Durban: What with a foot planted firmly in the southern tip of Africa for some years, another in the country of origin and a toe-hold dabbling these days in the waters of Sri Lanka, selection a World XI of the century is far from easy.

Identities are inclined to become blurred, even mixed and clouded by memories of watching players since 1945 when attending that first Test at the Basin Reserve. The Wellington venue is still one of the five where watching the game has always created fond recollections. Others with their special charisma are in Centurion, Galle, Taunton and Adelaide.

Some months ago Rob Steen, editor of a biannual publication in England had asked for a team,  not a World XI, which included only those players of whom it had been a pleasure to watch. As always, such selection is a personal preference: they had to be players who have made an impact on the mind during 54 years of watching.

How would an innings of 385 by left-handed New Zealander Bert Sutcliffe in a Plunket Shield match in Christchurch compare with say the 365 by Sir Garfield Sobers in a Test? Or Jackie McGlew’s 255 against a hard-pressed New Zealand attack at the Basin and a match-winning century by a much younger Kepler Wessels in Castle Bowl final at Berea Park?

And what about the skill and character of a Barry Richards effort as opposed to Graeme Pollock’s left-hand mastery?

Memories of Sir Leonard Hutton batting on a saturated Basin surface with water seeping up to his instep. Sir Richard Hadlee partly destroying Australian confidence at Lancaster Park in 1973/74; Bill O’Reilly in action, face scowling and demanding a positive response from the umpire for an appeal.

It was this balding giant whose enjoyment of life was expressed in his bowling, so beguilingly entrapped an impressionable young intellect into eagerly trying to unravel the mystery, cunning and artful of leg spin bowling.

Frank Worrell had a nice touch about him; a ready smile as well as an attitude of someone easily disposed to signing autographs: the sun always shone when Worrell batted. He brought with him a laid back Caribbean charm, lazy, fluid strokeplay, calm unhurried. Worrell was all charisma. Now they force that cardboard cut out Brian Lara on us.

Aravinda de Silva has his own special style, as does Sunil Gavaskar, Mohammed Azharuddin and Sachin Tendulkar; and so the list goes on . . .

The great SF Barnes, of whom only Shaun Pollock has a fractionally higher Test bowling average, has a record which forces his way into the reckoning ahead of other pretenders; Shane Warne, who reinvented leg-spin as a force, losing to O’Reilly and Clarrie Grimmett.

It is a discussion which can go on for hours, days right through a five-day Test.

So, here are the team’s: New Zealand, South Africa, the World XI and World Alternate XI.

New Zealand: Bert Sutcliffe, Glenn Turner, John Wright, Martin Donnelly, Martin Crowe, John Reid, Richard Hadlee, Ken Wadsworth, John Bracewell, Jack Alabaster, Jack Cowie.

South Africa: Barry Richards, Jackie McGlew, Herbie Taylor, Dudley Nourse, Graeme Pollock, Aubrey Faulkner, Trevor Goddard, Jock Cameron, Shaun Pollock, Hoosain Ayob, Vincent van der Bijl.

World XI: Len Hutton, Jack Hobbs, Barry Richards, Don Bradman, Gary Sobers, Walter Hammond, Richard Hadlee, Don Tallon, Syd Barnes, Michael Holding, Bill O’Reilly.

The Alternate World XI: Sunil Gavaskar, Victor Trumper, George Headley, Frank Worrell, Graeme Pollock, Viv Richards, Kapil Dev, Wilfred Rhodes, Alan Knott, Harold Larwood, Clarrie Grimmett.

© CricInfo