LONDON: In the week when England host India at Lord's in the 2,000th Test match, there was no room for any English players in an ICC poll to decide cricket fans' greatest Test team of all time. Though there was enough space for Pakistani fast bowler Wasim Akram.
Names like W.G. Grace, Jack Hobbs, Len Hutton, Jim Laker, Fred Trueman and Ian Botham were all overlooked as a quarter of a million fans voted on the website of the International Cricket Council (ICC), the sport's ruling body, for the top Test side over the last 134 years.
In contrast India, who are currenly number one in the Test rankings, had four representatives including one, Sachin Tendulkar, who will play in Thursday's landmark match.
Australia also had four representatives in the team including the peerless Don Bradman, whose Test batting average of 99.94 remains head and shoulders above anyone else ever to have played the game.
Bradman, whose last Test was in 1948, is the only player on the list to have played before the Second World War. Indeed, he is the only one from before the 1970s.
"Selecting from such greats is no easy job, and not surprisingly, the selection mainly reflects modern players seen by present day supporters," said Haroon Lorgat, the ICC chief executive.
"There are many greats from the past who would have easily merited selection in this team, but it is nevertheless interesting to see the fans' view on their greatest XI of all time."
Two West Indians make the cut - although there is no place for any players from their great sides of the 1970s or 80s such as Gary Sobers, Viv Richards or Malcolm Marshall.
One Pakistani, Wasim Akram also made it to the list. Wasim is among a select group of bowlers who captured over 400 wickets in both the test and limited overs format of the game.
Of the 10 Test playing nations, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Zimbabwe, New Zealand and South Africa are also without representation.
The full ICC Test Dream XI: Virender Sehwag (IND), Sunil Gavaskar (IND), Donald Bradman (AUS), Sachin Tendulkar (IND), Brian Lara (WIS), Kapil Dev (IND), Adam Gilchrist (AUS), Shane Warne (AUS), Wasim Akram (PAK), Curtly Ambrose (WIS), Glenn McGrath (AUS)
COMMENTS (47)
Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.
For more information, please see our Comments FAQ
i think instead of sehwag it should be sir vivian richards.that sit.
if i had it my way saqlain mustak and saeed anwar along with ponting and imran khan would definitely be on the list
@Paras Vikmani: be honest fella -tendulkar yes w/o a shadow of a doubt, Gavasker maybe but Sehwag needs to prove himself but Kapilbhai was good but in the ultimate team you have to be a legend with longevity etc Please be honest about the number of people who voted from the 2nd most populous nation in the world
Waseem is better than McGrath anytime. If you take into account the dropped catches by the lousy Pakistanis fielders, Waseem's wicket count will be much higher.
@Paras Vikmani: what stupid explanation:)....the idea of "all time dream team" was not about having greats belonging to the current era or "Nowadays" (as you've mentioned)...it was to be built seeing span of almost 100 years since the inception of the game till today....
No Gary Sobers, No Viv Richards. Jack Hobbs the man with 197 first class 100's missing,
cricinfo already published their all time 11 developed by both experts as well as a readers 11. here it is copied below
The World XI: Jack Hobbs, Len Hutton, Don Bradman, Sachin Tendulkar, Viv Richards, Garry Sobers, Adam Gilchrist, Malcolm Marshall, Shane Warne, Wasim Akram, Dennis Lillee
The Second XI: Sunil Gavaskar, Barry Richards, George Headley, Brian Lara, Wally Hammond, Imran Khan, Alan Knott, Bill O'Reilly, Fred Trueman, Muttiah Muralitharan, SF Barnes
Readers' XI: Sunil Gavaskar, Virender Sehwag, Don Bradman, Sachin Tendulkar, Brian Lara, Garry Sobers, Adam Gilchrist, Shane Warne, Wasim Akram, Muttiah Muralitharan, Glenn McGrath
It is worth mentioning that Kapil Dev didnt feature anywhere maybe thats because he was always ranked 3rd or 4th during teh abttle of teh allrounders in the 70's and 80's. Infact when compiling an all time list of allrounders Kapil Dev would be lucky to even make the top 10.
