26 Oct 2013

Wisden names all time Test XI

8:13 am on 26 October 2013

Australian great Don Bradman has been named captain of an all-time Test World XI to mark the 150th anniversary of Wisden Cricketers' Almanack.

Bradman played his last test in 1948, and no batsman before or since has come anywhere near his staggering Test batting average of 99.94.

Also in the side is Bradman's leg spinning compatriot Shane Warne, and four Englishmen including WG Grace, the 19th century star who invented the fundamentals of batting and Sydney Barnes, a master of both swing and spin.

English opener Jack Hobbs and fellow countryman and wicketkeeper Alan Knott also made the team although their selection may have been helped by Wisden's English origin.

The West Indies provide three players in the form team: master blasting batsman Vivian Richards, Sir Garfield Sobers - frequently referred to as the greatest allrounder cricket has known - and Malcolm Marshall, viewed as arguably the best in a long line of top-class Caribbean fast bowlers.

India provide one player in the form of test cricket's leading run-scorer Sachin Tendulkar, with the team completed by Pakistan's Wasim Akram, long esteemed as the best left-arm fast bowler cricket has known.

In batting order the team is Hobbs, Grace, Bradman, Sachin Tendulkar, Viv Richards, Garry Sobers, Alan Knott, Wasim Akram, Shane Warne, Malcolm Marshall and Sydney Barnes.