Shane Warne was a former Australian spin bowler and one of the greatest leg spin bowlers in the world. He was named the Greatest West Indies XI since 1990.
Warne’s selection criteria are that he must play a meaningful game against these players (he had played against them). Accordingly, he had stated at the beginning of the note that Sir Vivian Richards had not been played.
“The great Viv Richards is the one player I really wished I played against, loved everything about him & we’ve become great friends too.”
Accordingly, the team he named is as follows.
His opening pair of batsmen were Desmond Haynes and offensive batsman Chris Gayle. He was named another West Indies legend, Richie Richardson for number three.
The leg-spinner chose Brian Lara as the captain of the side and the No. 4 spot
“Brian Lara & Sachin Tendulkar were easily the best 2 batsmen of my generation, lots of other wonderful players too, but these 2 were in a different league.”
Ridley Jacobs was then named as the wicketkeeper for the strong middle order with Shivnarine Chandrapol and Carl Hooper.
Warne chose an all-pace bowling lineup with Ian Bishop, Patrick Patterson and the legendary duo of Courtney Walsh and Curtly Ambrose finishing the line-up. Talking about the fast bowlers, Warne quipped:
“These 4 fast bowlers were lethal & so hard to face.”
Vaughan ended his note with the hope that the West Indies, which had dominated the 1970s and 80s, would regain international dominance.
“A great team, wouldn’t it be awesome if the WI were a really strong team again, international cricket needs a strong WI team.”
Shane Warne’s greatest West Indies XI (Since 1990):
D Haynes, C Gayle, R Richardson, B Lara ( C ), C Hooper, S Chanderpaul, R Jacobs, I Bishop, C Ambrose, P Patterson, C Walsh.