A few surprises and some notable omissions notwithstanding fans
from across the globe have voted for cricket's greatest Test team. The
list consists of four players each from two teams (Australia and India)
that have dominated Test cricket for the last two decades, two from a
team (West Indies) that redefined the pace bowling and one from a team
(Pakistan) that is more volatile than an unstable lab chemical!
Players in Cricket's Greatest Test Team
Undoubtedly the eleven that made the cut, from a short list provided by ICC, feature some of the greatest players the game has ever seen but it wouldn't be incorrect to not take this exercise rather seriously. The eleven in the dream team include--Virender Sehwag, Sunil Gavaskar, Sir Donald Bradman, Sachin Tendulkar, Brian Lara, Kapil Dev, Adam Gilchrist (wk), Wasim Akram, Curtly Ambrose and Glenn McGrath and Shane Warne.
One thing is very clear from the selection that how the perception of test cricket has changed thanks to other forms of the game. This list comes on the event of the 2000 test match to be played, the first test between India and England, and barring Sir Donald Bradman there is no one from the pre 1970's era in the illustrious eleven. Players like Tendulkar, Akram, Warne and Gavaskar as well as Sir Don can make it to any such list, any time but the exclusion of someone like Sir Garfield Sobers is rather glaring. While Sobers, who has been often citied to be the greatest all-rounder, is included in the short list, ICC for some strange reason thinks that modern day greats like Rahul Dravid or VVS Laxman aren't good enough even for the short list!
The number of tests has drastically come down in the last decade and yet most of the names that make it played their cricket in during that period. Could it be that One Day Internationals have colored the average fans mind to such an extent that the devastating Sir Vivian Richards isn't thought of a Test player? The poll gave an option to choose two opening batsmen, three middle-order batsmen, one all-rounder, one wicketkeeper, three fast bowlers and one spinner. No one's questioning Kapil Dev's importance in the history of the game but between him and Gary Sobers there's hardly any doubt which one's a better all-rounder.
Former English captain Alec Stewart ridiculed the poll and called it a joke for leaving out Viv Richards and Malcolm Marshall, one-fourth of a pace quartet that every batsman in the world feared. Stewart has great reason to be miffed with the result of the poll for it doesn't include any Englishmen. Just one numbers Jack 'The Master' Hobbs, one of the contenders for the opening batsmen slot, can give many in the final eleven a run for their money; depending on sources Hobbs who played between 61 tests between 1908 and 1930 scored more than 60,000 in his first class cricket career and 199 centuries!
A few years ago when Amitabh Bachchan was voted as the Actor of the Millennium beating Sir Laurence Olivier and Marlon Brando, the ever humble Bachchan mused that the result just reflected the large online presence of young Indian fans. This ICC Greatest Test Team poll shows something similar; when it comes to greats the only way the viewer will look beyond contemporary players is their fabled history... and maybe the legend of Bradman is enough for them.
Players in Cricket's Greatest Test Team
Undoubtedly the eleven that made the cut, from a short list provided by ICC, feature some of the greatest players the game has ever seen but it wouldn't be incorrect to not take this exercise rather seriously. The eleven in the dream team include--Virender Sehwag, Sunil Gavaskar, Sir Donald Bradman, Sachin Tendulkar, Brian Lara, Kapil Dev, Adam Gilchrist (wk), Wasim Akram, Curtly Ambrose and Glenn McGrath and Shane Warne.
One thing is very clear from the selection that how the perception of test cricket has changed thanks to other forms of the game. This list comes on the event of the 2000 test match to be played, the first test between India and England, and barring Sir Donald Bradman there is no one from the pre 1970's era in the illustrious eleven. Players like Tendulkar, Akram, Warne and Gavaskar as well as Sir Don can make it to any such list, any time but the exclusion of someone like Sir Garfield Sobers is rather glaring. While Sobers, who has been often citied to be the greatest all-rounder, is included in the short list, ICC for some strange reason thinks that modern day greats like Rahul Dravid or VVS Laxman aren't good enough even for the short list!
The number of tests has drastically come down in the last decade and yet most of the names that make it played their cricket in during that period. Could it be that One Day Internationals have colored the average fans mind to such an extent that the devastating Sir Vivian Richards isn't thought of a Test player? The poll gave an option to choose two opening batsmen, three middle-order batsmen, one all-rounder, one wicketkeeper, three fast bowlers and one spinner. No one's questioning Kapil Dev's importance in the history of the game but between him and Gary Sobers there's hardly any doubt which one's a better all-rounder.
Former English captain Alec Stewart ridiculed the poll and called it a joke for leaving out Viv Richards and Malcolm Marshall, one-fourth of a pace quartet that every batsman in the world feared. Stewart has great reason to be miffed with the result of the poll for it doesn't include any Englishmen. Just one numbers Jack 'The Master' Hobbs, one of the contenders for the opening batsmen slot, can give many in the final eleven a run for their money; depending on sources Hobbs who played between 61 tests between 1908 and 1930 scored more than 60,000 in his first class cricket career and 199 centuries!
A few years ago when Amitabh Bachchan was voted as the Actor of the Millennium beating Sir Laurence Olivier and Marlon Brando, the ever humble Bachchan mused that the result just reflected the large online presence of young Indian fans. This ICC Greatest Test Team poll shows something similar; when it comes to greats the only way the viewer will look beyond contemporary players is their fabled history... and maybe the legend of Bradman is enough for them.
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