Alphabetical World XIs

[harsh.ag]

World All Time XI Test Teams in Alphabetical Order

A: Anwar | Amiss | Attapattu | Amla | Abbas | Azharuddin | Ames +| Akram* | Ambrose | Appleyard | Adcock |
Close: Atherton, Anderson, Akhtar, Alderman, Ahmed, Ajmal

A was pretty straightforward in most respects. The only real selection dilemma came in the choice of the spinner. In the end, I went for Bob Appleyard ahead of Mushtaq Ahmed and Ajmal, but I think they would be as good. Akhtar and Anderson missed out to Adcock. Great pace attack. Good balance in batting too.

B: Barnes | Boycott | Bradman* | Barrington | Border | Botham | Boucher +| Bedi | Barnes | Bishop | Bedser |
Close: Boon, Bailey, Benaud, Bond, Bowes

The batting line-up pretty much wrote itself and is a real winner. The real problem was in leaving out Benaud, whose batting and captaincy really add to the side. I am still not absolutely sure, but I gave it to Bedi for sheer variation. Pretty good bowling attack. Bishop and Botham to bowl fast, and Barnes to do whatever magic he did. Bedser was a part of Bradman's all time XI, so must be something great.

C: Cook | I Chappell* | Crowe | G Chappell | Compton | Chanderpaul | Cameron +| Croft | S Clark (Aus) | Chandrasekhar | Cowie |
Close: M Clark, Cowdrey, Caddick, Cairns, S Clarke (WI)

I couldn't find a good opener to partner Cook, so I went with the tenacious Ian Chappell, who I wanted as the skipper anyways. Very solid middle order. Cameron from South Africa as the wicketkeeper, was very competent, and a good batsman averaging 30 with 10 fifties. Left out Sylvestre Clarke to accomodate Cowie.

D: Dempster | Dilshan | Dravid* | Dexter | De Villiers +| Donnelley | Duleepsinghji | Dev | Davidson | Donald | Doshi |
Close: Dujon, Dhoni, A De Silva, S De Silva

The first real head turner was when I had to leave out Aravinda De Silva. Perhaps he could replace Duleepsinghji. Maybe. I went for De Villiers as the keeper purely to bolster the batting. The bowlers all picked themselves.

F: Fredericks | S Fleming* | K Fletcher | Flower +| Fingleton |Faulkner | Flintoff | Fairfax | Finn | D Fleming | Freeman |
Close: Fraser, Foster

Taking Finn ahead of Fraser the only controversial decision here, I think. Maybe I should just take Fraser ahead of Fairfax, but since the side's batting is really weak, I thought that batting deep would be a real plus, and Fairfax was a good all rounder. Freeman as the spinner.

G: Gavaskar | Greenidge | Grace | Gooch* | Gower | Gambhir | Gilchrist +| Garner | Gillespie | Grimmett | Griffith |
Close: Ganguly, Graveney, Greig, Gupte, L Gibbs, Gough

Number 6 was the head scratcher for me here. Gambhir, Ganguly or Greig? Greig gives a useful bowling option, but is a weaker batsman than the other two. Plus, with Grace in the side, does it really require another bowling option? I thought no. I rate Gambhir as a slightly better batsman than Ganguly. Had to leave out two spin legends in Gupte and Gibbs.

H: Hobbs | Hutton* | Hammond | Headley | Harvey | Hussey | Healy +| Hadlee | Holding | Hall | Hordern |
Close: Hayden, Haynes, Hazare, Haddin, Heine, Higgs, Herath

Fantastic batting line up. Incredibe. Only problem here: Hussey or Hazare? I think Hussey bats well with the tail, so gave it to him. Really good pace attack. Hordern ahead of Herath as spinner.

J: Jayasuriya | Jaques | D Jones | M Jayawardene | Jardine* | A Jackson | P Jayawardene +| W Johnston | M Johnson | A Javed | S Jones |

Decent team. Not too many options available to be honest. Bowling is on the weaker side.

