I had been posting in PP for over 3 years now & never before initiated any thread. I was thinking about posting on something new in PP, which could be a bit different than usual Cricket story. What about all-time best Test teams based on the birth month?
The idea is to prepare 12 Test teams, based on players born in respective month of January to December & try to rank the teams. I ‘ll pick a 12 member team (6 batsmen, 5 bowlers & a WK. All-rounders included) listed according to batting order. 1 additional player is picked to allow Captain pick his bowlers according to wicket. Once the team is selected, we ‘ll try to find which team ‘ll end up the strongest playing each other 5 Test Series in 3 different condition – AUS, ENG & IND (So, every team ‘ll play 165 Tests, not bad). In addition, I ‘ll put another 4 players in reserve to make a 16 men squad – surely only 12 can’t play 165 Tests, some injuries had to be covered. There ‘ll be a Captain, 2 Vice Captains selected as well & in the squad at least, I ‘ll try to pick 1 Batsman who can keep on top of a regular Keeper, just in case of emergency, but not essential; because there is no point blocking a precious spot from 16, for a back-up Keeper, who might never play.
Players are picked based on their TEST stats mainly, career highlights & “Impact” in the best 5 years slot of their career in TEST Cricket. The general qualifiers is at least 1,000 Test runs for batsmen, 100 wickets for bowlers, a 50-50 double for all-rounders & 100 dismissals for Keepers. However, in some cases, when the sample is too small, I did have considered some players with less than qualifier, but with great First Class stats as well. One thing I should mention that, apart from stats, I have considered players relative pedigree in his era, because from almost 140 years of history, it’s not fair to measure players on same scale (standard average). (i. e. someone bowling in early 1900s ‘ll have lower bowling average, but someone batting in 1930s & ‘40s or 2000s ‘ll have much higher batting average, in general, due to the playing conditions. For example, Trumper in 1900s averaging <40 with bat or Wasim averaging >23 with ball in 1990s are statistically not that great; but arguably they were the best in their discipline of their era).
Apart from the selected 16, good numbers of close misses (or great players with too little sample) are listed as honorable mentions for the readers to have their own debate, few unfortunate players (who couldn't make the team for indifferent circumstances) are mentioned as a question mark & some current youngsters are listed, who has a great chance to make the team/squad at the end of their career.
Finally, Months ‘ll be ranked based on the playing XII, the reserve squad & the team balance to play in 3 distinctive separate conditions – AUS, ENG & IND. It’s a long post, probably would have been better had I posted in 12 separate posts, but then readers wouldn't have the same comfort to compare. Let’s start – hope you enjoy
January
The Team
1. Bruce Mitchell
2. Arthur Morris
3. Rahul Dravid (Backup WK) ©
4. Richie Richardson (VC1)
5. Clyde Walcott (Backup WK)
6. Jimmy Adams (WK) (VC2)
7. Kapil Dev
8. Monty Noble
9. Andy Roberts
10. Hugh Tayfield
11. Arthur Mailey
12. Johnny Wardle
The Rest Squad: Chaminda Vaas, Lawrence Rowe, Herbi Collins, Daniel Vettori
Honorable Mentions: Adam Parore (WK), AH Karder, Bert Strudwick (WK), Charlie Davis, Dave Nourse, David Brown, Dayle Hadlee, Dean Headley, Dick Motz, Herbie Collins, Imtiaz Ahmed (WK), John Waite (WK), Kamran Akmal (WK), Ken Higgs, Khan Mohammad, Kim Hughes, Mansoor A Khan Pataudi, Marlon Samuels, Paul Adams, Ryan Sidebottom, Shivlal Yadav, Shoaib Mohammad, Wayne Daniel
The “What Could Had Been”s: Vinod Kambli
The Future Potentials: Asad Shafique, Cheteshwar Pujara, Mitchel Starc
Selecting the January squad, I had a big confusion regarding WK – whether to keep with a regular keeper or keep with a very decent Batsman keeper in Adams. Neither Akmal or Parore with the gloves were good while Strudwick or Waite with bat were poor to say politely; therefore I opted to keep with Adams, especially considering that both Dravid & Walcott ‘ll be in playing XI. From the 12, on drier wickets Noble ‘ll make way for Wardle. I don’t think there is much debate left in starting XII.
For the squad, Vaas comes ahead of Higgs & Sidebottom for longer career & better batting capability while Harbie Collins is the backup opener, Rowe is just ahead of Huges & Shohaib. Vettori easily is the best Slow Left-arm Orthodox (SLAO) spinner, with a great batting capability.
Not much choice for Captains here, I pick Rahul over Richardson to lead the side because of his game reading & rising under stress. Adams was a much better Captain, stuck with a poor team. Debatable, but I want Kapil & Noble to focus on their game entirely, as the top 2 players in an average side.
Surely Kambli would have made into January squad had his career prematurely not ended at 23, the reason being beyond his inability to play bounce (In that case Azhar & Ganguly shouldn’t have played either).
May be not for now, but if Pujara can maintain his reputation after these ENG & AUS tour, he ‘ll definitely make into the squad, may be even the team. Starc also has a great chance to replace Vaas; may be too high, but Shafique can have a go at the squad.
I don’t think January is that strong a side; it’s a decent batting unit with great all-rounders coming lower down, but I don’t think their bowling is just good enough. I don’t see January doing well in any of the 3 venues. Let’s see where the other months stand.
February
The Team
1. Graeme Smith ©
2. Bill Lawry (VC2)
3. Bob Simpson (VC1)
4. Graeme Pollock
5. Everton Weeks
6. Abraham De Villiers (Backup WK)
7. Matt Prior (WK)
8. Jim Laker
9. Michael Holding
10. Fred Truman
11. Glenn McGrath
12. Stuart MacGill
The Rest Squad: Mohammad Azharuddin, Fazal Mahmood, Patsy Hendren, Bobby Peel
The Honorable Mentions: Barry Knight, Bev Congdon, Bill Johnston, Colin Miller, Cyril Vincent, Danny Morison, Darren Lehmann, Derek Randal, Desmond Haynes, Don Tallon (WK), Farokh Engineer (WK), Fidel Edwards, Gundappa Viswanath, Herschelle Gibbs, Ian Smith (WK), Karshan Ghavri, Len Pascoe, Michael Kasprowicz, Michael Slater, Norman O'Neill, Phil DeFreitas, Ranji Horden, Shane Shillingford, Tiger Smith (WK), Md. Sami
The “What Could Had Been”s: Chris Lewis, Azhar Mahmood
The Future Potentials: Azhar Ali, Darren Bravo
Despite few less days, February has produced many Test cricketers & some of them are true legends of the game. It was quite easy for me to pick almost the entire squad as most of these 16 are distinctively better than their fellow month-men. For the starting XII, hardly any doubt for me, may be only option is between playing 5 bowlers & AB as keeper or dropping MacGill as 12th man. As Bob Simpson used to be decent Leg Spinner & February not having a decent all-rounder, I choose to play Prior as regular keeper (a more than decent bat as well), off-loading AB to concentrate on batting; otherwise the tail starts from 7.
For the squad, since any of the top 3 can open, I haven’t taken a backup opener, so Hynes misses out. Fazal Mahmood could have been in XII for many other months, we ‘ll see & Bobby Peel was the best SLAO spinner of his time. Hendren & Azhar comes ahead of Vishy & Lehman, may be debatable, but Azhar was a brilliant fielder & Patsey Hendren is one of the stalwarts of the game.
I don’t think there should be much debate for Captaincy here – 3 of the all-time greatest Captains there, I pick Simpson over Lawry for VC1, so did the Aussie selectors.
February is badly missing an all-rounder & thus I feel both Lewis and Mahmood had a great chance to make the squad, the way they started, particularly Mahmood, but didn’t do justice to their early potentials.
The top 3 of this side is good, but not invincible, that gives a chance for both Azhar & Bravo, if they have a great later career.
This is a tremendous side, with one of the best attacks, led by a brilliant Captain. I think, in all 3 conditions, particularly in ENG & AUS, February ‘ll do well. If their top order isn’t blown away cheaply, middle order be able to put enough runs for the magnificent attack that they have. But February ‘ll always be pegged-back for lack of all-rounders & a long, long, long tail.
March
The Team
1. Andrew Strauss (VC1)
2. Hashim Amla
3. Viv Ricrards ©
4. Clem Hill
5. Dean Jones
6. Inzamam-ul-Haq (VC2)
7. George Giffen
8. Wally Grout (WK)
9. Graeme Swan
90. Neil Adcock
91. Colin Croft
92. Rangana Herath
The Rest Squad: Heath Streak, Michael Atherton, Vijay Hazare, Rodney Hogg
The Honorable Mentions: Alvin Kallicharran, Andrew Hudson, Ashley Giles, Ben Hilfenhaus, Bernard Julien, Bill Edrich, Bruce Reid, Daryll Cullinan, Eknath Solkar, Geoff Howarth, Jack Saunders, Jackie Mcglew, John Reid, ML Jaisimha, Mohsin Khan, Nasser Hussain, Nicky Boje, Phil Edmonds, Phil Mead, Polly Umrighar, Ross Taylor, Tom Hayward, Wasim Bari (WK), Warren Lees (WK)
The “What Could Had Been”s: Lee Irvine (Backup WK), Vince van de Bijl, Shahid Afridi
The Future Potentials: Abdur Rehman, Ajantha Mendis, Shakib Al Hasan, Umar Akmal (Backup WK)
March contains the greatest batsman ever, to lead from 3; but this is not a great bowling unit. I think most of the team picks themselves, just not enough options there. Among few confusions, as keeper, I choose Grout over Bari & Lees as none were great with bat, but Grout was part of a great team. Both Grout & Bari were great keepers, particularly against spinners, but as said, Grout was a winner. Among all-rounders, Giffen edges past Streak for his batting, though it’s really difficult to judge 2 players born more than a century apart. On a dry track, Herath may replace the all-rounder, but that weakens the batting as Grout isn’t that good with bat. Atherton is a great opener, but I think in last few years, Amla has edged past him. I picked Strauss over Atherton for a left-right opening combination & more attacking instincts (& he averages far higher as well). Few years back, surely Edmonds would have been selected, but Herath has done great since.
For the squad, not much to choose between Hogg & Reid – I peak Hogg for his pace, batting & also his career been prematurely ending for rebel SAF tour. Hazare is my pick over Kali for his style & technique against spinners.
Lee Irvine played just 4 Tests against AUS (& averages over 50), but surely would have made a great career had he not played his last Test at 25 (SAF barred after ’69-’70 Series). Might have made this squad as neither of the Keepers are good with bat. Surely, surely Van der Bijl would have made this squad, may be even in the XII, had he played in 70s & 80s. He was 20, when SAF was barred, so never played Test, but for Middlesex, Transvaal & Natal, he took close to 800 FC wickets at an astonishing average of 16.54; bowling with immaculate accuracy from his 6’-8” stature, at a more than brisk pace. (His County List A Economy was <3). In his first 3 Tests, Afridi had a Test 100, a 50, a 5fer & a match winning performance - I just wonder what he could had been had he wanted to be. Unfortunately, his taste wasn't of role-modeling Meryl Strip, he decided to be someone like, say.... Kayden Kross.
I don’t think, there is much debate for Captaincy here. Inzi was a defensive Captain & among Athurs & Strauss, I think the VC should be part of playing XI, if possible. However, in future Amla might solve the problem of VC1.
March is not a great bowling side, which gives chances for future bowlers. At official 34, if Rehman can carry same way for another 3-5years, I think he is ‘ll replace Herath, may be Mendis has a chance as well (for that his start was outstanding) & since the team has no decent WK Batsman, may be in future if UAkmal plays Test regularly, might come as a Backup gloves man (I think, he is good enough to average over 40 in Test, at least). However, the person, who ‘ll almost certainly make the team in future is Shakib – he completed his doubles in 27 Tests (earlier than most, apart from Kapil, Botham & Mankad). At 27, he averages in late 30s with bat & in early 30s with ball, another 10-12 years down the line, could be the first man with 7,000+ runs & 400+ wickets in Test.
