Australia
1. W.H. Ponsford
2. V.T. Trumper
3. D.G. Bradman (c)
4. S.J. McCabe
5. R.N. Harvey
6. K.R. Miller
7. Adam Gilchrist (wk)
8. R.R. Lindwall
9. S.K. Warne
10. D.K. Lillee
11. Gleen McGrath
The Greatest XI of the world’s strongest team in the history of cricket. Could this be really the top 11? Well, in my opinion it is but there are some players who could consider themselves unlucky. Miller was chosen at 6 so a second spinner could be chosen and O'Reilley being the case.
Don Tallon - Don was Australia's finest wicketkeeper and in Australia’s history of cricket, he still is. The reason why he was not chosen as keeper was because Gilchrist is a much stronger batsman than Don. Yes, Don acquired the qualities of a wicketkeeper but I guess Gilchrist has the all round qualities and this is needed to be a good keeper.
W.J. O'Reilly - I gave this a lot of thought and I came to the conclusion that most of the matches are going to be played on pitches where spin is not very high priority. Even if it was to be a spinner’s paradise, Warne would definitely be able to handle the spin department to himself.
Clarrie Grimmett - Another spinner who couldn’t find his way on to the team due to the strength of the spinners.
Ritchie Benaud - Another spinner who couldn’t find his way on to the team due to the strength of the spinners.
Bangladesh
1. Javed Omar
2. Athar Ali Khan (c)
3. Shahriar Nafees
4. Aftab Ahmed
5. Mohammed Ashraful
6. Animul Islam
7. Habibul Bashar
8. Khaled Mashmud (wk)
9. Mohammed Rafique
10. Mashrafe Mortaza
11. Enamul Haque jnr
The newcomers of test cricketers were surprisely hard to pick due to my lack of knowledge of the team itself and their players. The side above is based as an ODI since it would be impossible to judge a team on their Test status players. There are a few notables which are not in the team include the former captains, Khaled Mahmud and Akram Kham. Tushar Imran, the number three batsmen for Bangladesh was another batsman who was left out and also the Bangladeshi allrounder Rajin Saleh was left out. Manjural Islam and Manjural Islam Rana were another two were left out.
England
1. J.B. Hobbs
2. H. Sutcliffe
3. L. Hutton
4. W.G. Grace (c)
5. W.R. Hammond
6. I.T. Botham
7. W. Rhodes
8. T.G. Evans (wk)
9. H. Larwood
10. A.V Bedser
11. S. F. Barnes
Not too many options with this team. The famous opening pair was retained with Hutton named at three. I included a 3rd pace bowler instead of a second spinner.
Jimmy Laker - The most famous spinner of all time due to his 19 wicket haul against Australia during the 1950's. Laker is still one of the greatest English spinners of all time. If the team included two spinners, Laker would of been included but in my opinion Rhodes was a weaker bowler than Laker but Rhodes has the ability to bat anywhere in the order, from 1st to last.
Alan Knott - Knott is definitely one of England’s best keepers during their long history. Evans in my opinion was arguably the best wicket-keeper the game has ever seen. Knott is an excellent keeper but I just think he is not better than Evans.
Freddy Trueman - Freddy is a brilliant bowler with great stats to back that claim but the team already boasts such wonders as Larwood, Bedser and Barnes and there was just no room for 'Fiery Fred'.
Frank Tyson - They say he was the fastest bowler, man has ever seen but why is he not in this lineup? Well it is exactly the same reason for Trueman. The team already boasts of Larwood, Bedser and Barnes but no room for Tyson. Definitely a brilliant bowler and attaining a wonderful bowling average of 18 but there was just no room.
Denis Compton - Wheres Compton? He is no doubt a prolific batsmen during his time and the only change that i would change in order to put him in the batting line up is to swap him for Grace, but in my opinion since it was near impossible to bat during Graces era, he still averaged a modest average of over 30. YOu also have to take into account that more than 54,000 first-class runs (there are at least two different versions of the precise figure, so let's leave it at that) spread across 44 seasons, including 839 in just eight days of 1876 and 2,800-odd wickets costing less than 18 runs apiece were made by Grace.
