To close out 2013 I compiled a team of my most exciting players to have compiled an elite Test career in my time watching Test cricket. It was a happy exercise that inspired a nice trip down memory lane. It was a team of dashers and bashers, wizards and maestros, graceful technicians, inspirational showmen, and multi-skilled legends the likes of which we may never see again.
I’d sure love to see that team play. Of course, if they were to play, they’d have to have a team to play against, and what better team for the Exciting XI to play than the Determined XI?
Determination is a huge part of cricket. No doubt the players in the Exciting XI had their fair share of it. However, there are certain players that have forged careers from their mindset, managing to succeed despite questionable talent and limited techniques. Indeed, for this great cricketing nation, our most dominant era of cricket was born of the number 4 in this team, and nurtured by the number 5.
It is interesting for me in this slightly different trip down memory lane to note that I often got just as much joy out of watching the players in this side (well, the Aussie ones anyway) as I did those in the Exciting XI. Please forgive any Australian bias, but hey, I love my side. Anyway, for what it’s worth, here is the team listed in batting position: