England all-rounder, Chris Woakes has picked an all-time XI recently. In a YouTube channel, Woakes has named an interesting XI from the current and former set of players. In his team, he has added five Englishmen, including two present partners – James Anderson and Stuart Broad.
He selected Sir Alastair Cook and fiery Matthew Hayden to open the innings. Both of them have accommodated over 15,000 runs in the international arena across formats. He also said that he loved watching Matthew Hayden bat and was “great to watch”. At No. 3 and No. 4, he named former Australia captain Ricky Ponting and the batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar respectively. Both the players have made the most number of centuries for their national teams as well. The master blaster Sachin Tendulkar has made 100 centuries, whereas Ricky Ponting has smashed 71 hundred as well.
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Meanwhile, the 32-years old named the classy Ian Bell at No. 5. Further, he picked up the Proteas all-rounder Jacques Kallis. Kallis is undoubtedly one of the best all-rounders in world cricket. He has scored over 11,000 in both Tests and ODIs and taken over 250 wickets in both formats also.
He then chose Brandon McCullum to play at No. 7 in his team. While picking him, Woakes said, “He is probably batting out of position but he will take the gloves for me.” He also picked Stuart Broad at No. 8, saying that he is “one of the great players he has played with”. At No. 9, he picked Graeme Swann and referred to him as England’s greatest spinner ever. Glenn McGrath was the tenth player in his squad.
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He recalled McGrath’s stunning spell in the first Ashes Test in 2005 where he claimed 500 Test wickets. In the end, he picked up James Anderson at No. 11. As per Woakes’, James Anderson is England’s best-ever bowler as well.
Chris Woakes’ all-time World XI: Alastair Cook, Matthew Hayden, Ricky Ponting, Sachin Tendulkar, Ian Bell, Jacques Kallis, Brendon McCullum, Stuart Broad, Graeme Swann, Glenn McGrath, James Anderson
