Last time, I cast an eye back over the last forty years' Test series between England and New Zealand and selected what I considered to be the best Black Cap XI to have toured this country. Now it's the turn of the home nation. Such is England's dominance in this period that there is no shortage of batsmen with 50+ averages and bowlers with equally impressive statistics.
Richard Hadlee and Dion Nash apart, NZ's new-ball attack has been so mediocre that England's openers have often made hay. Back in the '70s, Geoff Boycott and Dennis Amiss gave their side some useful starts but I have chosen Graham Gooch and Mike Atherton. They each enjoyed an average approaching 60, with Gooch accumulating a shade under a thousand runs. The batting order was pretty fluid twenty-odd years ago and the archetypal opener Gooch made his highest score against NZ, 210, at number three in an innings victory at Trent Bridge in 1994. Then captain, Atherton made 101 in the same game.
His opening partner in that game was Alec Stewart, who played up and down the order over the years, not always as wicket-keeper. However, it's in that role that he appears in my fantasy team at number five. He scored plenty of runs but his average of 35 was poor by his standards. Above him I have gone for David Gower and Allan Lamb. The former scored more centuries at home to NZ than anyone else (four) on his way to 982 runs. His first and last innings against New Zealand were in three figures. The combative South African Lamb suffered from inconsistency but was a common sight in the England side during the 1980s, and he seemed to enjoy Black Cap bowlers, striking 521 runs in eight Tests. The top order is completed by another ex-captain, Keith Fletcher. The Essex man appeared only three times against NZ, all during the 1973 tour. However, he notched more than 300 runs in impressive style.
Ian Botham is an obvious choice as all-rounder, taking more wickets than anybody else (37 at 20.51) and almost 400 runs, too. Tony Greig and Andrew Flintoff pushed him hard with the willow but Both was without parallel swinging the ball around. Phil de Freitas was no slouch with the bat but his claim to my number eight position rests with the 27 wickets he garnered in only five matches at 23, which gave him the edge over Andy Caddick and James Anderson. After considering Steve Harmison and Devon Malcolm I had to select Bob Willis as my principal strike bowler. 32 wickets at under 16 apiece is a magnificent record. He opened his Test account against NZ with 5-42 at The Oval in 1978, and captured nine victims at the same ground five years later, albeit in a losing cause.
Two spinners performed particularly well in Tests between the two countries. Phil Edmonds delivered hundreds of overs in the 1980s but the relatively unsung Nick Cook, now better known as an umpire, took seventeen wickets in his first two Test appearances thirty summers ago, starring in victories over a useful side boasting Howarth, Crowe and Hadlee. His next thirteen Tests yielded only 35 wickets as he struggled to hold down a regular spot as England's slow left-arm merchant.
Interestingly, none of the current squad make my team of the past forty years, but I wouldn't mind betting James Anderson and a few of the batsmen pushing their way into contention in the coming weeks. To summarise, my 1973-2003 eleven is: Gooch, Atherton(*), Gower, Lamb, Stewart (+), Fletcher, Botham, De Freitas, Edmonds, Cook, Willis.
