Best Test XIs

 What I've done is pick "All Time Best XIs" for the main eight test cricket nations (men's teams).

I thought about doing it for Bangladesh, Zimbabwe, Ireland and Afghanistan too, but, though they've all had a few fine players, there was not the same fun to that, especially with the last two.

Then, we can put them all into an imaginary round-robin test tournament, all played in some purpose-built neutral venue with a pitch with a bit of help for everything, and imagine what happens.

Needless to say, for selections, test averages are very important when I haven't seen players in real life, and I will usually veer to someone who I have seen if in doubt.

These will be First XIs - I've added five squad members in case of injuries, but generally the idea would be you can't change the teams for different conditions - these have to be teams for all conditions and oppositions.




Starting with 

ENGLAND

  1. Jack Hobbs
  2. Herbert Sutcliffe
  3. Len Hutton (c)
  4. Walter Hammond
  5. Kevin Pietersen
  6. Ben Stokes
  7. Alec Stewart (wkt)
  8. Ian Botham
  9. Jim Laker
  10. James Anderson
  11. Sydney Barnes

SQUAD PLAYERS

  • Derek Underwood
  • Fred Trueman
  • Ken Barrington
  • Alec Bedser
  • Stuart Broad

So, basically, one has to take the records of the top four on trust, believe they were as good as their numbers say they were. Pietersen just gets in for his game-changing ability, and will have been asked to practice his off-spin as it might well be necessary.

6 and 7 would also, I'm sure, be controversial. Stokes and Botham are both being asked to bowl fast, because there's not much pace otherwise. Stewart over Knott/Ames/Evans will outrage purists, but I want to pile on the runs (Ames actually has a slightly higher batting average than Stewart, but I'm sticking with it ...)

The omission of Trueman is a bit of an outrage, which I puzzled long and hard over, but we can't have too long a tail. SF Barnes has the greatest record in test history, and one imagines, even now, if he is as good as people say he was, there's no reason he couldn't have the same kind of effect as eg Vernon Philander.

All are right-handed (apart from Stokes and Anderson with the bat) , there is little mystery or wonder. Very fitting for England.

INDIA

  1. Virender Sehwag
  2. Sunil Gavaskar
  3. Rahul Dravid
  4. Sachin Tendulkar
  5. Virat Kohli
  6. MS Dhoni (c/w)
  7. Kapil Dev
  8. R Ashwin
  9. Zaheer Khan
  10. Bishen Bedi
  11. Mohammed Shami

SQUAD PLAYERS

  1. Ravi Jadeja
  2. Anil Kumble
  3. VVS Laxman
  4. Jasprit Bumrah
  5. Cheteshwar Pujara
Just possible it will be let down in the fast bowling department, in which case it may look foolish not to have taken a punt on Bumrah. Zaheer Khan always seemed a better bowler to me than his eventual average of 32 suggests. Massive batting power up to 5 - will look to bat first, get 600 in 2 and a bit days, hope for a deteriorating wicket.

SOUTH AFRICA

  1. Graeme Smith (c)
  2. Barry Richards
  3. Graeme Pollock
  4. Hashim Amla
  5. Jacques Kallis
  6. AB De Villiers (w)
  7. Shaun Pollock
  8. Vernon Philander
  9. Kagiso Rabada
  10. Hugh Tayfield
  11. Allan Donald

 SQUAD PLAYERS

  • Clive Rice
  • Dale Steyn
  • Mike Procter
  • Eddie Barlow
  • Makhaya Ntini

Not be counted out. Have had very few world-class spinners, but Tayfield has an excellent record, so will do that job.

Again, massive batting power and Kallis is doing a huge job. Good god, I've left out Dale Steyn. Something something the limitless promise of Rabada. Philander has such an incredible record as well. 

Have left out Mike Procter as well. Amla for Procter would slightly change the balance. Clive Rice clearly the best player never to play test cricket. Would have been as good as Botham/Hadlee/Imran/Kapil.

