Greg Chappell features in Australia’s best ever ODI team
MELBOURNE, Feb 21: Australia may have slipped from the top of One-day International cricket rankings, but that has not stopped them from picking their best ever one-day team.
At the 20th anniversary of its maiden World Cup triumph, Cricket Australia (CA) announced an ‘initial 30-member squad’, which features India’s coach Greg Chappell, who with brother Ian, played in the first ever ODI on Jan 5, 1971.
The list is the first stage in process of identifying Australia's best ever ODI team of 12, to be announced at the Celebration of Australian One-Day International Cricket in Sydney on Feb 27.
It will also honour heroes of the 1987 World Cup winning team and farewell Ricky Ponting's team to the 2007 World Cup in the Caribbean.
The list of top 30 players came from the votes cast by 163 players who represented Australia in limited-overs game since its inception in 1971.
Seven are current players and part of the 2007 World Cup squad, while eight have captained Australia. Also included are modern legends Steve Waugh, who played most number of ODIs (325), and Test cricket's leading wicket-taker Shane Warne.
Australia’s top 30 ODI cricketers: Terry Alderman, Michael Bevan, David Boon, Allan Border, Greg Chappell, Ian Chappell, Simon Davis, Adam Gilchrist, Jason Gillespie, Gary Gilmour, Matthew Hayden, Michael Hussey, Dean Jones, Brett Lee Darren Lehman, Dennis Lillee, Damien Martyn, Greg Matthews, Craig McDermott, Glenn McGrath, Tom Moody, Simon O’Donnell, Ricky Ponting, Bruce Reid, Paul Reiffel, Andrew Symonds, Doug Walters, Shane Warne, Mark Waugh and Steve Waugh. –Agencies