March isn’t that good a side, a decent batting side, but not overall at all. It has the best match winner ever with bat (Inzi is not bad either), but the batting itself can’t win series; may be individual match, but not series. Also, Neither, Viv or Inzi are grafters, they can bat to win a Test, not sure about saving one. Adcock, Croft & Hogg might be handy in AUS, but it’s not a good attack in ENG or IND.
April
The Team
1. Dennis Amiss (VC2)
2. Vinno Mankad
3. David Gower
4. Sachin Tendulker (VC1)
5. Michael Clarke ©
6. Andy Flower (Backup WK)
7. Allen Knott (WK)
8. Malcolm Marshall
9. Sydney Barnes
90. Muttiah Muralitharan
91. Jason Gillespie
92. Alec Stuart (Backup WK)
The Rest Squad: Ian Bell, Craig McDermott, Arthur Shrewsbury, Colin Bland
The Honorable Mentions: Alf Valentine, Bapu Nadkarni, Bert Ironmonger, Charles Kelleway, Damien Fleming, David Holford, Dilip Vengsarkar, Ian Healy (WK), Jeffrey Stollmayer, Jimmy Sinclair, John Bracewell, Jonathan Trott, JP Dumny, Manoj Prabhakar, Monty Panesar, Mudassar Nazar, Pat Symcox, Paul Reiffel, Phil Tuffnell, Richard Collinge, Saleem Malik, Srinivas Venkataraghavan, Stephen Fleming, Syed Gregory, Umar Gul
The “What Could Had Been”s: Bob Massie, Shabbir Ahmed, Franklyn Stephenson
The Future Potentials: Mohammad Amir, Steven Finn
First of a truly complete side – April. Most of the XII or squad picks themselves. It is ao unfortunate that the best 2 WK ever are born in same month. Both outstanding behind stumps, probably Healy slightly ahead but I pick Knott for his batting. Mankad is picked as opener for being left-hander & being a great all-rounder (probably the best ever spin bowling all-rounder, completed doubles in 23 Tests, only bettered by Botham later, in 21); Stuart makes the XII though, just in case, if Amiss has a bad series. When Gower & Gillespie becomes weak link of a team, hardly much to discuss about.
I have 5 bowlers in XII, so opted for a batting heavy reserve – 3 batsman & McDermott. Between Gillespie & McDermott, Gill was a better bat & had better averages, so he makes the XII. Among batsmen, Shrewsbury was by far better batsman of his generation (1880s & 90s) & was regarded the best by WG himself. For his all-round game on difficult conditions, Bell edges past Vengsarkar, Trott, Malik & Fleming, while Bland was the first ever “specialist fielder”, yet averaged almost 49 & played his last Test at 31. Bert Ironmonger should have made the squad based on stats, but the sample is too small & I already have a great SLAO in Mankad.
Clarke leads the side as I feel Tendulkar to be a great Vice Captain, for that his passion, commitment & honest dedication. May be while leading the side, he took too much pressure on himself & it affected his batting, while Clarke has led from the front. SRT ‘ll be a great VC, Amiss had better personality than Gower (He ‘ll never fly a mosquito in between a struggling Ashes).
Bob Massie started like a king, better than Bedsar or Syd Barnes as a new ball bowler; but lost his Aussie place in 6 months (& Western Australia place in 15) of Lords Test ’72; surely there must be some story than just losing his form. For apparent doggy action, Shabbir Ahmed played his last Test at 29; taking 5.1 wickets/Test (51 in 10) at 23 runs & 50 balls per wicket – I can only say, later on far “Doggier” bowlers have played lot many Tests, someone in PCB rank might not had liked him that much. At 22, Stephenson went with Alvin Kali’s rebel team to SAF (’81-‘82), apparently for not making the great WI side of 80s & subsequently WICB banned him for life. Wish they hadn’t, for that Stephenson competed with Imran, Hadlee, Kapil, Botham & Rice horn to horn for next 10 years in County.
I don’t know how much Aameer earned from bookies, but he must be the idiot of the history. For that, what I had seen in 2010s English summer from a 19 years old kid, I don’t know how much Aameer could have earned from County, Sponsors & T20 Leagues in next 20 years. Along with his April mate SRT, no teenager ever had rocked the world that much. Still not all over for him though, if he can fulfill his potential that I saw in the 2 Tests that PAK won in 2010 summer, surely he ‘ll make this April XII, surely. Finn had almost 100 Test scalps before turning 23, then faded away. But, at 25 standing 6’8”, still Finn has time in his side to make the squad at least.
This is a great April side, almost complete one. Only thing missing is a great Leg spinner; still it ‘ll take another exceptional side to beat April over 5 Tests across anywhere.
May
The Team
1. Gordon Greenidge
2. Michael Hussey
3. Brian Lara (VC1)
4. George Headley
5. Denis Compton
6. Ted Dexter ©
7. Jeffrey Doujon (WK)
8. Bob Willis
9. Hedley Verity
10. Erapalli Prasanna
11. Bhagwath Chandrasekhar
12. Maurice Tate
The Rest Squad: Mahela Jayawardene, Warwick Armstrong (VC2), Conrad Hunte, Colin Blythe
The Honorable Mentions: Alan Melville, Andrew Jones, Ashwell Prince, Billy Barnes, David Allen, Denis Atkinson, Deryek Murry (WK), Frank Woolley, Glenn Turner, Graham Dilley, Herbie Taylor, Hugh Trumble, Ian Redpath, J.J. Ferris, Jack Blackham (WK), Keith Fletcher, Misbah-ul-Haq, Neil Foster, Paul Collingwood, Peter Burge (Backup WK), Ravi Shastri, Sonny Ramadhin, Tauseef Ahmed, Tich Freeman
The “What Could Had Been”s: Collie Smith
The Future Potentials: James Pattinson, Sunil Narnie
I don’t think, I need to justify the top 7 of this side; may be Conrad Hunte could have opened with GG, but I wanted a left-right combination & Mike averages close to 60, for few times he opened for AUS. My problem is either to play 3 spinners or 2 of the great 3 (Prassanna ‘ll miss out, I am bias to leg-spin) & play Maurice Tate as Willis’s partner. However, since Dexter can bowl decent medium pace, I ‘ll play all 3 spinners, unless it’s a green top.
For the squad, Haunte comes as reserve opener over Turner for his attacking stroke paly & Armstrong as the all-rounder over Frank Woolley, mainly because Armstrong was a fast bowling all-rounder, while Woolley SLAO, we already have 2 SLAO spinners in the squad. Colin Blythe was the best SLAO spinner of his time, but I picked Verity for his brilliance during the period when batting was most dominant, but Blythe makes the squad. It was a close call between Mahela & Misbah, but Mahela had a glittering career, Misbah had much shorter one, thanks to Inzamam ul Haq. My only confusion was between Prasanna & Trumble, but I think Trumble was a great “wet wicket” bowler (A better bat as well, but batting for bowler is not required in May), Pras was a class act everywhere, even on grass. Could have taken both at the expense of Hunte, but 5 spinners is a bit over kill.
“Lord Ted” was one of the best ever English Captain, while no Captain ever was such a lone fighter for a struggling side than Lara. I pick WW Armstrong as VC2, as if he makes the starting XI, it ‘ll only as a replacement of Dexter.
Collie Smith died from road accident, just after turning 26 (played his last Test 6 months earlier), but already had 4 centuries in 26 Tests (& 48 wickets). At his death, he was rated as good as the gentleman driving that fatal car (& almost got paralyzed) – Garfield Sobers.
May isn’t a Fast bowling side, which opens the door for Pattinson, if he can keep his knees going for 10 more years. Narnie is a great LO bowler, but if he concentrates (& performs) on longer version, might make into the squad in future.
This is truly a great batting side, one of the strongest, if not “the”, but without a pair of great new ball bowlers. Willis & Tate were good, but that’s it. I think, this side ‘ll struggle to win matches in AUS & ENG, even in IND batting second, because, unless it’s a dust bowl, even on dry wickets, you need a pair of new ball bowlers to strike early blow. The best chance I see for this team is to play 3 spinners, bat first, put a really big score & bring the spinners in the game. Only person who could be a bit uncomfortable in that strategy ‘ll be Dujon, for that throughout his career, he kept 30 metres away from the stumps, all day long; now he ‘ll have to do that from 30 cm apart, all day long.
June
The Team
1. Len Hutton
2. John Edrich
3. Walter Hammond (VC1)
4. Javed Miandad
5. Kevin Petersen
6. Steve Waugh (VC2)
7. Dave Houghton (WK)
8. Alan Davidson
9. Wasim Akram ©
10. Dale Styen
11. Derek Underwood
12. Mushtaq Ahmed
The Rest Squad: Tom Graveney, Mark Waugh, George Lohman, Frank Tyson
The Honorable Mentions: Alan Connolly, Allan Lamb, Andrew Symonds, Asif Iqbal, Brian Statham, Charles Macartney, Chris Cairns, Dinesh Kartik (WK), Graham McKenzie, John Reid, Kumar Shri Duleepsinghji, Mark Richardson, Mervyn Dillon, Mike Gatting, Neil Hawke, Peter Heine, Peter Pollock, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Ray Illingworth, Roy Gilchrist, Sanath Jayasuria, Shane Bond, Shane Watson, Taufeeq Umar, Terry Alderman
The “What Could Had Been”s: Gary Gilmour, Sid Barnes
The Future Potentials: Angelo Methews, Kemar Roach, Stuart Broad, Vernon Phillander, Steve Smith
Read the names in top 6, enough said. Depending on wicket, it’s a choice between Davidson & Mushtaq. I don’t think, this team needs a 5 bowler attack considering all-round capabilities of Hammond & S Waugh, therefore one of them ‘ll sit out. One confusion is whether to open with Edrich or Sanath, I pick Edrich for being a genuine opener & Sanath being susceptible in testing conditions.
For the squad, I picked M Waugh ahead of Lamb & Sarwan for his sheer elegance, big match temperament & his fielding. Graveney comes ahead of KS Duleepsinghji, who had only a handful of Tests to be considered. Could have picked Mark over KP in playing XII, but I think KP was just a bit more consistent, attacking & a better player of spin. Also, I don’t want to play makeshift opener, therefore both Mark & Graveney sits out. Illingworth & both the great Kiwi all-rounders missing out, simply because of an even better all-rounder in Davidson. Tyson & Bond are 2 outstanding fast bowlers ever, but their career was too short to dislodge Styen from starting XI, only Tyson makes the squad. Alderman & Lohman were outstanding medium pacers, I picked Lohman in the squad simply for his unbelievable stats, albeit 120 years back. June is a unique month in terms of Wicket Keepers. Apart from Houghton, the only 2 wicket keepers with 10+ Test are Dinesh Kartik & Steve Rhodes. So, I think, Javed or Hutton ‘ll have to make shift, just in case of any injury.
Among few contenders, I pick Wasim as the Captain for his outstanding skill & attacking mindset. SWaugh had better Test record as Captain, but I don’t think he was a better Captain. Both Hammond & Hutton were defensive leaders while it’s safer not to take Javed or KP close to Captaincy. Also, it makes sense to make a fast bowler Captain, with so many batting greats, leading their respective country.
Sid Barnes played his first Test at 22, in 1938, then had almost 8 years’ war break & when returned back at 29, played for only a year & went to self-exile, pursuing other career – yet finished career with Test average of 63 in 13 Tests. Gary Gilmore started his career at 22 with big potential (& a big tummy), by 25, he was finished for WSC, for his booze, for his injury & for his life style; yet finished with 54 wickets at 26, in 15 Tests, & a Test hundred, batting at 9.
May be in future Phillander can make the squad edging past Lohman, but I don’t think Mathews or Steve Smith ‘ll be able to dislodge S Waugh or Hammond as batting all-rounder, neither Roach to replace Tyson. Barbie already has a great career, might lead England in future, but replacing Wasim or Davidson is altogether different ball game. But I must say, these boys are a bit unlucky to be born in June, in some other months, easily could have made into those squad in future.
