Best current Test XI - draft selection

[Macca 17,034]

First and foremost, I would like to congratulate everyone else on their teams. It's going to be a tough job for Nasher to decide the best team. All the teams have strengths in different areas. Well played gentlemen and may the better team win.

Also, thanks to H_T for running the comp. It's been a lot of fun and I hope we do it again. The time it took never bothered me and in fact, it gave me a bit more time to reflect on the make up of all the teams.

Now, to my team ... this eleven I have selected would be hard to beat in all conditions. Plenty of variation in the bowling and my team bats deep with Vettori and Bresnan at 8 and 9 reflecting this.

On a spinning deck my team would be hard to handle. With 2 frontliners (Ajmal and Vettori) and 2 back-up spinners I challenge any of the other teams to rack up a decent score against my 'Spin Wizards'. On a seaming deck I have 2 quality fast medium bowlers (Zaheer and Bresnan) with good back up from Watson and Pollard.

I have the arguably the best Captain in World cricket in Graeme Smith with Daniel Vettori as his able lieutenant.

To accompany Smith at the top of the order I have Shane Watson. Watto is best suited as an opening batsman and I do like a left and right hand combination to start the innings. My no.3 batsman (Amla) is the best in World cricket.

Samaraweera gives me good depth in the top order coming in at no.4 (averages 48.76) . I have a hard hitting middle order with Yuvraj able to turn a game on it's head and Pollard would be under instruction to 'go for it' !

My 7, 8 and 9 is a 'Dreamteam' tail. Prior is good enough to bat at 6 and Vettori has made 6 Test centuries and 23 fifty's. Bresnan has got a very good technique for a no.9 and averages over 30 with the bat.

My team in batting order ...

1 Graeme Smith (Capt) 8748 runs @ 48.87 ... 157 catches

2 Shane Watson 2482 runs @ 37.02 ... 62 wickets @ 30.06 ... 25 catches

3 Hashim Amla 5693 runs @ 51.75 ... 58 catches

4 Thilan Samaraweera 5462 runs @ 48.76 ... 15 wckts @ 45.93 (right arm off-breaks) ... 45 catches

5 Yuvraj Singh 1900 runs @ 33.92 ... 9 wckts @ 60.77 (slow left arm orthodox) ... 31 catches

6 Kieron Pollard (yet to play Test cricket)

7 Matt Prior 3326 runs @ 43.19 ... 173 catches, 13 stumpings

8 Daniel Vettori (Vice-Capt) 4516 runs @ 30.10 ... 360 wckts @ 34.42 ... 58 catches

9 Tim Bresnan 438 runs @ 31.28 ... 57 wckts @ 32.54 ... 7 catches

10 Zaheer Khan 295 wckts @ 32.35 ... 1146 runs @ 11.81 ... 19 catches

11 Saeed Ajmal 133 wckts @ 27.03 ... 287 runs @ 11.03 ... 8 catches

Edited February 24, 2013 by Macca

[Little Richard 6,265]

Thanks H_T for organising this, it was great fun despite my poor grasp of the rules of the game lol.

Here is a quick rundown of my team, which leaves a bit to be desired in the end... (I will update Clarke and Dhoni at the end of this test).

Gautam Gambhir, 31 (IND) - 54 tests, 4021 runs @ 44.18 with 9 Hundreds and 21 Fifties.

Umar Akmal, 22 (PAK) - 16 tests, 1003 @ 35.82, 1/6

Darren Bravo, 24 (W.I) - 21 tests, 1637 @ 46.77, 4/8

Ross Taylor, 28 (N.Z) - 43 tests, 3268 @ 43.57, 8/17

Michael Clark, 31 (AUS) - TBA

Francois (Faf) du Plessis, 28 (R.S.A) - 7 tests, 558 @ 69.75, 2/2 (First Class, 85 matches, 41 wickets @ 35.80, legbreak)

Mahendra Singh Dhoni, 31 (IND) - TBA

Mitchell Johnson, 31 (AUS) - 50 tests, 1403 @ 22.62, 1/7 205 wickets @ 30.63, 5wi (7)/10wm (1)

Doug Bracewell, 22 (N.Z) - 15 tests, 46 wkts @ 31.89, 2/0

James Anderson, 30 (ENG) - 77 tests, 288 wkts @ 30.39, 12/1

Ajantha Mendis, 27 (SL) - 16 tests, 62 wkts @ 32.48, 3/1

So after analysing my team more closely, I am pretty happy with the batting lineup though the bowling is less impressive. No bowlers with an average under 30 and two part timers (Clarke and du Plessis) making up the all rounders bowling quota. However this was a worthy sacrafice I think - both players are very capable of picking up partnership breaking wickets.

Happy with a partnership of Johnson and Anderson - I reckon these two bowling together would cause a lot of trouble as they are two extremely different bowlers and would complement each other well.

[MadAsHell 4,215]

My XI has a bit of depth I reckon .

Warner

Barath

Jayawardene

Root

Shafiq

Sarwan

Duminy

Mc Cullum

Broad

Pattinson

Sharma

I'm goign to play devil's advocate here, trying to boost my own teams prospects!

Biffen I agree your team has a heap of batting depth. McCullum coming in at 8 is enough to put fear into any bowling line up. However my biggest concern for your team is it's ability to take 20 wickets?

Only one bolwer with an average under 30 in Jimmy P and your third main quick Ishant has an average in the high 30's. Also there would be some concern over your spinners. Yes Duminy, Root and Warner all bowl part timers, however Duminy goes at less then 1 wicket a test match, Root's only taken 8 first class wickets in 37 matches and Warner's only taken 4 wickets in 15 Test matches.

You've got a team that would be very difficult to bowl out twice, however I can't see you ever taking 20 wickets unless Pattinson takes 12-15 of them....

[MadAsHell 4,215]

First and foremost, I would like to congratulate everyone else on their teams. It's going to be a tough job for Nasher to decide the best team. All the teams have strengths in different areas. Well played gentlemen and may the better team win.

Also, thanks to H_T for running the comp. It's been a lot of fun and I hope we do it again. The time it took never bothered me and in fact, it gave me a bit more time to reflect on the make up of all the teams.

Now, to my team ... this eleven I have selected would be hard to beat in all conditions. Plenty of variation in the bowling and my team bats deep with Vettori and Bresnan at 8 and 9 reflecting this.

On a spinning deck my team would be hard to handle. With 2 frontliners (Ajmal and Vettori) and 2 back-up spinners I challenge any of the other teams to rack up a decent score against my 'Spin Wizards'. On a seaming deck I have 2 quality fast medium bowlers (Zaheer and Bresnan) with good back up from Watson and Pollard.

I have the arguably the best Captain in World cricket in Graeme Smith with Daniel Vettori as his able lieutenant.