K: Kirsten | Katich | Kallis | Kanhai | Kalicharran | Y Khan | Knott +| I Khan* | Kumble | Z Khan | Kasprowicz |

Again, not too many options, but the Khans saved the day here. Plus a good middle order.

L: Langer | Lawry | Laxman | Lara | Lehmann | Lloyd* | Lindsay +| Lillee | Laker | Lindwall | Larwood (Lohmann comes close) |

Great bowling attack. Lohmann or Larwood? Difficult choice. Otherwise, good openers and middle order here.

M: Mitchell | Morris | McCabe | Miandad | Martyn | May | Miller* | Marsh +| Marshall | Murali | McGrath |
Close: Merchant, Melville, Macartney, H Mohammad

How do you leave out Macartney, Merchant and Hanif Mohammad? This one was a tough decision on the batting front. On the bowling front, easy as pie. The best bowling attack here.

P: Ponsford | Prince | Ponting | G Pollock* | Paynter | Pietersen | Prior +| Procter | S Pollock | Prasanna | P Pollock |
Close: Philander, Parfitt

Put in Prince as I could not find a good opener. Otherwise, brilliant middle order. The Pollocks dominate. Wanted to put Philander in ahead of Peter Pollock, but it's too early in his career. Maybe in an year or two.

R: Rhodes | Richards | Richards* | Richardson, Richie | Ranjitsinghji | Russell, Charles | Rice | Russell +| Ramadhin | Reid | Roberts |
Close: M Richardson, Redpath, Rae, Reiffel

Roberts, Reid and Rice are a decent pace combination, with Ramadhin and Rhodes in a spin tandem. Charles Russell was a difficult choice, ahead of Redpath and Rae. Could pick Reiffel ahead of Ramadhin if another pacer is required.

S: Sutcliffe, Herbert | Simpson | Sangakkara | Sehwag | Sobers* | G Smith | Stewart +| Swann | Spofforth | Steyn | Snow |
Close: Sutcliffe (bert), Samaraweera, Slater, Statham

Can I pick Graeme Smith at number 6? I didn't want to pick Samaraweera so the answer is yes. Snow just edged it over Statham.

T: Trumper | Turner, Glenn | Taylor*, Mark | Tendulkar | Tyldesley | Trott | Tillakaratne +| Trueman | Tyson | Tayfield | C Turner |
Close: Tallon, Thorpe, Tate

The biggest omission was Maurice Tate. I couldn't decide for a long time. Trueman is an automatic choice, of course. Would any of you leave out Tyson or Turner?

W: Woodfull | Worrell | Walcott | Weekes | Waugh, Steve | Woolley | Waite +| Warne | Willis | Wardle | Walsh |
Close: Waugh (Mark), Washbrook, Walters

Mindblowing batting. Walsh, Willis and Woolley to bowl pace, and Warne and Wardle as a spin tandem. Leaving out both Doug Walters and Mark Waugh was quite excruciating.


I think H, B, S and M are the strongest all round sides, with W just behind.

Do post your comments even if they are not flattering of the above effort.

 

[kyear2]

That must have been awfully time consuming, amazing effort.

 

[Jager]

Woah, impressive.

Questionable decisions IMO
Can't imagine how you debated over Larwood and Lohmann
Tallon not making it is absolutely baffling
Samaraweera should bat at 6 ahead of Smith
Gautam Gambhir over Ganguly/Greig!?
Would have taken Hazare over Hussey
Wouldn't have de Villiers keeping
Bedi over Benaud is obviously a joke

 

[Jarquis]

Few issues with batting orders and the odd selection but top effort.

 

[Jacknife]

Wow must have had some time on your hands here, top effort mate.

