Best Test XI from each nation (that you have seen)

[SJS]

NEW ZEALAND

1. Glen Turner
2. John Wright
3. Martin Crowe
4. Bert Sutcliffe
5. Stephen Fleming
6. John Reid
7. Chris Cairns
8. Richard Hadlee
9. Daniel Vettori
10. Ian Wadsworth (Keeper)
11. Shane Bond

12th Man Bruce Taylor

 

[Lillian Thomson]

NEW ZEALAND

1. Glen Turner
2. John Wright
3. Martin Crowe
4. Bert Sutcliffe
5. Stephen Fleming
6. John Reid
7. Chris Cairns
8. Richard Hadlee
9. Daniel Vettori
10. Ian Wadsworth (Keeper)
11. Shane Bond

12th Man Bruce Taylor

I assume you mean Ken Wadsworth? He was one of my favourites from the 1973 tour party. He's one of very few players who have died from natural causes while still first choice for their Country. It took New Zealand a few years to find anything like an adequate replacement.

 

[Flem274*]

NEW ZEALAND

1. Glen Turner
2. John Wright
3. Martin Crowe
4. Bert Sutcliffe
5. Stephen Fleming
6. John Reid
7. Chris Cairns
8. Richard Hadlee
9. Daniel Vettori
10. Ian Wadsworth (Keeper)
11. Shane Bond

12th Man Bruce Taylor

SJS if you were around when Sutcliffe was then I assume you saw Martin Donnely? I idolize Fleming but personally I'd have him in there, he'd make an all time NZ side.

 

[haroon510]

Saeed Anwar
Aamer Sohail
Younis Khan
Javed Miandad
Inzamam-Ul-Haq
Imran Khan*
Kamran Akmal+ ƒ
Wasim Akram
Saqlain Mushtaq
Shoaib Akhtar
Waqar Younis

Unlucky ones to miss out: Yousuf, Qadir, Salim Malik, Asif.

ƒ - Akmal is not nearly the best keeper we've ever had, but he is easily the best batsman-keeper we have ever had. If I were to choose a keeper based on just his keeping ability, I'll go with Rashid Latif.

 

[Bouncer]

Saeed Anwar
Aamer Sohail
Younis Khan
Javed Miandad
Inzamam-Ul-Haq
Imran Khan*
Kamran Akmal+ ƒ
Wasim Akram
Saqlain Mushtaq
Shoaib Akhtar
Waqar Younis

Unlucky ones to miss out: Yousuf, Qadir, Salim Malik, Asif.

ƒ - Akmal is not nearly the best keeper we've ever had, but he is easily the best batsman-keeper we have ever had. If I were to choose a keeper based on just his keeping ability, I'll go with Rashid Latif.

Zaheer Abbas for Younis Khan

Rashid Latif for KA for sure as if Batting line up of Amir, saeed, zaheer, Javed, Inzi and Imran fail than KA wouldnt be much help......in rashid we at least have almost 100% secure wicket keeper.

 

[funnygirl]

India

Sunil Gavaskar
Chetan Chauhan
Rahul Dravid
Mohinder Amarnath
Sachin Tendulkar
DB Vengsarkar
Syed Kirmani
Kapil Dev
Anil Kumble
Javagal srinath
Zaheer Khan

West Indies

Gordon Greenidge
Desmond Haynes
Viv Richards
Brian Lara
Clive Lioyd
Carl Hooper
Jeff Dujon
Malcolm Marshall
Michael Holding
Andy Roberts
Curtly Ambrose

Australia

Mark Taylor
Mathew Hayden
Allan Border
Ricky Ponting
Mark Waugh
Steve Waugh
Adam gilchrist
Dennis lillee
Shane warne
Jason Gillespie
Glenn Mcgrath

 

[Flem274*]

Nathan Astle
Mark Richardson
Stephen Fleming
Martin Crowe
Roger Twose
Chris Cairns
Adam Parore
Daniel Vettori
Danny Morrison
Geoff Allott
Shane Bond

12th Man: Daryl Tuffey

Hmm Astle opening? Twosey wasn't much of a test batsman give him the boot and put Astle there. Vincent open probably. Nash in for Allot. Nice side apart from that though.

