i'll just go on the players ive seen tbh

1. Matthew Hayden
2. Rahul Dravid
3. Ricky Ponting
4. Sachin Tendulkar
5. Jaques Kallis
6. VVS Laxman
7. Adam Gilchrist
8. Shane Warne
9. Wasim Akram
10. Glenn McGrath
11. Courtney Walsh

Dravid as opener?

only way i could fit him in, he's a wall, could easily open the batting IMO

oooooooh shiiiiite forgot Brian Lara how?

put Lara in at 3 and drop Laxman out

Always extremely difficult but I try to remain as consistent as possible when this crops up.

Hobbs
Hutton
Bradman
Headley
Tendulkar
Sobers
Knott
Warne
Marshall
McGrath
Barnes

Leaving out Barry Richards (4 Tests only yet it was a wrench says everything), Viv, Graeme Pollock, Keith Miller and Akram were amongst the most difficult.

Wow leaving out probably the greatest all rounder ever in Kallis.

It was tight, Boss. Allrounder slot was taken by Sobers. Kallis, of course, will walk into any side solely as a batsman. But to include Kallis, we would have had to leave out Tendulkar or Viv Richards.

Wow leaving out probably the greatest all rounder ever in Kallis.
..................................

About 4th best in my books overall. A truly great all-rounder and the best of the last 20 years but not on Sobers level for me. Keith Miller and Imran would also be above him in that pantheon.

I certainly rate him, a lot in fact, but he isn't the best out there. Not by a fair bit for me. That mainly due to the fact that Sobers is in a league of his own.

"..Sobers is in a league of his own."

"About 4th best in my books overall. A truly great all-rounder and the best of the last 20 years but not on Sobers level for me. Keith Miller and Imran would also be above him in that pantheon. "

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And what about a certain Ian Terence Botham? Less runs than Kallis certainly but a lot more test wickets. And I 'd rate him AND Kapil dev above Miller any day

Botham was a great all-rounder dr. He was for a while a truly world class all-rounder and perhaps the best around but for not long enough IMO. He didn't sustain his brilliance with either bat or ball for long enough, due to various reasons and to add to that he often failed against the great team of his era.

Miller for my mind was a fair bit better than either of those you mention with the ball and he was a better batsman as well. That despite the fact he often didn't take his batting seriously.

Miller probably played most of his career as he lived his life, with a lack of urgency yet he was still utterly brilliant.

Not to take anything away from those you mention. Kallis is up for debate, agreed. I'd still give him the edge personally though.

Kallis could possibly replace Tendulkar or Viv Richards as a batsman alone.

I think Kallis would probably miss out in my 11, simply because he only grew as a batsmen when the likes of akram, warne, and other great bowlers were not at their peak. I think he only scoring tons of runs in last 5-6 years, and when the likes of lara, ponting dravid, and tendulkar were at their peak, his name was no where to be seen.

I would personally include kallis as an allrounder since he probably is one of the best ever.

sorry but I could never put mullitharan in as to me he is a chucker not a bowler