Current players who can/will make all time XI's

[Arjun]

With all-time teams assembled by fans quite often, we wonder, will there be any current players who can/will make all-time XI's, now or in the future? Some all-time XI's are incomplete. Some others will only get better. Some players look good for a place in an all-time XI, either on form, or what they're made of. Let's just see who will make it.

Australia- At present, only Hayden, Ponting and Brett Lee have a chance. Lee, again, will only make the ODI XI on form, and he needs to catch up on a lot of Test cricket to make the Test all-time XI.

England- Pietersen and Flintoff are the only ones left. Harmison had a chance, but couldn't sustain it. Neither could Trescothick, while Cook is still fresh and new.

India- Outside of the usual suspects, Sehwag, Dhoni, Irfan Pathan and Yuvraj Singh have a chance, especially in one-dayers, but that's only because of the incompleteness of the Indian all-time XI.

New Zealand- Possibly Vettori and McCullum, but no one else.

Pakistan- The usual suspects are Mohammed Yousuf and Shoaib Akhtar, and Afridi has a shout for ODI's. Otherwise, nobody's left, and that team is more or less complete.

South Africa- Graeme Smith, Mark Boucher and Jacques Kallis, for now. Nobody else looks like making the XI.

Sri Lanka- Jayasuriya makes this list because of yet another comeback. Muralitharan and Vaas will easily make it, but so will a few others, again due to the lack of options.

West Indies- Maybe Chanderpaul, but he has a very slim chance. That has a ready all-time XI.

 

[Perm]

Strong contenders for their countries all time Test XI?

Jacques Kallis
Matthew Hayden
Ricky Ponting
Rahul Dravid
Sachin Tendulkar
Muttiah Muralitharan
Kumar Sangakkara
Chaminda Vaas
Sanath Jayasuriya

 

[NUFAN]

Strange thread as obviously players still playing haven't finished their careers so it's hard to judge. You make it sound like their aren't many current greats, but cricket has been going on for a long time, so it's tough to have many all time greats at once.

Andrew Symonds ODI has a chance btw.

 

[Prince EWS]

Australia- At present, only Hayden, Ponting and Brett Lee have a chance. Lee, again, will only make the ODI XI on form, and he needs to catch up on a lot of Test cricket to make the Test all-time XI.

Brett Lee has no chance in hell in Tests. I reckon Hussey has an outside shout.

 

[sledger]

Dave Mohamed.

 

[Richard]

Strange thread as obviously players still playing haven't finished their careers so it's hard to judge. You make it sound like their aren't many current greats, but cricket has been going on for a long time, so it's tough to have many all time greats at once.

Yeah, my thoughts pretty much. You'd need to be a current player at least closer to the end than the start of your career to be able to be assessed in this way.

 

[Jono]

Strong contenders for their countries all time Test XI?

Jacques Kallis
Matthew Hayden
Ricky Ponting
Rahul Dravid
Sachin Tendulkar
Muttiah Muralitharan
Kumar Sangakkara
Chaminda Vaas
Sanath Jayasuriya

Mahela Jayawardene, as flawed as some of his record is, surely has a shot at making SL's all-time XI, simply due to the lack of competition. He may not be a walk in, but he's in with a great shot.

 

[silentstriker]

Brett Lee has no chance in hell in Tests. I reckon Hussey has an outside shout.

Yea, Aussie middle order is ridiculously hard to break into. It's like breaking into the English side as an opener or WI as a fast bowler.

 

[Richard]

Well, yeah, but I mean - should he average 55 (or so) for the rest of his career, doing well under as many circumstances as he gets the chance to, he'd certainly have a fair chance.

 

[tooextracool]

Simon Jones if he has an injury fit 4 years.

 

[bagapath]

brett lee for australia?? no chance at all in test matches....

he will be on par with mcdermott, hughes, alderman and miller (only as bowler). but lillee, mcgrath, spofforth, lindwall, davidson were all much better than him.

