- Video
-
Club Roar
Captured a great grassroots sporting moment? We want to see it!Content Collections
The Roar Community
- Join
- Login
Following on from the recent selection of a West Indies all-time XI, I thought I would look at the six individual nations/regions and try to select an all-time XI for each.
The best was obviously the tiny island nation of Barbados, which had a plethora of candidates in just about every position. Their all-time XI would give most cricket nations a real shake-up.
With the other countries/regions, trying to find a complete team was difficult, as they all seem to be lacking in one or another area.
Anyway, here are my selections.
BARBADOS all-time XI: Gordon Greenidge, Conrad Hunte, Frank Worrell(c), Everton Weekes, Clyde Walcott, Gary Sobers(vc), David Murray(k), David Holford, Malcolm Marshall, Wes Hall, Joel Garner, Desmond Haynes(12th man).
Such is the quality of this team, two excellent candidates in batsman Seymour Nurse and paceman Charlie Griffith missed out, among others. The three Ws are included, while the spinner was the leggie allrounder Holford, a cousin of Sobers.
GUYANA all-time XI: Roy Fredericks, Joey Solomon, Rohan Kanhai(vc), Alvin Kallicharran, Shiv Chanderpaul, Clive Lloyd(c), Carl Hooper, Milton Pydanna(k), John Trim, Colin Croft, Lance Gibbs, Basil Butcher(12th man).
Finding an opening partner for Fredericks, a keeper and a fellow paceman for Croft were problematic. The highly respected Solomon was drafted as opener, long-time veteran Pydanna is keeper, while Trim is the other opening paceman.
Others to miss out were Roger Harper (to Hooper) and Ramnaresh Sarwan. Also opening options Len Baichan, Faoud Bacchus and Steve Camacho. Lloyd and Gibbs were cousins.
JAMAICA all-time XI: Chris Gayle, Allan Rae, George Headley(c), Lawrence Rowe, Maurice Foster(vc), Jeff Dujon, Jackie Hendriks(k), Mike Holding, Roy Gilchrist, Courtney Walsh, Alf Valentine, Jimmy Adams(12th man).
They are pretty strong in most departments, especially keeper where Dujon plays as a specialist bat, but no room for Gerry Alexander. The allrounder Collie Smith was an unfortunate omission, along with giant paceman Patrick Patterson.
The tail is a bit longish.
LEEWARDS all-time XI: Stuart Williams, Jim Allen, Richie Richardson(vc), Viv Richards(c), Keith Arthurton, Ridley Jacobs(k), Deryck Parry, Andy Roberts, Winston Benjamin, Curtley Ambrose, Kenny Benjamin, Elquemedo Willet(12th man). The Benjamins were unrelated.
Minus a specialist opener (Allen co-opted) and middle order bat, but the pace bowling attack is solid. Parry is first choice spinner, while Willet was briefly the rage as a spinner in early 70s. Omari Banks is a current spinning allrounder option.
TRINIDAD all-time XI: Jeff Stollmeyer(c), Brian Davis, Brian Lara, Charlie Davis, Larry Gomes, Gus Logie, Deryck Murray(k/vc), Gerry Gomez, Learie Constantine, Ian Bishop, Sonny Ramadhin, Bernard Julien(12th man).
For a country that has produced most spinners for the Windies, Trinidad has a decent pace attack, although Bishop is the only real ‘flyer’. Ramadhin is of course the lone frontline spinner.
Unlucky to miss out include batsman Joey Carew, allrounder Darren Bravo, keeper Dinesh Ramdan and paceman Merv Dillon. The Davis boys were brothers.
WINDWARDS all-time XI: Lockhart Sebastien, Victor Eddy, Devon Smith, Irving Shillingford(vc), Darren Sammy, Rawl Lewis(c), Norbert Phillip, Mike Findlay(k), Winston Davis, Grayson Shillingford, Cameron Cuffy, Junior Murray(12th man).
By far the weakest of the Windies countries/regions. It was a stretch finding a complete team. Must confess it is a bit of a cobble-together. Plenty of bowling options, but probably two genuine batsmen short.
Lockhart Sebastien had to be chosen for his name alone! The Shillingfords are cousins, with Irving the best batsman to come from the region.
Build your own fantasy cricket team and put it to the test with Draftstars daily fantasy competitions. Pick your match, pick your team and watch the points roll in to take out cash prizes on each match. What are you really gambling with? Set a deposit limit.