The birthplace of the ‘Gentleman’s Game’, England has given the world of cricket some of the most talented players. Right from the initial days of the sport till now, the England cricket team continues to provide names that the fans and the experts of cricket continue to cherish. So, here’s a look at the all-time best England XI in the purest form of the game, Test cricket.
Openers (Sir Alastair Cook and Sir Jack Hobbs)
Two of the most prolific batsmen to have played the game of cricket, Sir Jack Hobbs and Sir Alastair Cook are the openers of this all-time best England XI in Test cricket. Even though the two played in completely different eras of the sport their careers were equally illustrious.
Sir Jack Hobbs represented England in 61 Test matches where he scored a total of 5,410 runs, which included his individual highest score of 211 runs. Sir Alastair Cook had a relatively more number of Tests under his belt, with his tally being 161 Test matches, where he managed to score as many as 12,472 runs at a class-leading average of 45.35.
Middle Order (Denis Compton, David Gower, Kevin Pietersen, Alan Knott)
Forming the middle order of this all-time best England XI in Test cricket are Alan Knott, Denis Compton, David Gower, and Kevin Pietersen. It is no doubt that all these 4 batsmen were match-winners in their own sense and had the abilities to make the best of the starts that their openers would provide them with, and the same is proven and reflected in their statistics.
David Gower in his playing days was a part of 117 Tests and scored 8,231 runs in total, and also took 20 wickets. Denis Compton played 78 games and scored 5,807 runs while maintaining an average of 50.06. Kevin Pietersen, one of the flashiest batsmen to have played cricket for the England Cricket team was included in the playing XI of the England Cricket team on 104 occasions where he managed to get as many as 8,181 runs under his belt, and the cherry on the top were the 10 wickets that he got. Alan Knott represented England on 95 occasions and scored 4,389 runs, hitting 5 centuries and 30 half-centuries in the process.
All Rounders (Sir Ian Botham, Joe Root)
Regarded to be one of the best all-rounders to have played the game of cricket, Sir Ian Botham, along with Joe Root, who is known for his batting skills more than those with the ball in hand are the players completing this section of the all-time best England XI in Test Cricket. Many may not call Joe Root to be an all-rounder in the truest sense, but no England XI could be complete without him being included and he has been quite proficient with the ball in hand too even though his numbers may suggest otherwise.
In the 103 Test matches that Joe Root has played, he has scored 8,617 runs including 20 centuries and 49 runs and has been the sole torchbearer of the English batting lineup on many occasions in the recent past. With the ball in hand, including his one 5 wicket haul, where he gave away just 8 runs to take 5 wickets, he has 37 wickets in his account. When it comes to Sir Ian Botham’s numbers, they are truly a class apart. He played in 102 Tests and scored 5,200 runs and took 383 wickets in total, registering his name in the history books for several reasons.
Bowlers (Graeme Swann, James Anderson, Bob Willis)
Rounding up the all-time best England XI in Test cricket are the bowlers of the team, who are Graeme Swann, James Anderson, and Bob Willis. All three of these men have been a blessing to the sport of cricket in England, making sure that whenever they would step onto the field, their fans and the experts of the game were never left without a stunning display of bowling.
Graeme Swann, arguably one of the best spinners to come out of England, played for the country in 60 Test matches, but his contributions to the game and the team go way beyond that. During his time with the English team, he took 255 wickets at an economy rate of 2.99 and also chipped in with the bat on certain occasions, as his runs total to 1,370.
James Anderson, is a bowler from whom, every cricket player, be it a bowler or a batsman would have a lot to learn. He powered through injuries, bad form, and all of such adversities to become one of the most celebrated names in the world of cricket. So far, he has played in 160 Tests where he has scored 614 wickets including 30 5-wicket-hauls and scored 1,233 runs with the bat in hand too. Just like Anderson, another the other pacer, Bob Willis built a legacy of his own while on the field, and it is shown in the numbers that he had to his name at the time of retirement. Having played in 90 Tests, he had taken 325 wickets and the added bonus were the 840 odd runs that he managed to score.
