World Cup select XI

Matthew Hayden (Aus): Quite simply the best batsman of the tournament. His tally of 659 runs was over 100 more than anyone else achieved; likewise no-one matched his three centuries. After his position was questioned during the CB series, it has been some recovery. His highest score by an Australian in ODI cricket in the lead-up to the World Cup confirmed his place and he set on his way with a blistering century against South Africa aided by the easy conditions at St.Kitts. Constantly advanced down the pitch to bowlers of all pace, with nobody immune from being launched over the long-on boundary. Just when the opening bowlers felt it was safe to come out again...

Sanath Jayasuriya (SL): Even at 37, he is one of the most feared openers in the one-day game, and he showed why, producing his runs at nearly a run a ball. Width is what he thrives on, and no amount of coaching and biomechanics seems able to produce a unit of bowlers which deny it him. 7 wickets and an economy rate of under 4.5 show that his bowling is as niggardly as ever; when you add that to his immense batting ability and the fact that it was he who changed the one-day game in 1996, there is a compelling argument for him to be seen as the greatest ever one-day cricketer. There will be more attacking openers capable of dismantling attacks, but one feels there may never be another Jayasuriya.

Ricky Ponting (Aus): Do we have to? Yes we do. The best batsman on the planet, his contribution seemed slight with all the attention lavished on the man above hm in the batting order. Still, the statistics, which show him to be the third highest run-getter of the tournament demand his inclusion as much as his reputation does. Still only 32, he has been kingpin for a few years now, and it will only be after the next World Cup when he might consider letting up.

Mahela Jayawardene (SL): Until Gilchrist produced the sort of innings that Australians tend to in World Cup finals, Jayawardene's matchwinning knock in the semi against New Zealand was the standout contribution of the tournament. It may have not had the explosive quality of a bash by Hayden or Gilchrist, but he held his side together at a time when they were reeling and guided them to a near untouchable position in a game of massive importance. It was living proof that there is more than one way to play ODI cricket, and one of those which defines the term "captain's innings". He does not just get in on the strength of that one knock; as second highest run scorer and captain of a side which reached the final, his selection is more than justified.

Kevin Pietersen (Eng): Pips Michael Clarke at the post, mainly due to the fact that he fought almost a lone hand and scored 2 centuries whereas the Australian managed none. Very few play the one-day game better than him, reflected by his no.1 ranking and he showed it playing imperiosuly at almost every visit to the crease. Mostly he was his own undoing, with a number of lazy flicks finding midwicket, but his focus is much better than when he first burst onto the scene. The worry is that he realises his importance is such that he has to rein himself in.

Scott Styris (NZ): The mainstay of New Zealand's batting, he was probably the surprise performer of the tournament producing innings which were both attacking and crucial. Much like Pietersen, the hopes of his team rested with him all too often, but he coped well for the best part, finishing as one of the highest run scorers as well as having one of the best averages. His bowling was also better than expected, with 9 cheap wickets enhancing his reputation as a genuine all-rounder. Jacques Kallis pushes him close, but in the final reckoning, Kallis bottled it on the two occasions where he needed to step up and his bowling returns were unimpressive.

Adam Gilchrist (Aus): The wicket-keeping slot was proving a difficult slot to fill for much of the tournament. The star names, Sangakkara and Gilchrist had done well enough, without really living up to their reputations, while Niall O'Brien and Paul Nixon has boosted theirs without really demanding selection. Then Gilchrist changed everything. Some one-day innings, such as Jayawardene's semi-final effort, are masteries of craft and planning; others, such as Gilchrist's are simply sustained, unrelenting exhibitions of shot-making. His batting has indisputably declined since he was exposed in 2005, but he still has it in him to produce innings which very few are capable of. Only two have materialised this winter, here and at Perth during the Ashes, but both have been record breaking and breathtaking. As ever, his keeping was near faultless and utterly ignored.

Brad Hogg (Aus): Barely used during the CB series, and with 5 wicketless matches in the lead-up to the tournament, his inclusion in the squad was mainly due to the inability of Cameron White, a far superior batsman, to prove his worth as a leg-spinner capable of bowling his full allocation. White blew his chance, leaving Hogg as the perceived weak link in what looked an underpowered bowling attack. He proceeded to do much as he had in 2003, when he filled in for the banned Shane Warne, and surprise everyone; after four years on the one-day scene, still no-one can pick his chinaman googly, and his control and variation led him to a tally of 21 wickets, the fourth highest, and with an economy rate better than McGrath or Muralitharan. In his 37th year, it was more a farewell than an arrival, but with Warne gone and the young Australian spinners floundering in domestic cricket, an Australian summer of Test Matches is not out of the question.

Lasith Malinga (SL): Every major tournament, even one as uninspiring as this one, tends to unearth a new talent, let loose on the world stage. During two months short on glamour and excitement, the extravagent barnet and whipping round-arm action of Malinga proved a rare highlight. Npt the most incicisve with the new ball, he was most dangerous when returning mid-innings, where his reverse swing and pace plucked out even well-set batsmen. He had already made ripples, flummoxing New Zealand in 2004 and playing a big part in Sri Lanka's successful tour of England last year. But for an injury which lost him three matches in mid-tournament, he might well have finished leading wicket taker, but unlike the man who did, he will have more chances.

Muttiah Muralitharan (SL): There is not much which has not already been said about the man whom history will remember as the most successful bowler ever to play the game. Needless to say, Sri Lanka would not have got to the final without him, where the shortened format did not do him any favours. Now that Warne turns his arm over in Hampshire colours only, he has the world stage to himself, and one suspects that he will enjoy a few more years yet, and set a target of Test wickets which could well be one of cricket's few untouchable statistics.

Glenn McGrath (Aus): Having the last laugh has proved a feature of his cricketing dotage; first his 5-0 Ashes prediction was vindicated, while after a period in one-day cricket when for once he seemed to have no answers, and his non-selection for the World Cup was mooted in the Australian press, he bounced back in the only way he knows. Top wicket taker in a winning team is a neat microcosm of McGrath's career, which has coincided with a period of almost unrivalled Australian dominance, which would have been impossible without him. In the words of the great Keith Miller, he has reitred "when they were asking why did you, rather than why don't you?