Tournament XI

[Steulen]

For me:

Chris Gayle (joint man of the tournament)
Stephen Fleming (second best opener; instrumental in NZ's progress)
Ricky Ponting (not for batting, but great captaincy and excellent fielding)
Damien Martyn (I did say joint man of the tournament, didn't I?)
Andrew Symonds (electric fielding, runs in important matches, tidy bowling)
Mark Boucher (best keeper, and important runs)
Daniel Vettori (this was not a spinner's tournament, surprisingly, but he did well...with the bat too)
Kyle Mills (excellent new ball bowler)
Ian Bradshaw (excellent throughout, the Windian McGrath)
Nathan Bracken (not much difference between the main Aussie seamers, Bracken gets in for his 3 wickets in the final)
Makhaya Ntini (best bowling performance of the tournament)


A bit heavy on the bowlers, but it was a bowlers' tournament after all.

[FaaipDeOiad]

Have to say I think McGrath and Watson definitely have to be there, and Ponting shouldn't be.

I'd go for:

Chris Gayle (most runs in the tournament and handy bowling)
Shivnarine Chanderpaul (very dangerous, one of the better batsmen in a bowler's tournament)
Stephen Fleming (two crucial innings, including one of the best of the tournament against South Africa)
Shane Watson (averaged 32 with the bat and was equal 5th in wickets with Ntini, very solid)
Damien Martyn (highest batting average, several crucial knocks)
Mark Boucher (edges out Gilchrist and Dhoni whose single good innings weren't as important)
Jacob Oram (batted okay, bowled well)
Daniel Vettori (mediocre bowling but batted very well and kept it fairly tight)
Kyle Mills (equal leading wicket taker with 10, had a hand in a couple of wins)
Glenn McGrath (incredible in the last three matches Australia played, another guy with 10 wickets)
Nathan Bracken (best player in the final, 10 wickets for the series)

Light representation from South Africa given they made the semi-finals, but I couldn't find a spot for Ntini or Pollock. Could bring in Ntini for either Bracken or Mills, perhaps. Pietersen and Bravo also got pretty close to making it.

[Nnanden]

Chris Gayle (starts against Australia and India, 100 and 3 wickets against England, demolished South Africa with a big 100)
Stephen Fleming (89 against South Africa, 80 against Pakistan, captained well throughout)
Shivnarine Chanderpaul (50 against India, 50 against South Africa)
Damien Martyn (78 against England, 73* against India, partnership against New Zealand, 47* against West Indies)
AB de Villiers (stunning in the field, 46 against West Indies, 50 against Sri Lanka, only failed against a peach from Arafat)
Shane Watson (wickets against England and West Indies, 50 against India, 50 against West Indies)
Mark Boucher (69 against Pakistan was a match-winner, kept superbly throughout, vocal behind the stumps)
Nathan Bracken (pegged-back West Indies twice, 3-for in the final, bowled well against India and New Zealand, took key wickets)
Kyle Mills (cained South Africa with 3 wickets, bowled well against Pakistan, got Jayasuriya, wickets against Australia)
Ian Bradshaw (important wickets against Australia twice, broke India`s back, economical)
Glenn McGrath (came back against England, bowled well against India, New Zealand and West Indies, excellent control and learnt a new role)

Honourable mentions to -
Jeetan Patel (bowled amazingly in the two chances he got)
Ramesh Powar (again, gunned it, somehow only played one match)
Shaun Pollock (great control and economy, wickets against Sri Lanka and Pakistan, useful innings with the bat)
Makhaya Ntini (5-for was top-notch against Pakistan, wickets against Sri Lanka)
Andrew Symonds (didn`t make a mistake in the field, batted well in limited chances, 50 against New Zealand)
Andrew Strauss (50 against West Indies, 50 against Australia)
Jerome Taylor (hat-trick against Australia, good bounce on dead tracks, top death bowling, often lead the attack)

[Dravid]

