Fuller Pilch
Hall of Fame Member
Excellent work.A:
Anwar | Amiss | Amla |
Azam | Abbas | Al Hasan |
Ames + | Akram* |
Ashwin | Akhtar | Ambrose
Close: Atherton, Amarnath, Azhar, Anderson, Adcock, Ahmed
The selection dilemmas came in the form of the middle order batsmen, but Azhar was never really an option. Shakib is a real strong character to come in at 6. Adcock and Anderson missed out to Akhtar. Great pace attack. Good balance in batting too.
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B:
Barnes | Boycott | Bradman* |
Barrington | Border | Botham |
Bairstow + | Benaud |
Barnes | Bumrah | Bishop
Close: Boon, Boucher, Bedi, Bond, Bedser, Broad
The batting line-up pretty much wrote itself and is a real winner. The real problems were in leaving out Bedser, Broad and Bedi, who all have a solid case for being in the side. Pretty good bowling attack. Bumrah and Bishop as the pace duo complemented by the spin of Barnes and Benaud, with some Botham magic sprinkled on top.
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C:
Cook | Chappell, I | Chappell, G |
Crowe* | Clarke | Compton |
Cameron + |
Cummins | Croft | Chandra | Clark
Close: Chanderpaul, Cowdrey, Cairns, Cowie, Clarke
Very solid middle order. Jock Cameron from South Africa was a very fine keeper, and a good batsman as well with 10 fifties. Cairns unlucky to miss out. Clark vs Clarke vs Cowie a selection dilemma too.
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D:
Dempster | Dexter | Dravid* |
De Silva | de Villiers | Duleepsinghji |
de Kock + | Dev | Davidson |
de Villiers | Donald |
Close: Donnelley, Dujon, Dhoni, Doshi
Not too many options but the bowling line up looks great with four top class pacers. Lots of stroke makers in the side as well. Duleepsinghji vs Donnelley is a bit of a coin toss.
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F:
Fredericks | Fingleton | Fry |
Fleming* | Flower + | Fletcher |
Faulkner | Flintoff |
Fraser | Fleming | Ferris
Close: Tip Foster, Fleetwood-Smith, Freeman
A side heavy on all-rounders with Faulkner and Flintoff, and also Fry to some extent, offering great support to Fraser and Damien Fleming. Ferris will do what Ferris used to do.
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G:
Gavaskar | Greenidge | Gooch* |
Grace | Gower | Greig | Gilly + |
Gillespie | Gupte | Garner | Grimmett |
Close: Goddard, Ganguly, Graveney, Gough, Gilmour, Gibbs
Wonderful opening pair of ice and fire. 5 Englishmen in this side. Number 6 was the head scratcher for me here. Graveney, Greig, or Goddard? I am a fan of Greig, so it was him. Two leggies.
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H:
Hobbs | Hutton* | Headley |
Hammond | Harvey | Hussey |
Healy + | Hadlee |
Holding | Hall | Herath
Close: Hayden, Haynes, Hazare, Haddin, Harris
Fantastic batting line up. Incredible. Only problem here: Hussey or Hazare? Really good pace attack, but picking Hall over Ryno wasn't easy. Really strong team in all aspects.
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J:
Jayasuriya | Jackson, A | Jones |
Jayawardene | Jardine* | Jessop |
Jayawardene+ | Jadeja
Johnson | Johnston | Jones
Close: Julien, Jackson S
Decent team. Bats deep with Ravindra Jadeja in at number 8, followed by Mitch Johnson. Not too many options available to be honest. Bowling is on the weaker side. Johnson, Simon Jones, and Gilbert Jessop as the pacers. Jadeja and Johnston as the spinners.
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K:
Kirsten | Katich | Khan, Y |
Kallis | Kohli | Kanhai |
Knott + | Khan, I* |
Khan, Z | Kumble | Kasprowicz |
Close: Kalicharran
Again, not too many options, but the Khans saved the day here. A very good middle order, and some quite useful bowling with Imran leading the attack.
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L:
Langer | Lawry | Leyland |
Lara | Lloyd* | Laxman |
Lindsay + | Lindwall |
Lillee | Laker | Larwood
Close: Lehmann, Labuschagne, Lohmann
Great bowling attack. Lohmann or Larwood? Difficult choice. Otherwise, good openers and a very solid middle order here. Strong team. Labuschagne close to selection.
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M:
Mitchell | Morris | May |
Miandad | McCabe | Macartney |
Miller* |
Marsh + | Marshall |
Muralitharan | McGrath
Close: Merchant, Martyn, Mohammad
How do you leave out Martyn, Vijay 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. Macartney plays a useful role in the side at number 6.
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P:
Ponsford | Pujara | Ponting* |
Pollock | Pietersen | Paynter |
Pant + | Procter | Pollock |
Philander | Prasanna
Close: Prince, Prior, Pollock, Parfitt
Absolutely top notch middle order. The Pollocks dominate. A well rounded bowling attack too, though there is a lack of a fifth bowler. Ponting and KP to bowl some pies. Pant rushed in ahead of prior.
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R:
Richardson, M | Richards, B | Richards, V* |
Root | Ranjitsinghji | Rice |
Russell + | Rhodes |
Reid | Roberts | Rabada
Close: Redpath, Richardson R, Reiffel, Ramadhin
Roberts, Reid, and Rabada are a good pace combination, with Rhodes as the spinner and Rice as the all rounder. Richie Richardson a notable omission for the legside OG at #5.
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S:
Sutcliffe, H | Smith | Sanga |
Smith | Sehwag | Sobers* |
Stewart + |
Swann | Spofforth | Steyn | Southee
Close: Sutcliffe B, Simpson, Snow, Statham
Can I pick Sehwag at 5. Why not? Simpson missed out and Spofforth edged it over Snow. This is a complete side.
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T:
Turner | Taylor | Trumper |
Tendulkar | Trott | Tyldesley |
Tallon + |
Trueman | Tyson | Tayfield | Turner
Close: Tillakarathane, Thorpe, Taylor R, Tate
Well rounded team, this one. A lot of variety in bowling. 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?
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W:
Williamson | Worrell* | Walcott |
Weekes | Waugh | Woolley |
Watling + | Warne |
Willis | Wardle | Walsh
Close: Woodfull, Warner, Waugh M, Walters, Watson, Waite, Walker, Wagner
The most difficult team to select by far for me. Great batting, with names like Warner and Mark Waugh not included. Watson couldn't find a place in this side. Walsh and Willis to bowl pace with Woolley's support. Warne and Wardle as a spin tandem. Wagner is nearing a spot in the side.
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Alec Stewart over Ian Smith is a bit of a head scratcher though as a keeper, as is Bairstow over Boucher. And in the "Js" is it Dean or Andrew Jones at 3?