This is a brilliant squad in terms of batting & swing bowling, with a left-right opening combination. However, there are some distinctive weaknesses as well, apart from the WK. One of the opening slot is not good enough & we had to play Hammond at 3, from his customary 4, which means despite having Hutton at top, this team ‘ll be tested against new ball. Second weakness is, it doesn’t have a truly genuine spinner. Mushi is great but not Warne, Quadir, Benaud or O’Railey & Underwood was subject to favorable conditions. Also, there is no left-hander in middle order, to unsettle bowlers & Houghton is not even as good as some other team’s makeshift WKs.
To me, in English condition, this team ‘ll be almost unbeatable. This side has 5 great Englishmen in XII & most of the bowlers had been outstanding in England, as well as in AUS. However, I think they ‘ll be great, but not outstanding in IND.
July
The Team
1. Sunil Gavaskar
2. Graham Gooch (VC1)
3. Barry Richards
4. Allen Border ©
5. Stan McCabe
6. Garry Sobers
7. MS Dhoni (WK) (VC2)
8. Sir Richard Hadlee
9. Dennis Lille
10. Alec Bedser
11. Harbhajan Singh
12. Shaun Pollock
The Rest Squad: Makhya Ntini, Morris Leyland, Tony Lock, Wasim Raja
The Honorable Mentions: Andre Nel, Ashley Mallett, Bob Taylor (WK), Bruce Taylor, Chandu Borde, Eric Rowan, Ewen Chatfield, Hashan Tilakratne, Jacob Oram, James Anderson, Jhonty Rhodes, Jock Cameron (WK), Joe Hardstaff, John Wright, Sourav Ganguly, Trent Boult, Venkatapathy Raju, WG Grace, Zaheer Abbas
The “What Could Had Been”s: Clive Rice, Jimmy Cook, Ken Farnes
The Future Potentials: BJ Watling (WK), Faf du Plessis
First thing I am surprised to observe that, there are not many good Test cricketers born in July; but boy, those few who are born, are among the very best of their type, colossus of the game, more than make up the shortfall. In the starting XII, hardly any options left, depending on wicket, it’s a choice between 2 of Harbhajan, Bedser & Pollock. Though, both Sobers & Border can bowl spin, I ‘ll like to keep Bhaji in the XI unless it’s a green top
I think, there might be other teams with better squads, but for starting XII, I doubt if there is any better. Selection of this team was probably the easiest as the squad almost pick themselves. WG could be a cricket pioneer, but most of his greatness are in FC cricket, so was Zaheer. I should mention that, though I have left few others for small sample size (too little Test career), Barry Richards is too good to be left out. The batting is absolutely outstanding till 8 (9, if Polly replaces Bhaji) & this team probably has the best pace attack for all conditions – Fast, swing, seam, hit the deck, metronome whatever you ask for. Only 2 confusion was WK – Taylor easily the better gloves man, but averages 15 with bat. & for the squad, I picked Wasim Raja for his all-round capability & leg spin. He is among few great under achievers of the game, could have added 10 runs to his batting average & doubled his wicket tally. He comes in the squad ahead of Zed & Ganguly, as a backup of Sir Gary, just in case.
There are many capable Captains in this team, but none more than Allen Border – a true grit. I deliberately kept Sobers out of Vice Captaincy – he is too good to be a deputy; let him play simply as a player. Goochi was a far better match reader than Sunil or Pollock & much more attacking than MS.
Rice & Cook are 2 great County players, never played Test due to isolation; could have been great, but the handicaps are too high for making the July cut. Ken Farnes blasted Bradman’s AUS in 1938, at 24, a delayed start for his Cambridge days, then went to War & left the world at 29.
Among potentials, very little chance, Fuf averages over 50, but to displace Stan McCabe, he ‘ll have to carry for few more seasons at this rate, but he is almost 30 already. May be, may be, Watling at 29, averaging 38, can challenge MS, as he is far better gloves man, but he ‘ll have to carry this average for another 5-6 years, at least.
This is a near perfect team, with apparently, only 2 deficiencies I can see: a minor one – there are better WK in other teams (I could have picked Bob Taylor, but then he probably would have batted at 10) & a major one – this team don’t have an ATG spinner, Bhaji is great but not ATG. I think, it’s ‘ll be near impossible to compete with this side in AUS, one of the top sides in ENG, but probably still a great side in IND, for Bhajji’s outstanding record there. I have picked Lock ahead of Anderson in the squad just considering the tour of IND.
August
The Team
1. Frank Worrell (VC2)
2. Eddie Barlow
3. Donald Bradman
4. Greg Chappell (VC1)
5. Mohammad Yousuf
6. Clive Llyod ©
7. Jack Gregory
8. Godfrey Evans (WK)
9. Shohaib Akhter
10. Tom Richardson
11. Iqbal Qasim
12. Jeff Thompson
The Rest Squad: Shivnarayan Chanderpaul, Angus Fraser, John Embury, Trevor Goddard
The Honorable Mentions: Bert Vogler, Bill Voce, Bill Whitty, Bill Woodfull, Cyril Vincent, Denis Atkinson, Dilip Sardesai, Dominic Cork, Doug Wright, Geoff Pullar, Gharam Thorpe, Jack Russell (WK), Jack Ryder, Javagal Srinath, Jesse Ryder, Lasith Malinga, Lindsey Hasset, Pedro Collins, Sandeep Patil, Simon Doull, Simon Katich, Venkatesh Prasad, Yashpal Sharma
The “What Could Had Been”s: Mohammad Zahid
The Future Potentials: Kane Williamson
Not much to choose in batting for August. Llyod comes ahead of Shiva for obvious reason – I want dominators, match winners in great teams, not stonewallers for saving match. Barlow is the all-rounder. Unless, it’s a WACA cracker, Qasim ‘ll keep one of Thompson or Richardson out of playing XI.
For the squad, Embury comes as the only available decent spinner while Goddard is the backup all-rounder for Gregory. August is the month of blistering pace – Akhter, Thommo, Richardson, Gregory, Voce, Malinga; I wanted a seamer in the squad, so the best one comes- Fraser, edging past Srinath. Only debate for this side is probably the second opener – I picked Barlow over Katich, Rayder & Woodfull for his all-round ability.
It’s difficult, but I can’t put Brandman as Captain over Lloyd; so I do the same for him as Sobers. Greg & Worrell ‘ll deputize in case of Llyod’s absence & Sir Don ‘ll have his own place.
As I said, August is the month of wind-mills, you could have added probably the windiest ever Md. Zahid. It’s a shame that he was gone with the wind & someone in PCB rank should be ashamed of that. What a wastage of talent!!
If Ken Williams can come close to any of the 3 men having more Centuries than him at 23, he ‘ll walk into the squad. But then, one should remind him the 3 gentlemen once more.
September
The Team
1. Saeed Anwar
2. Majid Khan
3. Ian Chappell ©
4. Kumar Shri Ranjitsinhji
5. Martin Crowe (VC2)
6. Mike Proctor
7. Denis Lindsay (WK)
8. Shane Warne (VC1)
9. Abdul Quadir
10. Curtly Ambrose
11. Wes Hall
12. Lance Gibbs
The Rest Squad: Bishan Bedi, Chris Gayle, Robin Smith, Frederick Spofforth
The Honorable Mentions: Amir Sohail, Asanka Gurusinha, Basil Butcher, Bert Oldfield (WK), Brendon McCullum (Backup WK), Bruce Yardley, Chris Broad, Craig McMillan, Darren Gough, David Richardson (WK), Geoff Arnold, George Hirst, Hansie Cronje, Ishant Sharma, Kepler Wessels, Kiran More (WK), Lala Amarnath, Learie Constantine, Max Walker, Mohammad Rafique, Mohinder Amarnath, Nathan Astle, Patrick Patterson, Pragyan Ojha , Stuart Clark, Thilan Samaraweera, Vijay Manjrekar
The “What Could Had Been”s: Archie Jackson, Garth Le Roux
The Future Potentials: Jimmy Neesham, Ravichandran Ashwin
For the September squad, I had 2 problems – search for batsmen & sort bowlers to drop. Ideally, I should have kept Bedi in the squad ahead of Quadir, which would have made it a perfect spin attack, but genius are born to challenge the common practice – 2 leggis ‘ll bowl in tandem. Gibbs ‘ll hardly get a game, unless it’s an under prepared track & due to the poor batting, I can’t drop Proctor to play 5 bowlers.
In the squad, there are several left-handed openers, I picked the best one. Wanted a right handed opener, hence Majid comes. KS Ranjitsingh played only handful of Tests battling his ill health & Royal duties, but averaged 45 in 1890s (when Archie MacLaren had around 33), but what makes him legend is his Sussex County average of 56 (which is Bradmanisq in those days). He is credited for two unique Cricket shots – Leg Glance & Sweep. Gayle is the backup opener & Smith edges past Samaraweera & Manjrekar for his ability to play ugly hostile fast bowling. “Demon” Spofforth was the pioneer of Fast bowlers, 135 years back.
Easiest job for September was to appoint a Captain, one of the best, among the very best ‘ll lead the team, supported by a naughty genius. Drugs, bookies, mobile, divorce, cigarette what not, but that tummy guy was as cunning as anybody. May be AUS missed a trick of not appointing Shane as Test Captain ever; but I ‘ll make him deputy of someone slightly better.
Archie Jackson was born a year later Sir Don, but made up that one year in debut (both in 1928-29 Ashes) & started career with a stunning 164. He battled with tuberculosis & died on the day Larwood won the Ashes in 1932, aged 23. Yet, with an average of 47 (often spitting blood), surely would have made it to the team, probably would have gone far, far higher. Le Roux was 14 when SAF barred from Test, played in WSC in 1977-79, & matched Lillee, Holding, Imran & Croft for pace ball by ball.
The batting lineup gives hope to Neesham, who after 4 Tests has an average of 70+, 2 centuries & 2 fifties, if he can carry on. After 19 Tests, Ashwin averages almost 40 with bat & 5.5 wickets/Tests; though his stats are a bit inflated for minnow bashing at home, still he has 10 more years to build on this.
September is another unique month – talent hardly polarizes so much in natural course. Some of the greatest ever bowlers are born in September, but I had to struggle to find 8 decent batsman. This team ‘ll win matches, for that sort of attack can’t be stopped for 20 wickets, but it ‘ll lose much more. One thing for sure, it ‘ll take lots, lots of rain to have a drawn game involving September, with that batting, bowling & Captaincy.
October
The Team
1. Matthew Hayden
2. Geoffrey Boycott
3. Neil Harvey
4. Jaques Kallis
5. Kumar Sangakara (Back up WK) (VC2)
6. Virender Sehwag
7. Tony Greig (VC1)
8. Richie Benaud ©
9. Ray Lindwall
10. Saeed Ajmal
11. Allan Donald
12. Anil Kumble
The Rest Squad: Wilfred Rhodes, Brad Haddin (WK), Bill Ponsford, John Snow
The Honorable Mentions: Aravinda de Silva, Basil D'Oliveira, Bob Cowper, Brain Booth, Courtney Walsh, Damien Martyn, Dwayne Bravo, Fanie de Villiers, Gautam Gambhir, Gerry Gomez, Ghulam Ahmed, Graham Yallop, Ian Bishop, Ian Johnson, Irfan Pathan, Jim Parks (WK), Johnny Briggs, Lance Cairns, Maichel Vaughn, Mark Taylor, Mike Hendrik, Mohammad Hafeez, Morne Morkel, Narendra Hirwani, Nathan Hauritz, Navojot Sidhu, Prasanna Jayawardene (WK), Rashid Latif (WK), Ryan Harris, Saeed Ahmed, Steve Harmission, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Vijay Merchant, Zaheer Khan
The “What Could Had Been”s: Colin Milburn, Stuart Law
The Future Potentials: David Warner
Some hard talks surely in October – let me try. Hayden comes as the lefty opener. For his right-handed partner, I could have gone for 3/4 options, but I go for Boycott. It ‘ll be a sight to watch – the chainsaw crasher & the hacksaw stonewaller. Ajmal comes ahead of Kumble for his capability on good wickets & also Benaud being a leggi. In IND, 3 spinners ‘ll play (as Greig & Kallis can take the new ball with the regular pacer) & one of Donald or Lindwall ‘ll make room for Kumble. I keep Lindwall for his batting capability. For a better balance, I play Sanga at 5 & ‘ll keep with him. Either way, the best batsman of the team should bat at 3, hence Neil Harvey bats there. Finally, Viru comes at 6, his best position. I think, BCCI selectors didn’t have the balls to remove any of the BIG 4, hence Viru was made to open, but trust me, if anybody ever can make a similar impact like Gilchrist batting down the order, at was Viru at 6.