To accompany Smith at the top of the order I have Shane Watson. Watto is best suited as an opening batsman and I do like a left and right hand combination to start the innings. My no.3 batsman (Amla) is the best in World cricket.

Samaraweera gives me good depth in the top order coming in at no.4 (averages 48.76) . I have a hard hitting middle order with Yuvraj able to turn a game on it's head and Pollard would be under instruction to 'go for it' !

My 7, 8 and 9 is a 'Dreamteam' tail. Prior is good enough to bat at 6 and Vettori has made 6 Test centuries and 23 fifty's. Bresnan has got a very good technique for a no.9 and averages over 30 with the bat.

My team in batting order ...

1 Graeme Smith (Capt) 8748 runs @ 48.87 ... 157 catches

2 Shane Watson 2482 runs @ 37.02 ... 62 wickets @ 30.06 ... 25 catches

3 Hashim Amla 5693 runs @ 51.75 ... 58 catches

4 Thilan Samaraweera 5462 runs @ 48.76 ... 15 wckts @ 45.93 (right arm off-breaks) ... 45 catches

5 Yuvraj Singh 1900 runs @ 33.92 ... 9 wckts @ 60.77 (slow left arm orthodox) ... 31 catches

6 Kieron Pollard (yet to play Test cricket)

7 Matt Prior 3326 runs @ 43.19 ... 173 catches, 13 stumpings

8 Daniel Vettori (Vice-Capt) 4516 runs @ 30.10 ... 360 wckts @ 34.42 ... 58 catches

9 Tim Bresnan 438 runs @ 31.28 ... 57 wckts @ 32.54 ... 7 catches

10 Zaheer Khan 295 wckts @ 32.35 ... 1146 runs @ 11.81 ... 19 catches

11 Saeed Ajmal 133 wckts @ 27.03 ... 287 runs @ 11.03 ... 8 catches

Time to get stuck into your team Macca! hehe.

Pretty good team and similar to mine in going for spin twins and I'm big enough to say that your combo of Ajmal & Vettori probably slightly edge my pair of Ashwin & Rehman, but only just!

Slight concern of maybe a lack of penetration with your quicks in Zaheer Khan & Bresnan. They're both good players but I can't see either of them hurrying a batsman up or roughing them up.

I agree that you do bat very deep, Bresnan at 9 and Vettori at 8 is a dream. Your batsmen in general do raise some questions however. I can't question Amla, Smith or Prior obviously. Samaraweera has a great record but I don't think has been the same player since the terror attach on Sri Lankas bus some years back. I wonder how long he has left in cricket actually? Then you've got Watson & Yuvraj, two batsmen in your top 5 who average under 40 despite having been given extended runs at it. And then there's the big question mark over Pollard and what would he do in test cricket? First class average of 37 isn't bad, but don't think you'd get any better then that in the test team, and only 7 wickets in 22 first class games suggests his bowling while handy wont offer a great deal. (Says the man with Angelo Mathews I know!)

[MadAsHell 4,215]

Thanks H_T for organising this, it was great fun despite my poor grasp of the rules of the game lol.

Here is a quick rundown of my team, which leaves a bit to be desired in the end... (I will update Clarke and Dhoni at the end of this test).

Gautam Gambhir, 31 (IND) - 54 tests, 4021 runs @ 44.18 with 9 Hundreds and 21 Fifties.

Umar Akmal, 22 (PAK) - 16 tests, 1003 @ 35.82, 1/6

Darren Bravo, 24 (W.I) - 21 tests, 1637 @ 46.77, 4/8

Ross Taylor, 28 (N.Z) - 43 tests, 3268 @ 43.57, 8/17

Michael Clark, 31 (AUS) - TBA

Francois (Faf) du Plessis, 28 (R.S.A) - 7 tests, 558 @ 69.75, 2/2 (First Class, 85 matches, 41 wickets @ 35.80, legbreak)

Mahendra Singh Dhoni, 31 (IND) - TBA

Mitchell Johnson, 31 (AUS) - 50 tests, 1403 @ 22.62, 1/7 205 wickets @ 30.63, 5wi (7)/10wm (1)

Doug Bracewell, 22 (N.Z) - 15 tests, 46 wkts @ 31.89, 2/0

James Anderson, 30 (ENG) - 77 tests, 288 wkts @ 30.39, 12/1

Ajantha Mendis, 27 (SL) - 16 tests, 62 wkts @ 32.48, 3/1

So after analysing my team more closely, I am pretty happy with the batting lineup though the bowling is less impressive. No bowlers with an average under 30 and two part timers (Clarke and du Plessis) making up the all rounders bowling quota. However this was a worthy sacrafice I think - both players are very capable of picking up partnership breaking wickets.

Happy with a partnership of Johnson and Anderson - I reckon these two bowling together would cause a lot of trouble as they are two extremely different bowlers and would complement each other well.

Your turn Django.

To start with I think it's fair to say, well in my opinion anywat from 3 through to 7 you've probably got the best team. Great batting talent in there and it's fair to say I'm pretty jealouse.

As you mentioned, no bolwers who average under 30, that amazes me that Anderson doesn't, however I think he copped a bit of stick early in his career so that may explain it. Mitchell Johnson, who knows what you'll get there, Mendis started test cricket like a house on fire, but hasn't played since May 2011 in which he only took 1 wicket in his last test. Bracewell is a good solid bolwer I'll give you.

Your two openners similar to Mendis, started test cricket really well but are now both out of their countries best XI at the moment. Gambhir I'm suprised by, that may only be temporary. Umar Akmal did start test cricket really well, however I never saw him play as an openner in tests, one day games I think occasionally but never tests. Think this XI could see you 1 or 2 wickets down early in your iniings Django.

[H_T 3,049]

My Best XI line up.


