Happy with my team consideing the amount of cricket knowledge i have.
Just a quick basic write up from me.
Openers
Mark Taylor(Captain)
Left handed batsman.
104 Caps for Australia.
Scored 7525 Runs at a average of 43.49,Top score of 334, 19 Centuries and 40 half centuries to his name.
157 Catches in the field and 1 test wicket.
Profile
Mark Taylor was such a masterful opening batsman, slip fielder and captain for Australia that he was looked upon as an allrounder. A heavily built left-hander who played classically late, Taylor made 839 Test runs on his first England tour (1989) and for most of his 104 Tests remained reassuringly solid. He was equally dependable at first slip, where he cradled most of his world-record 157 catches. After he inherited the captaincy from Allan Border in 1994-95 he began with a pair, but soon added such acute tactical vibrancy that the following year Australia toppled West Indies in the Caribbean to become unofficial world champions. Taylor's leadership and diplomacy marked him out as one of Australia's greatest captains, and saved his place during an 18-month batting slump that ended with a memorable century at Edgbaston in 1997. The following year he made an unbeaten 334 at Peshawar to match Don Bradman's highest score for Australia, then declared. Six months later, still only 34, but with the Ashes again safe and his timing as sound as ever, he retired to the commentary box.
Greg Baum
Gary Kirsten
Left Handed Batsman.
101 Caps for South Africa
Scored 7289 Runs at a aveage of 45.27,top score 275,21 Centuries and 34 half centuries.
His top score came over a 14 hour period showing the concentration and grit that runs through my opening three batsmen.
His average increased when playing in India(52.33) and Pakistan(88.16)
83 Catches and 2 test wickets
Profile
Gary Kirsten was never blessed with the flair and the almost pure technique of his half-brother Peter, but his discipline, temperament and his penchant for hard work stood during his days as a batsman, when he became so established at the top of the South African batting order that it's almost impossible to think how they would cope without him. Then, all those virtues brought him rich rewards after his playing days too, as he became one of the most successful and popular coaches of India. The side went to the top of the Test rankings during his stint, which ended, quite fittingly, with India's World Cup triumph in 2011.As a batsman, what stood out was his determination, the ability to concentrate for long periods and a burning desire to score runs. A left-hander with a relatively unique technique, Kirsten simply worked out his strengths and weaknesses and based his game around them. In this respect he was one of the most organised batsman to play for South Africa since their readmission. Calm and level-headed, he brought a healthy degree of common sense to the art of batting, which possibly explains why off the field and in the dressing room the dafter side of his personality came out. Periodically, Kirsten endured patches when he persistently got out in similar fashion - chopping the ball on to his stumps, for instance, or getting himself caught down the leg side.Each time this happened, though, Kirsten worked through the problem, made the adjustments and played himself back into form. He enjoyed particular success on the subcontinent - where other players have floundered against the turning ball. Kirsten, though, was drawn on patience and soft hands to see him through. And if there was any player likely to score a big hundred, then it was Kirsten. His best of 275, a result of batting for over 14 and a half hours as South Africa followed on against England at Kingsmead in 1999-00, was the second-longest in Test history. He then returned to haunt England in 2003 and gutsed out a crucial 130 in the Headingley Test, which South Africa won by 191 runs. His good form in that series persuaded him to postpone his retirement until the end of the New Zealand tour in 2003-04.Fittingly, he scored a century in the first Test of that series - his 99th - and scored a typically gritty 76 in his final game to help South Africa tie the series. After retiring, he spent some time with the Warriors as a consultant batting coach and, in 2006, set up his own academy in Cape Town. In December 2007, he signed up as coach of India, and his quiet and low-profile approach to the job was appreciated by current and past players. After coaching India to World Cup success, Kirsten moved on to see if he could repeat the magic with his home country.
ESPNcricinfo staff
3-4-5
David Boon
Right Handed Batsman
107 Caps for Australia
Scored 7422 runs at a average of 43.65,top score of 200,21 centries and 32 half centuries.
Another superb player against the team from the sub continent especialy India
Averageagainst India 65 in India and 70.82 at home.
