On eve of 80th birthday, umpire also omits Lara, Ponting from all-time list; Gavaskar makes the cut; Imran named skipper
No Sachin Tendulkar. No Ricky Ponting. No Brian Lara. And no Donald Bradman either. Believe it or not, but none of these batting greats have made it to Dickie Bird’s all-time Test XI. Sunil Gavaskar, the original ‘Little Master’ does find a place, though.
A day before his 80th birthday, cricket’s greatest-ever umpire listed out his ‘Best XI’. Interestingly, none of the top-10 run-getters in Test cricket have found a place in Bird’s team. The Englishman chose South African Barry Richards to partner Gavaskar at the top.
Speaking to The Daily Telegraph, Bird said, “Sunil was one of the two best opening bats I saw.” About Richards, Bird said, “He would have broken all the records, but for Apartheid.”
Bird, who officiated in 66 Tests between 1973 and 1996, gave West Indian great Viv Richards the coveted No. 3 spot. “Great character. There are few left in sport,” he said of the daredevil. Australia’s Greg Chappell comes in next. Why? Because he was “inspirational and a pleasure to watch”.
Another player who made the cut was Graeme Pollock. “An outstanding player, but another who was largely lost because of Apartheid,” Bird said. Garfield Sobers, considered by many as the greatest cricketer of all time, occupies the No. 6 spot. “The all-rounder was the greatest I have ever seen play the game,” was how Bird praised the West Indian.
So who’d keep wickets? Alan Knott — “the only Englishman in my side. A great wicketkeeper-batsman”.
Pakistani legend Imran Khan is the only other Asian in Bird’s XI. What’s more, he would lead this great side because “his knowledge (of the game) was outstanding.” Shane Warne (“a great leg-spinner), Dennis Lillee (“the finest fast bowler who ever lived”) and West Indian Lance Gibbs (“a truly great spinner — and in his era, there were loads of them”) also made the cut.
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