For the squad, what’s left – Haddin comes ahead of Latif for his batting, Rhodes is the SLAO spinner & all-rounder, Snow is for gloomy day & Ponsford just misses out to Boycott, but makes the squad.
For October, I ‘ll not write anything regarding captaincy.
Millburn started his career at 25, had to retire at 27 for an eye injury with an average of 50+, tried a comeback with revised stance, which resulted his average to drop down to 47; & he scored these run at brutal aggression. Had he born in any other country, or any other generation, Stuart Law would have played at least another 99 Tests (yes, he had only 1, averaging infinity). He is so unfortunate that, not necessarily the batsmen selected ahead of him were better, he was lucky enough to be 6th pick of his first-class side (NSW team had Taylor, Slater, Maher, Waugh twins, Bevan & Law in their line up throughout 90s).
It’s difficult to replace Hayden, but if anyone can do from current generation, it’s probably Warner; but he has to continue for almost a decade still.
October is a great balanced team with lot of all-rounders. If any team, I would like to avoid in IND, that ‘ll be October, for that brilliant leggi, carrying a nation of a billion+ for over a decade (One of the most under-rated cricketer ever – from 1986 to 2003, IND won Tests only in subcontinent, where this man averages around 20 & 7+ wickets/Test, though the credit cherry always went to someone shining). In terms of all-round capability, is there any team challenging them? Let’s wait, still 2 more months to come.
November
The Team
1. Herbert Sutcliffe
2. Justin Langer (Backup WK)
3. Victor Trumper (VC1)
4. Ken Barrington
5. Younis Khan
6. Adam Gilchrist (WK)
7. Imran Khan ©
8. Kieth Miller (VC2)
9. Ian Botham
10. Waquar Younas
11. Fred Titmus
12. Mitchell Johnson
The Rest Squad: Dudley Nourse, Gary Kristen, VVS Laxman, Charlie Turner
The Honorable Mentions: Andy Caddick, Bert Sutcliffe, Bert Vogler, Brett Lee, Colin McDonald, Dion Nash, Eddie Paynter, Harold Larwood, James Franklin, Jasubhai Patel, Joe Darling, Ken Wordsworth (WK), Marvan Atapattu, Merv Hughes, Mushtaq Mohammad, Nathan Lyon, Paul Harris, Peter Siddle, Ridley Jackobs (WK), Rodney Marsh (WK), Roy Fredricks, Seymour Nurse, Stanley Jackson
The “What Could Had Been”s: Stewie Dempster
The Future Potentials: Ahmed Shehzad, Devendra Bishu, Dinesh Chandimal, Virat Kohli
Aha ha, it’s November & the fun starts from No. 6. You get them 4 down at lunch & still might be bowling after next day lunch. Absolutely easiest job to select this team, may be one can argue between Langer & Kristen, but I go for the more attacking one; however I rate both of them technically better than Fredricks, who was a bit slasher. Unless it’s WACA, Titmus ‘ll keep Johnson out of the starting XI, that’s it. Between YK & VVS, I think VVS is more eye catching, but YK averages 7 higher & a crisis man. Could have played Nourse either, but I am not sure about his spin playing ability.
For the squad, Nourse & VVS comes ahead of Darling, Paynter & McDonald, while Mushtaq just can’t make it for his part-time leg spin. The unluckiest of them all is Rod Marsh, just born in a wrong month.
Dempester started his career at 26, played his last Test at 29, then the WWII started & when NZ returned to Test Cricket, he was 44. After 1933 English tour, he opted for a County career & left his Test potentials for good, retired with a Test average of 66.
This is the second month, I don’t want to waste space talking Captaincy.
Surely, Virat ‘ll replace one of YK or Langer in the starting XI, unless he goes the Afridi way. Chandimal still averages 49 & might carry this for long enough to make Nourse or VVS’s life uncomfortable. Shehzad also has a little chance, again for that slightly loose opening slot. I put Bishu in this category because there is no leg spinner of decent level in this team. He is 28 & the way he started, if can make a come-back, can be in contention.
November is an ugly month to play against. It ‘ll give you false hope, & if you are not careful, the last 5 wickets ‘ll blow the game away in a session. However, one shouldn’t even think of blowing the first 4 wickets – just look for the No. 1, 3 & 4. Had an ATG spinners been born in November, I would have started ranking months from second position. This team ‘ll be difficult to beat & difficult to survive against, but also November ‘ll struggle to win batting first.
December
The Team
1. Sir Jack Hobbs
2. Hanif Mohammad
3. Rohan Kanhai (VC2)
4. Rickey Ponting ©
5. Peter May (VC1)
6. Doug Walters
7. Les Ames (Backup WK)
8. Andrew Flintoff
9. William (Bill) O'Reilly
10. Joel Garner
11. Clarrie Grimmett
12. Mohammad Asif
The Rest Squad: Saqlain Mushtaq, Mark Boucher (WK), Geoff Lawson, Alastair Cook
The Honorable Mentions: Abdul Razzak, Archie MacLaren, Brian McMillan, Carl Hooper, Charlie Griffith, Chris Martin, Chris Old, Colin Cowdrey, Cyril Washbrook, Dansh Kaneria, Darren Sammy, Dattu Phadkar, David Boon, Dilip Doshi, Ernie Toshack, Freddie Brown, Greg Matthews, Ian Johnson, Intikhab Alam, Marcus Trescothick, Methew Hoggard, Murray Goodwin, Salim Durani, Sarfaraz Newaz, Subhash Gupte, Syed Kirmani (WK), Tibby Cotter, Trevor Bailey, Warren Bardsley
The “What Could Had Been”s: Brad Hodge, Sylvester Clarke
The Future Potentials: Joe Root, Junaid Khan, Ravindu Jadeja, Shikhar Dhawan, Tim Southee
So here we are, December. The year closes with the highest number of great cricketers (may be 10 months back the Valentine day has something to do with this). My job is an easy one, for batting at least. Cook makes the team, but still won’t make the start ahead of Hanif, though he is a southpaw & can eventually make it. Between May & Cowdray, I go for May, most English selectors would have done so, I guess. There are not many great fast bowlers in December, but I got the 3 I needed. Les Ames keeps the wicket, which allows me to drop one of Walters or May & play 5 bowlers. Boucher misses out to Ames, because Ames was easily the best ever WK batsman, before November 2000, when someone name Adam Gilchrist made his Test debut (& blasted a great PAK attack). Whoever is surprised with Asif’s inclusion, trust me, that guy would have averaged close to 20 in 70s & 80s. An absolute gem of a new ball bowler, tactful, cunning, skilled & a great thinker (unfortunately only on the field).
For the rest squad, the biggest problem was to select leg spinners, 5 greats of the game are born in December & I had to drop Gupte for that, there is Grimmet & O’Railey. I can’t pick 3 leggis in a squad when there is an option named Saqlain Mushtaq. Flintoff comes ahead of Bailey, Intekhab & Methews. It’s irony that a great spin attack, but Kirmani had to drop out, no shame though; not many ‘ll eclipse Ames or Boucher.
For Captaincy, I think the best person probably was Peter May, but as I said, he might lose his place if they want to play 5 bowlers. I appoint an equally capable one & make May his deputy.
Brad Hodge was the second one born in wrong country, wrong time. He played only 3 Tests, against a top SAF side, & averages 51, with a double century. Then comes the third one – Sylvester Clarke. Would have walked into any team barring his motherland. Played 11 Tests & has as good a record as most greats, but deprivation forced him to tour SAF at 27, where he blasted a very good batting lineup, but that shut his WIN door forever. His ODI average is 18.9, & County average is 19.5, you better judge.
None of the potentials ‘ll make near to this team, trust me, but even if they are to come close to selection, they ‘ll have to do good, really good, throughout their rest career.
The Rank of Months
1. July – The most complete side with every spot being solid for every conditions. This side ‘ll be almost unbeatable in AUS & ENG, ‘ll compete very well in IND, A perfectly balanced side for almost all conditions; easily the best batting & Fast bowling team.
2. June – The best side for ENG & a very good in AUS & IND as well. Just edged past by July for the Keeping drawback.
3. December – Just edging November, because of the balanced attack & top order batting. A tremendous side for AUS & IND.
4. November – The all-rounders team. May be struggle without spinners, big time in IND, but it ‘ll be hell out to get them all-out twice. Just an ATG spinner, November ‘ll walk past December, at least.
5. April – A brilliant balanced team, probably the best bowling unit; just missing a truly great all-rounder. It ‘ll really challenge the higher four, if Aamer can fulfill his true potential.
6. October – The inferior all-rounders’ team - a brilliant squad, but probably is just a bit behind in every facet to November, apart from spin attack.
7. February – Probably, as good & balanced bowling lineup that one can dream, but not the best top 3 in batting. Had a truly ATG all-rounder been born in February, could have taken them into top half easily
8. May – Tremendous batting side, but you need New Ball bowlers to be a top side. Lost at least 2 positions for not having a pair of ATG opening bowlers.
9. September – A poor batting side, but they ‘ll win some matches, surely. Any team having that attack ‘ll never struggle for 20 wickets, but they ‘ll lose their 20 for cheaper, in most cases. Edges past August for match winning abilities
10. August – Not that great bowling side, which you need to win Test matches. Edging past the other 2 bottom quarter teams, because of batting, led by the great man. August ‘ll draw many matches, but ‘ll struggle to win few.
11. March - The best batsman ever can makeup some of the batting deficits, but the bowling is also not that good. I don’t see them even saving some matches, unlike August.
12. January – The hooping boys. It’s ironic that the year starters finish as the bottom side & it ‘ll remain there probably for good – it’s just not a quick fix. This team needs improvement probably in about half of the squad at least.
My Choice of Best Ever
(& I ‘ll not give any explanation)
The Team
1. Jack Hobbs
2. Len Hutton
3. Viv Richards
4. Brian Lara (VC2)
5. Donald Bradman
6. Gary Sobers
7. Adam Gilchrist (WK)
8. Imran Khan ©
9. Wasim Akram
10. Shane Warne (VC1)
11. Malcom Marshal
12. Muthia Muralitharan
The Rest Squad: Kumar Sangakara (Backup WK), Sir Richard Hadlee, Denis Lillee, Jaques Kallis
The Honorable Mentions (Basically Second 16): Sunil Gavasker, Herbert Sutcliff, Rickey Ponting, Sachin Tendulker, Sir Walter Hammond (VC1), Keith Miller, Ian Botham, Les Ames (WK), Richie Benaud ©, Glen McGrath, Waquar Younas, Jim Laker; AB De Villers (Backup WK), Victor Trumper, Curtley Ambrose, Greg Chappel (VC2)
The “What Could Had Been” XII: Jimmy Cook, Stewie Dempster, Archie Jackson, Brad Hodge, Stuart Law, Denis Lindsay (WK), Collie Smith, Clive Rice, Franklyn Stephenson, Vincent Van Der Bijl, Gearth Le Roux, Sylvester Cleark
The Future Potentials: None to be in this 32, not at least from “so far” generation – ICC & the Business mafia are killing Test Cricket slowly, in future I don’t see anyone reaching this level of compassion, concentration, dedication & perfection. AB can exchange position with Sangakara for his batting & keeping skills (dropping Ames to bench in second team) in future, while at official 37, if Ajmal can carry for another 35-36 Test like his first 30, maybe he can make the second 16 – that’s it, I am afraid.
