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[arsenal123]

Exactly what it says on the tin.  Decent surface, bit in it for batsmen and bowlers.  Name your team.  Players in their recent form of the last year or two.

Mine first.

1. Cook
2. Smith
3. Amla
4. Kallis
5. Clarke
6. Pietersen
7. De Villiers (wk)
8. Swann
9. Ajmal
10. Steyn
11. Anderson

4 English, 5 Saffers, 1 Aussie, 1 Pakistani.  Was unsure on the balance of the side, Philander somehow has missed out, could possibly come in for one of the spinners. No Trott/Bell/Prior/Morkel/any Indian!

Anyone got any better sides?

[WalkingWicket37]

Steve Smiffy opening the batting?? Haha

[arsenal123]

Steve Smith is my hero.  He shows that any batsman with a club cricket technique can get into the Aussie Ashes batting line up 

[Chad]

Exactly what it says on the tin.  Decent surface, bit in it for batsmen and bowlers.  Name your team.  Players in their recent form of the last year or two.

Mine first.

1. Cook
2. Smith
3. Amla
4. Kallis
5. Clarke
6. Pietersen
7. De Villiers (wk)
8. Swann
9. Ajmal
10. Steyn
11. Anderson

4 English, 5 Saffers, 1 Aussie, 1 Pakistani.  Was unsure on the balance of the side, Philander somehow has missed out, could possibly come in for one of the spinners. No Trott/Bell/Prior/Morkel/any Indian!

Anyone got any better sides?

I rate Philander and Ryan Harris higher than Anderson, just my personal view. I would probably swap out Swann/Ajmal and Anderson for those two. Depends who the opposition are and where they are playing to be honest! Based on current form, I would say Bell deserves a place in the side, but hard to see who he would replace!

[mini998]

Cook
Greame Smith
Amla
Sangakkara
Peterson
Clarke
ABD (WK)
Philander
Steyn
Anderson
Ajmal

[Buzz]

Based on the current ICC rankings, with a little tweaking

1 A.N. Cook
2 G.C. Smith
3 H.M. Amla
4 K.C. Sangakkara
5 M.J. Clarke
6 J.H. Kallis
7 A.B. de Villiers (keeper)
8 Saeed Ajmal
9 V.D. Philander
10 D.W. Steyn
11 J.M. Anderson
   
Bench   R.J. Harris
   G.P. Swann
   S. Chanderpaul

Clarke, Cook or Smith to captain... not really sure

[beaver5]

When I first read the title I mistakenly thought it said 'Worst Test Eleven'. I read Cook's name and thought that's a good start! He maybe prolific but boy he's dull to watch. Names like Tavare and Pringle soon sprang to mind. Then I read the rest of the team list and realised my mistake.

[WalkingWicket37]

Steve Smith is my hero.  He shows that any batsman with a club cricket technique can get into the Aussie Ashes batting line up 

if he can get a test match hundred with his village technique there's hope for us all! 

[Manormanic]

This is probably tougher now than it has been for a few years as the likes of Ponting and Tendulkar slide away and a new generation try to stake their claims.  As such, there are surprisingly few nailed on selections for me - no opener really stands out, and once you go past Amla and Clarke you could probably perm from about six or seven names for the remaining middle order slots (Kallis being on the down slope now).  Keeper is a comparative embarrassment of riches, with the pure glovework of Jayawardene competing against the classic counter attack of Prior and the conservative options of Sangakkara and De Villiers who are both primarily batsmen.  As for the bowlers, Steyn is a nailed on certainty but then any combination of Philander, Anderson, Morkel, Harris, Siddle, Roach, Boult and Broad would have some arguable merit, whilst the debate between Swann and Ajmal is one that could easily fill a whole night in the pub.

My side, for what its worth, is based on the principle that I want to attack rather than sit on the back foot or pack the side with all rounders:

GC Smith
AN Cook (though I seriously considered a left field selection of Chris Rogers as I think his technique has been worked over less)
HM Amla
KP Pietersen
MJ Clarke
AB De Villiers (wkt)
VD Philander
GC Swann or T Boult depending on conditions
DW Steyn
JM Anderson
Saeed Ajmal

[SOULMAN1012]

Cook
Smith
Trott
Amla
Sangakara
Clark
Prior WK
Philander
Swan
Steyn
Anderson

To me that is the best world test 11 at present, maybe a little bias on Trott and Prior on current form at this moment but based on last 18 months I think they warrant there places. 4 main bowlers with Trott, Clark and even KP can turn there arms over.

[sfa82]

Based on the current ICC rankings, with a little tweaking

1 A.N. Cook
2 G.C. Smith
3 H.M. Amla
4 K.C. Sangakkara
5 M.J. Clarke
6 J.H. Kallis
7 A.B. de Villiers (keeper)
8 Saeed Ajmal
9 V.D. Philander
10 D.W. Steyn
11 J.M. Anderson
   

I like the look of this team, but would swap Kallis and Sanga in the batting lineup.

[smilley792]

Slightly off topic ish,


I think the icc should do a one of test match every year.

Worlds no1 vs the rest of the world xi

Would south Africa cube able to beat the Rest of the world xi at mo? And what would be that xi?

[Alvaro]

K Powell
G Smith
H Amla
J Kallis
I Bell
AB de Villiers+
B McCullum*
S Broad/Philanderer
R Harris
S Ajmal
D Steyn

[Tail Ender]

Am I the only one who doesn't rate Graeme Smith that highly? I'll be honest, the bulk of innings I've seen him play have been against Australia and his record against us isn't great (averages 37), but is he really one of the best two opening bats going around in world cricket at the moment? I'm not suggesting he's terrible or anything, just posing the question.

[arsenal123]

A gritty player who churns out runs for his team when required most.  Also a 50 average over a 10 year international career almost entirely spent as captain.

I'm a big fan.