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Statistically, 12 per cent of people are left handed, and one or two usually make their way into most cricket teams.
Left-handers (or mollydookers or whatever you want to call them) provide variety with both the bat and the ball.
There are some decent left-handers in world cricket, and there have been some absolute legends in the past.
Below I’ve assembled both a current and a past players’ world XI, in their batting order. The only criteria for selection in these two fantasy teams are that you have to be an entertaining left-hander and have the ability to play across all three formats (Tests, ODIs and Twenty20s).
The occasional player I’ve selected bats left-handed and bowls right, or vice versa. But in terms of classifying them as a left-hander, I’ve based it on their main skill (i.e. batting or bowling), with the keepers needing to be left-handed batsmen to qualify for selection.
In terms of the bowling attacks, I’ve included a specialist spinner in both teams. With the batting order, I’ve been flexible in some cases.
Current players
1. David Warner
2. Alastair Cook
3. Shikhar Dhawan
4. Usman Khawaja
5. Shaun Marsh
6. JP Duminy
7. Quinton de Kock (wk)
8. Mitchell Starc
9. Mohammad Amir
10. Rangana Herath
11. Trent Boult
The batting for the above world line-up would be a potential concern. It doesn’t seem right that three Australians are in the top six for such a fantasy team given our current batting woes, but with a few exceptions, there aren’t a lot of absolute top quality left-hand batsmen in world cricket at the moment.
Even JP Duminy only averages 33 in Test cricket, despite doing well against Australia over the years.
Past players
1. Matthew Hayden
2. Kumar Sangakkara*
3. David Gower
4. Brian Lara
5. Garry Sobers
6. Clive Lloyd
7. Adam Gilchrist*
8. Mitchell Johnson
9. Wasim Akram
10. Derek Underwood
11. Bruce Reid
*Adam Gilchrist and Kumar Sangakkara could decide between them who would keep and who would open.
I realise I’ve left out some decent lefties with better Test records in my world past players’ XI, but I’ve enjoyed watching the players I’ve selected the most. David Gower, for example, was majestic; he was an earlier, left-handed version of Mark Waugh.
The only player I’ve selected that I never saw play live is Garry Sobers, who was a bit before my time, but his record with both bat and ball speaks for itself.
This past players’ team could hold its own in any form of cricket, in any era.
So who is your favourite left-hander of all time? One of the players listed above, or someone else like Chris Gayle, Allan Border, Mike Hussey or Alan Davidson?
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