1. TM Dilshan (SL) - 85 Tests, Batting 5255 Runs @ 40.42; 15 x 100's, 21 x 50's, HS 193; Bowling 36 Wickets @ 42.88 - pick no.42

2. MJ Guptill (NZ) - 30 Tests, Batting 1714 Runs @ 30.60; 2 x 100's, 12 x 50's, HS 189; Bowling 5 Wickets @ 43.40 - pick no.55

3. IJ Trott (Eng) - 38 Tests Batting 2970 Runs @ 49.50; 8 x 100's, 13 x 50's, HS 226; Bowling 3 Wickets @ 113.00 - pick no.26

4. SR Tendulkar (Ind) - 195 Tests Batting 15,739 Runs @ 54.46; 51 x 100's, 67 x 50's, HS 248*; Bowling 45 Wickets @ 54.64 - pick no.23

5. AB De Villiers (RSA) wk - 85 Tests Batting 6,364 Runs @ 50.50; 16 x 100's, 32 x 50's, HS 278*; Bowling 2 Wickets @ 45.00; 142 Catches, 2 st. - pick no.10

6. MN Samuels (WI) - 44 Tests Batting 2690 Runs @ 37.36; 5 x 100's, 17 x 50's, HS 260; Bowling 24 Wickets @ 69.00. - pick no.71

7. MC Henriques (Aust) - 1 Test Batting 149 Runs @ 149.00; 0 x 100's, 2 x 50's, HS 81*; Bowling 1 Wicket @ 48.00 - pick no.87

8. MA Starc (Aust) - 8 Tests Batting 193 Runs @ 24.12; 0 x 100;s, 1 x 50's, HS 68*; Bowling 28 Wickets @ 32.00 - 4w - 0, 5w - 2, 10w - 0. - pick no.39

9. DW Steyn (RSA) - 65 Tests Batting 866 Runs @ 13.96; 0 X 100'S, 1 X 50's, HS 76; Bowling 332 Wickets @ 22.65 - 4w - 20, 5w - 21, 10w - 5 - pick no.7

10. MS Panesar (Eng) - 45 Tests Batting 213 Runs @5.32; HS 26; Bowling 159 Wickets @ 32.64 - 4w - 4, 5w - 12, 10w - 2. - pick no.58

11. MJ Khan (Pak) - 9 Tests Batting 36 Runs @6.00; HS 9; Bowling 29 Wickets @ 28.17 - 4w - 0, 5w - 3, 10w - 0. - pick no.74


Reference: espncricinfo

* Test is in progress, information will be updated at Tests conclusion.

Enjoyed the Best XI draft and thankyou guys for your interest and partcipation. It's been something to keep our minds off other things (ie.Investigation) even if it was just for short spurts. Hopefully we can do it all again next summer.

I basically tried to get star quality in early through the draft with the runs on the board so-to-speak and get in-form players. NZ may have proved a stumbling block, but given what was on offer, I elected for Guptill, because most of my middle order was already complete and I knew I could get Samuels from the WI in the next two rounds or so; who had the runs on the board with a last start 260. As well as nailing Khan late due to the fact that nearly all participants had already selected one from Pakistan. And given the lack of quality openers on offer at the time it was a no brainer.

I consider my pace attack first class, headed by Steyn and Khan, with great averages, an in-form Starc providing left arm variation and Panesar to compliment with turn.

Snagging De Villiers early 2nd round secured a very good keeper/batsman and together with the in form middle order batsmen in Tendulkar, Samuels and Trott, ensures a pile of runs. Henriques is a relatively new all round cricketer on the scene and adds to the batting depth, whilst supporting the bowling with his right arm medium-fast. A very handy acquisition at pick 87 and has already shown how well he can bat on the dustbowl in trying conditions in India against word class spinners in an intimidating environment. He's no slouch with the ball either highlighted by his bag of wickets prior to the Test which helped him earn selection.

The side contains four double centurions, plus high scores of 193 and 189 from Dilshan and Guptill respectively. My spinner Monty Panesar is 12/2 with 5w/10w hauls - only slightly bettered by his teammate Swann @ 14 and 2. I was pleasantly surprised I was able to draft him so late.

Overall I'm pleased with the strength and balance of the team, having starting and finishing with the second last pick. The bowling contains very good bowling averages, with three of the four recognised bowlers all averaging in the 20's highlighted by Steyn's terrific average at 22. Plus a world class spinner. The batting is generally well experienced and each of them occupy the crease making them very good Test picks. Henriques has played an enormous amount of First Class cricket, captained at State level, and his perserverance and quality has earned him selection at Test level as a mid-lower order.

Edited March 1, 2013 by H_T
Updated Tendulkar, Starc & Henriques figures.

[Macca 17,034]

Time to get stuck into your team Macca! hehe.

Pretty good team and similar to mine in going for spin twins and I'm big enough to say that your combo of Ajmal & Vettori probably slightly edge my pair of Ashwin & Rehman, but only just!

Slight concern of maybe a lack of penetration with your quicks in Zaheer Khan & Bresnan. They're both good players but I can't see either of them hurrying a batsman up or roughing them up.

I agree that you do bat very deep, Bresnan at 9 and Vettori at 8 is a dream. Your batsmen in general do raise some questions however. I can't question Amla, Smith or Prior obviously. Samaraweera has a great record but I don't think has been the same player since the terror attach on Sri Lankas bus some years back. I wonder how long he has left in cricket actually? Then you've got Watson & Yuvraj, two batsmen in your top 5 who average under 40 despite having been given extended runs at it. And then there's the big question mark over Pollard and what would he do in test cricket? First class average of 37 isn't bad, but don't think you'd get any better then that in the test team, and only 7 wickets in 22 first class games suggests his bowling while handy wont offer a great deal. (Says the man with Angelo Mathews I know!)

Mate, I reckon you'd find fault with Scarlett Johansson. Do you worry about getting worried? Had no idea we were playing for a sheep station. You're the same bloke who genuinely thought the Australian team would only win 1 gold medal at the London Olympics! How's that battery of fast bowlers working out for you in India by the way?

But seriously, all the teams have some weaknesses. Your team included. All things considered, I reckon all the participants have done exceedingly well. There's 88 players in the pool so there is going to be question marks over at least 20 or 30 players - stands to reason. Your revisionist stuff is all too predictable - you're not telling us anything we didn't already know.

By the way, you've critiqued my side but have highlighted the perceived weaknesses whilst conveniently downplaying my strengths. A one-sided view with the aim of pumping up your own tyres. I'd critique your team but I'd have to be more fair minded. (though how you can compare your 'newboy' spinners with my 2 is beyond comprehension)

One gold medal ! Now there's a bit of 'group think' gone horribly wrong

[H_T 3,049]

Macca, Biffen, Django - you all have done well selecting your sides.

Django, despite your hiccups in the draft you've come through quite well IMO. I had no idea du Plessis was averaging close to 70 and from memory he went middraft, so good pick-up. And hasn't Dhoni put an asterisk or exclamation mark for Nasher to consider in this current Test! haha.

Macca you've got good support in Watson with your bowling line-up. Your spinners are very good and they may have to bowl decent spells to give Bresnan and Khan a chance to put the feet up.

Biffen, I'm a big Pattinson fan and no doubt he'd rip through most top orders with Broad. I'm not so big on Sharma - maybe it's that massive Adam's apple!

[Macca 17,034]

Macca, Biffen, Django - you all have done well selecting your sides.

Django, despite your hiccups in the draft you've come through quite well IMO. I had no idea du Plessis was averaging close to 70 and from memory he went middraft, so good pick-up. And hasn't Dhoni put an asterisk or exclamation mark for Nasher to consider in this current Test! haha.

