Best Australian ODI XI from the late 90s (1996-2000)

The Australian ODI team in the late 90s was one of the best limited over sides in international cricket. The team was under a period of transition and rebuilding after losing out on some of their major stalwarts of the 80s. In the mid-90s, the Aussies took over the mantle from the mighty Windies as the top ODI team in the world by beating the Calypso Kings in their own backyard.

Mark Taylor an astute leader with a great cricketing acumen was instrumental in rebuilding the Australian team. Taylor led a group of immensely gifted cricketers and honed their skills to transform them into world beaters at the turn of the century. The Aussies had a lethal combination of some naturally gifted stroke makers backed by a potent pace attack and a spin wizard who jelled brilliantly together as a formidable unit. The Aussies were known for their indomitable fighting spirit, fierce competitiveness and

The Aussies were known for their indomitable fighting spirit, fierce competitiveness and a high degree of professionalism in the manner they played their game. The Aussies along with the Proteas were credited for raising the overall standards of fielding by displaying a high degree of athleticism on the field and regimented work ethos in the training sessions.

So here is my best Australian eleven who wore the baggy green and represented Australia with pride and distinction all through that era.

1) Mark Waugh - Junior

Mark Waugh was the more talented of the two Waugh twins. In the late 90s, Mark was one of the most flamboyant openers in limited overs cricket. He had a certain elegance to his batting courtesy his effortless stroke play. Mark favoured the on- side and known for his trademark flicks off his legs. He also had the penchant for scoring big hundreds.

Nicknamed “Junior”, he was quite handy with the ball bowling his off-spinners. Mark became a prolific run scorer for Australia all through that period. A brilliant fielder, Mark became an integral part of the famous Aussie slip cordon.

2) Mark Taylor - Tubby

Mark Taylor was a dependable opening batsman who was more compact in technique and style than his more flamboyant counterpart Mark Waugh. During the mid 90s, Taylor formed a steady opening combination with Mark Waugh in limited overs arena. Besides his batting, he would be remembered for building a formidable Australian team that dominated international cricket in the next decade.

Mark was a brilliant captain and shrewd tactician who got the best out of his players. He took over the reins of the team which was down in the doldrums and instilled a sense of competitiveness and professionalism. Taylor being an excellent slip fielder was part of that much-revered slip cordon of that era.

3) Ricky Ponting - Punter

Ricky Ponting plays a shot during the second One Day International match between Australia and Pakistan

Ricky Ponting was an aggressive middle order batsman. Ponting had an attacking dimension to his batting and favoured pace bowling. He was naturally gifted with exquisite timing and sublime stroke play. He looked majestic when he played the pull shot. An instinctive player, Ponting had a characteristic trigger movement which saw him shuffle and lunge onto the front foot.

Ponting was one of the best fielders in his time. Ricky, perhaps only second to the great Jonty Rhodes in natural agility and razor sharp reflexes pulled off some spectacular catches in the point region.

4) Darren Lehmann - Boof

Lehmann was a dependable middle order batsman capable of both free flowing stroke making and sound defensive play. Lehmann was perhaps overshadowed by his more illustrious counterparts. Nevertheless, he held a place of his own by putting up a string of consistent performances with the bat in the middle order.

Lehmann with his left-arm slow bowling got regular breakthroughs for the Australians.

5) Steve Waugh - Tugga

Steve Waugh was a spirited cricketer who never went down without a fight. A dependable middle order batsman, Steve made up for his technical limitations with sheer guts and resilience. He produced some breath-taking knocks when the chips were down for the Aussies.

Waugh played the game with a never say die attitude and won many crucial games for Aussies when it mattered the most. A decent medium pace bowler, he added depth to the Aussie bowling by complimenting the Australian frontline seamers by chipping in with wickets in the middle.

6) Michael Bevan - Bevo

Michael Bevan drives to the boundary against New Zealand

Michael Bevan lived up to his expectation as being labelled as the “Mr. Consistent” in limited overs cricket. Bevan was a dependable middle order batsman who could pull off sensational victories from a tough situation. He was arguably the best finisher of that era under pressure situations. Michael wasn’t a big boundary hitter but mastered the art of knocking the ball around into the gaps.

