Ricky Ponting picks his dream Australian Ashes XI from the past 40 years

The former Australia skipper Ricky Ponting has picked his best Ashes XI for Australia ahead of the first Test in Brisbane at the Gabba. The team has been picked by the stalwart based on the performances in the past 40 years which include a lot of legendary players of the country. He has covered all the bases in his best XI and would beat any England side of the modern times. Though he has dropped some of the renowned names which might raise a few eyebrows.

Justin langer and Matthew Hayden will open the innings who complemented each other very well when Australia was ruling the world in the game of cricket. Both played from 2001 to 2007 in Ashes. The former averaged over 50 in the Tests he played for the urn and provided some amazing starts to the team. Hayden smashed five Ashes centuries in his career and always dominated English bowlers both at home and away.

Waugh brothers make the cut in the XI

Ricky Ponting, in his column for cricket.com.au, surprisingly picked Mike Hussey as his first drop batsman. The left-hander played at no. 6 throughout his career and won many matches for Australia in his career. Punter was all praise of his former teammate for averaging over 60 in his Ashes career and wrote, “Hussey was always the ultimate teammate, very reliable and good in the field so I think he slides well into the number three position.”

Mark Waugh and Steve Waugh will form the solid middle-order of the team who ruled England in the prestigious series. While the former averaged 50.09 in 29 Tests, the latter was even better and averaged 61.73 in 43 Tests in their respective Ashes careers. Both of them provide an all-round option which Ponting feels is an added advantage. Legendary Allan Border will bat at no. 6 with an exceptional Ashes record against his name. He featured in the Aussie squad for 15 years and played 42 Tests to score 3093 runs. His presence would really calm the top order batsmen and allow them to play freely.

The 42-year-old feels it is tough to look beyond Adam Gilchrist for the role behind the stumps. He literally changed the way the wicket keepers were looked at in the past. He bailed his team out of the trouble so many times and even won the matches single-handedly for his country. His skills behind the stumps were impeccable and the current Aussie is still struggling to replace him.

Shane Warne undoubtedly walks into any Australian team and Ponting hasn’t missed him. “There’s only one spin bowler for me and that’s Shane Warne. He was just a freak at what he did and his ability to stand up on the big stage, execute when it mattered and mesmerise English opponents was second to none,” he wrote in his praise. Warne scalped 195 wickets in 36 Test matches against which is absolutely staggering.

Fearsome pace attack

Glenn McGrath, Rodney Hogg and Dennis Lillee formed the fearsome pace attack of the legendary Australian’s best Ashes XI. Lillee played Ashes only 5 years but his tearaway fast bowling literally instilled fear in the minds of England batsmen. Rodney Hogg was a surprising pick but Ponting justified his inclusion in his own way. “I went through the cold hard facts, the stats, the numbers and it’s pretty hard to argue against a player who has an average of 17 with the ball in Ashes cricket,” he explained.

McGrath again like Warne walks into this team who was famous for his line and length. Punter termed him as his ‘favourite teammate’ and hailed him for his contribution to Australian cricket. Pigeon snaffled 157 wickets in just 30 matches in Ashes and used to perform even better when everything was at stake.

The XI: Justin Langer, Matthew Hayden, Michael Hussey, Mark Waugh, Steve Waugh, Allan Border(C), Adam Gilchrist (WK), Shane Warne, Dennis Lillee, Rodney Hogg, Glenn McGrath, Andre Symonds (12th Man)