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

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.