Macca you've got good support in Watson with your bowling line-up. Your spinners are very good and they may have to bowl decent spells to give Bresnan and Khan a chance to put the feet up.

Biffen, I'm a big Pattinson fan and no doubt he'd rip through most top orders with Broad. I'm not so big on Sharma - maybe it's that massive Adam's apple!

I'll admit that Zaheer is coming to the end but don't be surprised if he bobs up in the next test or 2. His record is very good when you consider he's played a large percentage of his Tests on spinning tracks. Under rated bowler in my eyes.

Bresnan is still only 27 years old and I really rate him (especially on seaming decks) He's got an injury issue right now but that is the domain of fast bowlers - they generally all get injured at some stage of their careers. Plus, he can bat.

Anyway ...... I reckon most of us would agree that South Africa are the best team in the world right now. But they are not the perfect team. Their spinner (Robin Peterson) is ok but no world beater. Kleinvelt, Alviro Petersen, Elgar, du Plessis and Abbott are just starting out and are not superstars of the game by any stretch of the imagination. (both Morkel and Kallis didn't play in the just completed Test, but that still leaves 4 players who aren't 'great' players) And South Africa are clearly the no.1 team in the world in my opinion.

I believe that all our teams are very good. It was always going to be impossible to have 11 top liners. 6, 7 or 8 really good players is the best that any of us could have hoped for. To highlight the worst 3 or 4 players in a team is not the way I'd look at it. If your team is going to be a great team it will depend on your best 7 or 8 players. The matchwinners.

Smith, Amla, Kallis, AB de Villiers, Steyn, Morkel and Philander are all very good/great players. Sounds harsh, but the rest of their team pales in comparison. du Plessis looks the goods but it's still early doors with that bloke.

Edited February 25, 2013 by Macca

[H_T 3,049]

I believe that all our teams are very good. It was always going to be impossible to have 11 top liners. 6, 7 or 8 really good players is the best that any of us could have hoped for.

Oh yeah, no doubt. With 8 participants and 8 countries to choose from, there were never going to be 11 top liners. The last few rounds were always as it's been referred to as - a bit of... "scraping the bottom of the barrel."

[MadAsHell 4,215]

Mate, I reckon you'd find fault with Scarlett Johansson. Do you worry about getting worried? Had no idea we were playing for a sheep station. You're the same bloke who genuinely thought the Australian team would only win 1 gold medal at the London Olympics! How's that battery of fast bowlers working out for you in India by the way?

But seriously, all the teams have some weaknesses. Your team included. All things considered, I reckon all the participants have done exceedingly well. There's 88 players in the pool so there is going to be question marks over at least 20 or 30 players - stands to reason. Your revisionist stuff is all too predictable - you're not telling us anything we didn't already know.

By the way, you've critiqued my side but have highlighted the perceived weaknesses whilst conveniently downplaying my strengths. A one-sided view with the aim of pumping up your own tyres. I'd critique your team but I'd have to be more fair minded. (though how you can compare your 'newboy' spinners with my 2 is beyond comprehension)

One gold medal ! Now there's a bit of 'group think' gone horribly wrong

All in good fun mate, and funnily enough Scarlett Johannson doesn't do that much for me.

I'll take issue with not mentioning any of your strengths, I made sure I mentioned everyones' strengths, such as your deep batting all the way down to 9. Your quality spinners and the batting power of Smith, Amla & Prior. Your more then welcome to disect my team and you're right there's fault there believe it or not.

Keeper batting at 6 who the jurry's still out on as far as glove work goes, my 2nd quick can't seem to play more then 2 tests in a row without getting injured, a top five batsman who only just played his first test and now averages 7.5, will he make it? Dwayne Bravo hasn't played for some time, one would question whether Younis Khan is coming to the end and Rehman couldn't get a game in South Africa.

As for London, I'm still getting over the pain of that one Macca and the quicks , that's just a work in progress, it's because they didn't play Bird which we should have done.

Edited February 25, 2013 by Tall Defence

[MadAsHell 4,215]

My Best XI line up.

1. TM Dilshan (SL) - 85 Tests, Batting 5255 Runs @ 40.42; 15 x 100's, 21 x 50's, HS 193; Bowling 36 Wickets @ 42.88

2. MJ Guptill (NZ) - 30 Tests, Batting 1714 Runs @ 30.60; 2 x 100's, 12 x 50's, HS 189; Bowling 5 Wickets @ 43.40

3. IJ Trott (Eng) - 38 Tests Batting 2970 Runs @ 49.50; 8 x 100's, 13 x 50's, HS 226; Bowling 3 Wickets @ 113.00

4. SR Tendulkar (Ind) - 194 Tests Batting 15,645 Runs @ 54.32; 51 x 100's, 66 x 50's, HS 248*; Bowling 45 Wickets @ 54.64 - Test in progress*

5. AB De Villiers (RSA) wk - 85 Tests Batting 6,364 Runs @ 50.50; 16 x 100's, 32 x 50's, HS 278*; Bowling 2 Wickets @ 45.00; 142 Catches, 2 st.

6. MN Samuels (WI) - 44 Tests Batting 2690 Runs @ 37.36; 5 x 100's, 17 x 50's, HS 260; Bowling 24 Wickets @ 69.00.

7. MC Henriques (Aust) - 1 Test Batting 68 Runs @ 149.00; 0 x 100's, 2 x 50's, HS 81*; Bowling 1 Wicket @ 48.00 - Test in progress*

8. MA Starc (Aust) - 7 Tests Batting 182 Runs @ 30.33; 0 x 100;s, 1 x 50's, HS 68*; Bowling 28 Wickets @ 29.32 - 4w - 0, 5w - 2, 10w - 0. Test in progress*

9. DW Steyn (RSA) - 65 Tests Batting 866 Runs @ 13.96; 0 X 100'S, 1 X 50's, HS 76; Bowling 332 Wickets @ 22.65 - 4w - 20, 5w - 21, 10w - 5

10. MS Panesar (Eng) - 45 Tests Batting 213 Runs @5.32; HS 26; Bowling 159 Wickets @ 32.64 - 4w - 4, 5w - 12, 10w - 2.

11. MJ Khan (Pak) - 9 Tests Batting 36 Runs @6.00; HS 9; Bowling 29 Wickets @ 28.17 - 4w - 0, 5w - 3, 10w - 0.

Reference: espncricinfo

* Test is in progress, information will be updated at Tests conclusion.

Enjoyed the Best XI draft and thankyou guys for your interest and partcipation. It's been something to keep our minds off other things (ie.Investigation) even if it was just for short spurts. Hopefully we can do it all again next summer.

