Having followed international cricket since January 2008 (yes, that SCG Test), I’ve had the luxury of seeing many international cricketers who have done their country and Test cricket proud.
So I’ve come up with a retired Test XI consisting of players who retired in the 21st century.
But there’s a catch. I can choose only one player from each country. This is the XI I came up with.
Matthew Hayden
Test stats – 8625 runs, 50.74 average, 30 hundreds
Hayden’s presence in itself struck fear into opposition bowlers. The way he would stride to the crease and take on bowlers was a pleasing sight for Australian fans. Hayden did have his struggles against the moving ball but he was still a quality opener for Australia.
Sir Alastair Cook
Test stats – 12472 runs, 45.35 average, 33 hundreds
The perfect foil for Hayden, Alastair Cook partners the Australian opener. While Hayden smashed bowlers to the stands, Cook defended bowlers into boredom. Cook is England’s greatest opener of all time.
(Photo by Morgan Hancock/Action Plus via Getty Images)
Brian Lara (captain)
Test stats – 11953 runs, 52.88 average, 34 hundreds
I didn’t get the luxury of seeing Lara bat, but I did get the luxury of meeting Brian Lara as an 11-year-old. Lara was class personified. The way he had two shots to almost every ball was amazing. It’s a shame Lara was too good for the West Indies but that’s cricket.
Sachin Tendulkar
Test stats – 15921 runs, 53.78 average, 51 hundreds
At the age of 16, Tendulkar was facing Abdul Qadir, Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis and Imran Khan. My biggest achievement at the age of 16 was meeting Brian Lara and Glenn McGrath. The way Tendulkar adapted to different surfaces was commendable and he didn’t have many weaknesses in his game. He averaged over 40 in every country he played in against quality bowlers.
Habibul Bashar
Test stats – 3026 runs, 30.87 average, three hundreds
In a Bangladesh side learning the trade of Test cricket, Habibul Bashar was the shining light. An aggressive batsman, Bashar liked to get on top of bowlers and dominate them. The most frustrating aspect of Bashar’s career was his conversion rate. With 27 scores above 50, the former Bangladesh skipper only notched three hundreds and deserved to bow out of international cricket with more centuries. Nowadays, Bashar is involved within the Bangladesh selection panel.
Andy Flower (wicketkeeper)
Test stats – 4794 runs, 51.54 average, 12 hundreds, 151 catches, nine stumpings
Andy Flower is easily Zimbabwe’s greatest cricketer. The former keeper-batsman smashed runs in the middle order with ease against some of the best bowlers in the world. His wicketkeeping was top notch and Adam Gilchrist was lucky that Andy Flower retired after the 2003 World Cup. Flower also took helm of England’s men’s team from 2009-2014, winning three Ashes series, taking England to number one on the Test rankings and a historic series win in India.
Mohammad Nabi
Test stats – 33 runs, 5.5 average, zero fifties, eight wickets, 31.75 average, 2.79 economy
Having retired from Test cricket last year to allow youngsters to play Test cricket for Afghanistan, Nabi makes the list. The Afghan all-rounder did well with the ball in his short Test career but struggled to make an impact with the bat.
Chaminda Vaas
Test stats – 355 wickets, 29.58 average, 2.68 economy
Vaas is undoubtedly Sri Lanka’s greatest fast bowler of all time. He swung the new ball to great effect and did well on dead pitches in Sri Lanka. Although regarded as a bowler, Vaas developed into a handy bowling all-rounder later in his career.
Wasim Akram
Test stats – 414 wickets, 23.62 average, 2.59 economy
He was the greatest left-arm pace bowler of all time. Akram is a legend and has commendable stats against every opponent he has bowled against. It’s tough to say if cricket will ever find a bowler like him again.
Wasim Akram (left) and Waqar Younis were a all-time great bowling duo for Pakistan in Test cricket. (Photo by Neal Simpson/EMPICS via Getty Images)
Dan Vettori
Test stats – 362 wickets, 34.36 average, 2.59 economy
Vettori is a highly underrated spinner. He offered great control for New Zealand with the ball and took crucial breakthroughs. The New Zealand spinner was useful with the bat as well, scoring six hundreds and 23 half-centuries.
Dale Steyn
Test stats – 439 wickets, 22.95 average, 3.24 economy
Steyn is easily the greatest fast bowler of his generation. He bowled at rapid pace and swung it both ways. It was a bit of a shame how injuries hampered the latter stages of Steyn’s Test career, but it shouldn’t take away from the legacy he left behind as one of the greatest Test bowlers of all time.
sheek
Roar Guru
Paul - Agree. England top dozen all-time openers (opener average vs career average): 1. Herbert Sutcliffe 83 inns/61.11 84 inns/60.73 2. Len Hutton 131/56.48 138/56.67 3. Jack Hobbs 97/56.37 102/56.95 4. Dennis Amiss 69/53.70 88/46.31 5. Geoff Boycott 191/48.16 193/47.73 6. Michael Vaughan 72/45.49 147/41.44 7. Tim Robinson 34/44.97 49/36.39 8. Alistair Cook 278/44.87 291/45.35 9. John Edrich 82/44.55 127/43.54 10. Cyril Washbrook 62/43.86 66/42.82 11. Graham Gooch 184/43.88 215/42.58 12. Mark Trescothick 142/43.79 143/43.80
Tigerbill44
Roar Guru
No I think. He only played ODIs for Eng.
