Eleven of Australia's best

Cricinfo has started a series named Eleven of the best where it would pick all-time best teams for test playing nations.

I set out to name my all-time best Australian XI to try simulating the task of Cricinfo jury. The task looks more difficult than it seemed at first. Australia has a rich cricketing culture dating back to the 18th century. You can't leave out players just because you haven't seen them neither can you pick players just because their statistics are great. Statistics are a good, but not the ONLY measure, to compare players across the same eras. However, when used to compare players across eras I would like to quote: Statistics are like mini-skirts: what they reveal is interesting, but what they conceal can be downright fascinating. Keeping all the parameters in mind, I finally came up with a list of my personal "eleven of Australia's best".

Here's the short-listed line-up I narrowed down after an arduous exercise of research.

Openers: Victor Trumper, Bill Ponsford, Bob Simpson, Athur Morris, Clem Hill, Matthew Hayden

Middle Order: Don Bradman, Ian Chappell, Greg Chappell, Allan Border, Stan McCabe, Steve Waugh, Charles Macartney, Neil Harvey

All Rounder: Keith Miller, Neil Harvey

Wicket Keepers: Ian Healy, Adam Gilcrhist, Rodney Marsh, Don Tallon

Spinners: Shane Warne, Bill O'Reilly, Clarrie Grimmett, Richie Benaud

Fast Bowlers: Glen McGrath, Ray Lindwall, Alan Davidson, Fred Spofforth, Dennis Lillee

Selection Logic

Openers

William H Ponsford is an automatic selection for one of the opening slots in any great Australian team selected. The only batsman twice to break the highest individual score in first-class cricket, the man with the a king size cricket bat named the "Big Bertha" and one with a penchant for scoring huge runs. Great against fast bowling, lightning quick feet against spinners "Bill" as he was nick named was asked to open in the Australia Cricket Board team of the century. I go for Bill as the first choice opener for my side

The second spot was like a tough Sudoku puzzle. I dropped Clem Hill, Bob Simpson, Matthew Hayden for two other greats. The spot finally was a toss up between Arthur Morris and Victor Trumper.

Statistically comparing Arthur Morris has a higher average(46.48 in 46 Tests) than Victor Trumper(39.04 in 48 Tests). Both equally good at their art, Arthur Morris was selected to open with Bill by the ACB's team of the century. He's regarded as one of Australia's best opening left-hand batsmen along with Clem Hill, Neil Harvey and Allan Border. Employing an unusual defensive technique to shuffle across the stumps and get behind the ball Morris was particuarly known for shots on both sides of the wickets. His USP was judging the length of the ball quickly which allowed him to get into position to play his shots. His back foot play was entertaining and Morris wasn't ever shy of hooking/pulling the ball. An incident where Keith Miller bowler an 8-ball over full of bouncers evinces Morris' back foot play. Out of the 5 balls he faced he scored 4,4,4,4 and 3.

Victor Trumper on the other hand had a unique ability. He scored on wet wickets which his contemporaries found difficult to score on. In one of the wettest summers on record, he averaged 48.49 in 53 innings without a single not out. A member of the Six Giants of the Wisden Century and ten innaugral inductees in Australian Cricket Hall of Fame Trumper's greatness lies beyond the runs he scored. On wickets where his partners couldn't keep their wickets intact, Trumper was able to play extra-ordinarily and time the ball to perfection.The Wisden Almanack quotes: The strokes with which he drove even the best bowlers to despair demanded a marvellous union of hand and eye. His game at its highest point of excellence could only be played by a young man.

