Five Australian players were named in the world Test cricket team of the year at the inaugural ICC Awards dinner in London on Tuesday.
Matthew Hayden, Ricky Ponting, Adam Gilchrist, Shane Warne and Jason Gillespie were named in the combined Test team while Gilchrist, Ponting, and Gillespie also made the one-day team of the year.
The World XI Test Team of the Year was chosen by the ICC's specially-appointed expert selection panel comprising Richie Benaud (chairman), Ian Botham, Sunil Gavaskar, Michael Holding and Barry Richards using their knowledge, judgment and expert opinion.
"We approached the statistical side of things and again the competitive nature of matches came under scrutiny. The aim was to produce a well-balanced eleven able to win matches played on a good cricket pitch," chairman of the ICC Awards selection panel Beanud said.
Surprisingly, just one Indian player, Rahul Dravid, made it to the Test eleven. Conspicuous by their absence in the squad are Sachin Tendulkar and Muthiah Muralitharan.
What do you think about the selection? If you can come up with something better, send us your team.
