All-time Test XI described by cricketing quotes

Cherry-picking? Not quite so.

A quartet of Australians, a Caribbean trinity, a sporting 'God'. In a pantheon of almighty cricketers over the years in the longest format of cricket, it is painstaking to pick an "All-time Test XI". Barring the obvious choices, which are quite a few, I had to glean information from a sample size of 4-5 players for each slot. Every time a cricketing great had to be overlooked, it almost felt like a sin, like adding a degree of humiliation towards his genius.

Forget trying, a mere mortal like me can barely understand the magnitude of what these greats bring upon us, which is nothing short of a force majeure.

Instead, in this article, I have tried to follow a novel-like method to bring something unique to the reader. I've collated the best possible descriptions about these greats from the vast library of cricketing quotes.

Though critically important, records and accolades aren't among the single-most important eligibility criterion. What a particular player has done for the evolution of the game is also an imperative feature.

For followers and fans alike, it is vital to measure the early champions of the game, not so much by their numbers, but by the exceptional standards, they set in the sport. I've tried to ensure an optimal mix to get the best of both the worlds.

Popular opinions, unrivalled stories, grudges and disregard towards a few - everything has gone into the making of this Test XI.

There may be plenty of well-known problems inherent in picking all-time XIs, but the exercise is still a worthwhile one. This playing XI could be stodgy; a bunch of slowpokes who could test the patience of opponents, as well as the viewers.

It could also be a poetry in motion. Or a play-for-your-life XI. Or a Thrill-a-ball XI.

For the stats-junkie reader who roots for comparison, I've provided a bare minimum to satiate with. For the reader who likes to see beyond the numbers, I have put together a playing XI that will garner attention, interest, and intrigue.

Without further ado, let us dive into this line-up and look at the quotes that describe them the best.

Opening batsmen and middle order

The Master Blaster is at Number 3 in this batting line-up

#1 Sir Jack Hobbs

"On any type of wicket, he was the best batsman in my experience. He never looked like getting out and he was just the same whether he made 100 or 0." - H Strudwick

#2 Sir Donald Bradman

"Much of his upbringing was spent playing out by the back of the house, on his own, hitting a golf ball against a water tank with a single stump. When he joined the higher ranks at a young age, he took with him a single-mindedness and a natural naivete. He only wanted to bat."

"And the only way he knew how to do that was to trust his conditioning, his beliefs and his thoughts. No innings meant more than the one he was about to play, no matter the size of the last score he had made. Unemotionally, he moved from one match to the next with a consistent hunger to express his art. It was unrivalled thinking." - M Crowe.

#3 Sachin Tendulkar

"Cricket is not just about performance. It's also about life. It's about how you leave an imprint on the young: the imprint of integrity, of honesty and of gratitude. Sachin Tendulkar lived this quality all his life and he shared it with us all, as only he could."

"It can then be said, without hesitation or demurring, that the greatest cricketer of the last 20 years is that man who sailed away with every record and every heart, due to the love of a father, and of a game that fulfilled his soul. Incredible love is what Sachin had for cricket, and cricket for Sachin. Nothing but sheer love abounded. And gratitude." - M Nicholas

#4 Brian Lara

"In in the heat of a torrid Brett Lee spell - Lara gets fed up of turning himself into an inverted airborne "C" against Lee's bouncers, looks around the field and tells his partner: "Listen, I'm going to hit him in front of square. When they move the fielder, I'm going to hit him a little more in front. And then I'm going to hit him behind square." That innings he calculated that you need to hit X amount of fours - I think he had worked out that he needed 18 or 20 boundaries to win the game. Afterwards, I look up the numbers - BC Lara, 4s 19, 6s 1. Can there have been a purer distillation of breadth of one man's genius? This was peak, Lara." - R Bhattacharya

Lower middle order

This would be a scary batting line-up to come up against

#5 Sir Vivian Richards

"Viv kept you waiting. He would take guard, head tilted back slightly and cudding his gum, walk a few paces down the pitch to tap it while looking the bowler in the eye. It was calculated menace and magnificent theatre."

"So far forward could he get that he was able to plant that left foot outside the line of off, at once eliminating lbw and creating his own leg stump line from where he would flick bowlers relentlessly through mid-wicket? Or he might send a similar ball skimming through extra cover. He hooked devastatingly and never wore a helmet, rocking back from his front-foot base to take the ball from his eye-line in front of square. Occasionally, he would block an over in immaculate fashion. Then, refreshed, off he would go again." - S Berry

#6 Sir Garfield Sobers (C)

"A lot of people thought of Sobers as a natural who just played the game and did not think a hell of a lot. But he was very thoughtful. They were playing in England and Boycott came to him one day and said, "Garry, you seem to get me out lbw a lot. I don't understand it." Garry was quite good psychologically as well. He said, "Unlike a lot of people, I don't think your technique is that good." That would have cut Boycott to the quick because he prided himself on his technique. "Your front foot is too far across. You can't get your bat around your pad and my in-swinger gets you lbw." They go out on the field next day. Boycott is batting. Sobers runs up, angles it across, Boycott edges, gets caught at slip. As he is walking off, Sobers says to him, "Geoffrey, you didn't ask me about the other one." - I Chappell

#7. Adam Gilchrist

"It is simplistic to say that Gilly is an exciting batsman. But I doubt anyone bats with the same abandon or sense of certainty in strokeplay. He is lean and sinewy, with strong forearms that swing freely in his high back-lift and follow-through."

"Quick of eye and reflexes, he can adjust in a nanosecond to play off the front or back foot. I have not dwelt too much on his wicket-keeping because that is a given, otherwise, he would never have made it to this level. Gilchrist keeps wicket with great athleticism. Find me a More Valuable Player." - A Memon

Bowling attack

In his prime, Akram had the ability to terrorize every batsman in world cricket

#8 Shane Warne

"When you're a child there are a few authority figures you look to for certainties and reassurance in life. That's what shocked me at first about Warne's "Gatting ball" because I was too young to appreciate its technical perfection."

"I just saw stocky Gatting, greying at the temples, grasping desperately and failing; not just that but being humiliated. As Warne launched into celebration, the earth's orbit was suddenly a mystery to Gatting. But if Gatting didn't know what he was doing then maybe no adult did. He crumbled, so all adults did. Sport and life suddenly felt so different." - R Jackson

#9 Wasim Akram

"In sport it's often a single moment that hooks a fan for life - a stunning goal, a breathless rally, a mazy try. Test cricket can seduce someone over a series, finding an impressionable child and ensuring cricket never leaves them."

"In 1992, Wasim Akram was the master of my destiny. A magician going through his entire repertoire - levitation, rabbits out of the hat, sawing bodies in half, a spot of mind control. England were mesmerized, their batsmen operating in a world seconds behind the one Akram was bowling in." - D Brigham

#10 Glenn Mcgrath

"The young Glenn was described by Mike Whitney as "thin - but Ambrose-thin, not Bruce Reid-thin". Much later, Atherton compared McGrath to Ambrose on a vaster scale. McGrath's USP was an unremitting off-stump line and an immaculate length. He gained off-cut and bounce, specialized in the opposition's biggest wickets and he was unafraid to back himself publicly in these key duels." - A Miller

#11 Sir Richard Hadlee

"Few players in the history of cricket have carried the fortunes of their team to quite the same extent as Richard. He was born to the purple, his cricketing genes alive and throbbing from his early sporting years. The uber consummate professional." - D Cameron