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It’s been nearly forty years since the first ODI between Australia and England. We have seen brilliant Test players turn into brilliant one day players. And now, a lot of players start their careers in the limited overs format before moving into the Test arena.
Now, we have even seen brilliant one day specialists.
So I have compiled my selection of the greatest XI in ODI cricket that I think would be very hard to beat.
With different styles of batsmen and good variation of bowlers, it’s a well-balanced side. I didn’t just go by stats and performance, I went by value to the one day game.
Here it is in batting order:
Sachin Tendulkar
436 matches 17,000+ runs 44.50 Ave. 45 hundreds and 91 fifties at a strike rate of 85.79
Adam Gilchrist
287 matches 9,619 runs 35.89 Ave. 16 hundreds and 55 fifties at a strike rate of 96.94 and 472 dismissals
Ricky Ponting
330 matches 12,000+ runs 43.19 Ave 28 hundreds and 73 fifties at a strike rate of 80.50
Viv Richards(c)
187 matches 6,721 runs 47.00 Ave 11 hundreds and 45 fifties at a strike rate of 90.20
Dean Jones
164 matches 6,068 runs 44.61 Ave 7 hundreds and 46 fifties at a strike rate of 72.56
Michael Bevan
232 matches 6,912 runs 53.58 Ave 6 hundreds and 46 fifties at a strike rate of 74.16
Imran Khan
175 matches 3,709 runs 33.41 Ave 1 hundred and 19 fifties at a strike rate of 72.65
182wkts 26.61Ave 3.89economy
Wasim Akram
356 matches 502 wkts 23.52 Ave 3.89 economy
Shane Warne
194 matches 293 wkts 25.73 Ave 4.25 economy
Joel Garner
98 matches 146 wkts 18.84 Ave 3.09 economy
Glenn McGrath
250 matches 381 wkts 22.02 Ave 3.88 economy
Most people would question the selection of Dean Jones, but the reason I pick him is that he played in the days of ODIs where a good score was 210 to 220.
He changed the whole method of limited overs batting, with Viv Richards, in the eighties and used the technique of getting your eye in then going ballistic with all range of shots.
This team has a great mix of bowling, with McGrath line and length, Wasim Akram, left arm fast that can swing both ways, and the awkward Joel Garner, with great bounce and a toe crushing yorker – one of the best death bowlers ever.
Then there’s Imran, who was a top all rounder, with Warne to bowl spin.
With the batting, Tendulkar has a great technique at a quick rate. Gilchrist would keep hammering the bowling. Ponting would build and score heavily. Viv Richards would intimidate, and Jones would keep the score ticking over and hit heavy at the death.
Then there’s Bevan ‘The Finisher’ if top the five gets into strife. He would come to the rescue, like he always did for the Aussies.
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December 16th 2009 @ 7:35am
formeropenside said | December 16th 2009 @ 7:35am | Report comment
There has got to be a better option than Bevan, surely: this is not a team that will be in trouble a great deal, and is unlikely to need a nudger and nurdler who hopes to just drag you over the finish line at the end.
Surely any of Kapil Dev, Ian Botham, Clive Lloyd, or David Gower could better fill the spot?
December 16th 2009 @ 7:39am
Vented Relief said | December 16th 2009 @ 7:39am | Report comment
I don’t who I would drop from the top 2, but I would prefer to see Kaluwitharana or Jayasuriya open the batting for the same reason that you chose Dean Jones (rather than their statistics which decreased over the course of their careers). These two blokes changed the way one dayers were played at the 96 world cup – within 6 months adequate scores shifted from 230-250 to 260-290. And who could forget the 398 they scored (admittedly against Kenya).
I would possibly drop Ponting, shift Tendulkar to No3, and put Jayasuriya in there as my first preference.
I like the bowling attack but regret that there is no room for Hadlee (Ave 21.5, Econ 3.3) or Allan Donald (Ave 21.7, Econ 4.15).
December 16th 2009 @ 8:20am
sheek said | December 16th 2009 @ 8:20am | Report comment
Clint,
Well thought out & very strong team. However, I agree with Formeropenside there are better options than Mick Bevan.
While Bevan’s place in an all-time Aussie ODI XI is a given, when you have the best of the best available, surely some of the other names thrown up are worthy.
I wouldn’t drop Ponting for anybody. While selecting Jarasuriya is a worthy consideration, it should not be at Punter’s expense. Jones or Bevan are more likely expendable.
Kaluwitharana was breath-taking, but far too hit-&-miss to be considered among the best ever.
Curtley Ambrose must run his fellow Caribbean compatriot Garner very close.
December 16th 2009 @ 8:59am
vinay verma said | December 16th 2009 @ 8:59am | Report comment
I cant go past Sehwag and Gilchrist for openers. I would have Kallis instead of Imran and Pietersen instead of Bevan. Agree with Sheek about Ambrose. And finally Mark Waugh instead of Dean Jones.
December 16th 2009 @ 9:26am
Jez said | December 16th 2009 @ 9:26am | Report comment
Aside from the concerns raised by others, there is no-one in this team that can really go big in the latter overs… Someone like Lance Klusener or Chris Cairns coming in with 5 overs to go and clearing the rope consistently…
Now I’m not saying that either of those two players specifically should be included but I think it’s a weakness of your team…
December 16th 2009 @ 9:27am
Darwin hammer said | December 16th 2009 @ 9:27am | Report comment
Hadlee for McGrath every day of the week
December 16th 2009 @ 10:11am
Brett McKay said | December 16th 2009 @ 10:11am | Report comment
Clint, there’s been some pretty handy alternates suggested here, but I quite like your XI as you’ve named it. I did have to laugh at “Then there’s Bevan ‘The Finisher’ if top the five gets into strife” though.
Can’t see that top five getting into much strife. Bevan might not get a bat!!
December 16th 2009 @ 10:11am
The Link said | December 16th 2009 @ 10:11am | Report comment
Good team, could do with a few tweaks.
Bevan needs to be there, the best ODI Australian batsman of all time.
Jayasuriya should be an opener.
I’d drop Deano, put Sachin down the order and put Jayasuriya as opener
An Aussie ODI all time side could almost be harder to pick
December 16th 2009 @ 10:35am
The clint said | December 16th 2009 @ 10:35am | Report comment
In response to jez… Are you telling me that richards, jones and imran cant hit big at the end of an innings? I think that they were more than capable. Should watch some of there innings at the death. Particularly jones against sri lanka 1985 i believe at adelaide oval. He brought up his 50 in the 45th over and finished 99not out!!! I think they were more than capable personally though.
December 16th 2009 @ 10:42am
Kersi Meher-Homji said | December 16th 2009 @ 10:42am | Report comment
Clint, I like your XI, except I’d like Imran to captain. And Lillee or Marshall instead of Garner.
One can pick a strong XI from those not selected by Clint.
Greenidge, Sehwag, Jayasuriya, Lara, M Waugh, Botham, Kapil, Dhoni (WK, capt), R Hadlee or Muralitharan, Lillee, Bracken or Marshall.
Hey, but what about Sangakkara, Gayle, C Cairns, Afridi, Pietersen, C Lloyd, Flintoff, Kallis, Gilmour, Symonds, Harbhajan, Ambrose, Holding, Kumble …. ?
Well, even a third XI would be aweinspiring!
December 17th 2009 @ 8:17am
Burgey said | December 17th 2009 @ 8:17am | Report comment
Kersi,
I’m interested in your exclusion of Garner. Are you looking for a purely attacking option with the ball? I just raise this because, given his ER (albeit in an era where scores were generally lower) Garner could lay claim to being the greatest ODI bowler of all time.