 

[Jager]

Abbas should be at 3
Wouldn't open with Ian Chappell
Wouldn't bat Rhodes as a specialist opener IMO
Philander almost beating Peter Pollock is hilarious
Martyn over Macartney killed my soul. Worst decision of the lot
Simpson at 3 with Sangakkara at 4 is strange

 

[Spark]

Like the look of L tbh. Not the strongest side, but bloody strong.

 

[Red]

That "G" combo would slip under the radar a bit I reckon, strong side that. I'd probably take Ganguly over Gambhir, but it doesn't really matter too much.

I'd put my money on H, B and L though.


Great effort all up.

 

[Agent TBY]

This list is just e

 

[bagapath]

n

 

[Jager]

If I sounded like a dick I apologise, was trying to list all of the things I found strange before work and was pushed for time

 

[watson]

Woah, impressive.

Questionable decisions IMO
Can't imagine how you debated over Larwood and Lohmann
Tallon not making it is absolutely baffling
Samaraweera should bat at 6 ahead of Smith
Gautam Gambhir over Ganguly/Greig!?
Would have taken Hazare over Hussey
Wouldn't have de Villiers keeping
Bedi over Benaud is obviously a joke

Lohmann was probably the greatest bowler of the 19th century. Hence a Larwood V Lohmann debate is not that surprising.

 

[Dan]

I'll have a go:

A XI
S Anwar, D Amiss, Z Abbas, H Amla, M Azharuddin, L Ames, W Armstrong, W Akram, C Ambrose, B Appleyard, N Adcock

B XI
S Barnes, G Boycott, D Bradman, K Barrington, A Border, I Botham, M Boucher, R Benaud, A Bedser, S Barnes, B Bedi

C XI
A Cook, M Cowdrey, D Compton, G Chappell, M Crowe, S Chanderpaul, J Cameron, C Cairns, C Croft, J Cowie, B Chandrasekhar

D XI
S Dempster, J Darling, R Dravid, K Duleepsinhji, M Donnelly, AB de Villiers, J Dujon, K Dev, A Davidson, A Donald, S de Silva

E XI
J Edrich, W Edrich, R Edwards, F Engineer, B Edgar, S Ervine, M Ealham, G Evans, P Edmonds, J Emburey, F Edwards

F XI
CB Fry, R Fredericks, S Fleming, A Flower, J Fingleton, R Foster, A Faulkner, A Flintoff, D Fleming, JJ Ferris, T Freeman

G XI
G Greenidge, S Gavaskar, WG Grace, D Gower, S Ganguly, A Gilchrist, J Gregory, G Giffen, J Garner, J Gillespie, C Grimmett

H XI
J Hobbs, L Hutton, C Hill, G Headley, W Hammond, N Harvey, I Healey, G Hirst, R Hadlee, M Holding, W Hall

J XI
S Jayasuriya, A Jones, D Jones, A Jackson, M Jayawardene Jardine, S Jackson, P Jayawardene, A Javed, W Johnston, S Jones

K XI
M Khan, G Kirsten, R Kanhai, J Kallis, A Kallicharan, S Katich, A Knott, I Khan, A Kumble, Z Khan, R King

L XI
B Lawry, J Langer, B Lara, M Leyland, C Lloyd, D Lindsay, R Lindwall, G Lohmann, H Larwood, D Lillee, J Laker

M XI
B Mitchell, A Morris, C Macartney, J Miandad, P Mead, K Miller, R Marsh, M Marshall, C McDermott, M Muralitharan, G McGrath

 

[harsh.ag]

Woah, impressive.

Questionable decisions IMO
Can't imagine how you debated over Larwood and Lohmann
Tallon not making it is absolutely baffling
Samaraweera should bat at 6 ahead of Smith
Gautam Gambhir over Ganguly/Greig!?
Would have taken Hazare over Hussey
Wouldn't have de Villiers keeping
Bedi over Benaud is obviously a joke

Thanks Jager for the comments.