 

[Perm]

Saeed Anwar
Aamer Sohail
Younis Khan
Javed Miandad
Inzamam-Ul-Haq
Imran Khan*
Kamran Akmal+ ƒ
Wasim Akram
Saqlain Mushtaq
Shoaib Akhtar
Waqar Younis

Unlucky ones to miss out: Yousuf, Qadir, Salim Malik, Asif.

ƒ - Akmal is not nearly the best keeper we've ever had, but he is easily the best batsman-keeper we have ever had. If I were to choose a keeper based on just his keeping ability, I'll go with Rashid Latif.

Younis Khan instead of Mohammad Yousuf? ITSTL.

 

[shortpitched713]

Pakistan - combined XI because I can't be bothered making one for both Tests and ODIs
Saeed Anwar
Salman Butt
Younis Khan
Mohammad Yousuf
Inzamam-ul-Haq
Imran Khan* (saw World Cup final when I was 4 )
Rashid Latif+
Wasim Akram
Mushtaq Ahmed
Waqar Younis
Shoaib Akhtar

 

[Fiery]

I assume you mean Ken Wadsworth? He was one of my favourites from the 1973 tour party. He's one of very few players who have died from natural causes while still first choice for their Country. It took New Zealand a few years to find anything like an adequate replacement.

Yes, we had to suffer Jock Edwards

 

[Matt79]

JBMac's reply made any other Australian responses pretty irrelevant, but anyways, here's a few:

Australia
Hayden
Slater
Ponting
Border
Waugh, M
Waugh, S*
Gilchrist+
Warne
Gillespie
McGrath
Alderman
(12th Man: Reid)

Just lacking a top-drawer allrounder, but at different times in their careers the Waugh twins could bowl a few overs if the main guys needed a rest - as indeed could Border if the conditions were sufficiently favourable.

WINDIES
Greenidge
Haynes
Richardson
Lara
Richards*
Chandrapaul
Dujon+
Marshall
Ambrose
ummm... Patterson
Walsh

Fourth seemer was a bit of a toss-up.

ENGLAND
Atherton
Gooch
Vaughan*
Gower
Pietersen
Thorpe
Stewart+
Flintoff
Gough
Hoggard
Paneser

Batting is pretty solid - Gooch and Gower were very much in decline by the time I saw them, but they're comfortably better than most of the muck served up since IMO. The bowlers were harder, bar Flintoff.

 

[weldone]

India:

V. Hajare
S. Gavaskar
R. Dravid
S. Tendulkar
M. Azharuddin
K. Dev
S. Kirmani
A. Kumble
S. Srinath
B. Bedi
B. Chandrasekhar

 

[Lord Flasheart]

New Zealand

Darrin Murray
Blair Pocock
Blair Hartland
Bryan Young
Chris Harris
Rod Latham
Lee Germon (c) (wk)
Murphy Su'a (vc)
Kerry Walmsley
Richard de Groen
Mark Haslam

Brooke Walker (12th man)

 

[The Sean]

AUSTRALIA
Matthew Hayden
Mark Taylor
Ricky Ponting
Greg Chappell
Alan Border
Steve Waugh
Adam Gilchrist
Shane Warne
Craig McDermott
Dennis Lillee
Glen McGrath

ENGLAND
Graham Gooch
Michael Atherton
Michael Vaughan
David Gower
Kevin Pietersen
Ian Botham
Andrew Flintoff
Bob Taylor
Darren Gough
Bob Willis
Monty Panesar

WEST INDIES
Gordon Greenidge
Desmond Haynes
Richie Richardson
Vivian Richards
Brian Lara
Clive Lloyd
Jeff Dujon
Malcolm Marshall
Joel Garner
Curtley Ambrose
Michael Holding

Other countries to follow...

 

[weldone]

West Indies:

D. Haynes
G. Greenidge
V. Richards
B. Lara
G. Sobers
S. Chanderpaul
J. Dujon
M. Marshall
J. Garner
C. Ambrose
C. Walsh

Note: You may be surprised at the selection of the batsman at number 6. But I suggest that he is a very underrated batsman, specially in test cricket. Compare his test records with some other great West Indian batsmen and you'll understand my point.