Hope it hadn't been too boring.
The idea is to prepare 12 Test teams, based on players born in respective month of January to December & try to rank the teams. I ‘ll pick a 12 member team (6 batsmen, 5 bowlers & a WK. All-rounders included) listed according to batting order. 1 additional player is picked to allow Captain pick his bowlers according to wicket. Once the team is selected, we ‘ll try to find which team ‘ll end up the strongest playing each other 5 Test Series in 3 different condition – AUS, ENG & IND (So, every team ‘ll play 165 Tests, not bad). In addition, I ‘ll put another 4 players in reserve to make a 16 men squad – surely only 12 can’t play 165 Tests, some injuries had to be covered. There ‘ll be a Captain, 2 Vice Captains selected as well & in the squad at least, I ‘ll try to pick 1 Batsman who can keep on top of a regular Keeper, just in case of emergency, but not essential; because there is no point blocking a precious spot from 16, for a back-up Keeper, who might never play.
Players are picked based on their TEST stats mainly, career highlights & “Impact” in the best 5 years slot of their career in TEST Cricket. The general qualifiers is at least 1,000 Test runs for batsmen, 100 wickets for bowlers, a 50-50 double for all-rounders & 100 dismissals for Keepers. However, in some cases, when the sample is too small, I did have considered some players with less than qualifier, but with great First Class stats as well. One thing I should mention that, apart from stats, I have considered players relative pedigree in his era, because from almost 140 years of history, it’s not fair to measure players on same scale (standard average). (i. e. someone bowling in early 1900s ‘ll have lower bowling average, but someone batting in 1930s & ‘40s or 2000s ‘ll have much higher batting average, in general, due to the playing conditions. For example, Trumper in 1900s averaging <40 with bat or Wasim averaging >23 with ball in 1990s are statistically not that great; but arguably they were the best in their discipline of their era).
Apart from the selected 16, good numbers of close misses (or great players with too little sample) are listed as honorable mentions for the readers to have their own debate, few unfortunate players (who couldn't make the team for indifferent circumstances) are mentioned as a question mark & some current youngsters are listed, who has a great chance to make the team/squad at the end of their career.
Finally, Months ‘ll be ranked based on the playing XII, the reserve squad & the team balance to play in 3 distinctive separate conditions – AUS, ENG & IND. It’s a long post, probably would have been better had I posted in 12 separate posts, but then readers wouldn't have the same comfort to compare. Let’s start – hope you enjoy
January
The Team
1. Bruce Mitchell
2. Arthur Morris
3. Rahul Dravid (Backup WK) ©
4. Richie Richardson (VC1)
5. Clyde Walcott (Backup WK)
6. Jimmy Adams (WK) (VC2)
7. Kapil Dev
8. Monty Noble
9. Andy Roberts
10. Hugh Tayfield
11. Arthur Mailey
12. Johnny Wardle
The Rest Squad: Chaminda Vaas, Lawrence Rowe, Herbi Collins, Daniel Vettori
Honorable Mentions: Adam Parore (WK), AH Karder, Bert Strudwick (WK), Charlie Davis, Dave Nourse, David Brown, Dayle Hadlee, Dean Headley, Dick Motz, Herbie Collins, Imtiaz Ahmed (WK), John Waite (WK), Kamran Akmal (WK), Ken Higgs, Khan Mohammad, Kim Hughes, Mansoor A Khan Pataudi, Marlon Samuels, Paul Adams, Ryan Sidebottom, Shivlal Yadav, Shoaib Mohammad, Wayne Daniel
The “What Could Had Been”s: Vinod Kambli
The Future Potentials: Asad Shafique, Cheteshwar Pujara, Mitchel Starc
Selecting the January squad, I had a big confusion regarding WK – whether to keep with a regular keeper or keep with a very decent Batsman keeper in Adams. Neither Akmal or Parore with the gloves were good while Strudwick or Waite with bat were poor to say politely; therefore I opted to keep with Adams, especially considering that both Dravid & Walcott ‘ll be in playing XI. From the 12, on drier wickets Noble ‘ll make way for Wardle. I don’t think there is much debate left in starting XII.
For the squad, Vaas comes ahead of Higgs & Sidebottom for longer career & better batting capability while Harbie Collins is the backup opener, Rowe is just ahead of Huges & Shohaib. Vettori easily is the best Slow Left-arm Orthodox (SLAO) spinner, with a great batting capability.
Not much choice for Captains here, I pick Rahul over Richardson to lead the side because of his game reading & rising under stress. Adams was a much better Captain, stuck with a poor team. Debatable, but I want Kapil & Noble to focus on their game entirely, as the top 2 players in an average side.
Surely Kambli would have made into January squad had his career prematurely not ended at 23, the reason being beyond his inability to play bounce (In that case Azhar & Ganguly shouldn’t have played either).
May be not for now, but if Pujara can maintain his reputation after these ENG & AUS tour, he ‘ll definitely make into the squad, may be even the team. Starc also has a great chance to replace Vaas; may be too high, but Shafique can have a go at the squad.
I don’t think January is that strong a side; it’s a decent batting unit with great all-rounders coming lower down, but I don’t think their bowling is just good enough. I don’t see January doing well in any of the 3 venues. Let’s see where the other months stand.
February
The Team
1. Graeme Smith ©
2. Bill Lawry (VC2)
3. Bob Simpson (VC1)
4. Graeme Pollock
5. Everton Weeks
6. Abraham De Villiers (Backup WK)
7. Matt Prior (WK)
8. Jim Laker
9. Michael Holding
10. Fred Truman
11. Glenn McGrath
12. Stuart MacGill
The Rest Squad: Mohammad Azharuddin, Fazal Mahmood, Patsy Hendren, Bobby Peel
The Honorable Mentions: Barry Knight, Bev Congdon, Bill Johnston, Colin Miller, Cyril Vincent, Danny Morison, Darren Lehmann, Derek Randal, Desmond Haynes, Don Tallon (WK), Farokh Engineer (WK), Fidel Edwards, Gundappa Viswanath, Herschelle Gibbs, Ian Smith (WK), Karshan Ghavri, Len Pascoe, Michael Kasprowicz, Michael Slater, Norman O'Neill, Phil DeFreitas, Ranji Horden, Shane Shillingford, Tiger Smith (WK), Md. Sami
The “What Could Had Been”s: Chris Lewis, Azhar Mahmood
The Future Potentials: Azhar Ali, Darren Bravo
Despite few less days, February has produced many Test cricketers & some of them are true legends of the game. It was quite easy for me to pick almost the entire squad as most of these 16 are distinctively better than their fellow month-men. For the starting XII, hardly any doubt for me, may be only option is between playing 5 bowlers & AB as keeper or dropping MacGill as 12th man. As Bob Simpson used to be decent Leg Spinner & February not having a decent all-rounder, I choose to play Prior as regular keeper (a more than decent bat as well), off-loading AB to concentrate on batting; otherwise the tail starts from 7.
For the squad, since any of the top 3 can open, I haven’t taken a backup opener, so Hynes misses out. Fazal Mahmood could have been in XII for many other months, we ‘ll see & Bobby Peel was the best SLAO spinner of his time. Hendren & Azhar comes ahead of Vishy & Lehman, may be debatable, but Azhar was a brilliant fielder & Patsey Hendren is one of the stalwarts of the game.
I don’t think there should be much debate for Captaincy here – 3 of the all-time greatest Captains there, I pick Simpson over Lawry for VC1, so did the Aussie selectors.
February is badly missing an all-rounder & thus I feel both Lewis and Mahmood had a great chance to make the squad, the way they started, particularly Mahmood, but didn’t do justice to their early potentials.
The top 3 of this side is good, but not invincible, that gives a chance for both Azhar & Bravo, if they have a great later career.
This is a tremendous side, with one of the best attacks, led by a brilliant Captain. I think, in all 3 conditions, particularly in ENG & AUS, February ‘ll do well. If their top order isn’t blown away cheaply, middle order be able to put enough runs for the magnificent attack that they have. But February ‘ll always be pegged-back for lack of all-rounders & a long, long, long tail.
March
The Team
1. Andrew Strauss (VC1)
2. Hashim Amla
3. Viv Ricrards ©
4. Clem Hill
5. Dean Jones
6. Inzamam-ul-Haq (VC2)
7. George Giffen
8. Wally Grout (WK)
9. Graeme Swan
90. Neil Adcock
91. Colin Croft
92. Rangana Herath
The Rest Squad: Heath Streak, Michael Atherton, Vijay Hazare, Rodney Hogg
The Honorable Mentions: Alvin Kallicharran, Andrew Hudson, Ashley Giles, Ben Hilfenhaus, Bernard Julien, Bill Edrich, Bruce Reid, Daryll Cullinan, Eknath Solkar, Geoff Howarth, Jack Saunders, Jackie Mcglew, John Reid, ML Jaisimha, Mohsin Khan, Nasser Hussain, Nicky Boje, Phil Edmonds, Phil Mead, Polly Umrighar, Ross Taylor, Tom Hayward, Wasim Bari (WK), Warren Lees (WK)
The “What Could Had Been”s: Lee Irvine (Backup WK), Vince van de Bijl, Shahid Afridi
The Future Potentials: Abdur Rehman, Ajantha Mendis, Shakib Al Hasan, Umar Akmal (Backup WK)
March contains the greatest batsman ever, to lead from 3; but this is not a great bowling unit. I think most of the team picks themselves, just not enough options there. Among few confusions, as keeper, I choose Grout over Bari & Lees as none were great with bat, but Grout was part of a great team. Both Grout & Bari were great keepers, particularly against spinners, but as said, Grout was a winner. Among all-rounders, Giffen edges past Streak for his batting, though it’s really difficult to judge 2 players born more than a century apart. On a dry track, Herath may replace the all-rounder, but that weakens the batting as Grout isn’t that good with bat. Atherton is a great opener, but I think in last few years, Amla has edged past him. I picked Strauss over Atherton for a left-right opening combination & more attacking instincts (& he averages far higher as well). Few years back, surely Edmonds would have been selected, but Herath has done great since.
For the squad, not much to choose between Hogg & Reid – I peak Hogg for his pace, batting & also his career been prematurely ending for rebel SAF tour. Hazare is my pick over Kali for his style & technique against spinners.
Lee Irvine played just 4 Tests against AUS (& averages over 50), but surely would have made a great career had he not played his last Test at 25 (SAF barred after ’69-’70 Series). Might have made this squad as neither of the Keepers are good with bat. Surely, surely Van der Bijl would have made this squad, may be even in the XII, had he played in 70s & 80s. He was 20, when SAF was barred, so never played Test, but for Middlesex, Transvaal & Natal, he took close to 800 FC wickets at an astonishing average of 16.54; bowling with immaculate accuracy from his 6’-8” stature, at a more than brisk pace. (His County List A Economy was <3). In his first 3 Tests, Afridi had a Test 100, a 50, a 5fer & a match winning performance - I just wonder what he could had been had he wanted to be. Unfortunately, his taste wasn't of role-modeling Meryl Strip, he decided to be someone like, say.... Kayden Kross.
I don’t think, there is much debate for Captaincy here. Inzi was a defensive Captain & among Athurs & Strauss, I think the VC should be part of playing XI, if possible. However, in future Amla might solve the problem of VC1.
March is not a great bowling side, which gives chances for future bowlers. At official 34, if Rehman can carry same way for another 3-5years, I think he is ‘ll replace Herath, may be Mendis has a chance as well (for that his start was outstanding) & since the team has no decent WK Batsman, may be in future if UAkmal plays Test regularly, might come as a Backup gloves man (I think, he is good enough to average over 40 in Test, at least). However, the person, who ‘ll almost certainly make the team in future is Shakib – he completed his doubles in 27 Tests (earlier than most, apart from Kapil, Botham & Mankad). At 27, he averages in late 30s with bat & in early 30s with ball, another 10-12 years down the line, could be the first man with 7,000+ runs & 400+ wickets in Test.
