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If you’re wondering the motivation behind this article, it’s as simple as the fact that a good mate of mine shares the same name as me.
In fact, our names are so common, that we once had someone walk into the main common room at uni, say our name, and seven people turned their heads at once in response to that name.
So, that got us thinking. What famous people share our name?
To start with, there’s never been a United States President with our name; neither has there been an Australian Prime Minister – or a United Kingdom Prime Minister for that matter.
No kings have shared our name, but Matt Damon does, and he’s pretty famous.
Most importantly, because we both share a love for cricket, I developed an XI that could rival the best players in the world based on our shared name.
I call it the Matt XI.
The one requirement? These guys had to have played cricket for a substantial amount of time (either FC, Test or ODI), and to be selected in the XI, they needed to have played international cricket for their countries in some form.
So, here’s the best XI that I could come up with based on that criteria:
1. Matt Hayden
2. Matt Elliott
3. Matt Renshaw
4. Mat Sinclair
5. Matt Wade
6. Matt Maynard
7. Matt Prior
8. Matthew Nicholson
9. Matt Henry
10. Matt Hoggard
11. Matt Kuhnemann
Now, I’ve been generous and included Matt’s that only have one ‘t’ in their names as being legitimate Matts, but that was the best way to make the team work.
This side would take some beating as it has a solid mix of decent batsmen (Hayden, Elliott, Maynard) and some good bowlers (Henry, Hoggard) as well as some speculative picks (Renshaw, Kuhnemann) as their careers haven’t finished yet and they are not as dominant as they could be in their respective positions.
The backup players are certainly no slouches either, and some of them may yet make their marks on world cricket.
Some of them also did not have a lot of chances to impose themselves or did not take their opportunities when they presented themselves.
12. Matt Gilkes
13. Matt Short
14. Mat Inness
15. Matt Kelly
16. Matt Potts
17. Matt Horne
18. Matt Fleming
Besides having a few too many Englishmen in the side, the XI players named above are a good representation of the best possible side available with players named “Matt”.
The side could easily make 350 on a good day but could struggle to take 20 wickets in a match.
What are your thoughts? Maybe you can think of a side with a shared first name that could beat this one.
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