 

[The Sean]

NEW ZEALAND
Glenn Turner
John Wright
Stephen Fleming
Martin Crowe
Nathan Astle
Jeremy Coney
Chris Cairns
Richard Hadlee
Daniel Vettori
Ian Smith
Shane Bond

INDIA
Sunil Gavaskar
Ravi Shastri
Rahul Dravid
Sachin Tendulkar
Mohammed Azharuddin
Sourav Ganguly
Kapil Dev
Syed Kirmani
Anil Kumble
Harbhajan Singh
Javagal Srinath

PAKISTAN
Saeed Anwar
Mudassar Nazar
Zaheer Abbas
Javed Miandad
Inzamam Ul-Haq
Mohammed Yousuf
Imran Khan
Wasim Akram
Wasim Bari
Waqar Younis
Abdul Qadir

 

[weldone]

Australia:

J. Langer
M. Hayden
D. Bradman
R. Ponting
A. Border/ G. Chappell
S. Waugh
A. Gilchrist
S. Warne
D. Lillee
R. Lindwall
G. Mcgrath

 

[aussie]

Well its simple based on all the years you have been watching this wonderful sport that is simply off the matt. Pick the best XI from all the major test nations that you have seen. My journey is just about a decade starting from the 97 Ashes.

AUSTRALIA:

1. Mark Taylor* - Captain
2. Matthew Hayden
3. Ricky Ponting
4. Mark Waugh
5. Steve Waugh
6. Damien Martyn
7. Adam Gilchrist
8. Shane Warne
9. Jason Gillespie
10. Damien Fleming
11. Glenn McGrath

back-ups: Langer, Hussey, Kasprowicz, MacGill, Lee.

Overall the best combination i would have seen, very hard decision to leave out Langer but i felt Taylor captaincy which was so brilliant even in the few series i saw of him had to be in even if Langer overall was the better batsman. Another tight decision was to leave out Hussey, but i went for Martyn since he has performed in all conditons, but in a years time if Hussey does well in the sub-continent i would likely pick him i guess.

The bowling attacking only debate was the 3rd seamer. I went for Fleming since at his best he was better than Kaspa, Reifell & Lee (to date) in most conditons. Although if they were to play in India i had Kasper as the 3rd seamer no doubt.

ENGLAND:

1. Atherton
2. Trescothick
3. Vaughan*
4. Hussain
5. Thorpe
6. Pietersen
7. Stewart
8. Flintoff
9. Gough
10. Caddick
11. Hoggard

back-ups: Cook, Collingwood, Panesar, Harmison.

No major selection worries for me other than Cook/Atherton. Similar type players IMO if Cook keeps improving in a few years would have him ahead of Athers.

WEST INDIES:

1. Chris Gayle
2. Sherwin Campbell
3. Ramnaresh Sarwan
4. Brian Lara
5. Carl Hooper*
6. Shivnarine Chanderpaul
7. Ridley Jacobs
8. Ian Bishop
9. Winston Benjamin
10. Curtly Ambrose
11. Courtney Walsh

backups: K Benjamin, Collins, Bravo, Adams.

Decent side but unfortunately it hides the fact that alot of inconsistent and poor players played post 2000 especially in the bowling attack which has made the windies such a poor side.

PAKISTAN:

1. Saeed Anwar
2. Aameer Sohail
3. Ijaz Ahmed
4. Mohammad Yousuf
5. Inzamam-ul-Haq*
6. Saleem Malik
7. Moin Khan
8. Wasim Akram
9. Shoaib Akhtar
10. Saqlain Mushtaq
11. Waqar Younis

backups: Younis Khan, Asif, Mushtaq, Misbah-ul-Haq, Latif

Wasted a great era, what a superbly talented side Pakistan had & still have, pretty much the Spain of world cricket.

INDIA:

1. Virender Sehwag
2. Rahul Dravid
3. VVS Laxman
4. Sachin Tendulkar
5. Mohammad Azharuddin
6. Sourav Ganguly*
7. Mahendra Dhoni
8. Anil Kumble
9. Javagal Srinath
10. Harbhajan Singh
11. Zaheer Khan

back-ups: Sidhu, Yuvraj, Sreesanth, Prasad, M Karthik

On paper for we always had the most lethal batting-line going around but didn't always prove it. If they had an Australian like bowling attack could have been the best in the world though.

