Quote: tvoc "When a fair sprinkling of them come back from Australia with the Ashes (a world cup or even tri/quad nations would do) then they will rightly be held in the same esteem as Smith, Hynes, Atkinson, Shoebottom, Seabourne, Holmes, Clawson and Jeans.
Until then......'"
You can hardly blame the players of today's generation for the gap in standards between us and the Aussies that those who run the game today allowed to set in after the generation of players you mention had finished.
The players you mentioned achieved great deeds for the international side and that is something, rightly, to be proud of.
One wonders why they didn't quite live up to their status domestically, unlike this generation.