It's been difficult for me to choose between Morris and Trumper but finally felt I should give in for Trumper despite Morris' would maintain a left-right combination. Morris' as great as he was had a bogie bowler in the form of Alec Bedser who dimissed him 20 times in first-class cricket and as many as 18 times in Test matches. Only Glenn McGrath's domination of Atherton proves better in the world cricket currently. Typically Bedser took Morris' out by pitching the ball on leg stump and moving across him. In my personal opinion, great batsmen don't tend to have "bogey" bowlers. Trumper on the other hand in my judgment feels to be the most complementary partner to Big Bill and hence, gets into my list as No.2

Wicket Keeper

Choosing wicket keepers considering changes the modern game has been through turns out to be a quandary. Earlier, wicket keepers were good enough to keep their place in the side by virtue of their wicket keeping. An important point to be taken into consideration which has led to a dip in the standards of modern day wicket keeping. Healy, Marsh and Gilchrist are all greats in their own rights. Marsh formed one of the greatest partnerships with Dennis Lillee and the pair has 95 wickets to their name. Glenn McGrath - Adam Gilchrist have 90 wickets to their name. After a disastrous debut leading to the nick name "Iron Gloves", Rod improved substantially to enter into the annals as one of the greatest keepers in Australian History. He was termed as an all-rounder through most of his career despite a test batting average of 26.51 suggests. You can almost call Healy as the disciple of Rodney Marsh. Disciplined and his wicket keeping was top notch. Selected as a wicket keeper for the Australian Cricket Board Team of the Century is no mean achievement. The way he kept wickets to Shane Warne was a delight and sometimes as smooth as butter. Don Tallon deserves a special mention. Bradman selected him as a wicket keeper in his all time best XI. Alan Davidson called him the "Bradman of keepers". A lean, tall wicket-keeper with an exaggerated crouch Tallon was a part of the Bradman's invinciblesof 1948. He executed textbook style stumpings by removing one bail without disturbing the stumps which is a thing of past in this moder era. Adam Gilchrist's batting skills overshadowed his wicket keeping skills. His 17 test match centuries are most by any international keeper. However, his wicket keeping achievements themselves stand out. Gilchrist technique as a wicket-keeper wasn't coaching manual stuff but he worked around it using his height and amazing concentration levels. He currently holds the record for the most of number of wicket keeper dismissals in tests for Australia. His batting prowess need no mention in this age of modern communication.

After evaluation all the above parameters, I went for Adam Gilchrist as my wicket-keeper. You can almost differentiate two eras of wicket-keeping. One before Gilchrist and one after. It was Gilchrist who made the Australian side just due to his batting abilities and simultaneously kept wickets with notable worth. A batsman who can alter the course of the match and proven match winner, Adam Gilchrist in my personal opinion makes the best Australian XI as a keeper.

Spinners

The first spinner to walk on to an Australian XI would be Bill O' Reilly. Surprised? Don't be! Known as Tiger O'Reilly, Bill got into the Bradman's XI ahead of Shane Warne despite his strained personal relationship with Bradman. Recently, released ICC's LG ratings rates him as the best bowler of the world for much of his career. His average of 22.59 in 27 Test matches may not do justice to the fact that all of his tests apart from one came in the 1930's where all other bowlers where dominated by batsmen to an unprecedentent extent. 6 ft. 2 inches tall bowling with an unorthodox leg spin grip the "Tiger" is undoubtedly one of the greatest spinner the world has ever produced. He bowled at a pace that can be termed "fast-medium". The Don regards him a better spinner than Shane Warne and I acquiesce his word. People who have watched 4 decades of game even go on to state Shane Warne was less destructive than Bill O'Reilly.

Shane Warne makes the cut as my spinner No.2 ahead of Clarrie Grimmett and Richie Benaud. Grimmett doesn't beat Benaud and Benaud doesn't beat Warne. Warne beats Benaud by a whisker into my XI. Richie Benaud has been and will be one of the most influential characters in the game after the Second World War. However, taking the magic of Shane Warne into account I had to declinet Richie Benaud a place. There was a temptation to include Benaud as he was a better batsman than Shane Warne but I safely overguarded the "batting part" as I went ahead and picked up Warne on only "spin bowling".

Fast Bowlers

Dennis Lillee is an unanimous choice amidst the fast bowlers and my man to open the bowling. Lillee redefined the new fast bowling era and his 355 wickets from 70 test matches at an average of 23.92 prove self sufficient in selecting him as he formed one of the great opening bowling partnerships with Jeff Thompson in cricket history. Lillee is regarded by greats as "a complete bowler" and one of the first 10 inductees in the Australia Hall of Fame. He's also a part of Bradman's XI team of the century which makes him a straight forward choice in selecting the leader of my bowling attack.

