OK, so everyone knows he's not my favourite, but this surely doesn't help him. Report from the BBC here. Richie Benaud's comment seems to be in character, but perhaps simply veils his real thoughts, which are more likely in line with his Love Child's signature line on this site.

I tend to agree with Murali. But with all of the controversy you cant blame the panel for selecting the 'safe' Warne.

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It's hard enough to remember my opinions, without remembering my reasons for them!
Nietzsche

Celebrity love-ins? I'm confused. What do you mean? And as for the results Richard is that what was selected or were they your own predictions because I wouldn't have that team. At all. Not for the test matches anyway.

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NZBETH

Celebrity love-ins: I mean all these award ceremonies which seem to be all over the calendar all the time, where a few hundred people who have been doing their jobs get together to tell each other how great and wonderful they are. It started with the Oscars, but now there is barely anyone who isn't qualified to be part of some award ceremony or other.

Hiya NZbeth. I think they were the results of the test IX/ODI IX. Richie Benault was the 'chairman' of selectors.

Who would you pick?

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I have a dream.... (Martin Luther King)

I don't think it's sour grapes at all... but I'd say it also has a lot to do with the reverence of Warne from Benaud and the matey relationship between Botham and Warne.

Daft selection, anyway.. and made worse by the fact that with Kallis, Gilchrist and Harmison doing the seam-up stufff.. they could have picked BOTH slow bowlers.

Murali's a horrible batsmen though. And the selectors said they were going for a balnced team.

__________________
It's hard enough to remember my opinions, without remembering my reasons for them!
Nietzsche

He seems pretty balanced though: one chip on each shoulder.

I think the ICC should steer well away from picking world 11 teams (as should I) but just to say
I wouldn't have thought Warne was eligable, after all, for part of the year he served a drugs ban.


Which is better, 36 in five or 68 in 8. ?

Chamida Vaas, Ricky Ponting and Jason Gillespie must be the best cricketers as there the only ones to make both 'codes' of cricket.


In two years time we'll all be debating who's the best 20twenty team in the world.

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I have a dream.... (Martin Luther King)

It's a tricky one, Richard, because they are picking a hypothetical team for a hypothetical match. You could as easily argue that Warne is eligible because he is fit and no longer banned but Murali isn't because he's recovering from surgery. To be honest, I'm not sure what brief the "selectors" were given, but equally I'm not so interested that I am going to try to find out! It's no more important really than the way two "captains" used to pick their teams in the school playground. I was always the last kid picked, but I don't remember ever being as disappointed as Murali apparently was.