March isn’t that good a side, a decent batting side, but not overall at all. It has the best match winner ever with bat (Inzi is not bad either), but the batting itself can’t win series; may be individual match, but not series. Also, Neither, Viv or Inzi are grafters, they can bat to win a Test, not sure about saving one. Adcock, Croft & Hogg might be handy in AUS, but it’s not a good attack in ENG or IND.
April
The Team
1. Dennis Amiss (VC2)
2. Vinno Mankad
3. David Gower
4. Sachin Tendulker (VC1)
5. Michael Clarke ©
6. Andy Flower (Backup WK)
7. Allen Knott (WK)
8. Malcolm Marshall
9. Sydney Barnes
90. Muttiah Muralitharan
91. Jason Gillespie
92. Alec Stuart (Backup WK)
The Rest Squad: Ian Bell, Craig McDermott, Arthur Shrewsbury, Colin Bland
The Honorable Mentions: Alf Valentine, Bapu Nadkarni, Bert Ironmonger, Charles Kelleway, Damien Fleming, David Holford, Dilip Vengsarkar, Ian Healy (WK), Jeffrey Stollmayer, Jimmy Sinclair, John Bracewell, Jonathan Trott, JP Dumny, Manoj Prabhakar, Monty Panesar, Mudassar Nazar, Pat Symcox, Paul Reiffel, Phil Tuffnell, Richard Collinge, Saleem Malik, Srinivas Venkataraghavan, Stephen Fleming, Syed Gregory, Umar Gul
The “What Could Had Been”s: Bob Massie, Shabbir Ahmed, Franklyn Stephenson
The Future Potentials: Mohammad Amir, Steven Finn
First of a truly complete side – April. Most of the XII or squad picks themselves. It is ao unfortunate that the best 2 WK ever are born in same month. Both outstanding behind stumps, probably Healy slightly ahead but I pick Knott for his batting. Mankad is picked as opener for being left-hander & being a great all-rounder (probably the best ever spin bowling all-rounder, completed doubles in 23 Tests, only bettered by Botham later, in 21); Stuart makes the XII though, just in case, if Amiss has a bad series. When Gower & Gillespie becomes weak link of a team, hardly much to discuss about.
I have 5 bowlers in XII, so opted for a batting heavy reserve – 3 batsman & McDermott. Between Gillespie & McDermott, Gill was a better bat & had better averages, so he makes the XII. Among batsmen, Shrewsbury was by far better batsman of his generation (1880s & 90s) & was regarded the best by WG himself. For his all-round game on difficult conditions, Bell edges past Vengsarkar, Trott, Malik & Fleming, while Bland was the first ever “specialist fielder”, yet averaged almost 49 & played his last Test at 31. Bert Ironmonger should have made the squad based on stats, but the sample is too small & I already have a great SLAO in Mankad.
Clarke leads the side as I feel Tendulkar to be a great Vice Captain, for that his passion, commitment & honest dedication. May be while leading the side, he took too much pressure on himself & it affected his batting, while Clarke has led from the front. SRT ‘ll be a great VC, Amiss had better personality than Gower (He ‘ll never fly a mosquito in between a struggling Ashes).
Bob Massie started like a king, better than Bedsar or Syd Barnes as a new ball bowler; but lost his Aussie place in 6 months (& Western Australia place in 15) of Lords Test ’72; surely there must be some story than just losing his form. For apparent doggy action, Shabbir Ahmed played his last Test at 29; taking 5.1 wickets/Test (51 in 10) at 23 runs & 50 balls per wicket – I can only say, later on far “Doggier” bowlers have played lot many Tests, someone in PCB rank might not had liked him that much. At 22, Stephenson went with Alvin Kali’s rebel team to SAF (’81-‘82), apparently for not making the great WI side of 80s & subsequently WICB banned him for life. Wish they hadn’t, for that Stephenson competed with Imran, Hadlee, Kapil, Botham & Rice horn to horn for next 10 years in County.
I don’t know how much Aameer earned from bookies, but he must be the idiot of the history. For that, what I had seen in 2010s English summer from a 19 years old kid, I don’t know how much Aameer could have earned from County, Sponsors & T20 Leagues in next 20 years. Along with his April mate SRT, no teenager ever had rocked the world that much. Still not all over for him though, if he can fulfill his potential that I saw in the 2 Tests that PAK won in 2010 summer, surely he ‘ll make this April XII, surely. Finn had almost 100 Test scalps before turning 23, then faded away. But, at 25 standing 6’8”, still Finn has time in his side to make the squad at least.
This is a great April side, almost complete one. Only thing missing is a great Leg spinner; still it ‘ll take another exceptional side to beat April over 5 Tests across anywhere.
May
The Team
1. Gordon Greenidge
2. Michael Hussey
3. Brian Lara (VC1)
4. George Headley
5. Denis Compton
6. Ted Dexter ©
7. Jeffrey Doujon (WK)
8. Bob Willis
9. Hedley Verity
10. Erapalli Prasanna
11. Bhagwath Chandrasekhar
12. Maurice Tate
The Rest Squad: Mahela Jayawardene, Warwick Armstrong (VC2), Conrad Hunte, Colin Blythe
The Honorable Mentions: Alan Melville, Andrew Jones, Ashwell Prince, Billy Barnes, David Allen, Denis Atkinson, Deryek Murry (WK), Frank Woolley, Glenn Turner, Graham Dilley, Herbie Taylor, Hugh Trumble, Ian Redpath, J.J. Ferris, Jack Blackham (WK), Keith Fletcher, Misbah-ul-Haq, Neil Foster, Paul Collingwood, Peter Burge (Backup WK), Ravi Shastri, Sonny Ramadhin, Tauseef Ahmed, Tich Freeman
The “What Could Had Been”s: Collie Smith
The Future Potentials: James Pattinson, Sunil Narnie
I don’t think, I need to justify the top 7 of this side; may be Conrad Hunte could have opened with GG, but I wanted a left-right combination & Mike averages close to 60, for few times he opened for AUS. My problem is either to play 3 spinners or 2 of the great 3 (Prassanna ‘ll miss out, I am bias to leg-spin) & play Maurice Tate as Willis’s partner. However, since Dexter can bowl decent medium pace, I ‘ll play all 3 spinners, unless it’s a green top.
For the squad, Haunte comes as reserve opener over Turner for his attacking stroke paly & Armstrong as the all-rounder over Frank Woolley, mainly because Armstrong was a fast bowling all-rounder, while Woolley SLAO, we already have 2 SLAO spinners in the squad. Colin Blythe was the best SLAO spinner of his time, but I picked Verity for his brilliance during the period when batting was most dominant, but Blythe makes the squad. It was a close call between Mahela & Misbah, but Mahela had a glittering career, Misbah had much shorter one, thanks to Inzamam ul Haq. My only confusion was between Prasanna & Trumble, but I think Trumble was a great “wet wicket” bowler (A better bat as well, but batting for bowler is not required in May), Pras was a class act everywhere, even on grass. Could have taken both at the expense of Hunte, but 5 spinners is a bit over kill.
“Lord Ted” was one of the best ever English Captain, while no Captain ever was such a lone fighter for a struggling side than Lara. I pick WW Armstrong as VC2, as if he makes the starting XI, it ‘ll only as a replacement of Dexter.
Collie Smith died from road accident, just after turning 26 (played his last Test 6 months earlier), but already had 4 centuries in 26 Tests (& 48 wickets). At his death, he was rated as good as the gentleman driving that fatal car (& almost got paralyzed) – Garfield Sobers.
May isn’t a Fast bowling side, which opens the door for Pattinson, if he can keep his knees going for 10 more years. Narnie is a great LO bowler, but if he concentrates (& performs) on longer version, might make into the squad in future.
This is truly a great batting side, one of the strongest, if not “the”, but without a pair of great new ball bowlers. Willis & Tate were good, but that’s it. I think, this side ‘ll struggle to win matches in AUS & ENG, even in IND batting second, because, unless it’s a dust bowl, even on dry wickets, you need a pair of new ball bowlers to strike early blow. The best chance I see for this team is to play 3 spinners, bat first, put a really big score & bring the spinners in the game. Only person who could be a bit uncomfortable in that strategy ‘ll be Dujon, for that throughout his career, he kept 30 metres away from the stumps, all day long; now he ‘ll have to do that from 30 cm apart, all day long.
June
The Team
1. Len Hutton
2. John Edrich
3. Walter Hammond (VC1)
4. Javed Miandad
5. Kevin Petersen
6. Steve Waugh (VC2)
7. Dave Houghton (WK)
8. Alan Davidson
9. Wasim Akram ©
10. Dale Styen
11. Derek Underwood
12. Mushtaq Ahmed
The Rest Squad: Tom Graveney, Mark Waugh, George Lohman, Frank Tyson
The Honorable Mentions: Alan Connolly, Allan Lamb, Andrew Symonds, Asif Iqbal, Brian Statham, Charles Macartney, Chris Cairns, Dinesh Kartik (WK), Graham McKenzie, John Reid, Kumar Shri Duleepsinghji, Mark Richardson, Mervyn Dillon, Mike Gatting, Neil Hawke, Peter Heine, Peter Pollock, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Ray Illingworth, Roy Gilchrist, Sanath Jayasuria, Shane Bond, Shane Watson, Taufeeq Umar, Terry Alderman
The “What Could Had Been”s: Gary Gilmour, Sid Barnes
The Future Potentials: Angelo Methews, Kemar Roach, Stuart Broad, Vernon Phillander, Steve Smith
Read the names in top 6, enough said. Depending on wicket, it’s a choice between Davidson & Mushtaq. I don’t think, this team needs a 5 bowler attack considering all-round capabilities of Hammond & S Waugh, therefore one of them ‘ll sit out. One confusion is whether to open with Edrich or Sanath, I pick Edrich for being a genuine opener & Sanath being susceptible in testing conditions.
For the squad, I picked M Waugh ahead of Lamb & Sarwan for his sheer elegance, big match temperament & his fielding. Graveney comes ahead of KS Duleepsinghji, who had only a handful of Tests to be considered. Could have picked Mark over KP in playing XII, but I think KP was just a bit more consistent, attacking & a better player of spin. Also, I don’t want to play makeshift opener, therefore both Mark & Graveney sits out. Illingworth & both the great Kiwi all-rounders missing out, simply because of an even better all-rounder in Davidson. Tyson & Bond are 2 outstanding fast bowlers ever, but their career was too short to dislodge Styen from starting XI, only Tyson makes the squad. Alderman & Lohman were outstanding medium pacers, I picked Lohman in the squad simply for his unbelievable stats, albeit 120 years back. June is a unique month in terms of Wicket Keepers. Apart from Houghton, the only 2 wicket keepers with 10+ Test are Dinesh Kartik & Steve Rhodes. So, I think, Javed or Hutton ‘ll have to make shift, just in case of any injury.
Among few contenders, I pick Wasim as the Captain for his outstanding skill & attacking mindset. SWaugh had better Test record as Captain, but I don’t think he was a better Captain. Both Hammond & Hutton were defensive leaders while it’s safer not to take Javed or KP close to Captaincy. Also, it makes sense to make a fast bowler Captain, with so many batting greats, leading their respective country.
Sid Barnes played his first Test at 22, in 1938, then had almost 8 years’ war break & when returned back at 29, played for only a year & went to self-exile, pursuing other career – yet finished career with Test average of 63 in 13 Tests. Gary Gilmore started his career at 22 with big potential (& a big tummy), by 25, he was finished for WSC, for his booze, for his injury & for his life style; yet finished with 54 wickets at 26, in 15 Tests, & a Test hundred, batting at 9.
May be in future Phillander can make the squad edging past Lohman, but I don’t think Mathews or Steve Smith ‘ll be able to dislodge S Waugh or Hammond as batting all-rounder, neither Roach to replace Tyson. Barbie already has a great career, might lead England in future, but replacing Wasim or Davidson is altogether different ball game. But I must say, these boys are a bit unlucky to be born in June, in some other months, easily could have made into those squad in future.
