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Vote for England’s greatest post-war uncapped team

February 13th, 2009 by Daniel Brigham in Miscellaneous

My brother used to bowl to Essex’s and England’s Paul Prichard. My brother was just 14, Prichard was 10, it was in my parents’ back garden and Prichard, in reality, was me. As an Essex fan I could have pretended to be Gooch, Hussain or Mark Waugh. But every time I took guard to face my brother I was Prichard.

He never did play for England, and, in my mind at least, England were weaker for it. You’ll probably disagree with me. But all cricket fans have similar stories of bristling at the England selectors for overlooking their favourite players, so we’ve given you the chance to right the wrongs and vote for England greatest post-war uncapped XI.

A panel of experts has picked their team from a shortlist of 65, and you can select yours from the same shortlist by clicking here. There’s even a chance to win a hospitality day at the Friend’s Provident final at Lord’s on July 25. It includes a complimentary bar, so get picking – the closing date is March 23. The results will be announced in April.

After you’ve picked your team, get arguing about it on this blog. Was Glamorgan’s Don Shepherd really the unluckiest cricketer in Britain? Is Alec Bedser the only one to think his brother Eric should have won a Test cap? Are some counties favoured by England selectors over others? Am I slightly unhinged for obsessing over Paul Prichard when he doesn’t even make the shortlist?

Feel free to list your team on this blog, but don’t forget to submit your team to [email protected] or it won’t be counted.

To get things started, here’s my team: (Sorry Paul, you’re not on the shortlist)

Alan Jones (Glamorgan)

Andy Moles (Warwickshire)

Peter Roebuck CAPT (Somerset)

David Sales (Northants)

Ali Brown (Surrey, Nottinghamshire)

Geoff Humpage WK (Warwickshire)

Trevor Jesty (Hampshire, Lancashire, Surrey)

Glen Chapple (Lancashire)

David Millns (Leicestershire)

Tony Nicholson (Yorkshire)

Don Shepherd (Glamorgan)

Would that beat the current England team? Yes.

Daniel Brigham is assistant editor of The Wisden Cricketer

Posted in Miscellaneous | 1 Comment »



One Response to “Vote for England’s greatest post-war uncapped team”

  1.   Hugh Faulkner says:

    No left arm bowlers, not that there is a great selection to choose from, though I’d expect Jason Lewry to be more dangerous than Tony Nicholson (Wisden in the mid 1960s criticized the Yorks opening attack as lacking penetration, Trueman being a touch superannuated by then). Sainsbury’s flighted left arm tweakers (though they didn’t tweak very much) would nicely complement Shepherd’s off-spin, as would his bat & pad catching. If they both played, c Sainsbury b Shepherd would be a not uncommon fate for opposing batsmen.

    Left hand middle order bats seem in even shorter supply. How did Vic Wilson fail to make the shortlist, particularly in view of his brilliant fielding? This inclines me to prefer Nixon to Humpage as stumper.

    Milns to open the attack - spot on. Easily the man most likely to soften up those not too keen on the quick stuff.

    I note that 12 of the list have at some time been among the Wisden 5 cricketers of the year, and a nicely balanced side they would make, viz:

    Jones
    Virgin
    Roebuck (capt, probably)
    Jesty
    Neale
    Humpage
    Sainsbury
    Alleyne
    Shepherd
    Lee
    Wheatley
    (12th man - Simmons)

    You agree with the Wisden editors on 5 of your choices, including the likely skipper!

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