Dream Team
Welcome to our new, expanded, illustrated presentation with statistical summaries of the selected players
Former Yorkshire and Essex man Paul Grayson picks his top XI
1. Graham Gooch
He was one of the best I played with; he was just a destroyer of all types of bowling, a phenomenal player. I had the pleasure of playing with him for a number of years, he was very calm and we had some good partnerships together. He was the leader of our batting line-up and was very supportive. On difficult days and took all the pressure – you could play your own game because he could score at four or five an over on his own.
2. Martyn Moxon
Technically, Martyn was probably one of the best I have every played with and seen. He’s got a fantastic record during a period of pitches not being their best at Headingley. I think he was unlucky not to play more Test cricket, he had injuries that went against him but was a great county player.
3. Sachin Tendulkar
He was Yorkshire’s first overseas player and although he was only 18, he was a genius. When he joined he was a very quiet boy but obviously had a huge amount of ability and you could see that straight away. As a young player coming through, to play in the same team and watch him practise and play was unbelievable. He was a similar age to me at that time but had already played Test cricket.
4. Nasser Hussain
My captain. Nasser was not technically perfect but he was a real street fighter, you would want him in the trenches with you. His record is very good as well, a proper batter and the type of cricketer I liked to play with, he would never give an inch to the opposition.
5. Stuart Law
Consistently the best overseas player I played with, he had an amazing record at Essex and then at Lancashire and Derbyshire. He will be remembered for his three years at Essex, though – the volume of runs and the way he could take the game away from an opposition in an hour was incredible.
6. Craig White
I’ve known ‘Chalky’ for a long time and he actually bowled off-spin in the beginning but when he started to bowl pace he was lively, hit the bat very hard and a very good batsman and fielder, too.
7. James Foster
He’s been around for a long time but as a gloveman he was the best I have ever seen. He has a great work ethic and has had a good career with the bat. As a keeper though he’s an absolute genius, he could take things you would not see anyone else take.
8. Darren Gough
My best pal – we joined Yorkshire together at a very similar time. He actually started off as a medium pace swing bowler and got into shape to bowl really quick. A top player with red and white ball and as a death bowler for England in one-day cricket. He would back himself to get a few runs at eight as well.
9. Mark Ilott
He gives balance to the side with left-arm swing, when he swung the ball back and the number of LBWs he got was amazing. In the early Nineties there were a lot of left-arm county cricketers but Mark was right up there, a very good honest county bowler.
10. Danish Kaneria
I played with him for a couple of seasons, he obviously had a very good Test career and had successful years for Essex. He was a match-winner and a game-changer, he loved to bowl lots of overs and would go and go from one end. He played on some dry pitches at Chelmsford at the time and they turned a bit more but his record is very good.
11. Peter Hartley
He was a fantastic county professional, highquality seam bowler and a good honest player. In the right conditions he had the ability to get the top players out which he did. He had bags of ability with the ball when we played together at Yorkshire.