This is a brilliant squad in terms of batting & swing bowling, with a left-right opening combination. However, there are some distinctive weaknesses as well, apart from the WK. One of the opening slot is not good enough & we had to play Hammond at 3, from his customary 4, which means despite having Hutton at top, this team ‘ll be tested against new ball. Second weakness is, it doesn’t have a truly genuine spinner. Mushi is great but not Warne, Quadir, Benaud or O’Railey & Underwood was subject to favorable conditions. Also, there is no left-hander in middle order, to unsettle bowlers & Houghton is not even as good as some other team’s makeshift WKs.
To me, in English condition, this team ‘ll be almost unbeatable. This side has 5 great Englishmen in XII & most of the bowlers had been outstanding in England, as well as in AUS. However, I think they ‘ll be great, but not outstanding in IND.
July
The Team
1. Sunil Gavaskar
2. Graham Gooch (VC1)
3. Barry Richards
4. Allen Border ©
5. Stan McCabe
6. Garry Sobers
7. MS Dhoni (WK) (VC2)
8. Sir Richard Hadlee
9. Dennis Lille
10. Alec Bedser
11. Harbhajan Singh
12. Shaun Pollock
The Rest Squad: Makhya Ntini, Morris Leyland, Tony Lock, Wasim Raja
The Honorable Mentions: Andre Nel, Ashley Mallett, Bob Taylor (WK), Bruce Taylor, Chandu Borde, Eric Rowan, Ewen Chatfield, Hashan Tilakratne, Jacob Oram, James Anderson, Jhonty Rhodes, Jock Cameron (WK), Joe Hardstaff, John Wright, Sourav Ganguly, Trent Boult, Venkatapathy Raju, WG Grace, Zaheer Abbas
The “What Could Had Been”s: Clive Rice, Jimmy Cook, Ken Farnes
The Future Potentials: BJ Watling (WK), Faf du Plessis
First thing I am surprised to observe that, there are not many good Test cricketers born in July; but boy, those few who are born, are among the very best of their type, colossus of the game, more than make up the shortfall. In the starting XII, hardly any options left, depending on wicket, it’s a choice between 2 of Harbhajan, Bedser & Pollock. Though, both Sobers & Border can bowl spin, I ‘ll like to keep Bhaji in the XI unless it’s a green top
I think, there might be other teams with better squads, but for starting XII, I doubt if there is any better. Selection of this team was probably the easiest as the squad almost pick themselves. WG could be a cricket pioneer, but most of his greatness are in FC cricket, so was Zaheer. I should mention that, though I have left few others for small sample size (too little Test career), Barry Richards is too good to be left out. The batting is absolutely outstanding till 8 (9, if Polly replaces Bhaji) & this team probably has the best pace attack for all conditions – Fast, swing, seam, hit the deck, metronome whatever you ask for. Only 2 confusion was WK – Taylor easily the better gloves man, but averages 15 with bat. & for the squad, I picked Wasim Raja for his all-round capability & leg spin. He is among few great under achievers of the game, could have added 10 runs to his batting average & doubled his wicket tally. He comes in the squad ahead of Zed & Ganguly, as a backup of Sir Gary, just in case.
There are many capable Captains in this team, but none more than Allen Border – a true grit. I deliberately kept Sobers out of Vice Captaincy – he is too good to be a deputy; let him play simply as a player. Goochi was a far better match reader than Sunil or Pollock & much more attacking than MS.
Rice & Cook are 2 great County players, never played Test due to isolation; could have been great, but the handicaps are too high for making the July cut. Ken Farnes blasted Bradman’s AUS in 1938, at 24, a delayed start for his Cambridge days, then went to War & left the world at 29.
Among potentials, very little chance, Fuf averages over 50, but to displace Stan McCabe, he ‘ll have to carry for few more seasons at this rate, but he is almost 30 already. May be, may be, Watling at 29, averaging 38, can challenge MS, as he is far better gloves man, but he ‘ll have to carry this average for another 5-6 years, at least.
This is a near perfect team, with apparently, only 2 deficiencies I can see: a minor one – there are better WK in other teams (I could have picked Bob Taylor, but then he probably would have batted at 10) & a major one – this team don’t have an ATG spinner, Bhaji is great but not ATG. I think, it’s ‘ll be near impossible to compete with this side in AUS, one of the top sides in ENG, but probably still a great side in IND, for Bhajji’s outstanding record there. I have picked Lock ahead of Anderson in the squad just considering the tour of IND.
August
The Team
1. Frank Worrell (VC2)
2. Eddie Barlow
3. Donald Bradman
4. Greg Chappell (VC1)
5. Mohammad Yousuf
6. Clive Llyod ©
7. Jack Gregory
8. Godfrey Evans (WK)
9. Shohaib Akhter
10. Tom Richardson
11. Iqbal Qasim
12. Jeff Thompson
The Rest Squad: Shivnarayan Chanderpaul, Angus Fraser, John Embury, Trevor Goddard
The Honorable Mentions: Bert Vogler, Bill Voce, Bill Whitty, Bill Woodfull, Cyril Vincent, Denis Atkinson, Dilip Sardesai, Dominic Cork, Doug Wright, Geoff Pullar, Gharam Thorpe, Jack Russell (WK), Jack Ryder, Javagal Srinath, Jesse Ryder, Lasith Malinga, Lindsey Hasset, Pedro Collins, Sandeep Patil, Simon Doull, Simon Katich, Venkatesh Prasad, Yashpal Sharma
The “What Could Had Been”s: Mohammad Zahid
The Future Potentials: Kane Williamson
Not much to choose in batting for August. Llyod comes ahead of Shiva for obvious reason – I want dominators, match winners in great teams, not stonewallers for saving match. Barlow is the all-rounder. Unless, it’s a WACA cracker, Qasim ‘ll keep one of Thompson or Richardson out of playing XI.
For the squad, Embury comes as the only available decent spinner while Goddard is the backup all-rounder for Gregory. August is the month of blistering pace – Akhter, Thommo, Richardson, Gregory, Voce, Malinga; I wanted a seamer in the squad, so the best one comes- Fraser, edging past Srinath. Only debate for this side is probably the second opener – I picked Barlow over Katich, Rayder & Woodfull for his all-round ability.
It’s difficult, but I can’t put Brandman as Captain over Lloyd; so I do the same for him as Sobers. Greg & Worrell ‘ll deputize in case of Llyod’s absence & Sir Don ‘ll have his own place.
As I said, August is the month of wind-mills, you could have added probably the windiest ever Md. Zahid. It’s a shame that he was gone with the wind & someone in PCB rank should be ashamed of that. What a wastage of talent!!
If Ken Williams can come close to any of the 3 men having more Centuries than him at 23, he ‘ll walk into the squad. But then, one should remind him the 3 gentlemen once more.
September
The Team
1. Saeed Anwar
2. Majid Khan
3. Ian Chappell ©
4. Kumar Shri Ranjitsinhji
5. Martin Crowe (VC2)
6. Mike Proctor
7. Denis Lindsay (WK)
8. Shane Warne (VC1)
9. Abdul Quadir
10. Curtly Ambrose
11. Wes Hall
12. Lance Gibbs
The Rest Squad: Bishan Bedi, Chris Gayle, Robin Smith, Frederick Spofforth
The Honorable Mentions: Amir Sohail, Asanka Gurusinha, Basil Butcher, Bert Oldfield (WK), Brendon McCullum (Backup WK), Bruce Yardley, Chris Broad, Craig McMillan, Darren Gough, David Richardson (WK), Geoff Arnold, George Hirst, Hansie Cronje, Ishant Sharma, Kepler Wessels, Kiran More (WK), Lala Amarnath, Learie Constantine, Max Walker, Mohammad Rafique, Mohinder Amarnath, Nathan Astle, Patrick Patterson, Pragyan Ojha , Stuart Clark, Thilan Samaraweera, Vijay Manjrekar
The “What Could Had Been”s: Archie Jackson, Garth Le Roux
The Future Potentials: Jimmy Neesham, Ravichandran Ashwin
For the September squad, I had 2 problems – search for batsmen & sort bowlers to drop. Ideally, I should have kept Bedi in the squad ahead of Quadir, which would have made it a perfect spin attack, but genius are born to challenge the common practice – 2 leggis ‘ll bowl in tandem. Gibbs ‘ll hardly get a game, unless it’s an under prepared track & due to the poor batting, I can’t drop Proctor to play 5 bowlers.
In the squad, there are several left-handed openers, I picked the best one. Wanted a right handed opener, hence Majid comes. KS Ranjitsingh played only handful of Tests battling his ill health & Royal duties, but averaged 45 in 1890s (when Archie MacLaren had around 33), but what makes him legend is his Sussex County average of 56 (which is Bradmanisq in those days). He is credited for two unique Cricket shots – Leg Glance & Sweep. Gayle is the backup opener & Smith edges past Samaraweera & Manjrekar for his ability to play ugly hostile fast bowling. “Demon” Spofforth was the pioneer of Fast bowlers, 135 years back.
Easiest job for September was to appoint a Captain, one of the best, among the very best ‘ll lead the team, supported by a naughty genius. Drugs, bookies, mobile, divorce, cigarette what not, but that tummy guy was as cunning as anybody. May be AUS missed a trick of not appointing Shane as Test Captain ever; but I ‘ll make him deputy of someone slightly better.
Archie Jackson was born a year later Sir Don, but made up that one year in debut (both in 1928-29 Ashes) & started career with a stunning 164. He battled with tuberculosis & died on the day Larwood won the Ashes in 1932, aged 23. Yet, with an average of 47 (often spitting blood), surely would have made it to the team, probably would have gone far, far higher. Le Roux was 14 when SAF barred from Test, played in WSC in 1977-79, & matched Lillee, Holding, Imran & Croft for pace ball by ball.
The batting lineup gives hope to Neesham, who after 4 Tests has an average of 70+, 2 centuries & 2 fifties, if he can carry on. After 19 Tests, Ashwin averages almost 40 with bat & 5.5 wickets/Tests; though his stats are a bit inflated for minnow bashing at home, still he has 10 more years to build on this.
September is another unique month – talent hardly polarizes so much in natural course. Some of the greatest ever bowlers are born in September, but I had to struggle to find 8 decent batsman. This team ‘ll win matches, for that sort of attack can’t be stopped for 20 wickets, but it ‘ll lose much more. One thing for sure, it ‘ll take lots, lots of rain to have a drawn game involving September, with that batting, bowling & Captaincy.
October
The Team
1. Matthew Hayden
2. Geoffrey Boycott
3. Neil Harvey
4. Jaques Kallis
5. Kumar Sangakara (Back up WK) (VC2)
6. Virender Sehwag
7. Tony Greig (VC1)
8. Richie Benaud ©
9. Ray Lindwall
10. Saeed Ajmal
11. Allan Donald
12. Anil Kumble
The Rest Squad: Wilfred Rhodes, Brad Haddin (WK), Bill Ponsford, John Snow
The Honorable Mentions: Aravinda de Silva, Basil D'Oliveira, Bob Cowper, Brain Booth, Courtney Walsh, Damien Martyn, Dwayne Bravo, Fanie de Villiers, Gautam Gambhir, Gerry Gomez, Ghulam Ahmed, Graham Yallop, Ian Bishop, Ian Johnson, Irfan Pathan, Jim Parks (WK), Johnny Briggs, Lance Cairns, Maichel Vaughn, Mark Taylor, Mike Hendrik, Mohammad Hafeez, Morne Morkel, Narendra Hirwani, Nathan Hauritz, Navojot Sidhu, Prasanna Jayawardene (WK), Rashid Latif (WK), Ryan Harris, Saeed Ahmed, Steve Harmission, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Vijay Merchant, Zaheer Khan
The “What Could Had Been”s: Colin Milburn, Stuart Law
The Future Potentials: David Warner
Some hard talks surely in October – let me try. Hayden comes as the lefty opener. For his right-handed partner, I could have gone for 3/4 options, but I go for Boycott. It ‘ll be a sight to watch – the chainsaw crasher & the hacksaw stonewaller. Ajmal comes ahead of Kumble for his capability on good wickets & also Benaud being a leggi. In IND, 3 spinners ‘ll play (as Greig & Kallis can take the new ball with the regular pacer) & one of Donald or Lindwall ‘ll make room for Kumble. I keep Lindwall for his batting capability. For a better balance, I play Sanga at 5 & ‘ll keep with him. Either way, the best batsman of the team should bat at 3, hence Neil Harvey bats there. Finally, Viru comes at 6, his best position. I think, BCCI selectors didn’t have the balls to remove any of the BIG 4, hence Viru was made to open, but trust me, if anybody ever can make a similar impact like Gilchrist batting down the order, at was Viru at 6.