I basically tried to get star quality in early through the draft with the runs on the board so-to-speak and get in-form players. NZ may have proved a stumbling block, but given what was on offer, I elected for Guptill, because most of my middle order was already complete and I knew I could get Samuels from the WI in the next two rounds or so; who had the runs on the board with a last start 260. As well as nailing Khan late due to the fact that nearly all participants had already selected one from Pakistan. And given the lack of quality openers on offer at the time it was a no brainer.

I consider my pace attack first class, headed by Steyn and Khan, with great averages, an in-form Starc providing left arm variation and Panesar to compliment with turn.

Snagging De Villiers early 2nd round secured a very good keeper/batsman and together with the in form middle order batsmen in Tendulkar, Samuels and Trott, ensures a pile of runs. Henriques is a relatively new all round cricketer on the scene and adds to the batting depth, whilst supporting the bowling with his right arm medium-fast. A very handy acquisition at pick 87 and has already shown how well he can bat on the dustbowl in trying conditions in India against word class spinners in an intimidating environment. He's no slouch with the ball either highlighted by his bag of wickets prior to the Test which helped him earn selection.

The side contains four double centurions, plus high scores of 193 and 189 from Dilshan and Guptill respectively. My spinner Monty Panesar is 12/2 with 5w/10w hauls - only slightly bettered by his teammate Swann @ 14 and 2. I was pleasantly surprised I was able to draft him so late.

Overall I'm pleased with the strength and balance of the team. The bowling contains very good bowling averages, with three of the four recognised bowlers all averaging in the 20's highlighted by Steyn's terrific average at 22. Plus a world class spinner. The batting is generally well experienced and each of them occupy the crease making them very good Test picks. Henriques has played an enormous amount of First Class cricket, captained at State level, and his perserverance and quality has earned him selection at Test level as a mid-lower order.

Well I've done 3 so need to keep going now.

Pretty solid side H_T, not to much to find fault with. If you wanted to be real picky (which I've been known to be) to only things you'd look at would be everyone's favourite whippy boy Guptill, although just like Nathan Bracken, when it's a white ball involved he's exceptionally good. An ageing Tendulkar, although we saw how well he played in his innings just completed and the jury still possibly being out on Henriques, Strac & J. Khan, although I do think Starc will be very good.

I reckon you'll be a hard one to beat here H_T, covered you bases pretty well.

[titan_uranus 25,045]

I haven't got time at the moment to write up my side, I'll do it later tonight. Suffice to say, I think I can compete with any other team here, but I wouldn't be upset if my team wasn't voted the best, as there are some other equally strong teams.

[Macca 17,034]

All in good fun mate, and funnily enough Scarlett Johannson doesn't do that much for me.

I'll take issue with not mentioning any of your strengths, I made sure I mentioned everyones' strengths, such as your deep batting all the way down to 9. Your quality spinners and the batting power of Smith, Amla & Prior. Your more then welcome to disect my team and you're right there's fault there believe it or not.

Keeper batting at 6 who the jurry's still out on as far as glove work goes, my 2nd quick can't seem to play more then 2 tests in a row without getting injured, a top five batsman who only just played his first test and now averages 7.5, will he make it? Dwayne Bravo hasn't played for some time, one would question whether Younis Khan is coming to the end and Rehman couldn't get a game in South Africa.

As for London, I'm still getting over the pain of that one Macca and the quicks , that's just a work in progress, it's because they didn't play Brid which we should have done.

Ha ha ha ! Good comeback (I think) I hope you're joking re Scarlett but of course beauty does lie with the beholder

It's funny how we view things - I try not to be too biased with anything. As I said, if I were to critique your team I would concentrate on your best 6 - 8 players and largely disregard your worst 3 - 4 players. You 'glossed over' my best players far too quickly and your view was far too biased. Your view shouldn't be in 'opposition' to my view. You have no need to square the ledger.

Your view of my team was not fair and balanced (have you been reading too much of Caro?) . You could have written paragraphs on Prior, Smith, Amla, Vettori, Ajmal and Watson but conveniently chose not to. Are you telling me that Zaheer is not a very good bowler? That Bresnan hasn't got very good all round skills?

I am by no means saying my team is the best team - that's up to Nasher to decide. But as I said in an earlier post, to concentrate on the last 3 or 4 players picked is wrong in my opinion.

It's like the footy argument - do you want depth or do you want stars? Give me 'stars' any day of the week.

[MadAsHell 4,215]

Ha ha ha ! Good comeback (I think) I hope you're joking re Scarlett but of course beauty does lie with the beholder

It's funny how we view things - I try not to be too biased with anything. As I said, if I were to critique your team I would concentrate on your best 6 - 8 players and largely disregard your worst 3 - 4 players. You 'glossed over' my best players far too quickly and your view was far too biased. Your view shouldn't be in 'opposition' to my view. You have no need to square the ledger.

Your view of my team was not fair and balanced (have you been reading too much of Caro?) . You could have written paragraphs on Prior, Smith, Amla, Vettori, Ajmal and Watson but conveniently chose not to. Are you telling me that Zaheer is not a very good bowler? That Bresnan hasn't got very good all round skills?

I am by no means saying my team is the best team - that's up to Nasher to decide. But as I said in an earlier post, to concentrate on the last 3 or 4 players picked is wrong in my opinion.

It's like the footy argument - do you want depth or do you want stars? Give me 'stars' any day of the week.

You're not wrong with any of that Macca, all I can say to that is as I said underneath my first critique of Biffen's XI that I was doing it from a Devil's advocate point of view, not a balanced appraisal.

I figure we're all going to talk our own XI up, just like you, Biffen, H_T, Django and muself have done when we've presented them, but we're not going to go out of our way to point out our weaknesses, so that's where I was coming from.

None of the players you've selected are poor players or players I would never pick in my team, in fact we've picked very similar XI's as far as bowling attack balance goes. You've got new ball bowlers in Zaheer and Bresnan, I've got Morkel & Harris. You've got an all rounder bowling first change in Watson, I've got Bravo. You've got an offspinner and left arm orthodox spinner in Ajmal & Vettori, I've got the same in Ashwin & Rehman. You've got a part time spinner in Yuvraj and medium pacer in Pollard, I've got Sehwag, Munro & Mathews so in no way do I think you have an inferior XI, I'm simply providing the balance to your presentation and that's why I have no issue with someone doing the same with mine.

You've got arguably the best batsman in the world in Amla, the best captain in Smith, one of the three standout keeper/batsmen in the world in Prior. Watson when bowling is probably the worlds best all rounder after Kallis. Samaraweera has a test record that we'd kill for an Australian batsman outside of Clarke to have. Yuvraj & Pollard are the type of players when on could take the game away from an opposition in a session especially if batting together. Zaheer's one of the world's smartests seam bowlers IMO and Bresnan is a very useful swing bowler who will cause headaches in overcast conditions and batting down at number 9. And of course I don't think I really need to say much about the spin twins of Ajmal & Vettori apart from Vettori's my favourite player outside Australia and Ajmal's the worlds best spinner if you ask me.