99 Catches in the field.
Profile
Possibly Tasmania's all-time favourite cricketing son, David Boon was a pugnacious right-handed batsman who served his state and country with enormous distinction. He was not always the most stylish player, but for what he lacked in fluency he more than compensated with his ardour for occupying the crease and accumulating runs when they were most needed. As an 18 year old, Boon played a starring role in Tasmania's history-making Gillette Cup win in 1978-79, the state's first interstate one-day title, and he never really looked back over the course of an elite-level career which spanned 17 years. Among many highlights were his roles in four Ashes series wins, particularly the 1989 triumph and his honour in hitting the series-winning runs; his flawless unbeaten 184 in the Bicentenary Test of 1988; and his Man-of-the-Match winning effort in the 1987 World Cup final. Predominantly in the No. 3 position, Boon's durability was a vital ingredient in Australia's resurgence as a cricketing power in the late 1980s and early 1990s. His courage was often at the core of Australian performances and it was common to see his belligerent square cutting, driving and pulling upsetting the rhythm of even the finest of bowlers.
Aside from a range of triumphs with Australia during 107 Tests and 181 ODIs, Boon also led Durham in the English County Championship between 1997 and 1999, guiding the side to its best finish in the last of these three years. He was also appointed to the post of Tasmania captain at different ends of his career and was at the helm when his state enjoyed a fruitful first-class season in 1997-98. After retiring from all cricket following the completion of the 1999 county program, Boon accepted a position in marketing with the Tasmanian Cricket Association in Hobart and in 2000 replaced Geoff Marsh, his mate and former opening partner, as an Australia selector. In 2011, he took a new step as an ICC match referee, with his first fixture coming in Bulawayo, where Zimbabwe took on Pakistan. His legend also lives on at the NTCA ground in his home city of Launceston where a major stand has been named after him.
John Polack
Aravinda DeSilva
Right Handed Batsman
93 Caps for Sri Lanka
6361 Runs at a average of 42.97,Top score of 267 with 20 Centuries and 22 Half centuries
After the grit and determination of my opening three comes a attacking small statured cricketer.
43 catches in the field
One of the game's best entertainers, de Silva possessed the strengths of many of the tallest short run-scorers: unruffable technique, strong at cutting and hooking, an unrepentant attacker. His record is unrivalled among countrymen, his place in history secure after a match-winning century in a World Cup final. He stands 5ft 3 1/2in and arguably there has not been a better smaller player. His enthusiasm was amazing: he was a virtual ever-present in the Sri Lanka side and also played first-class and club cricket in England, South Africa and Australia. His international career ended with the 2003 World Cup, where he batted with all the verve and panache of old, and bowled his offspinners cannily. Sri Lanka's cricket authorities ensured that his wealth of cricketing experience would not go waste, appointing him a national selector. His other main interests are cakes and cars (usually fast ones).
Simon Wilde
In at 5 is the star of the team and probably the greatest allround cricketer in the draft
Sir Garfield St Auburn Sobers
Left Handed Batsman Bowling/ Left-arm fast-medium, Slow left-arm orthodox, Slow left-arm chinaman
A former Captain with 93 Caps for the West Indies
Scored 8032 runs at 57.78,best score of 365, 26 Centuries and 30 half centuries
235 Test wickets at a average of 34.03,ecconomy rate of 2.22.
He took 6 5 wicket hauls with a best of 6/73
109 Catches in the field
Regulary destroyed England avg 60.64 and India avg 83.47
Rather than me waffle on about him ill leave it to those in the know
Richie Benaud described Sobers as "the greatest all-round cricketer the world has seen". Sobers, wrote Benaud, was "a brilliant batsman, splendid fielder, particularly close to the wicket, and a bowler of extraordinary skill, whether bowling with the new ball, providing orthodox left-arm spin or over-the-wrist spin".