Bevan was known for his lightning quick running between the wickets courtesy his supreme fitness levels. He was a good reader of the situation and paced his innings to perfection according to the match situation. An extremely fit cricketer, Bevan was a good all-round fielder too.

7) Ian Healy - Heals

Healy was arguably the best wicketkeeper all through the 90’s. Healy did a commendable job for the Aussies behind the stumps considering the bowling arsenal they had at their disposal. Healy’s keeping to spin legend Shane Warne was one of the highlights of his superlative wicket keeping skills. He was a handy lower-order batsman who made useful contributions with the bat whenever required by his team.

8) Shane Warne - Warnie / Hollywood

Shane Warne bowls during the second match in the VB series finals between Australia and England

Shane Warne was the best leg spinner to ever play the game. The spin wizard got a lot of spin owing to the rip he gave his deliveries off his wrist. Warne’s deliveries had natural drift coupled with big turn which made him difficult to negotiate on any wicket. He bamboozled the batsmen with his leg breaks that turned square on most of the wickets.

Shane became Australia’s strike weapon in the middle overs and consistently produced some match-winning spells for his team. Besides being a champion bowler, Warne was no mug with the bat and made some valuable contributions lower down the order. Warne was a good fielder in the slips.

9) Paul Reiffel - Pistol

Paul Reiffel played his role as a support seamer in the Aussies pace attack to perfection. Reiffel bowled a tight line and seamed the ball both ways by hitting the deck in the right areas. A great trier, he was known as a true competitor who always gave more than the limited ability he possessed.

The Australian was a capable lower order batsman who chipped in with valuable runs down the order.

10) Damien Fleming - Flemo

Damien Fleming (left) and Adam Gilchrist of Australia share a joke during an ODI

In the mid-90s, Damien Fleming played the perfect foil to Glenn McGrath in opening the bowling for the Aussies. Fleming was a natural swing bowler who did well on seaming tracks. He troubled the batsmen with his late swing that curved his deliveries sharply away from the batsmen.

Fleming was a strike bowler in One-day cricket owing to his ability to consistently pick up wickets. Unfortunately, from the very start of his career, he was regularly marred by injuries.

11) Glenn McGrath – Pigeon

Glenn McGrath was Australia’s frontline seamer post the retirement of Craig McDermott. The tall and lanky seamer was an epitome of line and length bowling. McGrath was known to bowl a nagging line outside the channel of uncertainty and often had batsman nicking one to the keeper.

He wasn’t express pace but had relentless accuracy and bowled consistency in good areas. The “Pigeon” more often than not gave his side the initial breakthroughs.

McGrath bowled with a lot of fire and aggression and hated runs being scored off his deliveries. With his innocuous batting technique, McGrath lived up to his billing of being a true number eleven batsman.

12th Man

Adam Gilchrist – Gilly

Adam Gilchrist burst onto the international scene with is explosive batting and acrobatic wicket keeping skills. Opening the innings for the Aussies, Gilchrist was an all-out match winner and crowd puller owing to his destructive strokeplay.

Gifted with tremendous hand-eye coordination, “Gilly” was a blatant puller and cutter of the ball. Once set, he had the ability to simply take the game away from the opposition by scoring runs at a blistering pace.

Note: I haven’t considered Adam Gilchrist as my first choice wicketkeeper as he had just come onto the international scene and only bloomed as a full-fledged batsman in the next decade.

Bench Strength

The Aussies had some flamboyant stroke makers in Damien Martyn and Stuart Law who contributed to their team’s success. Meanwhile explosive opener Michael Slater gifted with immense talent became more of a test specialist.

Tom Moody, Shane Lee and Brendon Julian were handy all-rounders who made useful contributions whenever they made the national side. The Aussies had good pace reserves in Michael Kasprowicz, Adam Bichel and Adam Dale to fall back on whenever their regular seamers got injured.

Aussie stalwarts Matthew Hayden, Damien Martyn, Brett Lee and Jason Gillespie had just started of their careers in the late 90’s and only became regulars in the next decade, hence haven’t been considered for my selection. Meanwhile David Boon, Dean Jones, Allan Border, Merv Hughes and Craig McDermott were past their prime and at the end of their careers in the mid 90s hence haven’t been considered for selection.