All Time XIs – ODI Special

There is no live cricket today, so with the ODI World Cup 2023 approaching its final phase I have decided to produce a contest between two XIs – one of players whose careers took place before ODI cricket existed (with one very minor exception explained when we come to him) and one of ODI players. The following playing conditions would apply to what would be a five match ODI series: only one new ball per innings – using two as happens currently deprives us of old ball skills such as reverse swing because a ball that is only in use for 25 overs doesn’t get old, two minute time limit between a wicket falling and the new batter being ready to face (I am not expecting any ‘Timed Out’ dismissals but I am making sure that situation is covered anyway) and my own playing condition regarding overs not bowled within the time limit: The batting side to be awarded 10 runs or twice the current scoring rate, whichever is the greater, for each unbowled over, counting incomplete overs as ‘unbowled’ for this purpose.

THE PRE-ODI XI

1. *WG Grace (right handed batter, right arm bowler of various types through his career, good close catcher, captain). His commitment to attacking cricket is without question, his captaincy record is superb, and he was the dominant cricketer of his era.
2. Frank Woolley (left handed batter, left arm orthodox spin bowler, excellent close catcher). A fast scorer, a fine bowler and an excellent close fielder. Only one cricketer ever achieved the first class career treble of 10,000 runs, 1,000 wickets and 1,000 catches – Woolley.
3. Don Bradman (right handed batter, occasional leg spinner, excellent outfielder). The most prolific batter the game has ever known and capable of scoring seriously fast as well.
4. Garry Sobers (left handed batter, left arm bowler of every type known to cricket, excellent fielder). Before the pedants fly in, yes he did play a solitary ODI near the end of his career, in which he scored a duck. That is not enough to class him as an ODI player in my book, and I refuse to not pick the most complete player the game has ever known, so I include him in this XI.
5. Keith Miller (right handed batter, right arm fast bowler). One of the greatest all rounders ever to play the game, and both his attacking approach to batting and his willingness to experiment with the ball would be well suited to ODI cricket.
6. +Les Ames (right handed batter, wicket keeper). Twice winner of the Lawrence trophy for scoring the fastest first class hundred of the season, and maker of over 1,000 wicket keeping dismissals in his career.
7. Gilbert Jessop (right handed batter, right arm fast bowler, gun fielder). The most consistently fast scoring batter the game has ever known, a more than useful bowler and a brilliant fielder. I have listed him at seven in this order but I would expect Grace to display some flexibility in this matter – if wicket number 1,2,3 or 4 falls with say 10 overs to go I expect Jessop to come in.
8. Alan Davidson (left arm fast medium bowler, left handed batter, brilliant fielder). Among bowlers to play exclusively post WWII, to have ended their careers and to take 150 or more test wickets the one with the most economical bowling average is Davidson, with 186 test scalps at 20.53 each. He also had moments with the bat even at the highest level, averaging 24 in test cricket with an HS of 80 and his fielding earned him the nickname ‘the claw’.
9. Alfred Shaw (right arm medium/ slow bowler, right handed batter). The man who bowled more FC overs than he conceded runs at that level, and took just over 2,000 FC wickets at 12 a piece just has to be in this XI.
10. Sydney Francis Barnes (Right arm fast medium bowler, right handed batter). He would grumble about only being allowed 10 overs, but I would fully expect him to make superb use of those overs – he was probably the most skilful bowler ever to pick up a cricket ball.
11. Hugh Tayfield (off spinner, right handed batter). The leading test wicket taker for South Africa in their first period as a test nation, and by some way at that. He was also notoriously miserly with the ball, once sending down 137 successive dot balls including 16 successive eight ball maidens.

This side has seven top line batters and a capable number eight in Davidson. However the true jewel in this side’s crown is the bowling, with that front four of Davidson, Barnes, Shaw and Tayfield backed by all rounders Miller, Jessop, Sobers, Grace and Woolley. The only recognized bowling type not covered is leg spin, and Syd Barnes’ signature weapon largely fills that gap. Also there are few if any ‘passengers’ in the field in this XI, and a number of genuinely outstanding fielders. This is a side that would take a lot of beating.

