match that was packed to the rafters when Bradman played and budgeted on him doing well (certainly the case for County sides on Ashes tours).

Yours?

Craig said:

Ok you have been given a time machine to go back to any era of cricket, be it from the 90's to the 1870's, but for the sake of this thread I would prefer if you went back to an era you didn't see. But if you watched cricket in the 80's for example and enjoyed it, then by-all means.

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Thats a tough one. There are so many legends one would love to even see in one's dreams . If one made a list of the cricketers I most want to see, one finds the Inter-WW period covers the largest number.

One could see legends such as

- Hobbs, Hammond, Larwood, Tate, Woolley, Rhodes, George Gunn (fag end), and some greats such as Hutton, Compton (early part of career for both), Verity, Duleep, Oldfield, Ames Strudwick from England England

- Legends Bradman, Archie Jackson, Grimmett, Orielly, Macartney, and greats such as Ponsford and Woodfull, McCabe, Jack Gregory, Oldfield from Australia

- George Headley, Constantine and Martindale from Windies

- Merchant, Naidu, Mushtaq Ali, Amar Singh and Nissar, Lala Amarnath from India

- Nourse, Mitchell, Taylor and Melville South Africa

The only era which comes close to this in my prefernce is the pre WW1 era and the absence of SF Barnes in any such fantasy spoils things for me. For me if there is a legend to beat all legends and if there is one cricketer I would love to see more than anyone, even Bradman, it is this magician who played his last international game the year WW1 broke. But I suppose I could go and watch him bowl in the minor leagues where he continued to terrorise batsmen till late in his life

The Australian Team of 2003, etc. Those were the days...

Either Bodyline, the West Indies in their pomp, or Edgbaston 2005 so I could move the balls out of the way.

It would be absolutely top hole to go back to 1896 to see HH Shri Sir Ranjitsinhji Vibhaji, Jam Sahib of Nawanagar (his later full title) score plenty against the Aussies at Old Trafford. So I guess my era would be the "Grace era" or just after.

I'd love to see South Africa vs Australia just before the Apartheid kicked in.

Barry Richards in his pomp would have been a pure delight to watch (as well as various others) as he's probably one of my favourite cricketers/commentators.

Headingley 1981 would be one to behold as well, I'm envious of my dad and others who were alive and can remember it in detail.

World Cup '92.

There's a lot of mid70's series I'd love to have seen. WI's first series under Lloyd in India, Aus' 5-1 demolition of WI, Pakistan's drawn series with Aus when Imran really came to the fore for the first time.

Prior to that, Aus vs WI in 1960 (I think) would have been unmissable. And WI in England in 1963 was supposed to be pretty special.

Ideally, you'd want to see 2 strong sides, so the 3-2 Ashes series in the mid30's when Aus came back from 2-0 must have been spectacular. Bodyline, of course.

Oh, and the series I would absolutely love to have seen was Tyson's ashes series in 1954/5.

South African team of Pollock Brothers, Clive Rice, Barry Richards

Pakistan tour to Westindies1988.

According to my dad thats the most intense cricket he's ever witnessed, and the scorecards from that series reflect that.

Gee that's tough. I guess I would love to go back to just post WWII, watch Bradman, and introduce ODI cricket, then make my millions, while ensuring that Mugabe was never President of Zim, and that a good infrastructure was being put into place in East Pakistan.

The days of the Windies pace brutality, a flurry of world-class all-rounders (Imran, Botham, Hadlee, Kapil) and some other awesome bastmen (Richards, Gavaskar). That'd be a pretty big "era" though. I'd also love to see Bradman and Sobers .. what's all the hype about anyways?

The nineties

SA were the best ODI team in the world, and had the likes of AAD, Kirsten, Jonty, Hansie, not to mention Big Mac and Symmo.. There were a lot of personalities and some brilliant performances.. Zimbabwe were good, I think it was the best decade for cricket. Before the ICC started messing around with things and various "innovations" got introduced. I would also have liked to have paid more attention to the 1997 ashes

Pedro Delgado said:

It would be absolutely top hole to go back to 1896 to see HH Shri Sir Ranjitsinhji Vibhaji, Jam Sahib of Nawanagar (his later full title) score plenty against the Aussies at Old Trafford. So I guess my era would be the "Grace era" or just after.

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Yes that is the era I would love to see, from about 1894-1914.

I would also make some wise investments, in a couple of companies. Say Coke and Gunn and Moore

archie mac said:

Yes that is the era I would love to see, from about 1894-1914.

I would also make some wise investments, in a couple of companies. Say Coke and Gunn and Moore

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What, no sports almanacs?

I wouldn't mind betting on Bangladesh beating Australia!

andyc said:

What, no sports almanacs?

I wouldn't mind betting on Bangladesh beating Australia!

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Yes some juicy odds, but even if I had known I would not have been able to back against the Aussies

I think I put to much thought into this I was thinking if I took home some old Wisden's they would not age properly, and would look like fakes. But if I could invest in the right product, I could buy all the books I liked

Bodyline, to see Bradman. No doubt. Also make some nifty little investments, help a young Bill Gates get off the ground..

I'd go right back and invent the game, then hop forward to Zim in the late eighties/early nineties. Just to see it before it was all lost.

archie mac said:

Yes that is the era I would love to see, from about 1894-1914.

I would also make some wise investments, in a couple of companies. Say Coke and Gunn and Moore

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Google for me.

Barings for me.