For the squad, what’s left – Haddin comes ahead of Latif for his batting, Rhodes is the SLAO spinner & all-rounder, Snow is for gloomy day & Ponsford just misses out to Boycott, but makes the squad.
For October, I ‘ll not write anything regarding captaincy.
Millburn started his career at 25, had to retire at 27 for an eye injury with an average of 50+, tried a comeback with revised stance, which resulted his average to drop down to 47; & he scored these run at brutal aggression. Had he born in any other country, or any other generation, Stuart Law would have played at least another 99 Tests (yes, he had only 1, averaging infinity). He is so unfortunate that, not necessarily the batsmen selected ahead of him were better, he was lucky enough to be 6th pick of his first-class side (NSW team had Taylor, Slater, Maher, Waugh twins, Bevan & Law in their line up throughout 90s).
It’s difficult to replace Hayden, but if anyone can do from current generation, it’s probably Warner; but he has to continue for almost a decade still.
October is a great balanced team with lot of all-rounders. If any team, I would like to avoid in IND, that ‘ll be October, for that brilliant leggi, carrying a nation of a billion+ for over a decade (One of the most under-rated cricketer ever – from 1986 to 2003, IND won Tests only in subcontinent, where this man averages around 20 & 7+ wickets/Test, though the credit cherry always went to someone shining). In terms of all-round capability, is there any team challenging them? Let’s wait, still 2 more months to come.
November
The Team
1. Herbert Sutcliffe
2. Justin Langer (Backup WK)
3. Victor Trumper (VC1)
4. Ken Barrington
5. Younis Khan
6. Adam Gilchrist (WK)
7. Imran Khan ©
8. Kieth Miller (VC2)
9. Ian Botham
10. Waquar Younas
11. Fred Titmus
12. Mitchell Johnson
The Rest Squad: Dudley Nourse, Gary Kristen, VVS Laxman, Charlie Turner
The Honorable Mentions: Andy Caddick, Bert Sutcliffe, Bert Vogler, Brett Lee, Colin McDonald, Dion Nash, Eddie Paynter, Harold Larwood, James Franklin, Jasubhai Patel, Joe Darling, Ken Wordsworth (WK), Marvan Atapattu, Merv Hughes, Mushtaq Mohammad, Nathan Lyon, Paul Harris, Peter Siddle, Ridley Jackobs (WK), Rodney Marsh (WK), Roy Fredricks, Seymour Nurse, Stanley Jackson
The “What Could Had Been”s: Stewie Dempster
The Future Potentials: Ahmed Shehzad, Devendra Bishu, Dinesh Chandimal, Virat Kohli
Aha ha, it’s November & the fun starts from No. 6. You get them 4 down at lunch & still might be bowling after next day lunch. Absolutely easiest job to select this team, may be one can argue between Langer & Kristen, but I go for the more attacking one; however I rate both of them technically better than Fredricks, who was a bit slasher. Unless it’s WACA, Titmus ‘ll keep Johnson out of the starting XI, that’s it. Between YK & VVS, I think VVS is more eye catching, but YK averages 7 higher & a crisis man. Could have played Nourse either, but I am not sure about his spin playing ability.
For the squad, Nourse & VVS comes ahead of Darling, Paynter & McDonald, while Mushtaq just can’t make it for his part-time leg spin. The unluckiest of them all is Rod Marsh, just born in a wrong month.
Dempester started his career at 26, played his last Test at 29, then the WWII started & when NZ returned to Test Cricket, he was 44. After 1933 English tour, he opted for a County career & left his Test potentials for good, retired with a Test average of 66.
This is the second month, I don’t want to waste space talking Captaincy.
Surely, Virat ‘ll replace one of YK or Langer in the starting XI, unless he goes the Afridi way. Chandimal still averages 49 & might carry this for long enough to make Nourse or VVS’s life uncomfortable. Shehzad also has a little chance, again for that slightly loose opening slot. I put Bishu in this category because there is no leg spinner of decent level in this team. He is 28 & the way he started, if can make a come-back, can be in contention.
November is an ugly month to play against. It ‘ll give you false hope, & if you are not careful, the last 5 wickets ‘ll blow the game away in a session. However, one shouldn’t even think of blowing the first 4 wickets – just look for the No. 1, 3 & 4. Had an ATG spinners been born in November, I would have started ranking months from second position. This team ‘ll be difficult to beat & difficult to survive against, but also November ‘ll struggle to win batting first.
December
The Team
1. Sir Jack Hobbs
2. Hanif Mohammad
3. Rohan Kanhai (VC2)
4. Rickey Ponting ©
5. Peter May (VC1)
6. Doug Walters
7. Les Ames (Backup WK)
8. Andrew Flintoff
9. William (Bill) O'Reilly
10. Joel Garner
11. Clarrie Grimmett
12. Mohammad Asif
The Rest Squad: Saqlain Mushtaq, Mark Boucher (WK), Geoff Lawson, Alastair Cook
The Honorable Mentions: Abdul Razzak, Archie MacLaren, Brian McMillan, Carl Hooper, Charlie Griffith, Chris Martin, Chris Old, Colin Cowdrey, Cyril Washbrook, Dansh Kaneria, Darren Sammy, Dattu Phadkar, David Boon, Dilip Doshi, Ernie Toshack, Freddie Brown, Greg Matthews, Ian Johnson, Intikhab Alam, Marcus Trescothick, Methew Hoggard, Murray Goodwin, Salim Durani, Sarfaraz Newaz, Subhash Gupte, Syed Kirmani (WK), Tibby Cotter, Trevor Bailey, Warren Bardsley
The “What Could Had Been”s: Brad Hodge, Sylvester Clarke
The Future Potentials: Joe Root, Junaid Khan, Ravindu Jadeja, Shikhar Dhawan, Tim Southee
So here we are, December. The year closes with the highest number of great cricketers (may be 10 months back the Valentine day has something to do with this). My job is an easy one, for batting at least. Cook makes the team, but still won’t make the start ahead of Hanif, though he is a southpaw & can eventually make it. Between May & Cowdray, I go for May, most English selectors would have done so, I guess. There are not many great fast bowlers in December, but I got the 3 I needed. Les Ames keeps the wicket, which allows me to drop one of Walters or May & play 5 bowlers. Boucher misses out to Ames, because Ames was easily the best ever WK batsman, before November 2000, when someone name Adam Gilchrist made his Test debut (& blasted a great PAK attack). Whoever is surprised with Asif’s inclusion, trust me, that guy would have averaged close to 20 in 70s & 80s. An absolute gem of a new ball bowler, tactful, cunning, skilled & a great thinker (unfortunately only on the field).
For the rest squad, the biggest problem was to select leg spinners, 5 greats of the game are born in December & I had to drop Gupte for that, there is Grimmet & O’Railey. I can’t pick 3 leggis in a squad when there is an option named Saqlain Mushtaq. Flintoff comes ahead of Bailey, Intekhab & Methews. It’s irony that a great spin attack, but Kirmani had to drop out, no shame though; not many ‘ll eclipse Ames or Boucher.
For Captaincy, I think the best person probably was Peter May, but as I said, he might lose his place if they want to play 5 bowlers. I appoint an equally capable one & make May his deputy.
Brad Hodge was the second one born in wrong country, wrong time. He played only 3 Tests, against a top SAF side, & averages 51, with a double century. Then comes the third one – Sylvester Clarke. Would have walked into any team barring his motherland. Played 11 Tests & has as good a record as most greats, but deprivation forced him to tour SAF at 27, where he blasted a very good batting lineup, but that shut his WIN door forever. His ODI average is 18.9, & County average is 19.5, you better judge.
None of the potentials ‘ll make near to this team, trust me, but even if they are to come close to selection, they ‘ll have to do good, really good, throughout their rest career.
The Rank of Months
1. July – The most complete side with every spot being solid for every conditions. This side ‘ll be almost unbeatable in AUS & ENG, ‘ll compete very well in IND, A perfectly balanced side for almost all conditions; easily the best batting & Fast bowling team.
2. June – The best side for ENG & a very good in AUS & IND as well. Just edged past by July for the Keeping drawback.
3. December – Just edging November, because of the balanced attack & top order batting. A tremendous side for AUS & IND.
4. November – The all-rounders team. May be struggle without spinners, big time in IND, but it ‘ll be hell out to get them all-out twice. Just an ATG spinner, November ‘ll walk past December, at least.
5. April – A brilliant balanced team, probably the best bowling unit; just missing a truly great all-rounder. It ‘ll really challenge the higher four, if Aamer can fulfill his true potential.
6. October – The inferior all-rounders’ team - a brilliant squad, but probably is just a bit behind in every facet to November, apart from spin attack.
7. February – Probably, as good & balanced bowling lineup that one can dream, but not the best top 3 in batting. Had a truly ATG all-rounder been born in February, could have taken them into top half easily
8. May – Tremendous batting side, but you need New Ball bowlers to be a top side. Lost at least 2 positions for not having a pair of ATG opening bowlers.
9. September – A poor batting side, but they ‘ll win some matches, surely. Any team having that attack ‘ll never struggle for 20 wickets, but they ‘ll lose their 20 for cheaper, in most cases. Edges past August for match winning abilities
10. August – Not that great bowling side, which you need to win Test matches. Edging past the other 2 bottom quarter teams, because of batting, led by the great man. August ‘ll draw many matches, but ‘ll struggle to win few.
11. March - The best batsman ever can makeup some of the batting deficits, but the bowling is also not that good. I don’t see them even saving some matches, unlike August.
12. January – The hooping boys. It’s ironic that the year starters finish as the bottom side & it ‘ll remain there probably for good – it’s just not a quick fix. This team needs improvement probably in about half of the squad at least.
My Choice of Best Ever
(& I ‘ll not give any explanation)
The Team
1. Jack Hobbs
2. Len Hutton
3. Viv Richards
4. Brian Lara (VC2)
5. Donald Bradman
6. Gary Sobers
7. Adam Gilchrist (WK)
8. Imran Khan ©
9. Wasim Akram
10. Shane Warne (VC1)
11. Malcom Marshal
12. Muthia Muralitharan
The Rest Squad: Kumar Sangakara (Backup WK), Sir Richard Hadlee, Denis Lillee, Jaques Kallis
The Honorable Mentions (Basically Second 16): Sunil Gavasker, Herbert Sutcliff, Rickey Ponting, Sachin Tendulker, Sir Walter Hammond (VC1), Keith Miller, Ian Botham, Les Ames (WK), Richie Benaud ©, Glen McGrath, Waquar Younas, Jim Laker; AB De Villers (Backup WK), Victor Trumper, Curtley Ambrose, Greg Chappel (VC2)
The “What Could Had Been” XII: Jimmy Cook, Stewie Dempster, Archie Jackson, Brad Hodge, Stuart Law, Denis Lindsay (WK), Collie Smith, Clive Rice, Franklyn Stephenson, Vincent Van Der Bijl, Gearth Le Roux, Sylvester Cleark
The Future Potentials: None to be in this 32, not at least from “so far” generation – ICC & the Business mafia are killing Test Cricket slowly, in future I don’t see anyone reaching this level of compassion, concentration, dedication & perfection. AB can exchange position with Sangakara for his batting & keeping skills (dropping Ames to bench in second team) in future, while at official 37, if Ajmal can carry for another 35-36 Test like his first 30, maybe he can make the second 16 – that’s it, I am afraid.
Hope it hadn't been too boring.
Last edited:
??
, and thanks to PP's new 'edit rule' !