Fred Trueman enjoyed a great rivalry with Sobers and later described him as a "sublime left-hand batsman" who was "one of the greatest cricketers ever to have graced the game, certainly the greatest all-rounder". Trueman went on to say that Sobers as a batsman "has a great cricketing brain and his thought processes are lightning quick"
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5-6-7
Mushtaq Mohammad
Right Handed Batsman/Right Armed Spin/Legbreak googly
A former captain with 57 caps for Pakistan
Scored 3643 runs with a batting average of 39.17,Top score 201 with 10 centuries and 19 half centuries.
A spinner with 79 wickets at 29.22 average and a ecconomy 2.63.Best figures of 5/28 and 3 five wicket hauls
42 catches
Profile
Mushtaq was not the most talented of the five Mohammad brothers who emigrated from Western India to Karachi, but he scored the most first-class hundreds, more even than Hanif, thanks partly to the greater opportunities he had in county cricket with Northamptonshire. He was also one of the first reverse-sweepers (a stroke he learned from Hanif), and one of the first bat-twirlers at the crease. As a bowler of the legbreak, googly and flipper, he also took more first-class wickets than any of his brothers. Northants were impressed enough to pay him to spend two years in qualifying for them, before instant registration began in 1968
Sir Richard Hadlee
Left Hander batsman/ Right Hand bowler
Another former Captain with 86 caps for New Zealand
The scorer of 3124 runs at a average of 27.16 a highest score of 151,2 test centuries and 15 fifties
A right Armed Fast/Outswing bowler
The first man to break 400 test wickets
431 wickets at a average of 22.29,ecconomy 2.63,best figures 9/52. 36 five wicket and 9 10 wicket hauls
39 catches in the field
Profile
Few players in the history of cricket have carried the fortunes of their team to quite the same extent as Richard Hadlee. By the time he retired from international cricket in 1990, at the age of 39 and with a knighthood newly conferred upon him for his services to the game, Hadlee had cemented his place as one of the great fast bowlers of all time, and lifted New Zealand to unprecedented feats in the Test arena.
As the first player to reach 400 Test wickets, Hadlee was always assured of immortality, but in addition to his matchless skills with the ball, he was also a hard-hitting batsman of unquestioned skill, and he is acknowledged as one of the four great allrounders of the 1980s, along with Ian Botham, Imran Khan and Kapil Dev.
One of five sons of Walter Hadlee, the former New Zealand captain, his cricket education began at an early age, and in 1971-72 he debuted for Canterbury, forming a penetrative new-ball partnership with his elder brother Dayle. In those days, however, Hadlee was a tearaway, placing speed far ahead of guile, an attitude that was matched by his unkempt, long-haired appearance. As his knowhow grew, however, so his run-up (and locks) shortened, and all the attributes of the model fast bowler fell into place. His lithe, whippy, side-on action made life uncomfortable for all the great batsmen of his era, as he extracted pace, bounce and movement from even the least responsive of surfaces.
His first great demolition job came in Wellington in February 1978 - five years on from his debut - when his 10 wickets, including 6 for 26 in the second innings, condemned England to a first defeat against the Kiwis. However, it was for the Australians that he preserved his finest efforts, and his 15-wicket haul in Brisbane in 1985-86 remains one of the most talked-of moments in Trans-Tasman rivalry. He needed just 79 matches to reach 400 wickets - a phenomenal strike-rate - and he was still very much at the top of his game when, in 1990, he bowed out against England at his adopted home of Trent Bridge - his second-innings haul of 5 for 53 included a wicket with his very last delivery.
Deryck Murray
Right Hand batsman/Wicket Keeper
Not a flashy pickbut playing 17 years for the west Indies shows his quality.
62 Caps over 17 years for the West Indies
Scored 1993 Runs at a average of 22.9,highest score 91,scoring 11 half centuries
Was only ever required to bat in just over 75% of West Indian innings
181 Catches and 8 stumpings
Deryck Murray was a thoughtful, composed figure in the West Indies side for 17 years. It started when Frank Worrell entrusted the wicketkeeping position in England in 1963 to a diminutive boyish figure, barely out of his teens - and was rewarded with a record 24 victims. Murray's influence on the improved status of cricketers in the Caribbean was immense, and in later life, after retirement, he took that diplomatic role on Trinidad's behalf to the United Nations. His keeping was compact, tidy and, bearing in mind some of his more exuberant successors, generally understated. Nowadays, when more runs are demanded of keepers, he might not have played as much as he did. But his batting was as dapper as his glovework. At Bombay in 1974-75 he made 91 and helped Clive Lloyd add 250 for the sixth wicket. He took to cricket administration and served as president of the Trinidad and Tobago Cricket Board. He lost the post to Azim Bassarath in 2009.
