Team 1:
Openers: Pretty average, Sehwag can be destructive on his day and on a flat wicket, and has a good record, but Gambhir's probably too early into his career to be considered for an XI such as this. 6/10
Middle Order: A very strong middle order, with 4 very good, talented batsmen. Dravid and Jayawardene are the 2 stronger batsmen, with Martyn and Clarke being slightly weaker. But it's strong enough. 7/10
Keeper: Hmm, very strange selection this. Only 1 Test as keeper, and although he'd probably perform well, his lack of exposure as a Test keeper means he's probably the weakest of the keepers on show. 4/10
Bowling Attack: 4 quality bowlers, with the 2 best spinners of the generation in Murali and Warne. Wasim Akram was a genuis also, so he's a great selection, but an injury prone Ian Bishop lets the side down a little. 8/10
Total: 25/40
Team 2:
Openers: Hayden is probably the best opener of the era, with his average of over 50 and his 30 Test centuries. He destroyed batting line-ups, making runs in most countries. Taylor was certainly not as strong as Hayden, but a very competent opening batsman. 8/10
Middle Order: A strong middle order, made up by the greatest all-rounder of the generation in Kallis, and then followed by 3 very competent batsmen in Inzamam, Waugh and Waugh. I think Maugh lets the side down a little. He had a good record, but I don't rate him as highly as some other batsmen from the era. 7/10
Keeper: Alec Stewart was a good keeper and a good batsman. England have certainly missed the services of him, and although not the best of his generation, he was certainly good enough. 6.5/10
Bowling Attack: Probably the weakest section of the side. Allan Donald was very good, but the other 2 seamers were somewhat up and down. Bond has a very good overall record, but take out his wickets against Zimbabwe and his average moves upto 27, and he definitely struggled against Australia. He was an explosive strike bowler, but somewhat over-rated I think. Kumble helps strengthen the bowling attack. 6.5/10
Total: 28/40
Team 3:
Openers: Smith is a very good choice, averaging over 50 with quite a few hundreds plus the burden of captaincy from a young age. Strauss is quite a poor selection though, due to the up and down nature of his career. Strauss started brilliantly, making bucketfulls of runs, including a superb tour of South Africa, but had a massive run of poor form, before finding his form again recently against India and West Indies. He's been far too inconsistent to really be considered for inclusion. 6/10
Middle Order: Brian Lara is a very good pick. Scoring massive runs and being the lynchpin in his sides batting line-up. Yousuf and Hussey however are not as strong, both having career boosting strong years. Yousuf was pretty average until his couple of 2 years, and Hussey came into Test cricket in his prime and made heaps of runs. I don't think either have really proven consistency over a long enough period of time to be great picks. 6/10
Keeper: Fantastic batsman playing for a poor team, but his keeping was not the best. A very good option, one probably stronger than Stewart, but certainly not a Gilchrist. 7/10
Bowling Attack: Vettori and Ntini are weak picks here. Ntini has a very poor away record, and Vettori is certainly nowhere near as dominating in the longer formats as he is in OD and T20 cricket. Vaas, Ambrose and Walsh were all very consistent and wicket taking bowlers though, adding some much needed strength. Ambrose and Walsh being far and away the best bowlers in the team. Team balance is affected with Vettori at 7 also. 5/10.
Total: 24/40
Team 4:
Openers: Langer and Gibbs both have averages nearing 50 when opening the batting. Langer providing the more solid, consistent role, and Gibbs being the aggressor taking the attack to the bowlers. It's a solid and strong opening pair, that almost matches that of Hayden and Taylor. 7.5/10
Middle Order: A middle order consisting of 3 players all averaging over 50 in Test cricket. One of them the greatest batsman of his generation in Sachin Tendulkar. Another, Shiv Chanderpaul is currently ranked the #1 Batsman in the world, with averages over 100 in his last 2 years of Test cricket. The 3rd, the current Pakistan captain, that although has a couple of technical flaws, is a very strong batsman. 7.5/10
Keeper: Kumar Sangakkara is a very solid all-round wicket-keeper. He's capable against pace having kept to both Vaas and Malinga competently, and is also very handy keeping to the great spinner, Muttiah Muralitharan. His batting is also incredibly strong, with an overall average well over 50 and an average as keeper over 40. 7/10
Bowling Attack: 2 superb strike bowlers taking the new ball, in Waqar Younis and Shoaib Akhtar. Younis being a key exponent of swing bowling, with Akhtar capable of bowling at extreme pace with a mean yorker and a seering bouncer. Pollock and Cairns will follow them up. Pollock who was genuinely quick in his prime and possibly a better bowler than his partner, Donald, bowling with the canny Kiwi all-rounder Chris Cairns, who took alot of wickets, and also provides handy lower order batting helping balance. The spin option comes from Warne Mk II, Stuey MacGill, who although not as good as Warne, was a very capable Leggie. 7.5/10
Total: 29.5/40
Team 5:
Openers: Not the strongest, but Anwar and Kirsten were no mugs. A very capable opening pair. 6.5/10
Middle Order: 3 very talented middle order batsmen, with the 2nd best of his generation in Ponting, the best batsman in the universe ever after RV KING OF SIXERS, KP and the effervescent stroke maker VVS Laxman. A strong Middle order. 7/10
Keeper: Best Keeper-batsman of his generation. Destructive with the bat, very good with the gloves. Gilchrist at his best was unstoppable. 8.5/10
Bowling Attack: De Villiers and Harbhajan let the bowling attack down a little, with Harbhajan's record outside India not being fantastic and De Villiers having not played that many games. But Steyn, McGrath and Flintoff bring it back. Steyn and McGrath being 2 superb new ball bowlers, with Flintoff a key exponent of reverse swing. Those 3 are strong, but a little let down by the other 2.7/10
Total: 29
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