All Time Area XI's

[Slifer]

Area 1:

Hayden
Simpson
Bradman
R Ponting
G Chappell
S Waugh*
A Gilchrist+
R Hadlee
S Warne
Lillee
Mcgrath

Area 2:

Anwar
Gavaskar
Dravid
Tendulkar
Miandad
Inzamam
Sangakara+
Imran*
Wasim
Waqar
Murali

Area3:

Hobbs
G Pollock
Headley
Lara
J Kallis
G Sobers*
A Knott+
Marshall
Ambrose
Trueman
S Barnes

 

[Jamee999]

I was bored in Science, and I've come up with this:

Australia-New Zealand

Taylor
Simpson
Bradman
Ponting
Chappell
Waugh
Gilchrist+
Hadlee
Warne
Lillee
McGrath

Asia

Gavaskar
Hanif
Dravid
Tendulkar
Miandad
Sangakkarra+
Imran
Dev
Younis
Akram
Muraliduran

The Western Hemisphere

Hobbs
Hutton
Hammond
Richards
Lara
Sobers
Knott+
Marshall
Holding
Trueman
Roberts

(not sure on the batting order of the last 4)

 

[Richard]

FWIW, I'll give it a go. Restricted to the 20th- (and very early 21st-) century for myself obviously.

The Antipodes
Woodfull (c)
Morris
Bradman
Greg Chappell
Stephen Waugh
Miller
Gilchrist (w)
Hadlee
Lindwall
Lillee
McGrath

The subcontinent (assuming the game was IN the subcontinent, ideally Sri Lanka)
Merchant
Hanif Mohammad
Gavaskar
Tendulkar
Dravid
Sangakkara (w)
Imran Khan (c)
Wasim Akram
Kumble
Muralitharan
Bedi
(I'm sure the lattermost might change his mind about the one before him if he played with him )

South Africa \ Zimbabwe \ England \ West Indies (I've got to have two here, purely and simply - one for covered wickets, one for uncovered, and players can be in both)
Uncovered:
Hobbs
Sutcliffe
George Headley
Hammond (c)
Sobers
Rhodes
Knott (w)
Marshall
Donald
Barnes
Verity \ Underwood (honestly don't know which)

Covered:
Hobbs
Sutcliffe \ Barry Richards \ Hutton (would depend on the venue)
George Headley
Hammond (c)
Sobers
Graeme Pollock
Dujon (w)
Shaun Pollock
Marshall
Donald
Barnes

Surprisingly fun actually. There's several places that could easily go to others and would make negligable difference to the strength of the team however.

 

[Nate]

What about for current sides?

 

[Manee]

The subcontinent (assuming the game was IN the subcontinent, ideally Sri Lanka)
Merchant
Hanif Mohammad
Gavaskar
Tendulkar
Dravid
Sangakkara (w)
Imran Khan (c)
Wasim Akram
Kumble
Muralitharan
Bedi
(I'm sure the lattermost might change his mind about the one before him if he played with him )

Waqar should be in for Bedi, imo - three reverse swing bowlers (two of whom on the fast side of fast medium) + two spinners is the perfect way to go in the subcontinent imo.

 

[Jamee999]

Australia-New Zealand

Hayden
Jaques
Ponting
Hussey
Clarke
Oram
McCullum+
Vettori
Lee
Clark
Johnson

Asia

Sehwag
Dravid
Tendulkar
Sangakkara+
Yousuf
Jayawardene
Pathan
Kumble
Sreesanth
Sharma
Muraliduran

The Western Hemisphere

Cook
Gayle
Smith
Chanderpaul
Pietersen
Kallis
De Villiers+
Sidebottom
Steyn
Ntini
Panesar

 

[Manee]

Asia

Sehwag
Dravid
Tendulkar
Sangakkara+
Yousuf
Jayawardene
Pathan
Kumble
Sreesanth
Sharma
Muraliduran

Sreesanth is nowhere near good enough to have a place in an Asian XI attack - Mohammad Asif is a better option imo. Most people would not agree with this, but I'd also have Chaminda Vaas in for Pathan as the third pacer. I also feel that Rahul Dravid is a poor opener, prone to falling early far too often. Get Mally Warnapura in there - only saying that because I've bowled to him, but can't think of a better Asian opener (besides Sehwag) tbh.

Sehwag
Warnapura
Sangakkara+
Tendulkar
Yousuf
Jayawardene
Kumble
Vaas
Asif
Sharma
Muralitharan

Longish tail, but I think that the attack could bowl out most teams on most days. In English conditions, I would probably put Zaheer Khan in for Sreesanth too.

 

[Richard]

Waqar should be in for Bedi, imo - three reverse swing bowlers (two of whom on the fast side of fast medium) + two spinners is the perfect way to go in the subcontinent imo.

TBH, Bedi's record in India (not so Pakistan, which is often a different kettle-of-fish) is superlative, and doubly so in the second-innings. Waqar replacing him would not significantly weaken my side, and it's true that Wasim wasn't always the new-ball force that Waqar could be (and Imran too - not that many people tend to mention that).

I always very seriously consider Bedi for games in the subcontinent though - had a longer career doing better than Waqar (who had the poor, the sensational, the poor, the good and the poor, and though the good outnumbered the bad, the bad could cost games).

Would feel that bit safer with Bedi.

 

[Flem274*]

Why do we have to be next to bloody Australia?

All time XI will be too full of Aussies, I'll go for a Current XI:

Hayden
Jaques
Ponting
Hussey
Clarke
Oram
McCullum
Vettori
Franklin
Lee
Clark

When Hayden retires assuming How is still good he opens (Cosgrove has to prove himself first) Taylor may push for a place later on and Johnson will push for a place in future as well.

Can we do this on ICC rankings? Say 1-2, 3-4, 5-6, 7-8. Would be much harder (and more fun) in some cases to select teams.

NZ-WI side:

Gayle
How (better than Ganga IMO though WI fans will disagree)
Sarwan
Taylor
Chanderpaul
Oram
McCullum
Vettori
Franklin
Taylor/Mills (I don't really know alot about Jerome Taylor so I'm not sure who slots in here)
Collymore

 

[Richard]

What about for current sides?

Hmm, should be interesting too... as of April '08 I'd go...

The Antipodes
Jaques
Hayden
Ponting (c)
Hussey
Clarke
Oram
McCullum (Haddin maybe to replace)
Mills
Lee
Johnson
Clark
(A tadge uneven... 8 Aussies, 3 Kiwis )

The subcontinent (again assuming the game was IN the subcontinent, ideally Sri Lanka)
Vandort
Sehwag
Dravid
Tendulkar
Sangakkara (w)
Younis Khan
M. Jayawardene (c)
Vaas
Kumble
Mohammad Asif
Muralitharan
(About as well-spread as currently possible... 5 Lankans, 4 Indians, 2 Pakistanis)

South Africa \ England \ West Indies (if the game was in England or South Africa)
Smith (c)
Cook
Kallis
Vaughan
Pietersen
Chanderpaul
Boucher (w)
Bravo
Sidebottom
Steyn
Taylor
(Very nicely spread indeed... 4 SAfricans, 3 English, 1 with a foot in both camps, and 3 WIndians)

We should do this more often.