World Test XI

A host of exciting performances in Test cricket since January 2010 have prompted our expert to build his own dream eleven. Do you agree with his analysis?

England are the best Test team in the world right now - though South Africa and India (despite the recent hammering) are not that far behind based on performances over the last year and a half. At least that’s the premise of a debate I had with a couple of friends over the past week, which led us into a discussion of comparing individual players on these teams position by position. Ultimately, this got me thinking about the best Test XI in the world today. I looked at some stats for recent form (for which I looked at matches since Jan 1, 2010) and then applied a little judgement to pick the World Test XI.

Openers

Here’s a list of openers that made the shortlist.

Cook has been the highest run getter in Tests since 2010, with a staggering average of 68. He’s also got more 100s than anyone in the world in this time frame and is an easy pick for the opening slot. The second choice is trickier - Smith has been solid as always, Watson gives you the seam bowling option which makes up for his low average and Tamim Iqbal has the best average of the lot (though on the flipside he’s only played eight matches). I think the Bangladeshi opener is the most underrated batsman in the world today, but in the end I went with Sehwag because there’s no match-winner like him when he gets going. Plus, four of his five 100s over the past 18 months have come in trying circumstances and he’s the perfect attacking complement (a strike rate of 89 in Tests!) to Cook at the top.

Final Picks: Cook and Sehwag

Middle Order

Picking players from spots 3 to 6 is harder with a lot of quality out there. Check out the table below if you don’t believe me!

My two automatic picks - Tendulkar, the second highest run getter this decade, and Kallis who averages a ridiculous 92. Both have eight centuries this year and while they both bat at 4 in Tests these days, I had to pick both of them and can figure out the rest of the batting order around them. I was amazed to see Bell’s batting average at 79 - I knew he’s been good but not that good! He’d make a good number 5, which means we can have Kallis come in at 3 and Tendulkar at 4. For the number 6 spot, I had to pick Laxman. He’s played so many back-against-the-wall innings in the toughest situations that I selected him over other batsmen with better averages. Amla, deVilliers and Sangakkara are unlucky to miss out despite super numbers, but none of them seemed like a great fit for the number 6 spot.

Final Picks: Kallis, Tendulkar, Bell and Laxman

Wicketkeeper

Keeping in mind that deVilliers and Sanga don’t play as specialist keepers (ABD kept in one match this year while Sanga hasn’t kept even once), here’s the list of keepers under consideration.

This may be a bit of the status quo bias playing in here after I wrote this article, but I think the numbers are quite compelling to make Prior an easy choice. The only reason to pick Dhoni is if I wanted a great captain, but Prior is the better keeper-batsman. Add to that, there’s experienced heads in the team already with Kallis, Tendulkar, Sehwag and Laxman. I’d probably go with a young Cook as captain - even though he hasn’t done the job in Tests yet he’s shown promise in ODIs. And he has a stellar leadership resume - captain of his school cricket team, captain of England’s U19 team which included solid performances in the U19 World Cup and president of the music society at Bedford! Plus, Captain Cook is a pretty cool nickname!

Final Pick: Prior

Spinner

Swann looks miles better than the rest at the moment - only Ajmal has a better average and strike rate but he’s played a third of the matches which is too small a sample. Plus Swann is a handy batsman with a career Test batting average of 23.5. Enough said.

Final Pick: Swann

Pacemen

You want some variety amongst the pace bowlers to make things tough for the opposition. Steyn is the out and out wicket-taker with a stunning strike rate of a wicket every 40 balls. Anderson is the veteran seamer who gets the new ball to move and has a habit for picking up a wicket when you need it. And Zaheer Khan provides the left hand bowling option and he’s been a big reason for India’s success over the past 18 months. The only bad news with all three in the squad is that the tail looks a little long, since none of them can bat particularly well. But they are by far the best bowlers on this list in terms of averages over a long period of time - Bresnan and Tremlett come close but not have played enough matches.

Final Picks: Steyn, Anderson and Zaheer

So that’s the final Test XI, and it’s fair to say that’s why England, India and South Africa are the top teams at the moment since everyone in the team is from one of those three countries. Here is the final XI one more time:

1. Alastair Cook
2. Virender Sehwag
3. Jacques Kallis
4. Sachin Tendulkar
5. Ian Bell
6. VVS Laxman
7. Matt Prior
8. Graeme Swann
9. Zaheer Khan
10. Dale Steyn
11. James Anderson