Choosing between the best

It can't be fun being a selector. You only get written about when someone is being critical of you, and you get written about a lot. Not only can you not please everyone, often, you can't please anyone. That's what the journalists at Wisden Cricinfo - our staff and some regular contributors - discovered when we put on our selectorial hats, and picked Rest of the World teams for the Super Series contest against Australia next year.

What a squishy mess we walked right into. As many as 22 people cast their votes, picking a Test XI and an ODI XI, and no two teams, out of all these, were exactly the same. We collated all the votes and came up with composite teams, and those sides did not match any of the 22 submitted in each category either. That confirms the suspicion that some of us are too hard on selectors sometimes; they will rarely pick the same team that any writer or fan may pick, and as long as the differences are reasonable, one should just let those poor souls be.

Feel free to pick on us, though. If you don't agree with our teams, given below, write to us and let us know, and give us your Rest of the World XIs for Tests and one-dayers.

Rest of the World Test team (in batting order)

1 Michael Vaughan (13 votes, capt)
2 Virender Sehwag (14)
3 Rahul Dravid (20)
4 Brian Lara (20)
5 Sachin Tendulkar (19)
6 Jacques Kallis (14)
7 Mark Boucher (16, wk)
8 Shaun Pollock (10)
9 Shoaib Akhtar (17)
10 Steve Harmison (19)
11 Muttiah Muralitharan (22)

The closest battle in the selection of this squad was between Jacques Kallis and VVS Laxman, who found himself the 12th man with nine votes. The argument in favour of Laxman was his outstanding record against Australia, with an average of 63.52, and three centuries - two in the recent four-Test series, to add to his classic 281 in 2001. But Kallis's allround skills won him the slot: the differential between his batting average and his bowling average is 11.3, which compares well with anyone in the history of the game.

The most popular opener, surprisingly, was Virender Sehwag, who wasn't even taken seriously as a Test opener until recently - he himself speaks of going back to the middle order one day. His 309 against Pakistan at Multan, and the 195 against Australia at Melbourne that came two Tests before that, underscored his destructive potential at the top of the order, where he can snatch the momentum away in a session, and the match in another.

He'll have good company in Michael Vaughan, whose uncertain form of late is balanced by his fine run against Australia in the last Ashes series, where he made three hundreds. He made the team comfortably with 13 votes, more than the openers nearest to him, Graeme Smith (7) and Herschelle Gibbs (5), combined.

Unsurprisingly, every single person picked Muttiah Muralitharan, disregarding the controversies that have dogged him since his career began. The pace of Shoaib Akhtar and Steve Harmison was supplemented by the experience and guile of Shaun Pollock, while Anil Kumble, Irfan Pathan and Chaminda Vaas, all with five votes, missed out by a long distance. Kumar Sangakkara, with four votes, was the reserve wicketkeeper.

Some of our writers made interesting punts on the future, given that the matches are a year away. One picked Yuvraj Singh to open with Sehwag, implying that not only will Yuvraj open for India in the coming season, as is being speculated, he'll do well enough to be considered one of the world's best. Another backed Geraint Jones for the wicketkeeper's slot - Andy Flower also got a vote for that place. No-one bet on Kevin Pietersen, though, or young Parthiv Patel.

Michael Vaughan won the right to captain the side, ahead of the only other current captain, Brian Lara.

Rest of the World ODI team (in batting order)

1 Sachin Tendulkar (21 votes)
2 Virender Sehwag (15)
3 Jacques Kallis (15)
4 Brian Lara (18)
5 Rahul Dravid (12, capt, wk)
6 Yuvraj Singh (7)
7 Andrew Flintoff (18)
8 Shaun Pollock (16)
9 Shoaib Akhtar/Chaminda Vaas (7 each)
10 Steve Harmison (8)
11 Muttiah Muralitharan (21)

Many more players were in contention for the one-day side than the Test side - a total of 39 players had their names mentioned by our 22 selectors. While the cut-off mark for the Test side was 10 votes, here, it was seven, with three players tied on that position, in a battle for two places. Yuvraj Singh, who has constructed some impeccable finishes for India in recent times, took up the batting slot at No. 6, while Shoaib and Vaas were left struggling for one bowling spot.

Pathan, Sourav Ganguly and Herschelle Gibbs just missed the cut with six points each. Boucher also lost out with six points; of the 12 people who picked Rahul Dravid, 11 wanted him to keep wicket. Remarkably, given that he isn't India's captain yet, he was also chosen to captain the side. Far-sighted or foolhardy? We'll know in hindsight.

Two men named Chris, Gayle and Cairns, got five votes each. Tendulkar and Murali were the most popular picks, both with 21 votes. (And no, the names and email IDs of the people who left out Tendulkar from either side will not be posted here.) As many as ten of the people who voted for Tendulkar wanted him to bat in the middle order, but at the end, only one other opener made it among the batsmen, so that wasn't necessary. Andrew Flintoff, who lends such weight to the England team with his stirring allround talent, and Brian Lara were also popular choices, with 18 votes each.

Shite, wasn't it? And to think we call ourselves cricket writers. Disgraceful. You can certainly do better, so please do, and write in to us with your teams. We'll try to collate readers' XIs, and we'll also put up some of your feedback.