Definitely India got advantage through their population and secondly as the favourites of ICC in present times. Sehwag, Kapil and Ambrose not fully fit for all time great eleven...instead of them Hutton or Hayden as opener, Sobers, Imran or even Kallis for all rounder spot and Ambrose place should be filled by either Marshall or Lillee. Even Muralidharan is better than Warne. So, my eleven is as following
Gavaskar Hayden Bradman Tendulkar Lara Sobers Gilchrist Waseem Marshall MCGrath Muralidharan
Muttiah Muralidharan. 800 Test wickets. There is no mention in this team of the greatest bowler ever? Absolutely shocking to say the least.
Only one change required, instead of 'Kapil' I would like to have 'Kallis', rest of the team looks pretty solid.
@Paras Vikmani:
australia makes sense.. sighhh get out of ur denail have u seen the people nominated from india.. are u telling e hat u honestly believe there arent better players indians or otherwise who deserve more to be on that list?
@Paras Vikmani: Paras :P at a time when Zimbabwe also qualified for world cup semi's then why don't we have Flower Brothers :P and Heath Streak. Here we are talking about all time greatest not current period.
They Forget Hanif Mohammed :S
I can understand frustration of Pakistani.Same Sehwag whom many of you are saying should not be in list has taken you to task.He has scored 2 triple century and many double centuries.See his average and strike rate and most importantly his record against Pakistan.
Wasim is Greater than McGrath or any other fast bowlers cuz McGrath got maximum wickets on pitches which always support bowlers while Wasim's maximum wickets are on dead pitches of subcontinent, with fieldrs who drop half of the catches;-) To include Sehwag in the list isn't fair
I am glad that my favourite cricketer Wasim Akram finds place in all time greats, rest are immaterial.
enjoying the comments! you guys got it right India rules :) I wonder why Shahid Afridi is not in the list, I think he has most online supporters.
honestly not much of a cricket buff but i cant believe pointing, imran khan, saeed anwar and saqlain mustahq arent on the team...
India and Australia are dominant today in world cricket. And that is why we have 8 players alone from these two countries.
I do not think by any stretch of imagination this team can be called best ever team. Many greats have been left out. Player like Sehwag, Kapildeo, ambrose , glen macgrath can not be part of best ever team. Even sunil gavasker will find it difficult to get into this team, he was always a run manufacture not a natural player like viv richards.
@pakistani: he is there under all-rounder category.
To make such polls balanced, ICC should have some weighted average mechanism to account for huge disparity in populations of its member countries vs India, then it would be interesting to see how many indians make it to the final lists.
How on earth can kapil dev be ahead of Imran khan as allrounder...
Hey, this is a FAN'S list, and by no means is it an optimum selection.. Each of us are bound to have our own favourites! Here, for what it is worth, is MY selection:- Sunil Gavaskar Hanif Mohd/Saeed Anwar Don Bradman Sachin Tendulkar Brain Lara Gary Sobers Imran Khan Adam Gilchrist Shane Warne Wasim Akram Micheal Holding/Malcom Marshal
If likes of Headley, Hanif, Hutton, Jones, Old Pollock, Richards, Marshall, Murli, Waqar, Abbas, Sobers, Ponting, Lilly are missing then what is ...Gavaskar and Kapil Dev doing in the list???...doesn't make sense........although the inclusion of Sehwag is the joke of all time.......Good job Indians!...at least this time producing 7 children/min paid...:)
Indian trolls rule the web
Its more like the india's favourite dream team and not the world's! Sehwag is on the team! Even if Sir Viv was sent as an opener he would have done better than him in terms of footwork. And Kapil Dev?!?!?!?! Imran Khan outclasses him in every department! Curtly Ambrose was a great bowler but surely he would acknowledge that Holding or Garner were better than him! Goes on to show how "knowledgeable" the indian fan is! Let them stay in their temporary deluded bliss. England kay tour par pata chalay gaa how good their batsmen are!
