I suppose when you mentioned the Americans, you might have been thinking of the bowler J.B.King from Philadelphia, & when you mentioned the Aborigines, you might have been thinking of the brilliant fielder Johnny Mullagh.

I guess in my team above – one player per country – King could replace Lillee & Mullagh would have to replace Hobbs.

Hobbs(EN-10s), B.Richards(SA-70s), Bradman(AU-30s), Tendulkar(IN-90s), Macartney(AU-20s),Sobers(WI-60s), Gilchrist(AU-2000s-k), Lindwall(AU-40s), Marshall(WI-80s), Tayfield(SA-50s), Barnes(EN-1900s).

Best XI – one player per country (Australia & England get two each, haven’t considered Bangladesh, 9 countries used).

Hobbs(EN), Richards(SA), Bradman(AU), Tendulkar(IN), Sobers(WI), Imran (PA), Fowler(ZI-k), Hadlee(NZ), Lillee(AU), Muralitharan(SL), Barnes(EN).

Best X1, one player per decade,.

Best XI, one player per country (USA, Holland and pre-Test Australian Aboriginal can count)

India played its first test match in 1930, & only 7 official tests before WW2, plus 5 unofficial tests in 1937/38. It began its post-war era with 3 further unofficial tests against the Australian Services XI.

Perhaps up to the beginning of the 60s & even beyond, the ‘big 4′ players of Indian cricket were:

Vijay Merchant (born 1911) – an opening batsman of stupendous ability & run accumulation, & would surely be the next opener in line for an all-time berth after Gavaskar & Sehwag. As far as my memory serves me, he never captained India in an official test, but was captain on the two occasions mentioned above as well as against the Commonwealth XI. He was born at an unfortunate time, cricketing-wise.

Lala Amarnath (born 1911) – an all-rounder of extravagant gifts, perhaps compromised by a combative & dogmatic personality. He was a middle order rattling batsman & medium fast pace bowler. Father of test batsmen Mohinder & Surinder Amarnath. Like Merchant, born at an unfortunate time.

Vijay Hazare (born 1915) – took over from Merchant the mantle of India’s premier batsman. Outstanding middle order bat. Still worthy of a place in India’s all-time XI. Also a useful medium pacer. Perhaps another born at an unfortunate time.

Vinoo Mankad (born 1917) – perhaps the supreme Indian all-rounder before Kapil Dev came along. Batted anywhere in the order from one to about 8, & an excellent slow left-arm spinner. Father of test batsman Ashok Mankad, & gave the cricketing world the expression of a “Mankad” – dismissing a batsman run-out at the non-striker’s end (batsman backing up too far).

Players I haven’t seen but are classed as the greats include Hazare,Nayadu,Amar Singh,Nissar and in their case the stastics may well be right. On Sardesai,his on and straight driving were the the amalgamation of timing and style. No flourish,just classic lines.

And the three W’s I agree and so too George H..Roy fredericks,Cammie Smit,Seymour Nurse,Lawrence Rowe Charlie Griffiths…

The only one which wasn’t was Laker for Underwood, probably due to name recognition.

Re your Indian XI, probably easier to pick the top 6-7 than the bottom 4-5. I’ve heard you sing the praises of Sardesai before, although the stats (not that they’re the be-all to end-all) don’t support your own enthusiasm.

Mohammed Azharuddin is most certainly worthy, although there is a dark cloud surrounding his off-field exploits (betting). I would go with Vijay Hazare at number 5. Apart from Kapil Dev, selecting both the pacemen & spinners is likely to cause many headaches. I think I will leave that for the moment!

Re your Windies XI, I know you’ve only gone with players you’ve seen, but George Headley is a must. And by promoting Frank Worrell to opener (he played occasionally there, & had the temperament) he will also be captain.

My Windies XI – Conrad Hunte, Frank Worrell(c), George Headley, Brian Lara, Viv Richards, Gary Sobers(vc), Jeff Dujon(k), Malcolm Marshall, Curtley Ambrose, Mike Holding, Lance Gibbs.

To appreciate the strength of Windies cricket in the past, look at this all-time 2nd XI – Gordon Greenidge, Desmond Haynes, Rohan Kanhai(vc), Everton Weekes, Clive Lloyd(c), Clyde Walcott, Ridley Jacobs(k), Andy Roberts, Wes Hall, Joel Garner, Courtney Walsh.

As for an entertainment XI, there are so many wonderful contenders, I would have to think some more about this.

INDIA XI: Sehwag,Gavaskar,Dravid,Tendulkar,Sardesai,Dhoni,Kapil Dev,Zaheer Khan,Ishant sharma,Prasanna,SP Gupte.
I have Sardesai at 5 because he showed the way forward for Gavaskar. Sardesai played the best of the Windies fast men of the late sixties and early 70′s. I reluctantly leave out Mohinder Amarnath,who was fearless aginst pace. I have Pras as the consumate offie and Gupte as the leggie.Gupte was every bit as good as Warne but did not always see eye to eye with administrators. A good trait for a cricketer!

Windies XI: Greenidge,Hunte,Viv Richards,Rohan Kanhai,Clive Lloyd,Garfield Sobers,Jeff Dujon,Holding,Roberts,Garner,Wes Hall.
I never saw the Three W’s live and I am sure they will figure prominently in the Cricinfo XI but I will back this side to take on all comers.Sobers adds the variety with left arm seam and spin. I believe this selection would beat any team from any country in any generation.
Sheek,permit me to list my All Time Most Entertaining XI: Sehwag,Jayasurya,Richards,Greg Chappell,Doug Walters,Sobers,Gilchrist,Warne, Kapil Dev,Lillee,Holding. Purely on attacking and entertainment value.

I am sure other roarers will have their own favourites and it will be interesting to hear from them.