Micko
Roar Rookie
This is difficult just in terms of picking Australia's one selection. I certainly wouldn't pick Hayden. I'd be inclined to select either Warne or McGrath.
Micko
Roar Rookie
Did Ed Joyce play any tests for England? If so I think he's the last player to play tests for two nations?
Phil
Guest
Hay dos was good, but how he can take Australia’a spot from Warne or McGrath is beyond me. I would swap Vaas for McGrath and put Jayasuriya in as the opener if you needed a Sri Lankan there.
Peter85
Roar Rookie
Ed Joyce* Alistair Cook* Jacques Kallis* Sachin Tendulkar* Brian Lara Andy Flower* Habibul Bashar* Shane Warne* Waqar Younis Shane Bond* Muttiah Muralitharan Ed Joyce over Mohammad Nabi as he averages 47 over 256 first class matches. That seems a bit more important given all the good openers that retired had better options retire in their country. I couldnt go past picking the two most prolific spinners, my two pace bowlers (Waqar and Bond) have incredible strike rates and averages and are backed up by a player who has a good argument for best all rounder of all time in Kallis. The guys that are * were my starting picks and then choices were made around the fit. The toss-ups were Lara/Ambrose, Younis Khan/Akram/Waqar and Sangakarra/Muralitharan.
Just Nuisance
Roar Rookie
Kallis over Steyn… Brought too much to the table to be ignored..
Jon Richardson
Roar Pro
Got to have Murali or Warne.
Paul D
Roar Rookie
Is it Sir Alastair now? They're just giving the title away then
Ace
Roar Rookie
I think its a great side although , like others , I would always have Kallis and Murali. Definitely Steyn. But , just another opinion. All good
Patrick
Roar Pro
True. Although the top 6 you mentioned is stronger than the one I selected. Presumebly your bottom 5 would be Bashar (or a Bangladesh bowler/ all-rounder), Chris Cairns?, Akram, Nabi, Murali.
Paul
Roar Guru
I'm betting with a top 6 of Hayden, Cook, Tendulkar Lara, Kallis & Flower, the rest of the lineup wouldn't have to bat too often!
Patrick
Roar Pro
I agree Kallis/Akram are a better duo than Pollock/Khan. My only concern is the weakness of batting from number 6 down. Bashar only averaged 30, Akram 22, and Nabi only 5.5 (24 in FC cricket though, which is a better sample size). Its a very long tail, that would rely heavily on the top 5, which is admittedly very strong.
Paul
Roar Guru
I like your Kallis/Akram choice Patrick. I think the lack of batting depth from Akram is more than offset by Kallis and his ability with the ball cannot be ignored
Patrick
Roar Pro
I think the first thing to establish is who represents the lower ranked sides. Flower is self-explanatory, and I think Bashar is probably Bangladesh's best retired player. Nabi seems like a good option, for his late order hitting, and hopefully second spin option. 1. Alastair Cook 2. Virender Sehwag 3. Stephen Fleming 4. Younis Khan 5. Andy Flower wk 6. Habibul Bashar 7. Shaun Pollock 8. Mohammad Nabi 9. Curtly Ambrose 10. Muttiah Muralitharan 11. Glenn McGrath I feel like including Murali strengthens your bowling lineup. The only concern I have is Bashar's batting at 6- so I went Pollock over Steyn for a bit of extra batting down the order. Theres an argument for Kallis as well- At 7, I think I would rather Pollock for the superior bowling though. I contemplated Kallis and Akram (over Pollock and Khan), but felt the team didn't bat deep enough that way.
Paul
Roar Guru
"It’s a shame Lara was too good for the West Indies but that’s cricket." I'm not sure what you mean by this statement. Lara was perhaps the culminating player of the great West Indian teams of the 70's, 80's & 90's. At the start of this period they had Viv Richards and at the end they had Brian Lara. I don't see him as being too good for West Indian cricket, I think he was an embodiment of the way the game is played there, with huge amounts of skill, flair & passion.
Paul
Roar Guru
" Cook is England’s greatest opener of all time." Please don't use this statement Arnab. I think Cook would be the first to admit he's far from the best English opener of all time. Hobbs, Sutcliffe & Hutton, even Boycott are comfortably in front of Cook, IMO.
Tigerbill44
Roar Guru
12 th Man Ed Joyce (Ireland) I think he retired after playing in Irelands first ever test.