New Zealand
1. G.M. Turner
2. C.S. Dempster
3. B.Sutcliffe
4. M.P. Donnelly
5. M.D. Crowe
6. J.R. Reid (c)
7. B.R. Taylor
8. R.J. Hadlee
9. I.D.S Smith (wk)
10. Daniel Vettori
11. J.Cowie
A highly competitive team where there are no present players in the line up. The batting boasts such as players as Crowe and Sutcliffe while the bowling boasts of New Zealands greatest bowler, Richard Hadlee and J. Cowie. Stephen Fleming and Bracewell were unlucky to miss out.
India
1. S.M. Gavaskar (c)
2. V.M. Merchant
3. V.S. Hazare
4. S.R. Tendulkar
5. R. Dravid
6. M.H. Mankad
7. P.R. Umrigar
8. Kapil Dev
9. S.M.H Kirmani (wk)
10. B.S. Bedi
11. B.S Chandrasekhar
Rich in talent in the batting and spin bowling departments but lacking in the fast bowling. Two outstanding allrounders, Mankad and Umrigar, give the side bowling depth while Prassanna, Gupte and Kumble were unlucky to miss out.
Pakistan
1. Hanif Mohammad (c)
2. Majid Khan
3. Zaheer Abbas
4. Javed Miandad
5. Mustaq Mohammad
6. Inzamam Ul Haq
7. Imran Khan
8. Wasim Akram
9. Wasim Bari (wk)
10. Abdul Qadir
11. Fazal Mahmood
Another powerful team with attractive strokeplay batsmen and an outstnading attack. Asif Iqbal and Waqaur Younis were unlucky to miss out.
Sri Lanka
1. S.T. Jayasuriya
2. R.L Dias
3. A.P Gurusinha
4. P.A. de Silva
5. A. Ranatunga (c)
6. K. Sangakkara (wk)
7. J.R. Ratnayeke
8. W.P.J.U.C. Vaas
9. D.S. de Silva
10. R.J. Ratnayake
11. M. Muralitharan
Only two world-class bowlers out of the team with moderate batting depth. Plenty of experience for a young cricketing nation.
South Africa
1. B.A. Richards
2. B. Mitchell
3. A.D. Nourse (c)
4. R.G. Pollock
5. J. Kallis
6. Mark Boucher (wk)
7. M.J. Procter
8. P.M. Pollock
9. H.J. Tayfield
10. A.A. Donald
11. N.A.T. Adcock
This team just about picked itself. Great batting depth and bowling depth with plenty of attacking bowlers. Brilliant opening pair with some attacking batsmen in the middle order. J.H.B Waite was unlucky to miss out due to his batting making way for Mark Boucher.
West Indies
1. F.M.M. Worrell (c)
2. R.B. Kanhai
3. G.A. Headley
4. E.D. Weekes
5. B. Lara
6. G.S. Sobers
7. C.L. Walcott (wk)
8. M.M. Marshall
9. W.W. Hall
10. J. Garner
11. L.R. Gibbs
With so magnificent players, this team was by far the most difficult to select. I had to make the biggest scarifice by cutting Richards from the team for Brian Lara. Then there is the fast-bowling talent !. Holding, Ambrose, Walsh, Croft, Roberts.. the list just goes on.
Zimbabwe
1. G.W. Flower
2. K.J. Arnott
3. M.W. Goodwin
4. A. Flower (wk)
5. D.L. Houghton (c)
6. A.D.R. Campbell
7. G.J. Whittall
8. P.A. Strang
9. H.H. Streak
10. H.K. Olonga
11. R.W. Price
A new Test-playing nation that doesnt not have a relatively strong team with a few exceptions. Heath Streak carries alot of burden in the bowling department while Houghton captains this team
Bevan's left-arm wrist spin is also useful extra asset, especially in the subcontinent