Hope that can get rid the Caro comparisons That one will give me nightmares for months Macca!

[Macca 17,034]

You're not wrong with any of that Macca, all I can say to that is as I said underneath my first critique of Biffen's XI that I was doing it from a Devil's advocate point of view, not a balanced appraisal.

I figure we're all going to talk our own XI up, just like you, Biffen, H_T, Django and muself have done when we've presented them, but we're not going to go out of our way to point out our weaknesses, so that's where I was coming from.

None of the players you've selected are poor players or players I would never pick in my team, in fact we've picked very similar XI's as far as bowling attack balance goes. You've got new ball bowlers in Zaheer and Bresnan, I've got Morkel & Harris. You've got an all rounder bowling first change in Watson, I've got Bravo. You've got an offspinner and left arm orthodox spinner in Ajmal & Vettori, I've got the same in Ashwin & Rehman. You've got a part time spinner in Yuvraj and medium pacer in Pollard, I've got Sehwag, Munro & Mathews so in no way do I think you have an inferior XI, I'm simply providing the balance to your presentation and that's why I have no issue with someone doing the same with mine.

You've got arguably the best batsman in the world in Amla, the best captain in Smith, one of the three standout keeper/batsmen in the world in Prior. Watson when bowling is probably the worlds best all rounder after Kallis. Samaraweera has a test record that we'd kill for an Australian batsman outside of Clarke to have. Yuvraj & Pollard are the type of players when on could take the game away from an opposition in a session especially if batting together. Zaheer's one of the world's smartests seam bowlers IMO and Bresnan is a very useful swing bowler who will cause headaches in overcast conditions and batting down at number 9. And of course I don't think I really need to say much about the spin twins of Ajmal & Vettori apart from Vettori's my favourite player outside Australia and Ajmal's the worlds best spinner if you ask me.

Hope that can get rid the Caro comparisons That one will give me nightmares for months Macca!

Fair enough, our sides are eerily similar 'TD' ... don't know what I was thinking with the 'Caro' comparison - I blame the heat.

My thinking on the 2nd spinner came about when I came to the realisation that my 3rd choice seamer was not going to be a topliner. It also then meant that I needed a batsman who could bowl medium pace. Pollard was picked as a back-up for Watson (who will hopefully bowl again in Test cricket at some stage) In the end, having a 2nd spinner is not such a left field option.

By the way, your series prediction re the India tour might be right on the money. My 'optimistic' prediction is looking very optimistic right now.

[Biffen 12,947]

I'm goign to play devil's advocate here, trying to boost my own teams prospects!

Biffen I agree your team has a heap of batting depth. McCullum coming in at 8 is enough to put fear into any bowling line up. However my biggest concern for your team is it's ability to take 20 wickets?

Only one bolwer with an average under 30 in Jimmy P and your third main quick Ishant has an average in the high 30's. Also there would be some concern over your spinners. Yes Duminy, Root and Warner all bowl part timers, however Duminy goes at less then 1 wicket a test match, Root's only taken 8 first class wickets in 37 matches and Warner's only taken 4 wickets in 15 Test matches.

You've got a team that would be very difficult to bowl out twice, however I can't see you ever taking 20 wickets unless Pattinson takes 12-15 of them....

Broad can bowl a bit,Ishant will improve,Jimmy will be a freak.Duminy bowls quite a bit these days(when he can walk).

Maybe your right on the lack of depth but it will be hard to get 600 every time against the batting line up .

[Little Richard 6,265]

Thanks H_T for organising this, it was great fun despite my poor grasp of the rules of the game lol.

Here is a quick rundown of my team, which leaves a bit to be desired in the end... (I will update Clarke and Dhoni at the end of this test).

Gautam Gambhir, 31 (IND) - 54 tests, 4021 runs @ 44.18 with 9 Hundreds and 21 Fifties.

Umar Akmal, 22 (PAK) - 16 tests, 1003 @ 35.82, 1/6

Darren Bravo, 24 (W.I) - 21 tests, 1637 @ 46.77, 4/8

Ross Taylor, 28 (N.Z) - 43 tests, 3268 @ 43.57, 8/17

Michael Clark, 31 (AUS) - 90 tests, 7150 @ 52.96, 23/25 30 wickets @ 37.43, 2/0

Francois (Faf) du Plessis, 28 (R.S.A) - 7 tests, 558 @ 69.75, 2/2 (First Class, 85 matches, 41 wickets @ 35.80, legbreak)

Mahendra Singh Dhoni, 31 (IND) - 74 tests, 4107 @ 39.87, 6/28 Catches: 203 Stumpings: 32

Mitchell Johnson, 31 (AUS) - 50 tests, 1403 @ 22.62, 1/7 205 wickets @ 30.63, 5wi (7)/10wm (1)

Doug Bracewell, 22 (N.Z) - 15 tests, 46 wkts @ 31.89, 2/0

James Anderson, 30 (ENG) - 77 tests, 288 wkts @ 30.39, 12/1

Ajantha Mendis, 27 (SL) - 16 tests, 62 wkts @ 32.48, 3/1

So after analysing my team more closely, I am pretty happy with the batting lineup though the bowling is less impressive. No bowlers with an average under 30 and two part timers (Clarke and du Plessis) making up the all rounders bowling quota. However this was a worthy sacrafice I think - both players are very capable of picking up partnership breaking wickets.

Happy with a partnership of Johnson and Anderson - I reckon these two bowling together would cause a lot of trouble as they are two extremely different bowlers and would complement each other well.

Clarke and Dhoni updated after the end of the test.

[titan_uranus 25,045]

Sorry, still haven't had time to sit down and spruik my team. Tomorrow, hopefully.

[titan_uranus 25,045]

Alright. Let's see how my team stacks up.