SRI LANKA

  1. Sanath Jayasuriya
  2. Tillekeratne Dilshan
  3. Aravinda de Silva
  4. Mahela Jayawardene (c)
  5. Kumar Sangakkara (w)
  6. Thilan Samaraweera
  7. Angelo Matthews
  8. Rangana Herath
  9. Chaminda Vaas
  10. Lasith Malinga
  11. Muttiah Muralitharan

 SQUAD PLAYERS

  • Arjuna Ranatunga
  • Marvan Atapattu
  • Dinesh Chandimal
  • Dilhara Fernando
  • Hashan Tillakaratne
Probably, let's be honest, the weakest of the 8, but there's some almighty batting power there, and goodness knows what Murali will do on his day. Malinga would have been a very fine test bowler if he'd wished, so they'll win some games. Kumar being asked to keep, but, for this, his batting is unaffected.

PAKISTAN

  1. Hanif Mohammad
  2. Saeed Anwar
  3. Mohammad Yousuf
  4. Javed Miandad
  5. Younis Khan
  6. Inzamam Ul-Haq
  7. Sarfaraz Ahmed (w)
  8. Imran Khan (c)
  9. Wasim Akram
  10. Saeed Ajmal
  11. Waqar Younis

SQUAD PLAYERS

  1. Misbah Ul-Haq
  2. Mohammed Asif
  3. Abdul Qadir
  4. Zaheer Abbas
  5. Shoaib Akhtar
Look at that. There are several individuals in that team you wouldn't swap for anyone. Wicketkeeper may be a problem, Sarfaraz is clearly less lauded a player than any other in the team, but he's a very decent keeper and has a test batting average of 36. Good enough.
Several fine spinners to choose from - have gone for Ajmal just because he's got the best average - pretty hard to pick. Asking a great deal of the main four bowlers - none of the others are really bowlers, apart from Younis Khan a little bit. 

AUSTRALIA

  1. Matthew Hayden
  2. Allan Border
  3. Don Bradman (c)
  4. Steve Smith
  5. Ricky Ponting
  6. Keith Miller
  7. Adam Gilchrist (w)
  8. Alan Davidson
  9. Shane Warne
  10. Dennis Lillee
  11. Glenn McGrath

 SQUAD PLAYERS

  • Steve Waugh
  • David Warner
  • Richie Benaud
  • Greg Chappell
  • Neil Harvey
Have to be the favourites. Think of all the players left out of the squad - Mitchell Johnson, Hussey, Pat Cummins, Arthur Morris, Ray Lindwall.

Have left out S Waugh to bring out the best in S Warne and to have an utterly brutal bowling line-up. Gilly's the key. No other team has Gilchrist. Also Bradman is the key.

Asking Border to open, but he's up to the task. Are there too many captains here? Look pretty tough to beat, really, though.

NEW ZEALAND

  1. Brendon McCullum (c)
  2. Glenn Turner
  3. Kane Williamson
  4. Ross Taylor
  5. Martin Crowe
  6. Chris Cairns
  7. BJ Watling (w)
  8. Richard Hadlee
  9. Dan Vettori
  10. Trent Boult
  11. Tim Southee

 SQUAD PLAYERS

  • Stephen Fleming
  • Jeremy Coney
  • John Reid
  • Neil Wagner 
  • Shane Bond
Going all in as McCullum as captain. Almost went for Jeremy Coney, cos I love Jeremy Coney. No shortage of fine captains. And some exceptional bowlers of modern times. Boult, Wagner and Southee have all quietly accumulated outstanding test records.

Again, this is maybe not the strongest batting line-up, but with Vettori at 9 it goes a long way down, and Ross Taylor (who has clearly, from his Milburneque new shape. enjoyed lockdown ...), Williamson, Crowe is a very nice middle-order.

WEST INDIES

  1. Frank Worrell (c)
  2. Everton Weekes
  3. Viv Richards
  4. Brian Lara
  5. George Headley
  6. Clyde Walcott (w)
  7. Garfield Sobers
  8. Malcolm Marshall
  9. Joel Garner
  10. Michael Holding
  11. Curtley Ambrose

 SQUAD PLAYERS

  • Jeff Dujon
  • Gordon Greenidge
  • Jason Holder
  • Lance Gibbs
  • Clive Lloyd

Probably the hardest to pick, and I have taken significant risks. No specialist openers, no specialist wicketkeeper, no specialist spinner. Have gone all in on picking the greatest players and hoping they bludgeon all-comers.

