Best England Ashes Touring Party Ever?

Well, what do we think?

My nominations are:

1911/12
Anyone, like me, who saw these boys play will never forget them.
Hobbs, Rhodes, Douglas, Hearne, Gunn, Foster, Mead, Warner, Woolley, Strudwick, Smith, Barnes, Hitch, Iremonger, Kinneir, Vine

1928/9:
These boys were the shizzle:
Hobbs, Sutcliffe, Jardine, Hammond, Hendren, Mead, Chapman, Leyland, Mead, Tyldesley, Ames, Duckworth, White, Larwood, Tate, Geary, Freeman, Staples

1932/3:
Similar squad, weaker batting but stronger bowling. Aussies across the land admired them for their hard but fair brand of cricket.
Sutcliffe, Jardine, Wyatt, Hammond, Leyland, Nawab of Pataudi, Paynter, Ames, Duckworth, Brown, Allen, Tate, Larwood, Voce, Bowes, Verity, Mitchell

1954/5
So good they could afford to leave out Trueman & Laker and still win 3-1. Bob Appleyard only needed one lung.
Hutton, Simpson, Wilson, Compton, Cowdrey, Edrich, Graveney, May, Evans, Andrew, Bailey, Tyson, Statham, Loader, Bedser, Wardle, Appleyard, McConnon

1970/1
'Dad's Army' went undefeated in FC cricket, they didn't want to take any LBW's as Ray Illingworth was a staunch Yorkshireman who didn't believe in them
Boycott, Edrich, Luckhurst, Cowdrey, Fletcher, Hampshire, d'Oliveria, Knott, Taylor, Illingworth, Ward, Shuttleworth, Willis, Lever, Snow, Underwood, Wilson

1978/9
Won 5 to 1, with a little help from Mr Packer, some good players though
Boycott, Gooch, Brearley, Gower, Radley, Randall, Botham, Taylor, Tolchard, Miller, Emburey, Edmonds, Old, Lever, Hendrick, Willis

2010/11
517 for 1 without even trying that hard
Strauss, Cook, Trott, Pietersen, Bell, Collingwood, Morgan, Prior, Davies, Bresnan, Swann, Broad, Shahzad, Tremlett, Anderson, Finn, Panesar

This is interesting. Each of the above teams contains the name of at least one famous alcoholic beverage (okay, some are a bit tenous):

1911/12 Foster(s), Mead
1928/29 Mead
1932/3 Brown (Ale)
1954/5 Bailey(s)
1970/1 Snow(ball)
1978/9 Old, Lever (aka Old Perculiar)
2010/11 Bell(s)

How would these shape up as a side, and who else could you add to make up the11?

Bit early to include 2010/11. If we end up losing 4-0 or 3-0 this thread will look rather silly.

1932/3:
Similar squad, weaker batting but stronger bowling. Aussies across the land admired them for their hard but fair brand of cricket

cheeky sod

ever hopeful wrote:This is interesting. Each of the above teams contains the name of at least one famous alcoholic beverage (okay, some are a bit tenous):

1911/12 Foster(s), Mead
1928/29 Mead
1932/3 Brown (Ale)
1954/5 Bailey(s)
1970/1 Snow(ball)
1978/9 Old, Lever (aka Old Perculiar)
2010/11 Bell(s)

How would these shape up as a side, and who else could you add to make up the11?

Let me see:

Bell
Foster
Mead
Bailey
Brown
Miller (draft)
(Timothy)Taylor
Tru(e)man
Old
Snow
Lever

Very good analysis, G, but we shouldn't forget that equally strong, if not stronger, sides on paper such as the 1924-5 squad, which had a batting line-up of Hobbs, Sutcliffe, Sandham, Woolley and Hendren and the 1958-9 squad which had a bowling line-up of Trueman, Statham, Tyson, Laker and Lock were both overwhelmed 4-1 and 4-0 respectively whilst the "can't bat, can't bowl, can't field" side of Fat Gatt's Flops in 86-7 not only retained the Ashes but also won all the 1-day competitions that included Viv Richards' Windies side and Imran Khan's Pakistan.