Alviro Petersen (RSA) - 1589 runs at 38.75, 5/5 (50/100)

Mohammad Hafeez (Pak) - 2002 runs at 35.12, 8/5; 34 wickets at 33

Cheteshwar Pujara (India) - 813 runs at 58.07, 1/3

Shivnarine Chanderpaul (WI) - 10,696 runs at 51.67, 61/27

Ian Bell (Eng) - 5699 runs at 46.71, 34/17

Dean Brownlie (NZ) - 547 runs at 34.18, 4/1

Brad Haddin (Aus) - 2257 runs at 35.82, 10/3; 160 catches, 4 stumpings

Rangana Herath (SL) - 186 wickets at 29.95

Trent Boult (NZ) - 30 wickets at 31.43

Steve Finn (Eng) - 70 wickets at 28.22

Jackson Bird (Aus) - 11 wickets at 16.18

So on paper the averages and stats don't stand out as amazing, but let's dissect. First of all, I have the world number 3 batsman, Chanderpaul, a proven star. He heads my middle order, ably supported by Ian Bell, who has come into his prime, is world number 16, and whose average has climbed past 45. I have India's most promising young batsman, Cheteshwar Pujara, at 3, a man who plays like Rahul Dravid and has better stats at this early stage in his career. He dominated England with consecutive centuries and looks likely to hold the number 3 for India for a decade. I've also got New Zealand's Dean Brownlie, who is coming off a great tour of South Africa, knocking off a 50 and a century against the best bowling attack bar none.

Opening, I have South Africa's stylish Alviro Petersen, who with Graeme Smith forms, IMO, the best opening partnership in Test cricket at the moment, and Mohammad Hafeez, who has captained Pakistan and who also is my spin-bowling all-rounder (a bit of a golden arm for the Pakistanis, actually).

My keeper is Haddin, a man who would get a game for most other countries as keeper, and whose form is still good enough to play Test cricket. More than happy to have him coming in at 7.

Bowling-wise, I have the world's number 4 ranked bowler, Rangana Herath, who has tussled with Saeed Ajmal for the title of best spinner over the last two years. For pace, I have one of Australia's new pace prospects, Jackson Bird, who starred in his two chances against the Lankans, plus Steve Finn, England's tidy yet consistent wicket taker, and Trent Boult, a left-armer who has taken most of his wickets in his last 4 or so Tests, and who can also add handy lower order runs (e.g. see the Hobart Test of 2011).

Overall, the numbers don't stand out, but keep in mind I had to pick last in Round 1, and last in the final round too.

[MadAsHell 4,215]

Alright. Let's see how my team stacks up.

Alviro Petersen (RSA) - 1589 runs at 38.75, 5/5 (50/100)

Mohammad Hafeez (Pak) - 2002 runs at 35.12, 8/5; 34 wickets at 33

Cheteshwar Pujara (India) - 813 runs at 58.07, 1/3

Shivnarine Chanderpaul (WI) - 10,696 runs at 51.67, 61/27

Ian Bell (Eng) - 5699 runs at 46.71, 34/17

Dean Brownlie (NZ) - 547 runs at 34.18, 4/1

Brad Haddin (Aus) - 2257 runs at 35.82, 10/3; 160 catches, 4 stumpings

Rangana Herath (SL) - 186 wickets at 29.95

Trent Boult (NZ) - 30 wickets at 31.43

Steve Finn (Eng) - 70 wickets at 28.22

Jackson Bird (Aus) - 11 wickets at 16.18

So on paper the averages and stats don't stand out as amazing, but let's dissect. First of all, I have the world number 3 batsman, Chanderpaul, a proven star. He heads my middle order, ably supported by Ian Bell, who has come into his prime, is world number 16, and whose average has climbed past 45. I have India's most promising young batsman, Cheteshwar Pujara, at 3, a man who plays like Rahul Dravid and has better stats at this early stage in his career. He dominated England with consecutive centuries and looks likely to hold the number 3 for India for a decade. I've also got New Zealand's Dean Brownlie, who is coming off a great tour of South Africa, knocking off a 50 and a century against the best bowling attack bar none.

Opening, I have South Africa's stylish Alviro Petersen, who with Graeme Smith forms, IMO, the best opening partnership in Test cricket at the moment, and Mohammad Hafeez, who has captained Pakistan and who also is my spin-bowling all-rounder (a bit of a golden arm for the Pakistanis, actually).

My keeper is Haddin, a man who would get a game for most other countries as keeper, and whose form is still good enough to play Test cricket. More than happy to have him coming in at 7.

Bowling-wise, I have the world's number 4 ranked bowler, Rangana Herath, who has tussled with Saeed Ajmal for the title of best spinner over the last two years. For pace, I have one of Australia's new pace prospects, Jackson Bird, who starred in his two chances against the Lankans, plus Steve Finn, England's tidy yet consistent wicket taker, and Trent Boult, a left-armer who has taken most of his wickets in his last 4 or so Tests, and who can also add handy lower order runs (e.g. see the Hobart Test of 2011).

Overall, the numbers don't stand out, but keep in mind I had to pick last in Round 1, and last in the final round too.

Hard to fault you there Titan, it's a pretty solid team without having any out and out stars except for Chanderpaul.

Good solid batsmen and bowlers there. The only faults that I could potentially find would be Haddin's form with bat and gloves just before he got dropped (although his recent domestic form has been very good) and probably the weakest tail of all 8 teams which could lead to your last 4 wickets falling for not many.

Pretty good team Titan considering you picked last and hard to find many weaknesses.

[titan_uranus 25,045]

Hard to fault you there Titan, it's a pretty solid team without having any out and out stars except for Chanderpaul.

Good solid batsmen and bowlers there. The only faults that I could potentially find would be Haddin's form with bat and gloves just before he got dropped (although his recent domestic form has been very good) and probably the weakest tail of all 8 teams which could lead to your last 4 wickets falling for not many.

Pretty good team Titan considering you picked last and hard to find many weaknesses.

Yep, more than happy to admit my tail is longer than most of the other teams'. Boult and Herath are both capable of scoring a quickfire 30 off about 25 balls, but overall it's definitely a long tail. Unlike others, I don't have someone at 8 who's capable of lasting a while to complement the top order.

Haddin I'm not worried about - his current form is good, and he wasn't dropped for form (although he should have been...). Given where I got him in the draft, I was happy with that.

[Little Richard 6,265]

Alright. Let's see how my team stacks up.

Alviro Petersen (RSA) - 1589 runs at 38.75, 5/5 (50/100)

Mohammad Hafeez (Pak) - 2002 runs at 35.12, 8/5; 34 wickets at 33

Cheteshwar Pujara (India) - 813 runs at 58.07, 1/3

Shivnarine Chanderpaul (WI) - 10,696 runs at 51.67, 61/27

Ian Bell (Eng) - 5699 runs at 46.71, 34/17

Dean Brownlie (NZ) - 547 runs at 34.18, 4/1

Brad Haddin (Aus) - 2257 runs at 35.82, 10/3; 160 catches, 4 stumpings

Rangana Herath (SL) - 186 wickets at 29.95

Trent Boult (NZ) - 30 wickets at 31.43

Steve Finn (Eng) - 70 wickets at 28.22

Jackson Bird (Aus) - 11 wickets at 16.18

So on paper the averages and stats don't stand out as amazing, but let's dissect. First of all, I have the world number 3 batsman, Chanderpaul, a proven star. He heads my middle order, ably supported by Ian Bell, who has come into his prime, is world number 16, and whose average has climbed past 45. I have India's most promising young batsman, Cheteshwar Pujara, at 3, a man who plays like Rahul Dravid and has better stats at this early stage in his career. He dominated England with consecutive centuries and looks likely to hold the number 3 for India for a decade. I've also got New Zealand's Dean Brownlie, who is coming off a great tour of South Africa, knocking off a 50 and a century against the best bowling attack bar none.

