Australian cricket team is hard to join than leave. David Warner critics will testify. Men’s Test cricketers – 466. Lance Morris is a current young gun being frustrated by delays. In ODI cricket, 243 caps handed out, for recent T20 format, only 105 players wore the green and gold/black/grey/other.

If picking three squads of all-time Australian players who never got to represent their country in each format, then line-ups?

Best Never Ever Test XI: Jamie Cox scored 10,821 runs but never got a look-in at Test level. Michael Di Venuto made a tick under 10,000 runs. David Hussey played 105 Shield matches, averaging over 45. Darren Berry is widely considered the finest gloveman never to get the nod. Adam Zampa deserves a run as the spinner in the Best Ever to Never Test team after taking a combined 247 wickets in ODIs and T20s for Australia. Eddie Gilbert is considered the fastest bowler Don Bradman ever faced. Wayne Holdsworth went on the 1993 Ashes tour.

Best Never Ever ODI XI: Bill Ponsford and Victor Trumper get the nod as openers. Don Bradman has to be in at three. His protege, Neil Harvey, would slot in nicely in the middle order. For an all-rounder, the attacking leg-spin and lower-order batting of Richie Benaud would have been well suited to the 50-over format. Bert Oldfield gets a run as keeper. As for the Best Never Ever bowling attack, Bill O’Reilly’s speed through the air and accuracy as a leg-spinner would make his impossible to get away, Fred Spofforth would be a “Demon” in short spells. The only player not from the pre-ODI era in this hypothetical team of champions is the one and only Colin “Funky” Miller.

Best Never Ever T20I XI: Mark Waugh, David Hookes, Dean Jones, Kim Hughes, Steve Waugh (whether the young all-rounder version or older slog-sweeper) would go ballistic in 20-over contests. Then you could have Australia’s greatest ever all-rounder Keith Miller whacking boundaries at six while also chiming into the pace attack. Rod Marsh was a big-hitting keeper before they became the norm while Shane Warne, who retired just before T20Is exploded onto the scene, would have not only reigned supreme with the ball but been ideally suited as skipper.Clarrie Grimmett could wreak havoc in combination with Warne after Dennis Lillee and Jeff Thomson have ruffled more than a few feathers with the new ball.

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