Rest of the World Test team ??

[Donny]

The possibility of a Rest of the World v. Australia Test was recently put forward.

What would your team be ? From current Test players, name 11 in batting order and captain and vice. Also name a 12th. man.

Let's say the Test would be played at the MCG so it would contain your standard, 3 quicks, 1 spinner, 1 keeper and 6 batsmen - 1 or 2 who could roll the arm over.

Anthony, you cannot have all Windies players and Lara can only be named once.

[commonwombat]

Hmm, what fun. I'll rush this one thru, during the change in innings.

1. Vaughan (ENG) VC
2. Kirsten (SAF)
3. Kallis (SAF) also bowls
4. Tendulkar (IND)
5. Lara (WI)
6. Fleming (NZ) CAPT, respect this guy for what he's done with NZ
7. Pollock (SAF)
8. Boucher (SAF) WK
9. Vettori (NZ)
10. Vaas (SRL)
11. Shoaib (PAK)
12. bloody hard this, Maybe Gibbs (SAF) if he's not skylarking.

If Andy Flower was not retired from intl, he could well have got a run. Murali was in the frame, but won't play in Aus again. Pakistanis frequently don't play well away from home, so it's hard to get a real guage on them. Zaheer may have got a run. Vaas ain't quick but he's clever and provides the different angle left arm.

People can shoot me down but this team bats down to 9 with Vettori and Vass is not a complete bunny. The batting is both solid and with the capacity to destroy. There are 3 frontline pacemen, probably 4 considering Kallis is a v regular bowler with well over 100 test wickets and one spinner.

Tea's getting cold, over and out.

[couragous cloke]

YAY how fun...

1. Vaughan
2. Smith
3. LARA! (VC)
4. Tendulka
5. Fleming (C) (agree with Wombat with that 1)
6. Sarwan
7. Cairns
8. Kallis
9. Bond
10. Akhtar
11. Muraliduran (bad spelling)

12th man- Shivnerine Chanderpaul

[couragous cloke]

WOW! im in love with my team, the thought of Lara batting With Tendulka is mouth Watering.. i reckon my 11 would crunch the aussies

[Donny]

Mmm. Pretty strong teams, boys.

I'm not sure Mr Kallis would be too impressed with batting at 8, Anthony and wombat, what does SAF mean ? Shouldn't it be RSA ?

[Donny]

OK, here's my team:

Herschelle Gibbs
Mark Richardson
Sachin Tendulkar
Brian Lara - vc
Jacques Kallis
Rahul Dravid
Mark Boucher
Shaun Pollock - capt
Chaminda Vaas
Shane Bond
Ray Price
12th. Vaspert Drakes

Notes:

I agree with wombat and cc about Fleming from a captaincy standpoint but with a Test average of under 38, he doesn't make my team as a batsman.

Because it's against Australia, Vaughan nearly picks himself but his form since the Australian tour is poor.

Vettori, Murali or Harbhajan could have got the spinners spot but Price has a 6 for against Australia and has just followed that up with another 6 for against the Windies.

I originally had Daryl Tuffey in my XI but with Pollock, Bond and Kallis in there as well, I went for Vaas for the variety - being a lefty.

12th. man ? Vaspert gets it coz he's so good looking.

[commonwombat]

Interesting teams,

Donny, I used SAF an older intial used for Sth Africa. Granted that the IOC's RSA for Republic of Sth Africa is now the commonly used item.

Gibbs has good claims and chose Kirsten over Smith narrowly on the score of greater experience. Fleming is still a very fine batsman and the captaincy quotient put him over the line whereas Pollock did not overly enjoy the captaincy.

Bond, fair choice fellas. CC, do ask who is yr keeper??? Interesting selection, Donny with Ray Price. I gave him some v strong consideration too as he impressed a lot against Aus and appears to have gained greater confidence. Will like to see Harbajan on Aus wickets.

Kallis at no8, CC?? You bin smokin' da wonder weed man. Know he's an all-rounder but he's a top order bat first and foremost.

[Donny]

Anthony will obviously give the gloves to Charlie Lara, wombat.

[commonwombat]

What else is he asking Charlie to do??? Drive the team bus, play catering officer, entertain the ladies, advance world peace as well as cart McGrath to all points of the compass!!!

Man of many talents, he may be but he'll be very tired man as well.

BTW, did Mr 1983 read the criteria before maning his team???

[HAL]

Are you asking about Gilchrist?

[couragous cloke]

SaRwan to chuck on the gluves, And Kallis at number 8, well... consider him swapped with Sarwan coz he sarwan does bat low down in the order.

[pies4ever]

donny m8,how about wasim akram if he is still playing test cricket,cos i still think he is 1 of the most lethal left arm bowling going around today,thats what i think,what do you all think of him being in the team??


cheers bryan..!!

[Donny]

Well, mate, he can't be in this team because he's retired but I'd have him in my all-time Best of the Rest team.

He was probably the most lethal left arm bowler ever. He p[layed 104 Tests for Pakistan, taking 414 wickets @ 23.62. He took 5 wickets or better 25 times and 10 wickets in a Test 5 times.

He also played 356 ODIs and took an amazing 502 wickets @ 23.52.

Akram took 2 hat tricks in a series against Sri Lanka. He also took 2 ODI hat tricks.

Wisden profile:

A dream cricketer.

At his best Wasim Akram plays like most of us would wish to. He has complete mastery over swing and seam, and sometimes moves the ball both ways in one delivery.

All this comes at high speed from a quick, ball-concealing action, and is backed up by the threat of a dangerous bouncer or deceptive slower delivery. Wasim is rated by many as the best left-arm fast bowler of all time and his career record certainly bears that out - along with the high regard of his contemporaries.

He hits like a kicking horse, but batsmanship is one skill in which Wasim has underachieved, despite a monumental 257 against Zimbabwe at Sheikhupura in 1996-97.

He was the natural successor to Imran Khan as Pakistan’s leader and captain, but the match-fixing controversies of the 1990s harmed him, blunting his edge and dimming his lustre.

[Donny]

Wombat,

You say: "What else is he asking Charlie to do??? Drive the team bus"

Mate, I wouldn't mention Lara's driving atm.

The last time he tried it, he was caught on the long on boundary.

[couragous cloke]

Show some respect to the master would ya