My All-Time Teams

I made these to provoke some debate, hopefully my fathful readers will be moved to comment on the sides.

Australia
M. Hayden
R. Simpson
R. Ponting
D. Bradman
G. Chappell
A. Border ©
A. Gilchrist (*)
A. Davidson
S. Warne
D. Lillee
G. McGrath

12th: K. Miller

I feel this XI is straight forward, with terrific players in all positions. Noticable admissions by some fans may be that of Miller from the starting XI, Steve Waugh, or the 'Demon' Spofforth. I picked Border because Border was to face the tougher bowling and maintained his average over 50 for the majority of his career.

England
J. Hobbs
H. Sutcliffe
W. Hammond
L. Hutton ©
K. Barrington
I. Botham
A. Knott (*)
J. Laker
S. Barnes
A. Bedser
F. Trueman

12th: J. Snow

Again I feel this was fairly straight forward, although some may be bemused at the lack of George Lohmann, W. G. Grace and John Snow. Dereck Underwood narrowly missed the spinner's spot, and Maurice Tate was thought of.

India
S. Gavaskar
V. Sehwag
R. Dravid
S. Tendulkar
V. Hazare ©
M. Azharuddin
M.S. Dhoni (*)
K. Dev
A. Kumble
J. Srinath
B. Bedi

12th: B. Chandrasekar

The majority of India's best are from the modern era, India's golden age, with 7 players having played from 1990 onwards. Vinoo Mankad was a sad ommission, as was the elegant V.V.S Laxman. Vijay Merchant also missed out, as did Erapally Prasanna and Chandra.

Pakistan
S. Anwar
H. Mohammad
Y. Khan
J. Miandad
M. Yousef
Inzamam-Ul-Haq
I. Khan ©
W. Akram
A. Qadir
W. Bari (*)
F. Mahmood
W. Younis

12th: Zaheer Abbas

I felt I got this one bang on target. The only problem was that of Wasim Bari and whether it was fair to remove him for someone with a better average, perhaps Kamran Akmal. But Bari's reputation as a gloveman sealed his spot.

South Africa
G. Smith
B. Mitchell
J. Kallis
D. Nourse ©
G. Pollock
E. Barlow
M. Boucher (*)
S. Pollock
P. Pollock
H. Tayfield
A. Donald

12th: G. Faulkner

On a whim I excluded both Barry Richards and Mike Proctor for not playing enough tests, although they'd be sure to make it usually. This team is still formidable, with a good mix of old and modern players. Herbie Taylor could easily be included, as could Alan Melville and the determined Gary Kirsten. Makhaya Ntini nearly earned a spot, and Trevor Goddard was a near miss.

West Indies
G. Greenidge
C. Hunte
G. Headley
V. Richards
B. Lara
G. Sobers (C)
C. Walcott (*)
M. Marshall
J. Garner
M. Holding
C. Ambrose

12th: F. Worrell

This was the most difficult team to select, not because of a lack of players, because of too much players. Clive Lloyd and Frank Worrell, both gifted batsmen and captains, both fail to make the grade and so does Rohan Kanhai, Shiv Chanderpaul and the supremely gifted Everotn Weekes (The comment below reminded me I had forgot Sir Garfield St. Auburn Sobers, and poor Everton misses out due to my oversight!). There is no room for Courtney Walsh, Andy Roberts, Wes Hall, or Lance Gibbs. And Clyde Walcott is a surprise choice at keeper (Considering his batting record wasn't as good when he donned the gloves).

New Zealand
B. Sutcliffe
G. Turner
A. Jones
M. Donnelly
M. Crowe ©
C. Cairns
B. McCullum (*)
R. Hadlee
D. Vettori
S. Bond
J. Cowie

12th: S. Fleming

This one will get some healthy debate. As two controversial choices, I have picked devastating tyro Shane Bond and original kingpin Jack "The Bull" Cowie to partner Richard Hadlee. Cowie's choice may be a suprise, but when you consider his record and the opposition he played against, it is well deserved. Martin Donelly, the graceful left hander, was picked ahead of Fleming, who just misses out.

Sri Lanka

S. Jayasuria
M. Attapattu
A. De Silva
M. Jayawardene ©
K. Sangakarra (*)
A. Gurusinha
H. Tillakaratne
T. Dilshan
C. Vaas
C. Fernando
L. Malinga
M. Muralitharan

12th: A. Ranatunga

Probably the most modern of teams considering their first test was 1982. Their entire bowling team is post 1990, and the omission of Ranatunga may confuse some people.