The absence of Kanhai, Chanderpaul, Roberts and Walsh from the squad is gratuitous. If I was to pick Greenidge, I'd have had to pick Haynes too. That would have meant leaving out some people averaging in the 50s. Frank Worrell is captain, of course. He and Richards can do a job with the ball, Sobers can do more than a job. Clyde Walcott was a wicketkeeper for his first 15 tests, so is enough of a specialist to take a risk on, and Dujon comes in if he gets injured.

I've gone for my favourite four of the great fast bowlers. There is no let-up. None. 

I think this team wins the tournament if it plays to its potential. I think those four bowl everyone out. Even Bradman and Smith are intimidated by them.

Here's another thing. I picked an all-time Barbados XI. Barbados has a population of under 300,000. This is probably one of the top 4 teams in the tournament. It's actually, arguably, a more balanced team than the West Indies team.

  1. Gordon Greenidge
  2. Desmond Haynes
  3. Frank Worrell (c)
  4. Everton Weekes
  5. Conrad Hunte
  6. Clyde Walcott (w)
  7. Garfield Sobers
  8. Jason Holder
  9. Malcolm Marshall
  10. Wes Hall
  11. Joel Garner
Bonus Feature!

I've gone and imagined the matches. All very silly.

England vs Australia
England 321 (Pietersen 64, Hammond 58) - McGrath 4-37
Australia 548-6 dec (Bradman 211, Smith 109)
England 253 (Sutcliffe 110*) - Warne 5-38
Australia 27-1
Australia win by 9 wickets

India vs Australia
Australia 602 (Bradman 108, Ponting 162, Gilchrist 104*)
India 609-7 dec (Dravid 203, Kohli 142)
Australia 200-1 dec (Hayden 132*)
India 42-0
Match drawn

West Indies vs Australia
West Indies 364 (Richards 102, Sobers 88*) - Lillee 6-78
Australia  227 (Border 83, Miller 46*) - Ambrose 4-36, Marshall 4-48
West Indies 219 (Worrell 64, Headley 51) - Warne 5-41, Davidson 4-32
Australia 196 all out (Border 74) - Garner 7-32
West Indies win by 160 runs

Australia vs South Africa
Australia 411 (Smith 102, Bradman 107) - Philander 4-61
South Africa 348 (Kallis 86, Amla 72) - Miller 5-90
Australia 286-5 dec (Border 66, Gilchrist 113*)
South Africa 222 (Smith 86, Pollock 51) - McGrath 5-68
Australia win by 127 runs

Australia vs Sri Lanka
Australia 588-5 dec (Bradman 132, Smith 215, Ponting 68)
Sri Lanka 342 (Sangakkara 142) -  Davidson 4-52 FOLLOW ON
Sril Lanka 300 (Jayawardene 114) - Warne 4-61, Miller 4-70
Australia 53-6 - Muralitharan 6-24
Australia win by 4 wickets

Australia vs New Zealand
New Zealand 388 (Williamson 114, Vettori 52*) - Warne 4-51
Australia 511 (Border 112, Ponting 156) - Hadlee 5-111
New Zealand 164 (Crowe 72) - McGrath 7-38
Australia 42-0 (Hayden 35*_
Australia win by 10 wickets

Australia vs Pakistan
Pakistan 444 (Younis Khan 111, Javed Miandad 88) - Lillee 4-81
Australia 388 (Border 132, Miller 86) - Imran Khan 5-101
Pakistan 301-5 dec (Imran Khan 102*)
Australia 188 (Hayden 86, Bradman 52) - Waqar Younis 5-46, Wasim Akram 5-51
Pakistan win by 169 runs

England vs India
India 466 (Gavaskar 142, Dhoni 72) - Anderson 4-88
England 390 (Hutton 111, Stokes 86) - Kapil Dev 4-96
India 218 (Dravid 96*) - Barnes 7-31
England 295-8 (Hobbs 62, Stewart 53, Stokes 51*)
England win by 2 wickets

England vs West Indies
England 211 (Hammond 84) - Holding 6-31
West Indies 414 (Lara 88, Walcott 94, Marshall 46*)
England 152 (Hutton 68) - Ambrose 4-32, Garner 4-21
West Indies win by an innings and 51 runs

England vs South Africa
South Africa 542 (Richards 112, Pollock 131, Amla 68)
England 314 (Sutcliffe 66, Hobbs 68) - Donald 5-86 FOLLOW ON
England 386-5 (Hammond 168*, Stokes 69)
Match drawn