The second spot was again difficult to choose and ultimately came up as a throw up amidst Fred Spofforth and Ray Lindwall. Spofforth regarded as the "demon" took 94 wickets from 18 tests at an average of 18.41. Lindwall on the other hand widely regard as the greatest pace bowler of his era took 228 wickets from 63 tests at an average of 23.03. Lindwall also finds a place in Bradman's XI but Spofforth was considered to be the inventor of swing. Finally after much pondering I went for Lindwall as Dennis Lillee's partner. The greatness of Lindwall lies in the fact that he staged comebacks after being dropped which displays his mental strength. He made his way back in to the Australian team at the age of 37 years. Richie Benaud states that Lindwall is the "best technicall bowler he ever saw". Harold Larwood rates Lillee-Lindwall in the same league. Longevity, mental strenth and great comments from great players makes me go for Ray Lindwall as the second fast bowler in my team.

All Rounder

Amidst the above chaos a direct toss up between Neil Harvey and Keith Miller seems easy to choose but doesn't turn out so. Keith Miller partnered Lindwall for the best opening bowl pair in cricket history whilst Neil Harvey was a very sharp fielder, an attacking left handed batsmen who bowled occasional spin. Miller was "the best captain Australia never had" whilst Harvey was "one of the best left handed batsmen for Australia". Miller had the best statistics for an all-rounder when he retired. Harvey averages a sensational 48.41 in 79 tests ahead of Miller's 36.97 from 55 matches. Miller was short listed for the Six Giants of the Wisden century but failed to make the final cut. However, he finds a place as an all rounder in the ACB's Australian team of the century. Keith Miller was not just a great all rounder but a great captain. A person who bought some vigor to cricket Keith Miller makes my cut as an all-rounder and a vice-captain. However, taking Neil Harvey's consistent performance he takes the 12th man spot in my team.

Middle Order

The most easiest decision to select any best Australian XI is selecting the number 3 batsman. Don Bradman not only takes the cake with the cherry but the wine too! He also is an unanimous choice for the captaincy.

Numbers 4 and 6 require further scrutiny.Chappell brothers deserve everything to be short listed but both can't play at number 4. It's a toss up between Ian and his little brother Greg. As I ponder to check their style of play, record et al I finally go with the ACB's Team of the century to select Greg, averaging 53.86 in 87 tests ahead of Ian Chappell who averages 42.42 in 75 test matches. The final decision came down to more about being a better batsman considering style, range of strokes etc. than mere statistics.

Number 6 is a tussle between Allan Border, Steve Waugh and Stan McCabe. Allan Border the gutsy left hander who led Australia to their first World Cup win and resurrected Australian Cricket. Steve Waugh the successor of Allan Border and the leader of one of the most famous Australian teams in cricket history. Stan McCabe is an Australian hall of fame player who is widely regarded as the most enterprising batsman in Australian cricket history. His 2748 runs at an average of 48.21 in 39 test matches reflect his ability. His finest hour came during the Bodyline Ashes tour where he scored 232 runs in 235 minutes hitting 34 boundaries and a six. He hooked Harold Larwood with panache and while at crease his partners scored just 58 runs as he outscored them in a ratio of 4:1. Such was the impact of this innings that it prompted Douglas Jardine, the England captain to abandon his bodyline approach. I wouldn't say much about Steve Waugh and Allan Border as we have been privileged to watch them on TV and even listen to them.

After careful scrutiny I go for Allan Border as the number 6 on my list. With all due respect to Mark Taylor and Steve Waugh; had it not been for Allan Border as a batsman and captain Australia wouldn't be the same team they are today. For the remarkable guts displayed and for taking Australia to new heights after a flurry of retirements from their great champions which led them down, Allan Border is my number 6 !

The Final List

1. Bill Ponsford
2. Victor Trumper
3. Don Bradman(captain)

4. Greg Chappell
5. Keith Miller(vice-captain)

6. Allan Border
7. Adam Gilcrhist
8. Bill O'Reilly
9. Shane Warne
10. Dennis Lillee
11. Ray Lindwall
12. Neil Harvey (twelfth man)

Credits to Cricinfo and Wikipedia