BAT’S ENTERTAINMENT

RISING STARS EDGE OUT OLD GUARD IN ROBERT CRADDOCK’S INTERNATIONAL TEAM OF THE DECADE

IT was the decade of the superbats… the legends who said goodbye and the remarkable men who replaced them. When Sachin Tendulkar, Ricky Ponting and Jacques Kallis took their goldplated records into retirement in the early years of the decade it seemed cricket might be left in a dark place.

But a new generation of blue bloods rose to take their place – AB de Villiers, Steve Smith, Virat Kohli and Kane Williamson among them – and spark fresh interest in the game.

Given Tendulkar, Ponting and Kallis are best remembered for deeds in the previous decades I’ve given the new generation the nod in our World XI Test team of the decade which features a top order to die for and a bowling attack which, while strong, somehow underlines that the decade lacked truly dominant fast bowlers.

AB DE VILLIERS

(South Africa): Mr

360 was the one player who left

Aussie bowlers clueless. The balltampering affair may have overshadowed his brilliance on Australia’s last tour of South Africa but he was so commanding at least one bowler admitted to getting to the top of his mark and thinking “I’m out of ideas … he’s too good’’.

ALASTAIR COOK

(England): Oldfashioned opener who was generally rocks or diamonds against Australia but his team would have been lost without their trusted anchorman who scored more than anyone from any nation in the decade. Like Warner, notched 23 tons in the decade but shaded the Australian because of an excellent offshore record.

STEVE SMITH (Australia):

Surged to such heights there is every chance he will finish his career standing alone in the giant gap between Sir Donald Bradman and a group of champions such as Sachin Tendulkar who are next best. Like Warner, his ball-tampering ban seems to only have added to his hunger.

VIRAT KOHLI (India):

The player of the decade and by far the biggest personality and most important player in the modern game. Brought swagger, self-belief and modern fitness standards to an old-fashioned Indian side, and apart from his batting deeds which netted him more tons (27) than anyone else in the decade, his passion for Test cricket means the five-day game won’t die on his watch.

KANE WILLIAMSON (New

Zealand): Calm, collected leader who deserves to be captain of this team for the poise he showed after seeing England raise the World Cup despite tying with them – twice – in the final. On course to become New Zealand’s greatest batsman.

YOUNIS KHAN (Pakistan):

The decade’s most underrated player. Quiet and unassuming, but like many from Pakistan’s wild northwestern frontier, was at his best when the world was closing in on him. With Pakistan playing the decade away from home, the batting craftsman was a road warrior par excellence who ended up averaging 50 in Australia and England and 76 in India.

KUMAR SANGAKKARA (Sri

Lanka): A lawyer by profession, he had a quick, sharp tongue best used from behind the stumps where we have chosen him here. His tight technique and robust temperament shone across the globe as he scored Test tons in 10 nations. Unlike many Asian batsmen who struggle offshore, averaged 54 away from home.

STUART BROAD (England):

Incredibly durable performer who has taken 398 wickets in the decade, second to teammate Anderson with England playing a large number of Tests. A burst of Broad brilliance was one of the decade’s most rousing sights. Wasn’t just a home-town hero. He picked up five-wicket hauls in Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and the West Indies.

DALE STEYN (South Africa):

Swing, seam, pace, precision … he had it all to be the fast bowler of his generation and the first bowler chosen here. A measure of his greatness was that he shone in India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka where many a fast man has crumbled before him. Had only one year in the decade where he averaged more than 30 runs per Test wicket.

NATHAN LYON (Australia):

Australia’s most important player because he is hardest to replace. The true merit of his 370-wicket Test career is that he is likely to finish with three or four times as many wickets as any other Aussie offie. Just ahead of Rangana Herath and Ravi Ashwin on the wicket-taker’s list for the decade but their home conditions were far more spin-friendly.

JIMMY ANDERSON (England):

Lightly-framed swing bowling conjurer who took 40 or more wickets in eight years of the decade and is easily its highest wicket-taker with a remarkable 428 at less than 25 apiece. Proved that swing and subtlety can be kryptonite to modern batting techniques.

JASPRIT BUMRAH (12th man,

India): Volume-wise, has no right to be here because, incredibly, he has not played a home Test. But he has excelled all around the world