World XIs have rarely been of much interest in recent years: familar names have dominated every list for far, far too long. The same might be true today. What's always struck me as more interesting are "best of the rest" lists.

How about we leave out the ICC top 10 batsmen and ICC top ten bowlers in world cricket... and then look at who is left: omit the following...To my mind that currently leaves something like the following:

Fleming, Cook / Strauss / Langer / Gayle, Bell, Jayawardene, Inzi, Clarke, Gilchrist, Clark, Kaneria / MacGill / Vettori, Collymore and one other seamer from a huge list of also-rans.

Langer
Trescothick
Gayle
Clarke
Collingwood
Sarwan
Gilchrist
Collymore
Jones(Simon)
MacGill
Lee

This side would give any side a run for it's money.

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Ern

It is disgusting that the people who have posted have forgotten Mr Cook of England.

I must say that Mr Cook will be the future England captain who will personally make the Australians suffer like they have done to us over the last 15 or so years. Within the next 15 years Mr Cook will become an England legend and will break all records in terms of appearances and run-scoring, remember I told you so.

Eh? I can only assume you forgot Asif. There are very few, if any, young bowlers in world cricket who have potential to be great 5 or 10 years down the line - Asif not only has that, he also has the potential to be an all-time great like McGrath and Pollock, as long as he applies himself.

Also, Collymore is by no means a certainty - Nel, Umar Gul, Zaheer Khan would all make an equally good case for selection.

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A lie can travel halfway around the world while the truth is putting on its shoes
Mark Twain

Asif would be my instinct as the "one other"... but that would be pretty speculative. Asif looks good.. but no more so than Pathan did when he first burst onto the scene...

Really? And that is based on what Rachael? Can't be their performances or how they actually bowled. Asif has played six Tests, and taken 30 wickets, 3 four-fors, and at least three match-winning bowling performances. His average is 21 and his SR is 39 - both comfortably ahead of any other current bowler.

Irfan Pathan had an excellent start to his career but despite that, in his first six Tests managed 18 wickets, at an average of 39 and a SR of 78!! And you say they had similar starts?!

Asif has also been excellent in ODIs and in fact, has looked a class apart from everyone on the field whenever he has the ball in his hand - one actually expects something to happen everytime he comes on to bowl, regardless of the conditions.

And you have included Stuart Clark, presumably as the "wild card" or "the joke selection" - why not Stuart Broad instead? They are both equally new and untested, and are both called Stuart, which seems to be your key selection criterion! Clark has done far less to merit inclusion than Asif, Nel, Zaheer and any number of other performers. He had a few good games, a bit like Harmison a few years ago, or Umar Gul in 2004 or Simon Jones last year - but even in those games, Clark has yet to put in a comprehensive match-winning performance or even be the leading player on the field from either side. I would say Jerome Taylor has been equally impressive in his last three tests as Clark has been in his. But Taylor actually bowls at more than pedestrian pace so that rules him out in your book!

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A lie can travel halfway around the world while the truth is putting on its shoes
Mark Twain

No spot for the Tiger, Shivnarine Chanderpaul??

To be fair Maranello, Stuart Clarke has been doing well not just in this Ashes series (where he is leading wicket taker so far) but prior to this he had a good tour to South Africa as well, where he replaced McGrath (who missed the series to be with his wife) and was the Player of the Series with 20 wickets at 15 (including 9 wickets on debut!)! And in a total of 7 tests so far he has 37 wickets at an average of 18 conceeding just 2.5 runs an over! You're entitled to your opinions of course, and you can well think of Umar Gul, a younger man, with slightly more number of tests, and less support from others in his side then Clark has in his Australian side, as a more promising option for the long term, but we should not discredit Clarke all the same. He has been phenomenal for Australia since he came in the frame, and clearly has had more impact then some (or most) of the names you have mentioned.

Fair enough Z - but the point remains that Clark has hardly set the world on fire in his last three tests - I would have expected more from someone who is allegedly a near certainty for this XI!

A pace bowler having a good game or two in South Africa is hardly that unusual - just ask young Sreesaanth! Or even Charl Langevedlt. Clark may have potential and may be the next best thing, but I would say the same about Asif, Gul and Taylor - all of whom are much younger and thus much more exciting.

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A lie can travel halfway around the world while the truth is putting on its shoes
Mark Twain

Are you serious Ern. I agree with some of your team but IMO certain selection show biasedness.

Trecothick. There is absolutely no way that Tresco can make the team. Surely Gayle or Sehwag are far better options. On what basis are you selecting. It seems like you are selecting on past reputations. If this is the case, then even Gibbs and Jayasuriya come in before Tresco.

Collingwood. Are you serious. So is Collingwood better than Inzi, Chanderpaul, Laxman, Tendulkar and Jayawardene. I would even pick Bell and Cook ahead of him.

Sarwan. Debatable. He has shown huge potential but he is very inconsistent. I would prefer to go with one of the players that I have mentioned above.

As for the bowlers, I dont think that any of them would make my team.

Lee. overated, never bowls match winning spells (except against Bangladesh and Zimbabwe). I would rather go for Asif, Taylor, or even Akhtar or Bond (if you really want extra pace).

Simon (one series wonder) Jones. Firstly Ern I dont think that he will be fit to play . Secondly, what else has Jones done other than his great performance in the ashes last year. If you are picking on the basis of one series then we might as well put Panesar or Sreesanth in. Maybe even Pathan( ave 11 against Bangladesh 2004/2005). Even Clark is worth a go.

Collymore. Good, but nothing more. IMO he does not take enough wickets but he does bowl fairly consistently.

MacGill. This is a tough one because I rate MacGill but unfortunately we do not see him bowl very oftenoutside of Australia. I would have to lean slightly in favour of Singh or Vettori.

I do not know what Rachael wants us to pick the team on (current form or overall consistency). Ern, your team is a combination and even includes "one series wonders" who dont fall into any categories. I will pick my team based on consistency especially recently

1)Gayle
2)Langer
3)Cook/ Laxman (A see Cook as a great potential, so I lean in his favour)
4)Tendulkar/ Chanderpaul(tough one because Chanderpaul is such a fighter and every team needs one. but then again Tendulkar is plain genius.)
5)Jayawardene
6)Inzi
7)Gilchrist
8)Vettori/ MacGill
9)Taylor
10)Asif
11)Bond

Ern with all due respect, I think that my team will kick your teams a**
Come on guys, pick your teams and then we can look for the common guys and pick a final XI. Maybe I forgot someone, let me know

Edit: If I allowed my biased opinions in, I would pick Gibbs to open instead of Gayle like Ern did by putting 3 english guys in.