Iconic XIs and how often they actually played together

From Lloyd’s West Indies to Lanning’s Australia’s, here’s a look at how often, or infrequently, some of these sides took the field together.

Lloyd’s West Indies (Early 1980s Test side): Four

Gordon Greenidge

Desmond Haynes

Viv Richards

Larry Gomes

Gus Logie

Clive Lloyd (c)

Jeff Dujon

Malcolm Marshall

Andy Roberts

Michael Holding

Joel Garner

The West Indies XI that actually took the field most often was Viv Richards’ team of the late 1980s and early 1990s, which played 11 times together. That XI, however, was arguably less iconic than previous West Indies sides that also featured Richards.

The above XI played four of the five Tests in West Indies’ home series victory over India in 1983, but never played a Test aside from that series. Roberts never played again after that series while Logie never played before it. Part of the reason this iteration of Lloyd’s side – that played in the early part of West Indies’ 15-year streak without losing a series – played so few Tests together was the immense depth of fast bowling talent available to them once Logie broke into the side.

Waugh’s Australia (early 2000s Test side): Nine

Justin Langer

Matthew Hayden

Ricky Ponting

Mark Waugh

Steve Waugh (c)

Damien Martyn

Adam Gilchrist

Shane Warne

Brett Lee

Jason Gillespie

Glenn McGrath

One of the game’s most dominant sides. This version of Waugh’s Australia played nine Tests together between August 2001 and October 2002, after which Mark Waugh soon retired from international cricket.

Strauss’s England: Two

Andrew Strauss (c)

Alastair Cook 

Jonathan Trott

Kevin Pietersen

Paul Collingwood

Ian Bell

Matt Prior

Stuart Broad

Graeme Swann

James Anderson

Steven Finn

Arguably England’s best Test side of the last 50 years,  Strauss’ England team rose to the top rankings shortly after the retirement of Collingwood at the start of 2011. Between Trott’s debut in 2009 and Collingwood’s retirement, the core of that side – the XI without Finn – only played six Tests together, largely due to injuries to Bell and Broad. This XI played two Tests together, the opening two games of the 2010/11 Ashes. If you substitute Finn for Tim Bresnan – a regular feature in the Strauss era – that XI never played a Test together.

Morgan’s World Cup-winning England: Six

Jason Roy

Jonny Bairstow

Joe Root 

Eoin Morgan (c)

Ben Stokes

Jos Buttler

Chris Woakes

Liam Plunkett

Jofra Archer

Adil Rashid

Mark Wood

Unsurprisingly – given Archer’s late emergence – England’s World Cup-winning XI only took the field together on six occasions, all during the 2019 tournament. With Liam Plunkett discarded immediately after their triumph, the XI is unlikely to ever take the field together again. What is perhaps more intriguing is that an XI of Bairstow, Roy, Root, Morgan, Stokes, Buttler, Moeen, Woakes, Plunkett, Rashid and Willey only played one ODI together in the run-up to the 2019 World Cup, a tournament warm-up game against Pakistan after Archer was already an England player.

Smith’s South Africa: Six

Graeme Smith (c)

Neil McKenzie

Hashim Amla

Jacques Kallis

Ashwell Prince

AB de Villiers

Mark Boucher

Morne Morkel

Paul Harris

Dale Steyn

Makhaya Ntini

Graeme Smith’s South Africa were the Test team that finally ended Australia’s grip on the number one ranking spot in 2009. In the lead-up to their ascension to the top of the rankings, they had a particularly settled side. The above XI played six Tests together in 2008 while a very similar side – one without Ashwell Prince and with JP Duminy – played all three Tests in their series victory in Australia that immediately preceded their progression to top spot in the rankings.

Lanning’s Australia: Four

Alyssa Healy

Rachael Haynes

Meg Lanning (c)

Ellyse Perry

Beth Mooney

Ash Gardner

Nicola Carey

Jess Jonassen

Georgia Wareham

Megan Schutt

Tayla Vlaeminck

The XI that sealed the world record ODI winning streak for Lanning’s Australia has played just four ODIs together. Twenty-one players have been used in Australia’s 22-game run, with Vlaeminck the player to feature least often in this XI.