England's best ever Test XI ahead of the 1000th Test match

Just two weeks ago, England Cricket Board invited English cricket fans to vote their best test team from over a set of 100 players to celebrate their 1000th Test match against India in Edgbaston, Birmingham. Cricket fans voted their best ever Test XI. On day three of the 1st Test, selected players will be invited to attend a parade to express the gratitude to their country people and fans for their votes and respect for them. In the best ever Test XI, the current Test captain of England also has been included along with his teammates Alastair Cook and James Anderson.

BEST TEXT XI

1. Alastair Cook
2. Sir Leonard Hutton
3. David Gower
4. Kevin Pietersen
5. Joe Root
6. Sir Ian Botham
7. Alan Knott (w)
8. Graeme Swann
9. Fred Trueman
10. James Anderson
11. Bob Willis

Openers

Alastair Cook- Cook is a left-handed batsman and he has played 156 matches and appeared in 282 Test innings so far. He has scored 12145 runs in the Test cricket with an average of 45.66 along with 32 centuries so far. He is one of England's most favourite openers in the Test Cricket.

Sir Leonard Hutton- Hutton was a right-handed batsman and he played 79 matches and appeared in 138 Test innings. He scored 6971 runs with an average of 56.67 along with 19 centuries. He also broke world record score in his sixth Test match. And he was one of the most accomplished and finest batsmen.

Middle-order

David Gower - Gower was a left-handed batsman and he played 117 matches and appeared in 204 Test innings. He scored 8231 runs with an average of 44.25 along with 18 centuries. He was the most consistent batsman of his time.

Kevin Pietersen - He is a right-handed batsman and he played 104 matches and appeared in 181 Test innings. He scored 8181 runs in the Test cricket with an average of 47.29 along with 23 centuries. He was one of England's favourite middle-order batsmen in the Test cricket.

Joe Root - He is a right-handed batsman and he has played 69 matches and appeared in 126 Test innings so far. He has scored 5960 runs in the Test cricket with an average of 51.83 along with 13 centuries so far. And along with batting, he is a very good part-time off-break bowler too.

Wicket-Keeper

Alan Knott - Knott is a right-handed wicket-keeper batsman and he played 95 matches and appeared in 149 Test innings. He scored 4389 runs in the Test cricket with an average of 32.75 along with 5 centuries. He is one of the most spectacular wicket-keeper of his time.

All-rounders

Sir Ian Botham - Ian Botham was a right-handed batsman and he played 102 matches and appeared in 161 Test innings. He scored 5200 runs in the Test cricket with an average of 33.54 along with 14 centuries. He was one of the greatest and finest all-rounders batsmen in the Test cricket of his time. Along with the bowl, he took 383 Test wickets. He also was the fastest to take 100 wickets.

Bowlers

Fred Trueman - Trueman was a right-arm fast bowler and he played 67 matches and appeared in 127 Test innings. He took 307 wickets in the Test cricket with an average of 21.57 along with 19 seven-wicket and 17 five-wicket hauls. He was the first man to take 300 Test wickets from any country.

Graeme Swann - Swann was a right arm off-break bowler and he played 60 matches and appeared in 109 Test innings. He took 255 wickets in the Test cricket with an average of 29.97 along with 17 five-wicket and 3 ten-wicket hauls. He was one of the best-attacking off-spinner in the Test Cricket.

James Anderson - Anderson is a right-arm fast bowler and he has played 138 matches and appeared in 257 Test innings so far. He has taken 540 wickets in the Test cricket with an average of 27.23 along with 25 five-wicket and 3 ten-wicket hauls so far. He is currently the best Test Cricket bowler.

Bob Willis - Willis was a right-arm fast bowler and he played 90 matches and appeared in 165 Test innings. He took 325 wickets in the Test cricket with an average of 25.20 along with 12 four-wicket and 16 five-wicket hauls. He was one of the most courageous fast bowlers of his time.