England vs Sri Lanka
England 600 (Hutton 223, Pietersen 116)
Sri Lanka 386 (Jayawardene 111, Sangakkara 96) FOLLOW ON Botham 5-114
Sri Lanka 242 (Da Silva 61, Matthew 68) Laker 4-61, Barnes 4-32
England 29-3 (Muralitharan 3-11)
England win by 7 wickets

England vs New Zealand
England 168 (Hobbs 51) - Hadlee 5-38, Boult 4-29
New Zealand 294 (McCullum 84, Crowe 61) - Anderson 4-62
England 271 (Hutton 101) - Boult 4-36, Vettori 4-96
New Zealand 146-5 (Williamson 67*) - Laker 3-51
New Zealand win by 5 wickets

Pakistan vs England
England 512 (Pietersen 114, Botham 100)
Pakistan 588 (Inzamam 142, Mohammad Yousuf 182)
England 192-8 (Hammond 71) - Saeed Ajmal 5-63
Match drawn

India vs West Indies
India 588 (Gavaskar 142, Tendulkar 162)
West Indies 418 (Weekes 111, Lara 114) - Bedi 4-88
India 200-1 (Sehwag 132*)
West Indies 246-2 (Richards 88*, Sobers 78*)
Match drawn

India vs South Africa
South Africa 611 (Smith 243, Richards 188)
India 508 (Tendulkar 122, Kohli 141*)
South Africa 300-4 (Amla 142, De Villiers 64*)
Match drawn

Sri Lanka vs India
India 461 (Gavaskar 68, Dravid 64, Dhoni 58, Ashwin 54)
Sri Lanka 522 (Sangakkara 152*, Jayawardene 142)
India 201 (Dravid 68) - Muralitharan 5-48, Vaas 4-80
Sri Lanka 141-3 (Jayasuriya 52, Da Silva 52*)
Sri Lanka win by 7 wickets

New Zealand vs India
New Zealand 351 (Turner 111, Williamson 81) - Shami 4-88, Kapil Dev 4-76
India 404 (Tendulkar 109, Kohli 106) - Hadless 5-88
New Zealand 286-6 dec (Williamson 90, Watling 66*) - Bedi 4-90
India 100-3 (Sehwag 46)
Match drawn

Pakistan vs India
India 488 (Gavaskar 161, Ashwin 92*) - Waqar Younis 4-88
Pakistan 462 (Hanif Mohammad 131, Mohammad Yousuf 142) - Zaheer Khan 5-122
India 214 (Dhoni 64) - Imran Khan 4-32, Wasim Akram 6-61
Pakistan 251-7 (Inzamam 101, Imran Khan 62) - Bedi 5-71
Pakistan win by 3 wickets

West Indies vs South Africa
South Africa 388 (Pollock 88, Amla 78, S. Pollock 51) - Marshall 5-76
West Indies 348 (Worrell 111, Richards 88) - Rabada 6-88
South Africa 296 (Kallis 80, Amla, 86) - Ambrose 4-48, Sobers 4-90
West Indies 182-4 (Weekes 78, Lara 51*)
Match drawn

West Indies vs Sri Lanka
West Indies 576-5 dec (Weekes 102, Sobers 142*, Walcott 111*)
Sri Lanka 242 (Sangakkara 88) - Holding 4-66, Marshall 4-43 FOLLOW ON
Sri Lanka 180 (Dilshan 62, Matthews 51) - Ambrose 7-28
West Indies win by an innings and 154 runs

West Indies vs New Zealand
West Indies 388 (Richards 100, Walcott 86) - Southee 5-79
New Zealand 300 (Turner 77, Crowe 68) - Ambrose 5-80, Garner 4-62
West Indies 214-2 dec (Weekes 121*)
New Zealand 112 - Marshall 6-31
West Indies win by 190 runs

West Indies vs Pakistan
Pakistan 411 (Saeed Anwar 111, Wasim Akram 65*) - Holding 4-81
West Indies 383 (Sobers 80, Lara, 66, Walcott 51) - Waqar Younis 6-111
Pakistan 200 (Hanif Mohammad 80, Younis Khan 52) - Ambrose 5-52
West Indies 229-5 (Richards 63*, Sobers 52*)
West Indies win by 5 wickets