Gary Sobers has been the best all-rounder of all times and should replace Kapil Dev. In fact it is not even funny to see Sobers out of any world eleven. Hobbs scored more first-class runs and centuries than any other batsman, the totals being 61,237 runs and 197 centuries according to Wisden and Playfair; or 61,760 runs and 199 centuries according to CricketArchive.[1] This was despite a "late start" in that he was 22 when he made his first-class debut, a four-year interruption to his career due to the First World War and missing most of the 1921 season due to injury and appendicitis. His test average has been a whopping 57! In comparasin Sunil Gavaskar has scored 81 first class centuries with a total of 25834 runs and a test average of 51. Virender Sehwag has scored only 36 first class centuries and a total of 12199 runs. His test batting average is a respectable 53 but not to be called all times great. We can go on and on but I thought that these are the two really big omissions. I would include Jack Hobbs and Sobers in the squad.
it is only India dream team. not world test cricket fans dream team. They have included wasim akram as he is in Indian and currently with KK as coach, Shane Warne and Admin Gillchrist as they are part of IPL as Capitans. and 4 Indian. Sehwag what he is doing. Its Indian domination.
Many other players are form Australia and West Indines and England are still outstanding porformance in Test Chricket.
Gavaskar has an average of over 60 against the greatest fast bowling unit of all time- The West Indies of the 70s and 80s.
Imran Khan has repeatedly said he is the greatest Batsman of his era. What more do you want?
Sehwag has scored 2 triple century and both have come against top quality bowling attacks- Pakistan and South Africa. While Hayden has scored against ZImbabwe. Sehwag has faced the likes of Brett Lee and McGrath, while Hayden plundered the slow attacks. Sehwag has scored a mammoth 195 against Australia, IN Australia. Hayden hasn't scored that many against the 2nd best team then- India in India.
Hayden was awesome, but Sehwag is better.
Kapil Dev in place of Imran Khan...??? Sehwag in place of so many greats ......???? It is not all time dream team...it is dream indian team which will be helped by a few current players who are in good books of world's second most populous nation's cricket fans.....and a few old timers who have so big names that could not be overlooked..... it is a farce.......I mean missing Richards, Imran, Hutton, Suttcliffe, Hammond, Trueman and so many more........???????
Seriously Kapil Dev?.. Murali beats Warne anyday of the week in my books.
This team is rubbish. People who have no cricket knowledge must have voted for this team. Sehwag, Gavaskar and Kapildev should not have been in the team even as reserves.
please include cheetan sharma or manoj parbhakar instead of Wasim Akram :)
Wasim ko bhee include karney ka fuzool mein takalluf kia - cheetan sharma ko ley leytey :)
Gavaskar and Kapil Dev ? ROFL
What the hell is Kapul dev doing in the list?? and no Viv Richards.. strange!
four indian players....funny isn't it!
i would bring in hayden instead of Sehwag, Imran Khan instead of Ambrose or McGrath, Gary Sobers instead of Kapil Dev.
Still great names like Larwood, Compton, Headley, Hanif, Hutton, Old Pollock, Richards, Marshall, Murli, Waqar etc are missing. Its fair to break it down by two 50 year brackets i.e. dream team of the 1910-1960 era and dream team of the1960-2010 era
Absolutely rubbish. As with the clout carried by the Indian Cricket board apparently only the Indians have voted. Wasim makes the list only not only because he was good but also he is in India most of the time these days.
Such a joke. Population advantage of India, nothing else.
Sachin, Lara and Wasim are big names for Cricket, what is Sehwag doing on the list
Pakistan A team can beat this dream team :P
What about Viv Rcihard, Sir Gary Sobers, Ponting, ......???? Sehwag, with his crazy footwork shouldnt be in this list :-) and what about Lille, Thompson, Holding, Richard Hadlee, Waqar Younus..... so many more and they ignore all these GREAT Bowlers and choose Kapil dev !!!!!!
It was cricket fan's dream team , and you obviously cannot beat off the Population advantage of India , obviously you were going to have 4 Indians . I Mean no Imran Khan and Virender Sehwag in place of SO many great openers , no doubt hes a good player but wouldve picked the likes of Saeed Anwar or Matthew Hayden over him on Any given day.