I've always though that the 28/29 was England's best ever - 3 ATG test batsmen (in Sutcliffe, Hobbs and Hammond) and a stack of other legends including Larwood, Hendren, Mead, Tate and Freeman.

If someone has the time and patience, it would be interesting to know how many runs, wickets and tons that squad took at FC level.

The fact that the Aussie team pushed them (other than the first test) was credit to it. It really would have been one of the best series to watch.

86/7 if only for the comedy value of seeing Philip DeFreitas, Noneck Small & a bloated Botham win the Ashes.

PeterCS wrote:

Nowhere near enough hats at jaunty angles for my liking.

Look, it's a crack team of jolly sporting chaps, not a fashion parade of rank outsiders and boundahs, dohn-chew-kneow.

"1970/1
'Dad's Army' went undefeated in FC cricket"

Except for this game of course:

http://static.espncricinfo.com/db/ARCHIVE/1970S/1970-71/ENG_IN_AUS/MCC_VIC_06-09NOV1970.html

Seriously, that was a good side: all-time greats in Knott, Snow and Underwood, two all-time grates in Illy and Boycs, very solid contributors in Edrich, Dolly and Luckhurst, as well as the ever-under-rated Bob Taylor, and one emerging not-quite-ATG-but-still-a-bloody-good-player-on-his-day Bob Willis, mid-tour replacement for could-have-been-great Alan Ward.,

The shizzle for mine.

Fred Nerk wrote:"1970/1
'Dad's Army' went undefeated in FC cricket"

Except for this game of course:

http://static.espncricinfo.com/db/ARCHIVE/1970S/1970-71/ENG_IN_AUS/MCC_VIC_06-09NOV1970.html

Seriously, that was a good side: all-time greats in Knott, Snow and Underwood, two all-time grates in Illy and Boycs, very solid contributors in Edrich, Dolly and Luckhurst, as well as the ever-under-rated Bob Taylor, and one emerging not-quite-ATG-but-still-a-bloody-good-player-on-his-day Bob Willis, mid-tour replacement for could-have-been-great Alan Ward.,

It was a shrewd ploy by the Poms. This was the game that got Froggy Thomson into the Test team.

And the 70-71 MCC squad is from the very first Test series I can remember. We never looked like winning a Test except for the Test in Sydney when Illingworth took his troops off the ground in protest at Lou Rowan's warning of John Snow for intimidatory bowling (Jenner ducked into one) and the crowd pelted the ground with cans after Illingworth argued. I remember having my fingers crossed that the Poms forfeited.

We shouldn't knock Froggy. After all he was at one stage Australia's most prolific ODI wicket-taker.

When Lex Marinos's 'Late Night Legends' was on ABC2 a while back most of that series was shown, and I remember trying to isolate the moment when Froggy released the ball - I had a theory that he let go early, ie bowled from 24 yards poss with both feet airborne. The footage wasn't mear sharp enough to tell one way or the other but I haven't discounted it. Max Walker was only able to bowl wrong-foot because he slowed down to practically stationary in the last striide,

Gary 111 wrote:1932/3:
Similar squad, weaker batting but stronger bowling. Aussies across the land admired them for their hard but fair brand of cricket.

PMSL.

Late entrant for chirp of the year

1932/33 by a country mile.

Merlin wrote:1932/33 by a country mile.

What's a remile?

PeterCS wrote:

That looks like Quint at the front right.

"That's a twenty footer."
"Twenty five. Three tons of him.."

embee wrote:

Merlin wrote:1932/33 by a country mile.

What's a remile?

PeterCS wrote:

Movember?

This is the most woofing thread ever and I predict it'll stay on the front page and mocked daily until the next Ashes should this England touring party (one of the best ever?) lose the series.

For shame.

You're just a masochist at heart.