South Africa vs Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka 246 (Jayawardene 62, Samaraweera 58) - Philander 5-49
South Africa 462 (Pollock 111, Kallis 132*) - Malinga 5-88
Sri Lanka 311 (Jayasuriya 111, Vaas 51*) - Philander 4-48, Tayfield 4-72
South Africa 96-2 (Smith 53*)
South Africa win by 8 wickets

South Africa vs New Zealand
New Zealand 388 (Crowe 122, Watling 71) - Donald 4-80, Pollock 4-68
South Africa 342 (Richards 132, S Pollock 52*) - Hadlee 5-80
New Zealand 164 (Williamson 71) - Philander 4-31, Rabada 4-52
South Africa 221-7 (Smith 111*) - Cairns 4-52
South Africa win by 3 wickets

South Africa vs Pakistan
South Africa 412 (De Villiers 114, Amla 86) - Wasim Akram 4-94
Pakistan 653 (Javed Miandad 260, Younis Khan 152)
South Africa 188-3 (Richards 62, Pollock 58*)
Match drawn

New Zealand vs Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka 488 (Dilshan 112, Jayawardene 132*)
New Zealand 412 (Crowe 168, Watling 51) - Herath 5-111
Sri Lanka 261-2 (Jayasuriya 71, Sangakkara 100*)
New Zealand 166-7 (Taylor 68) - Muralitharan 5-48
Match drawn

New Zealand vs Pakistan
New Zealand 366 (McCullum 101, Hadlee 88) - Waqar Younis 4-73
Pakistan 287 (Javed Miandad 86, Imran Khan 53) - Hadlee 6-81
New Zealand 182 (Crowe 61) - Imran Khan 5-40, Saeed Ajmal 4-52
Pakistan 158 (Hadlee 5-43)
New Zealand win by 105 runs

Pakistan vs Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka 388 (Da Silva 86 Jayawardene 71) - Wasim Akram 4-70
Pakistan 467 (Mohammad Yousuf 124, Inzamam 92) - Boult 4-91
Sri Lanka 142 (Dilshan 51) - Waqar Younis 5-11, Saeed Ajmal 4-41
Pakistan 64-0 (Saeed Anwar 41*)
Pakistan win by 10 wickets

Overall Table
1. West Indies W 5 L 0 D 2 Points 12
2. Australia W 4 L 2 D 1 Points 9
3=. South Africa W2 L 1 D 4 Points 8
3=. Pakistan  W 3 L 2 D 2 Points 8
5=. England W2 L 3 D 2 Points 6
5=. New Zealand W2 L 3 D 2 Points 6
7. India W0 L3 D4 Points 4
8. Sri Lanka W1 L5 D1 Points 3

Hurray, West Indies win. India have clearly been hard done by my imagination, but their shortage of match-winning bowlers on wickets which deteriorated but not all that much cost them dear.

EXTRA BONUS FEATURE: I'm pitting that all-time Barbados XI

  1. Gordon Greenidge
  2. Desmond Haynes
  3. Frank Worrell (c)
  4. Everton Weekes
  5. Conrad Hunte
  6. Clyde Walcott (w)
  7. Garfield Sobers
  8. Jason Holder
  9. Malcolm Marshall
  10. Wes Hall
  11. Joel Garner
vs an All-Time Yorkshire XI

  1. Geoff Boycott
  2. Herbert Sutcliffe
  3. Len Hutton (c)
  4. Joe Root
  5. Michael Vaughan 
  6. Jonny Bairstow (w)
  7. George Hirst
  8. Wilfred Rhodes
  9. Fred Trueman
  10. Hedley Verity
  11. Bill Bowes

This is a bit of a scandal as it doesn't have Raymond Illingworth or Brian Close in it, but its looking at test records, and needs to have a balanced side, including a wicketkeeper.

Here's how it goes

Yorkshire 466 (Sutcliffe 122, Root 66, Rhodes 51*) - Hall 4-71
Barbados 518 (Greenidge 88, Haynes 61, Sobers 102*) - Trueman 5-121
Yorkshire 201 (Hutton 73) - Marshall 5-52, Garner 4-44
Barbados 150-7 (Worrell 51*) - Verity 4-32
Barbados win by 3 wickets

Fun, anyway! Make it all happen, ICC! And God!



Comments

Post a Comment