Rob Key and Nasser Hussain pick composite XI from the Battle of the Eras Virtual Test
Tuesday 2 June 2020 17:16, UK
Rob Key's XI saw off Nasser Hussain's side by 76 runs in the 'Battle of the Eras' Virtual Test at Lord's - but what would a combined side look like?
Shortly after the game finished, Key and Hussain sat down to select a composite XI from Nasser's 1990-2004 side and Rob's 2005-present day team, who had squared off in Benedict Bermange's simulated fixture to mark 30 years of cricket on Sky Sports. DAY FIVE REPORT
Despite triumphing at HQ, however, only two members of Key's XI made the combined side, as you will see in the video at the top of the page.
Nasser had selected two spinners in his side for the Virtual Test - Shane Warne and Muttiah Muralitharan - but with only one permitted in the joint XI, that left Key with a tough call to make…
NASSER: We're not having two spinners. We will now finally have the answer, with video footage, of you (Rob) picking Warne or Murali. You can't say one thing on a text to me and another to Shane's face when you're playing golf with him! I have stated clearly I feel Warne is the greatest bowler of all time, let alone spinner, so you have my crystal-clear answer. So, Rob, who is the better spin bowler - your mate Murali or your other mate Warne?
KEY: I don't know - it's impossible to say…
NASSER: No - who out of Warne and Murali!? I read in your book that it says you are one of the greatest pundits of all time, one of the great cricket brains
KEY: It doesn't matter. They are both as good as each other. They are both geniuses!
Can Stokes give more to my side than Kallis. You can’t argue with Kallis’ stats but would Stokes be more of a match-winner in a one-off game?
Another hotly-debated selection was which Indian great to have at No 4, with Sachin Tendulkar (15,921 Test runs in 200 games) and Virat Kohli (7,240 in 86 Tests to date) vying for the spot.
Tendulkar fared better in the Virtual Test than Kohli - the Little Master hitting a century in the second innings for Nasser's side, albeit in a losing cause - and he pipped his countryman to make Hussain and Key's combined XI as well…
KEY: Sachin because it is a Test - but if it was all formats, I think I would go Kohli.
NASSER: I think John Emburey, on an England tour, once wore a T-shirt saying 'the older I get, the better I was'. Some of these cricketers have legendary status so when we look back on Kohli - when you and I are long gone, Rob - he will have legendary status. But right now you'd probably go Sachin.
Wasim, along with Malcolm Marsahall, is among my greatest fast bowlers ever. That is a personal thing in that I really struggled against him.
Nasser then explained why Glenn McGrath was an absolute must in their team and edged out the likes of James Anderson and Pat Cummins for a place…
NASSER: I'd say McGrath for all conditions around the world. Look at his stats, with his pace, bowling in Australia. Just phenomenal. You know the Kookaburra ball does nothing and he played more than half his cricket with it. He had metronomic accuracy - he gave you nothing to hit so you were always down his end struggling and if you had any kind of technical weakness he would exploit it. Michael Atherton, as a young lad, had the perfect technique but towards the end of his career we called him 'Scissorhands' because of the way his bat came down and that's why his stats against McGrath fell off a cliff completely.
I have huge admiration for this generation. Their fitness, the three different formats they play in. Names in your team, Rob – Graeme Smith, Kohli, Cummins, Anderson, Steyn etc – will end up some of the great cricketers of all time.
Hussain was also quick to mention some stellar names that did not even make the Virtual Test...
NASSER: I think we also have to show some respect for some of the names we haven't mentioned - Shaun Pollock, Allan Donald, Saqlain Mushtaq, Anil Kumble, Harbhajan Singh, Rahul Dravid, VVS Laxman. There are a lot of players that didn't make it - and a lot of players we have upset!
