Which English Cricketer can pick the best XI

English cricket fans have long decried the ineptitude of the ECB and its selectors, a group of individuals who have only recently learned that cricket teams only need 1 wicket keeper at a time. Although things have been looking up for the test side recently, English fans know it’s only a matter of time before their selectors decide to drop a promising youngster in order to give Ravi Bopara one last shot at glory, safe in the knowledge Ben Hilfenhaus is no longer around to terrorize him.

So in order to give the English fans hope for the future, I decided to see how some current English players, former greats and Ashley Giles would fare as selectors. In order to do this, I used the All-time Best XI series, in which Cricketers were asked to pick their all-time great test team. The 16 teams would face off in a single elimination tournament in order to see who has what it takes to guide the future of English Cricket (or at least someone who wouldn’t let Jason Roy play in 5 consecutive test matches.) Here's the bracket

TEAMS

All the teams, as long with explanations from the players can be found in this playlist so I wont run through all of them here, but here are some interesting points.

1. Andrew Flintoff just picked the Ashes 2005 team.

2. Swann and Flintoff were the only players to pick themselves.

3. Shane Warne was picked 13 times

4. Alistar Cook was the most picked English Player

5. Only Swann had Bradman

6. Jimmy Anderson, Joe Root and Virat Kohli were the only active Test players picked

7. Bairstow’s answer to “should root bat at 3 or 4?” is apparently to bat him at 7

8. Mitchell Johnson inflicted so much trauma in 13/14 4 players decided he is an all-time great.

GAME 1 : FLINTOFF V PRIOR

PRIOR XI wins by 10 wickets Scorecard

Despite Flintoff saying he’d put the Ashes 2005 team up against any in the world, they lost by 10 wickets. Ponting and Tendulkar got centuries for Prior, Kevin Pietersen came close for Flintoff, and Simon Jones got absolutely blasted going for 0/121 in his 22 overs.

GAME 2: TROTT XI V COLLINGWOOD XI

COLLINGWOOD XI wins by 10 wickets Scorecard

Not much of a contest here either. Hayden, Kallis and Tendulkar all got centuries for Collingwood XI, with only Waugh going past 50 in Trott XI’s first innings.

GAME 3: BAIRSTOW V TRESCOTHICK

TRESCOTHICK XI wins by 232 runs Scorecard

Another blowout. Tendulkar got a double ton, with Lara adding 159. Trescothick XI declared at 554/4 with only Kallis taking wickets. Mitchell Johnson was the second best batsman for Bairstow XI getting 66. Joe Root only managed 20 runs in the match so maybe 7 isn’t the place for him.

GAME 4: GOOCH XI V ROOT XI

GOOCH XI wins by 132 runs Scorecard

Not much to shout about here. Tendulkar made runs (again) and Akram took 9. Johnson was the highlight for ROOT XI taking 4 in each innings. De Villiers threatened to make it interesting at the end but ran out of partners.

GAME 5: MORGAN XI V STEWART XI

STEWART XI wins by 36 runs Scorecard

The most interesting match so far. Malcolm Marshall was the match winner, forming crucial partnerships with Tendulkar and Warne and clearing up MORGAN XI with 5 in the final innings, taking the wickets of Lara, Dhoni, Kallis and Ponting.

GAME 6 : SWANN XI V BELL XI

SWANN XI wins by 10 Wickets Scorecard

Somewhat unsurprising that the team with the greatest batsman of all time won this match, although it was 188 from Jack Hobbs that was the defining innings. What is surprising is that Bradman took 3/24 in the second innings, one more wicket than he took in his entire career.

GAME 7: BROAD XI V STRAUSS XI

BROAD XI wins by 185 runs Scorecard

Despite being on both teams, Alistair Cook only showed up for BROAD XI, posting centuries in both innings. A 5fer from Glen McGrath restricted STRAUSS XI to just 182 in the first innings, ensuring the mountain would be too big to climb in the second.

GAME 8: GILES XI V COOK XI

GILES XI wins by 1 wicket Scorecard

An absolute thriller to end the first round. The first match not to feature a century from either team. Ian Botham absolutely tore it up, becoming the first player to take a 10fer this tournament. With GILES XI 282/8 needing 16 to win, Wasim Akram scored 14 of those 16 as Warne hung on with him. The victory could have come much easier had Matthew Hayden not taken his first 3 career wickets in the second innings.

Here's the bracket at the end of round 1.

CONCLUSIONS

As good as England were at the 2005 ashes, perhaps they aren’t the greatest group of cricketers to ever play the game. Not too many major surprises here, Sachin Tendulkar and Donald Bradman both seem to be very good at cricket as does McGrath and Marshall, although maybe Bradman and Hayden squandered their potential as bowlers. Also, don’t pick Joe Root at 7, even if he is your captain. Broad is the only current cricketer to make it through to the next round.

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