My side

1) Chris Gayle(The best batsman of the tournament, in superb form.)
2)Stephen Fleming(Great form, played well against Pakistan and Africa)(Captain)
3)Shane Watson(Pretty good all round perforamce.)
4)Damien Martyn(Second best batsman of the tournament. Unlucky not to get a 100)
5)Andrew Symonds(Another decent all round performace from him, got runs when needed.)
6)Mark Boucher(The best keeper in the tournament, with out a doubt)(Keeper)
7)Mahendra Singh Dhoni(Played smart Cricket against West Indies, and a pretty decent tournament for him.)
8)Daniel Vettori(Decent bowling, also a really good lower order batsman.)
9)Nathan Bracken(Should be Man of the match IMO in the final)
10)Glen McGrath(He has to be included!)
11)Makhaya Ntini(Mind blowing performace against Pakistan, one of the top performace in the tournament)

[Nnanden]

Originally Posted by FaaipDeOiad

I'd go for:
Mark Boucher (edges out Gilchrist and Dhoni whose single good innings weren't as important)

Gilchrist`s 90-odd in Australia`s opener when everyone else failed was slightly important.

[Dravid]

Originally Posted by Nnanden

Gilchrist`s 90-odd in Australia`s opener when everyone else failed was slightly important.

Mark Boucher saving Africa from a collapse along with Kemp in a win to get them into the semi final was more important imo.

[Nnanden]

Accepted.

[Mr Mxyzptlk]

Originally Posted by Dravid

7)Mahendra Singh Dhoni(Played smart Cricket against West Indies, and a pretty decent tournament for him.)

You what? He scored one fifty - 51. Aside from that he scored 35 runs for a total average of 28.66. How is the world does he get into a tournament XI?

[Dravid]

Originally Posted by Mr Mxyzptlk

You what? He scored one fifty - 51. Aside from that he scored 35 runs for a total average of 28.66. How is the world does he get into a tournament XI?

Em he saved the innings, I know a lot of other people did too, but I think Dhoni's was really important as he's not a player that plays slow inning and it was a really good challenge for him and a really good chance for him to prove himself, which he did in my eyes. And anyway, it's an opinion.

[Mr Mxyzptlk]

Originally Posted by Dravid

Em he saved the innings, I know a lot of other people did too, but I think Dhoni's was really important as he's not a player that plays slow inning and it was a really good challenge for him and a really good chance for him to prove himself, which he did in my eyes. And anyway, it's an opinion.

He helped save ONE innings in a game that India lost anyway. It's not the same as Mark Boucher. Mark Boucher batted from 40odd for 5. It was an entirely superior innings. Boucher also kept superbly. What has Dhoni done to be in your side aside from one good innings?

[Matt79]

no votes for Jerome Taylor? He looked like the find of the tourny to me - admittedly I only saw the WIs play the Aussies...

[FaaipDeOiad]

Originally Posted by Matt79

no votes for Jerome Taylor? He looked like the find of the tourny to me - admittedly I only saw the WIs play the Aussies...

He was good and all, but ultimately McGrath, Bracken, Mills and Ntini at least bowled better, and probably Bradshaw and Pollock too. Taylor went for a fair number of runs in a low scoring tournament, and while ripping out the tail against Australia was a good effort, it doesn't match a handful of other spells in the tournament.

[oz_fan]

1. Gayle
2. Chanderpaul
3. Fleming
4. Martyn
5. Symonds
6. Boucher
7. Pollock
8. Vettori
9. Bracken
10. Ntini
11. McGrath

[Dravid]

Originally Posted by Mr Mxyzptlk

He helped save ONE innings in a game that India lost anyway. It's not the same as Mark Boucher. Mark Boucher batted from 40odd for 5. It was an entirely superior innings. Boucher also kept superbly. What has Dhoni done to be in your side aside from one good innings?

Well he only played 3 innings so I don't have much to pick from so you could be right, and it's not like I didn't include Boucher for what he did.

[Nnanden]

http://content-aus.cricinfo.com/iccc...ry/267075.html

LOL @ picking Harby.