Mike Selvey November 2009
8-9-10
Saqlain Mustaq
Right Handed Batsman/ Armed Offbreak/Doosra
49 Caps for Pakistan
Scored 927 Runs at a average of 14.48,highest score 101, scored one test century and 2 fifties
208 wickets at a average 29.83,ecconomy of 2.64,Best figures of 8/164, 13 5 wicket and 3 ten wicket hauls
15 Catches
Pioneer of the doosra,unlcky with Injuries and playing at the same time as Danesh Kaneria
A trend-setter. Saqlain Mushtaq was perhaps the first offspinner to master the doosra, a delivery that spins away from the batsman even though it is delivered with an offspinner's action. Saqlain has a fast, short-stepping action with a halting delivery, and has a propensity to bowl no-balls, unusually for a bowler with such a short run. He is criticised for attempting too much variation and he often throws in the doosra the first time a batsman faces. Saqlain's international career got off to a splendid start - he was the fastest bowler to 100 one-day wickets, and his phenomenal control meant that he regularly bowled at the death. But his finest moment arguably came in a Test match, at Chennai in 1998-99, when his ten-for allowed Pakistan to sneak nerve-tingling 12-run win against India
Javagal Srinath
Right Handed Batsman/Right Armed Fast Med Bowler
67 caps for India
Scored 1009 runs at a average of 14.21,top score 76
236 wickets at 30.49,ecconomy 2.85,Best figures 13/132. 10 five wicket and 1 ten wicket haul
India Second highest wicket taking fast bowler
22 catches
Wisden overview
Arguably the nation's fastest-ever bowler, Javagal Srinath heralded a period of awakening for Indian pace bowling, after Kapil Dev's swing had fired popular imagination. And when he retired from international cricket of 11 years in 2003, Srinath was second only to Kapil in number of Test wickets by an Indian paceman.
Waqar Younis
Right Handed Batsman/Right Armed Fast swing bowler
87 caps for Pakistan
Scored 1010 runs at a average of 10.2,highest score 45
373 Test wickets at 23.56 average and 3.25 ecconomy
best figures 7/76 and 22 five wicket and five 10 wicket hauls
He has the best strike rate for any bowler over 350 wicket
The man who really put the reverse into swing. Waqar Younis bucked the 1980s trend of pitching fast and short by pitching fast and full. Not an obvious recipe for success until you factor in prodigious late inswing, which was designed to smash into the base of leg stump or the batsman's toes. In his youth, he was one of the fastest ever. Waqar's surging run was a glorious sight - and an incredible strain on his body. His method of aiming for the stumps rather than the batsman earned him the best strike rate of any bowler with over 200 Test wickets. It could have been better: back injuries cut short his prime, but determination has always resurrected him, although he was easily pushed over the line that divides aggression and intimidation.
Overall im really happy,i think i have a well balanced team.
The opening three batsman offer alot of grit and determination,DeSilva and Sobers in next should pick up the run rate before then the likes of Mushtaq Mohmammad and Hadlee come in before the tail of Murray,Srinath and Mushtaq who you would hope could add another 50 or so before Younis at 10.
The Bolwers are varied and pretty numerous.
Spin coming from Sobers,Mohammad and Mushtaq.
With Mohammad and Mushtaq both right handers offering variation of Off and Leg break and the left handed Sobers offering everything from orthodox,chinamna to even fast/med bowling.
Plenty of swing in the fast bowling deptartment with Younis and Hadlee with a nice compliment from Srinath.Though all three are right handed Sobers can bowl from fast with the left if a variation is required.
And all this forgetting the three wickets that Taylor and Kirsten has.