Opening, I have South Africa's stylish Alviro Petersen, who with Graeme Smith forms, IMO, the best opening partnership in Test cricket at the moment, and Mohammad Hafeez, who has captained Pakistan and who also is my spin-bowling all-rounder (a bit of a golden arm for the Pakistanis, actually).

My keeper is Haddin, a man who would get a game for most other countries as keeper, and whose form is still good enough to play Test cricket. More than happy to have him coming in at 7.

Bowling-wise, I have the world's number 4 ranked bowler, Rangana Herath, who has tussled with Saeed Ajmal for the title of best spinner over the last two years. For pace, I have one of Australia's new pace prospects, Jackson Bird, who starred in his two chances against the Lankans, plus Steve Finn, England's tidy yet consistent wicket taker, and Trent Boult, a left-armer who has taken most of his wickets in his last 4 or so Tests, and who can also add handy lower order runs (e.g. see the Hobart Test of 2011).

Overall, the numbers don't stand out, but keep in mind I had to pick last in Round 1, and last in the final round too.

Not a bad side, I do like your top six as they seem quite balanced. However I'm going to throw it out there and say that your bowling attack is a bit suspect. A good spinner in Herath you have but the inexperience of your pace attack could cost your side severely... I'm not convinced by Finn as the leader of an attack.

It would be good fun if these sides could play each other!

[titan_uranus 25,045]

Not a bad side, I do like your top six as they seem quite balanced. However I'm going to throw it out there and say that your bowling attack is a bit suspect. A good spinner in Herath you have but the inexperience of your pace attack could cost your side severely... I'm not convinced by Finn as the leader of an attack.

It would be good fun if these sides could play each other!

I'm happy to say I think my batting is better than my bowling. But I'm also going to stand by my bowlers. Steve Finn is now a regular in the England side, having gone past Stuart Broad into the number 2 paceman slot behind Anderson. He can swing the new ball, but also bowls well with the old ball. Trent Boult is no star and has only just started his career, but he seems to be getting better, and he swings the new ball. Jackson Bird also swings it, and, whilst he's not in Australia's top 3, he would get a game for most other sides, I'd reckon, based on what he showed in Melbourne and Sydney. With Herath as the spinner, and back up from Hafeez, I think 20 wickets is achievable.

No world-beaters, that's for sure, and there are going to be other teams who have my bowlers covered, but I'll get the job done, I think.

[45HG 1,559]

45's Best XI

Player Nation Age Tests

Keiran Powell (WI) (22) 13 3 centuries and 2 50s at 32.66 including an average of 83 this summer. A very classy young player who has an obviously promising future (as was underscored by his performances in the one dayers for W.I. Also has 8 catches. Highest score 134. 51 in the world.

Ed Cowan (Aus) (30) 14 1 century and 5 50s at 32.65, averaged 45.6 against the world's best S.A. lineup (including a century). Values his wicket and is tough to remove, often seeing off the new ball. Also a handy close-in fielder. (Plays for Tassie!) Highest sore 136. 44 in the world.

Kumar Sangakarra (SL) (35) 115 All class. 30 centuries and 41 50s and a batting average of 55.8. 11 times he's reached over 190, second only to the Don. 8 double centuries! Wicket-keeping, captaining legend of the game. Highest score 287. 5th in world rankings.

Kevin Pietersen (Eng) (32) 92 22 centuries at 49.42. Dislike him immensely, but his batting talents cannot be denied. Shame to say he's the Colin Sylvia of my team! Has an average over 44.5 against all test-playing nations except Pakistan. Highest score 227. 8th in world rankings.

Azhar Ali (Pak) (28) 27 4 centuries and 14 50s at 42.26. Another up and coming player, solid technique and suffered a few dodgy dismissals against SA recently (including his teammate running him out!) Highest score of 157 and another who really values his wicket. 11th in world rankings.

Kane Williamson (NZ) (22) 20 3 centuries and 5 50s at 30.27. Very young, raw but extremely talented bat. Already has some match-winning knocks to his name. Highest score 135. Also a handy spinner, taking 8 wickets at 53 (averaging 38.5 last year). 38 in the world.

Tim Southee (NZ) (24) 21 Has 65 wickets, 3 5 wicket hauls, at 35.04 with a best bowling of 7/64 (in India!). His bowling average last year was 22.64! Also very handy with the bat. Has 2 50s, highest score of 77*. Along with Williamson, Southee is a young-gun who is helping to form a bright future for the Kiwis.18.74/35.04 (22.64 last year). 22 in the world.

Vernon Philander (SA) (27) 16 Gun. 89 wickets in 16 matches (Very close to a record). His bowling average is a world-beating 17.13!!! 9 5 wicket hauls, 2 10 wicket matches, best bowling of 6/44, strike rate of 36.8! Another very handy bat, 2 50s at 22.75 with a high score of 74. 4th best all-rounder in the world. Number 2 bowler in the world.

Pragyan Ojha (Ind) (26) 20 Staggered he wasn't selected for the first test. Has 95 wickets at 31.62 (very good for a spinner). 5 5 wickets innings and a best bowling of 6/47. Has averaged 14.5 over the past two years. 8th in the world.

Tino Best (WI) (31) 18 Fiery W.I. quick coming back into the fold. Bowling average of 26 but averaged 16.27 last year. Best bowling of 6/40. 39 in the world.

Ben Hilfenhaus (Aus) (29) 27 Very handy Tasmanian quick. Great bowling average of 28.5 and over the past two seasons he has averaged 22.06. Best bowling 5/75 and could be vital in the Ashes. Number 10 in the world.

Between selecting my team on the fly whilst travelling abroad, beginning my prep-teaching career and now enduring some kind of indoor-soccer et. 4 year olds plague I can't be bothered defending the team (as if it needs it). It's been a haphazard arrangement on my behalf. I think the bats have a good mix of experience and I really rate my young guys. Cowan is iffy and my drunken selection of Tino Best has hurt the balance of my side I think. Mind you, Southee, Philander with Hilfenhaus and Best to back them up with Ojha and Williamson with the spin is a pretty threatening attack and I'd back Kumar, Pietersen and an improved Powell, Williamson and Ali to chase down any target that bowling lineup restricts opposition to.