My first XI...
1. Sir Jack Hobbs
2. Sunil Gavaskar
3. Sir Donald Bradman
4. Sachin Tendulkar
5. Sir Vivian Richards
6. Sir Garfield Sobers
7. Imran Khan
8. Adam Gilchrist
9. Shane Warne
10. Malcolm Marshall
11. Dennis Lillee
My second XI...
1. Sir Leonard Hutton
2. Barry Richards
3. George Headley
4. Brian Lara
5. Greg Chappell
6. Keith Miller
7. Allan Knott
8. Sir Richard Hadlee
9. Wasim Akram
10. Glenn McGrath
11. Muttiah Muralitharan
My third and most likely final XI...
1. Herbert Sutcliffe
Basically there's aren't a lot of established openers to choose from so I went with Herbert. I think there's been plenty of batsmen greater than him in cricket's history.
2. Arthur Morris
Like I said, there aren't a lot of great established openers in history, so I'm picking openers like Morris... Morris probably isn't one of the 40 best batsmen to have played the game but oh well...
3. Wally Hammond
It's a habbit in most sports, that no matter how amateur the era is, you'll always find a golden oldie to call a great. In tennis it's Bill Tilden, and rugby maybe it's Bennie Osler... in cricket the names are often Hobbs, Bradman etc... the sad thing is, if Bradman never existed, Hammond would be spoken in those terms. Ian Chappell said it best... losing to Bradman so much must have been demoralising... yet Hammond had no trouble making massive scores that would have gotten high praise, if only they weren't overshadowed by Bradman. It's only Bradman, any other batsman in history and Hammond would have taken England home to victory time and time again. In some circles in England he's spoken in the same terms as Jack Hobbs as well. And of course Wally played in an era of great Aussie bowlers as well.
4. Greg Chappell
The batsman of the 70s basically. I loved the way he took apart Hadlee in 1984 on the lushest of wickets for seam bowling. A safe pick for the most graceful and elligant batsman ever if you ask me... a great eye once he got in and always very correct. I don't know if Chappell gets his just due in the Australian cricket heirachy... I still rate him greater than Steve Waugh, Allan Border, Ricky Ponting and Niel Harvey. Australia's second best batsman ever IMO.
5. Steve Waugh
The greatest compliment I can pay Steve Waugh is that there was a period in the 90s, a period that, if you blinked, you would have missed, where he was ranked the best batsman in the world by some. And it's actually a higher compliment than you can pay someone today because Waugh did it in the era of Lara and Tendulkar. That's how you can remember Waugh - he's not as great as Lara or Tendulkar, but at his best he was spoken of in their league. Waugh's also a legend because of how he crafted tough innings against the hardest opposition. I've seen him play the Ambrose's, Walsh's, Akram', Younis's, the Donald's, the Pollock's etc... each time he made a century it was a victory of toughness. I especially liked the way he played Donald. Donald knew Waugh rarely, if ever, played the pull shot as it was his weakness, yet Waugh never gave in his Donald's bouncers... he always ducked them and was patient in his innings. He had limitations, but his mental toughness meant they never hurt him.
6. Ian Botham
Beefy is far greater than people know. I always used the Andrew Flintoff analogy that in the 2005 Ashes when he was awesome, what was more important was "when" he got wickets and runs. In the second Test, England were around 230 in front and then he made a delightful 10th wicket partnership with Simon Jones - England win by two runs and it was that partnership that did it. It was the same with wickets - he took them at vital times. It's exactly the same with Botham, even if he took wickets partly on personallity and aura, he took wickets and made runs when they were most vital and hence impacted games in a way that he stats don't show. It's sad really. The only knock on Beefy is that he didn't perform against the West Indies... however, he is one fo the few players you can hear being talked about in hushed tones, should you talk to an Aussie cricket fan.
7. Kapil Dev
I think I've underrated Dev in the past. To take 400 wickets when he played on so many unreceptive pitches is impressive. All rounders are like leprechauns (sp) and they change games in ways stats don't show properly. Dev rounds off the big six all-rounders to make my three teams. While I think he was the least of the six, maybe it wasn't by much.
8. Rod Marsh
I don't think Marsh is one of the 100 best cricketers ever. I do, however, think it's better to have a keeper than a batsman behind the stumps. I also think Marsh was the best keeper behind the stumps of all-time. Look at some of his catches off Thompson's bowling! Absolutely stunning catches... I don't think any keeper ever had it harder. There's a West Indian wicket-keeper I'm forgetting though... when I remember his name Marsh might not be a safe pick.
9. Curtley Ambrose
There were maybe three of four more other players who could have taken this spot, but Curtley was a safe pick I can feel confident in. He was the best bowler in the world for a while in the early 90s, and most batsman rated him their worst nightmare. I think he's underrated for his accuracy. Of course with his height and pace he could intimidate batsman and confuse them with his bounce, but Ambrose was deadley accurate and impossible on the best wickets.
10. Fred Trueman
Firery Fred. I don't think I have to justify a lot about Fred Trueman. He was the best bowler of his era.
11. Tiger O'Rielly
I honestly think he's a clear choice for the third best spinner ever. Always remember that old timers who played the game have seen it evolve as well and can see if the quality of opposition has gotten better. Bradman said at his funeral he was the best he ever faced... perhaps this was done to the occasion... Bradman soberly said in an interview Lillee was the best fast bowler he'd seen. But I think the thing to always remember with Bill O'Rielly is when England made a massive score around 900, and all the Aussie bowlers were getting killed... he was still only going for three an over. You see it with Hammond, O'Rielly, Headley etc when you look back... they were always a mile ahead of the competition when things got tough.
Everybody has the odd dry patch. The best players (Lillee) come out of that bad spell quickest.