Few selection worries, wanted to pick Sidhu badly never forget the way he took Warne apart in 98, but then again couldn't leave out none of those famous middle-order batsmen. This is the best side for a home test, overseas i would pick Sreesanth instead of Harbhajan.


SOUTH AFRICA:

1. Gary Kirsten
2. Herschelle Gibbs
3. Jacques Kallis
4. Daryll Cullinan
5. Hansie Cronje*
6. Jonty Rhodes
7. Lance Klusener
8. Mark Boucher
9. Shaun Pollock
10. Makhaya Ntini
11. Allan Donald

back-ups: Boje, Hudson, Smith, McMillan, Steyn, De Villiers

Very solid & talented side could have been the best in the world if Australia weren't around of course.

SRI LANKA:

1. Sanath Jayasuriya
2. Marvan Atapattu
3. Mahela Jayawardene
4. Kumar Sangakkara
5. Aravinda De Silva
6. Arjuna Ranatunga*
7. Romesh Kaluwitharana+
8. Chaminda Vaas
9. Nuwan Zoysa
10. Muttiah Muralitharan
11. Lasith Malinga

back-ups: Fernando, Dharmusena, Herath, Tillkaratne, Dilshan.

NEW ZEALAND:

1. Mark Richardson
2. Bryan Young
3. Stephen Fleming
4. Nathan Astle
5. Scott Styris
6. Craig McMillan
7. Chris Cairns
8. Adam Parore
9. Daniel Vettori
10. Shane Bond
11. Goeff Allot

back-ups: Taylor, Sinclair, Doull, Nash.

A team so messed up with injuries over the years but on occassion did manage to field a strong test side. But then again they always seemed better suited to ODI's whenever confronted with real pace they seemed to buckle.

Slight update for each team from a few years ago except IND..

AUSTRALIA:

Hayden
Taylor
Ponting
M Waugh
S Waugh
Watson
Gilchrist
Warne
Lee
Gillespie
McGrath

Lee for Fleming & Watson for Martyn

ENGLAND:

Atherton
Trescothick
Vaughan
KP
Thorpe
Stewart
Flintoff
Swann
Gough
Caddick
Fraser

Hoggard & Hussain out - Fraser & Swann in


WEST INDIES:

Campbell
Gayle
Sarwan
Lara
Hooper
C'Paul
Jacobs
Taylor
Ambrose
Collins
Walsh

12th man: Bravo

Taylor & Collins in - Bishop & W Benji out..


PAKISTAN:

Anwar
Sohail
Younis Khan
Mo Yo
Inzamam-ul-Haq
Ijaz
Moin Khan
Akram
Akhtar
Saqlain Mushtaq
Asif

Malik & Waqar out - Asif & Younis Khan in.

INDIA: Same

SRI LANKA:


Atapattu
Jayasuriya
Sangakkara (c)
De Silva
Jayawardne
Samaraweera
Kaluwitharana+
Vaas
Zoysa
Muralitharan
Malinga

Ranatunga out - Samaraweera in

SOUTH AFRICA

Kirsten
Gibbs
Kallis
Cullinan
Cronje
AB De Villiers
Klusener
Boucher
Pollock
Steyn
Donald

Rhodes & Ntini out - Steyn & AB De Villiers in


Richardson
Fleming
Astle
Taylor
Styris
Oram
Cairns
Parore
Vettori
Bond
Allot

Taylor & Oram in - Young & McMillan out

 

[Sir Alex]

India

1. Virender Sehwag
2. Gautam Gambhir
3. Rahul Dravid
4. Sachin Tendulkar
5. Mohammad Azharuddin
6. VVS Laxman
7. Mahendra Dhoni (c)
8. Anil Kumble
9. Javagal Srinath
10. Harbhajan Singh / S Sreesanth
11. Zaheer Khan

 

[Sir Alex]

The Kapil Dev I saw was at the zenith of his career and hence could not make this list.