HONOURABLE MENTIONS

New Zealander Bert Sutcliffe would be well suited to the left handed opener’s gig, but he does not have Woolley’s advantage of also offering a bowling option. Mulvantrai Himmatlal ‘Vinoo’ Mankad was another possibility, but I rated his batting not explosive enough. Mushtaq Mohammad could have been selected in place of Keith Miller had I been really desperate for leg spin representation. Among the bowlers I regretted not being able to include were Bill O’Reilly, Clarrie Grimmett, Hedley Verity, Johnny Wardle and Wilfred Rhodes (his approach to batting rules him out of an upper order slot in this format IMO). Billy Bates instead of Hugh Tayfield would strengthen the batting, but I think the South African was the finer bowler.

THE SOUTH AFRICAN ISSUE

Various white South Africans around the time ODIs were first getting going had limited opportunities to showcase their talents, and while several could make cases for inclusion I have opted not to pick any – I could not count them as ODI players since they never got to play those, and it would have been against the spirit of the exercise to pick them in the above line up. I will repeat something I have previously stated about this issue: these individuals deserve some sympathy, but not as much as the non-white South Africans who were entirely deprived of the chance to showcase their talents, going all the way back to Krom Hendricks in the 1890s.

THE ODI XI

1. Sanath Jayasuriya (left handed batter, left arm orthodox spinner). He gets this gig for his stellar role in Sri Lanka’s only World Cup win back in 1996.
2. Sachin Tendulkar (right handed batter). His record tally of ODI centuries has just been equalled, but his claim to this slot is in my view unarguable.
3. Virat Kohli (right handed batter, occasional right arm medium pacer). Currently the co-holder of the record for ODI centuries.
4. Viv Richards (right handed batter, occasional off spinner). The first truly great ODI batter.
5. +AB de Villiers (right handed batter, wicket keeper, occasional medium pacer). The man known to fans as ‘Mr 360’ because he could score literally anywhere in the whole 360 degree arc.
6. *Imran Khan (right handed batter, right arm fast bowler, captain). One of the greatest all rounders ever to play the game, and his leadership in the ‘cornered tigers’ world cup of 1992 removes any doubt about who has that role in this side.
7. Ravindra Jadeja (left handed batter, left arm orthodox spinner, gun fielder). One of the finest all rounders of the modern era.
8. Wasim Akram (left arm fast bowler, left handed batter). A great bowler and a handy lower order batter.
9. Joel Garner (right arm fast bowler, right handed batter). His immense height meant that he posed problems in 3D geometry for opposition batters, and very few could surmount them.
10. Muthiah Muralidaran (off spinner, right handed batter). One of the stars of that 1996 world cup win – the Sri Lankan seamers Vaas and Wickremasinghe often bowled only their opening spells, the remainder of the overs being bowled by spinners, and this man invariably bowled his full ten overs, generally with fine figures.
11. Jasprit Bumrah (right arm fast bowler, right handed batter). One of the reasons India have won all nine of their group games at the current tournament has been the excellence of their bowling, and this man is the spearhead of that attack.

This side is well equipped batting wise, and has a stellar bowling line up, with Jayasuriya likely to be seventh bowler. There is no leg spin – to accommodate either of the two best ODI leg spinners I have seen in action I would have to drop Jadeja and promote Akram to number seven.

HONOURABLE MENTIONS

Some would have ignored Jayasuriya’s bowling and selected Adam Gilchrist to open the batting and keep wicket. Some Indian fans would want Dhoni to be both keeper and captain, but I disagree, and they already have four players in my chosen XI. A live alternative for the number seven slot, though it would remove a spin option would be one of two South African bowling all rounders: right arm seamer Shaun Pollock or left arm seamer Marco Jansen. Some would pick McGrath ahead of Garner as the tall mean right arm pacer and in test cricket I would agree, but in ODIs I rate the West Indian just ahead of the Australian. Feel free to volunteer further suggestions in the comments, but remember to consider how your choices would affect the balance of the sides.

PHOTOGRAPHS

My usual sign off…