 

[pasag]

I think Clarke has it in him to get to the upper echelons of Australian batting if he can take it to the next level. Whether he will or not remains to be seen, a very big hurdle will be how he handles the captaincy especially if Australia start losing more often, in which case the pressure will be pretty severe. He'll have it pretty unlucky unlike yer Waughs and Pontings who got handed great teams, he'll be getting one on the decline, so how that all affects his batting remains to be seen.

 

[Arjun]

Strange thread as obviously players still playing haven't finished their careers so it's hard to judge. You make it sound like their aren't many current greats, but cricket has been going on for a long time, so it's tough to have many all time greats at once.

Andrew Symonds ODI has a chance btw.

There are a few exceptions, now and not too long ago. Adam Gilchrist was tipped as an all-time XI contender, not just in Australia, but also a World XI. That was at least three years before his career ended. Likewise, McGrath and Warne were then-current internationals who would make their all-time teams. While some players are good enough for the cut, some others make it because their all-time teams are just plain incomplete.

 

[Arjun]

Mahela Jayawardene, as flawed as some of his record is, surely has a shot at making SL's all-time XI, simply due to the lack of competition. He may not be a walk in, but he's in with a great shot.

He does have a shout, but in a middle-order with Gurusinha, Aravinda, Mahanama and Ranatunga, it's tough. There's a vacancy for the other opener, but Marvan can only make it in Tests.

 

[sanga1337]

He does have a shout, but in a middle-order with Gurusinha, Aravinda, Mahanama and Ranatunga, it's tough. There's a vacancy for the other opener, but Marvan can only make it in Tests.

Jayawardne is easily better than Mahanama as a batsman

 

[adharcric]

Looking ahead, Ishant Sharma and Dale Steyn come to mind. Actually, I'm not sure of the top South African quicks beyond Donald and Pollock. Obviously Steyn has a long way to go, but does he have a shot given the competition?

 

[NUFAN]

Mahela > Gurusingha too.

Pretty sure Mahela, Sangakarra, De Silva and Ranatunga would have to make all time Sri Lankan middle order.

Openers very likely to be Jayasuriya and Atapattu.

You could chuck in another batsmen as Sangakarra would keep, and De Silva and Sanath could bowl a bit.

 

[NUFAN]

Looking ahead, Ishant Sharma and Dale Steyn come to mind. Actually, I'm not sure of the top South African quicks beyond Donald and Pollock. Obviously Steyn has a long way to go, but does he have a shot given the competition?

If he maintains his strike rate and average and his career spans another 30-50 or so tests, he's got an excellent shot.

 

[Arjun]

Looking ahead, Ishant Sharma and Dale Steyn come to mind. Actually, I'm not sure of the top South African quicks beyond Donald and Pollock. Obviously Steyn has a long way to go, but does he have a shot given the competition?

Ishant Sharma has a shout, but not enough wickets of late. He's surely the best bowler at hand, on potential, but those long wicketless spells are a little frustrating. May make it for ODIs.

Outside of Donald and Pollock, there are Kallis, Klusener and possibly Mike Proctor. Even Fanie de Villiers. Of course, only the last makes it because of his bowling alone, and I doubt if South Africa's all-time XI will ever have a spinner.

 

[Arjun]

About Mahela and the old stalwarts, those two played a lot in the 90's. At that time, scoring runs was difficult, especially in the subcontinent. They may not have a glamorous strike rate and average, but they served a purpose quite well. Mahela plays in an age of flat tracks, and seems to throw his wicket away a little too often. A lot of his best performances have come against India, and he's often failed against the top team- Australia.

I wonder, does Farveez Maharoof have a chance? He's a choice for seven/eight and is a far better bowler than the likes of Dharmasena and Chandana, and surely the best all-round option. This will get in a specialist wicketkeeper in the XI, though Sangakkara is good enough for his batting alone.