- Lohmann was listed 2nd in the ICC Greatest Bowlers List after Barnes, so it's not that incredulous, is it?
- I agree about Tallon, should have picked him, but wanted a good batsman. My bad.
- I don't like Samaraweera's batting (not to say that Smith is pretty but still). Prejudice there from me, but he is just as good, if not better.
- I find Gambhir to be a better all round batsman than Ganguly, honestly. Greig wasn't picked simply because Grace was already there, and there was no need for a 6th bowling option, so I had to consider him solely on the basis of his batting.
- Fair point. I actually did that earlier, then changed it.
- Dujon then, will have to keep out Duleepsinghji.
- It's not a joke to have Bedi over Benaud. Come on. Bedi was a great spinner. They are very comparable. Benaud is definitely a better all round player, but comparing just as spinners, I would rate Bedi slightly higher.

 

[harsh.ag]

Abbas should be at 3
Wouldn't open with Ian Chappell
Wouldn't bat Rhodes as a specialist opener IMO
Philander almost beating Peter Pollock is hilarious
Martyn over Macartney killed my soul. Worst decision of the lot
Simpson at 3 with Sangakkara at 4 is strange

- Then where do I put Attapattu?
- Rhodes had a spectacular opening salvo with Hobbs at one point, so I think it's fair game. Otherwise, Redpath is a good choice for opener.
- In retrospect, I agree.
- You won't believe Macartney was the first name I put down on the list of M. Killed me too to have to remove it. But Martyn was a better batsman, I think. I would love to have Macartney in the line up.
- Simpson was an opener, so put him up at 3, no other reason.

 

[harsh.ag]

Thank you everybody for appreciating the thread. Can't believe there has been just one attempt thus far in providing a different set of XIs.

 

[superkingdave]

Please post in the normal font in future. It just looks **** otherwise

 

[flibbertyjibber]

Top effort to pick all those sides.

The M team bowling looks awesome but the B team would take some beating simply because of the great man alone.

 

[Spark]

I just wonder about the balance of the B side... could use another strokeplayer, even if you have Bradman who basically counts for two.

 

[Jager]

Thanks Jager for the comments.

- Lohmann was listed 2nd in the ICC Greatest Bowlers List after Barnes, so it's not that incredulous, is it?
- I agree about Tallon, should have picked him, but wanted a good batsman. My bad.
- I don't like Samaraweera's batting (not to say that Smith is pretty but still). Prejudice there from me, but he is just as good, if not better.
- I find Gambhir to be a better all round batsman than Ganguly, honestly. Greig wasn't picked simply because Grace was already there, and there was no need for a 6th bowling option, so I had to consider him solely on the basis of his batting.
- Fair point. I actually did that earlier, then changed it.
- Dujon then, will have to keep out Duleepsinghji.
- It's not a joke to have Bedi over Benaud. Come on. Bedi was a great spinner. They are very comparable. Benaud is definitely a better all round player, but comparing just as spinners, I would rate Bedi slightly higher.

I rate Benaud as fourth best leg-spinner of all time, second best captain and a very, very useful bat - can't see how there was any competition

- Then where do I put Attapattu?
- Rhodes had a spectacular opening salvo with Hobbs at one point, so I think it's fair game. Otherwise, Redpath is a good choice for opener.
- In retrospect, I agree.
- You won't believe Macartney was the first name I put down on the list of M. Killed me too to have to remove it. But Martyn was a better batsman, I think. I would love to have Macartney in the line up.
- Simpson was an opener, so put him up at 3, no other reason.

No way was Martyn anywhere near the same league as post-war Macartney. Averaged 70 after the war and was comparable to Trumper in his beauty and style, plus bowled excellent left arm spin

Lohmann was probably the greatest bowler of the 19th century. Hence a Larwood V Lohmann debate is not that surprising.

Larwood is a genuine candidate for the greatest bowler ever, the man who 'humbled' Bradman. Lohmann is hardly rated around here in comparison