The success of Australia’s men’s team in winning the World Test Championship and retaining the Ashes has been recognised by the International Cricket Council with five players included in their 2023 world XI but their ODI side has been given short shrift with just two getting selected.
Pat Cummins’ leadership has been rewarded after he was named captain of the side.
However, only two Australians have been selected for the ODI XI, also released late on Tuesday, despite the team’s triumph at the World Cup in India.
South Australian Travis Head is the only player to be included in both teams while leg-spinner Adam Zampa was also picked in the ODI side.
India, well beaten by Australia in the final, had six players selected in the 50-over XI with Rohit Sharma chosen as captain alongside opening partner Shubman Gill, star batter Virat Kohli and bowlers Mohammed Siraj, Kuldeep Yadav and Mohammed Shami.
South African duo Heinrich Klaasen and Marco Jansen and New Zealand batter Daryl Mitchell round out the line-up.
Five women make the ICC ODI XI with Ellyse Perry, Beth Mooney and Ash Gardner having also featured in the T20 XI, released on Monday. Besides that trio Phoebe Litchfield and Annabel Sutherland were selected in the ODI XI.
There is no women’s Test XI due to the limited number of fixtures worldwide.
Apart from Cummins and Head, the other Australians in the men’s Test XI are Usman Khawaja, the only batter to make 1,000 Test runs in the calendar year, wicketkeeper Alex Carey and Mitchell Starc.
However, there was no room for Nathan Lyon despite the veteran off-spinner taking the most wickets in Tests for the calendar year with 47 from just 10 matches.
Also included are Ashes nemesis Stuart Broad, fellow Englishman Joe Root, Indian spin duo Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin, New Zealand’s Kane Williamson and Dimuth Karunaratne of Sri Lanka.
with AAP
Linphoma
Roar Rookie
The older I get the less relevant these "Best of ..Team of the Year.." lotteries become.
Opeo
Roar Rookie
LMAO. Most teams play with four bowlers and an all-rounder that is at least reasonably threatening with the ball, that is, someone taking more than four wickets per year. The world test XI almost always has the the same structure. Four wickets at 36 or 56 is not good enough with the ball to be considered an all-rounder. Jadeja, as far as I am aware, was the best all-rounder last year. He really is not an unusual inclusion.
DaveJ
Roar Rookie
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BigGordon
Roar Rookie
I think the real reason Jadeja's there is because if he wasn't, that would leave Ashwin as the sole Indian player and that would not go down well with the BCCI or the Indian supporters Green might be a better option than MM if they actually give him a chance. He's best with the newish ball and could do with a few more than 6 or 8 overs per innings
Opeo
Roar Rookie
Ben Stokes averaged one run more with the bat but only took four wickets at 36. Mitch Marsh played five matches and took four wickets at an average of 56. For comparison, Travis Head took four wickets at 37 and he is not even talked about as an all-rounder. As an aside, even though Mitch Marsh is killing it with the bat this does highlight the value of Cameron Green in the Australian test side. When Australia are required to bowl 100+ overs, which could well happen against India next summer, Cameron Green is a much better option as a fifth bowler than Marsh.
BigGordon
Roar Rookie
He played a total of 6 Tests in 2023, so not a lot of cricket. He bowled very well - 29 wickets at 18.13 but his batting was so-so - 233 at 38.8. MM and Ben Stokes have numbers that are equal or better than his, IMO, certainly with the bat, which is what I'd have thought is needed at number 6.
Opeo
Roar Rookie
There are better batsmen, but he is an all-rounder.
BigGordon
Roar Rookie
Morally, Jonny deserves to be there. :laughing: Agreed about Kohli. Not sure why Ashwin's there and Jadeja at 6? There surely has to be a better number 6 bat than him?
Opeo
Roar Rookie
Yep, the only other Aussie that maybe deserves a spot in the ODI team is Maxwell.
Opeo
Roar Rookie
I think Bairstow only kept during the Ashes, and his keeping was dreadful. Kohli would not look out of place in the test XI but I would not have any other Indians there.
BigGordon
Roar Rookie
Alex Carey named in the Test team of the Year ahead of Bairstow? I wonder what the Poms think of that? I gather Indian media is not thrilled. Only Jadeja and Ravi Ashwin made the Test team
Ad Tastic
Roar Rookie
Fair enough. India are clearly a better ODI team than Australia and thats why spoiling their coronation was so damn sweet.