Former England captain Mike Atherton was one of six selectors responsible for selecting the World XI to face Australia in October's Super Series. The others were India's Sunil Gavaskar, Sir Richard Hadlee of New Zealand, former West Indies captain Clive Lloyd, South Africa's Jonty Rhodes and Aravinda de Silva of Sri Lanka.
After the selectors named their initial 30-man squads, Atherton answered questions from the English media.
How were the selections made?
Each of the selectors were asked to give their 30 picks, splitting it into categories of opening batsmen, middle-order batsmen, spinners, fast bowlers, all-rounders and wicket-keepers.
 | ICC SUPER SERIES Pits World XI against the top ranked Test and the top one-day team in the world - both Australia Three one-day internationals in Melbourne on 5, 7 and 9 October Six-day Test match in Sydney from 14 October Thirty-man squads reduced to 20 in June with final sides named in August |
The names which were common to all were put straight down and then we worked around the rest to get to our 30 for the Test and one-day squads.
We were well-served with batsmen and spin bowlers, perhaps less so in the fast-bowling and all-rounder category.
But we were happy with the 30 selected. We think it's a top-class squad that should be able to compete in all conditions.
The 30 names are not exclusive. You can come into the squads of 20 or the final 13 if you're not in the initial 30.
It is whittled down to 20 in June and the final 13 for the Test squad and 14 for the one-day squad comes in August.
Could England have warranted more than four players in the Test squad given their current form?
I think they are well served with seven in the two squads.
 Gough continues to impress in one-day cricket |
Michael Vaughan has got an outstanding record against Australia.
Andrew Strauss has had an outstanding first 12 months in Test cricket, although he hasn't played against Australia.
And the same is true for Andrew Flintoff, who is obviously in good current form.
Steve Harmison wasn't at his best in South Africa but if he gets back to his best he's a real spearhead.
Marcus Trescothick, who is in the one-day squad, hasn't got a particularly impressive Test record against Australia.
Matthew Hoggard is the one absence of an England regular but his last tour of Australia wasn't particularly successful so that would have counted against him.
There are perhaps one or two question-marks as to how long Graham Thorpe will play and I told the rest of the selectors I think he is a bit past his best physically, not necessarily technically.
Darren Gough has done well since retiring as a Test player.
He seem to have bounced back [from knee surgery] and the strength in depth of the fast-bowling selections wasn't there to the same extent as the batting.
Who is going to captain this side and does Michael Vaughan have a chance?
|  There will be a lot of players who have taken a beating from Australia in the past and will be keen to put one over on them |
We will pick the best team and then chose the captain from that but if Michael gets himself into the final XI he will have strong claims.
The competition for batting places in unbelievably high but his slight advantage is that he could open or bat in the middle order.
How many of the selections were unanimous and was there a political consideration in the spread of countries?
There was a strong core of players who all the selectors had down.
It was only once the names had been finally selected that the ICC added them up and it came out as a nice split.
New Zealand only have a couple and might be a bit disappointed but there was no sense of having to pick players from each country or making sure there was a nice spread.
There are some young players in the squads like Kevin Pietersen and Pakistan's Rana Naved-ul-Hasan. Is that a bit of a gamble?
It's a bit of a punt but the selectors obviously like them and it's good to recognise up-and-coming players.
Pietersen showed a high level of form in South Africa but we don't know whether that's a flash in the pan so this summer will tell us more.
You always enjoyed the intensity of Test cricket. How do you think the players will raise their games for an exhibition match like this?
 Australia have the advantage of having played as a unit |
It's a fascinating prospect as to how the players will gel together.
I would have thought the motivation is strong in both teams.
Australia can press home their claims as one of the greatest teams ever.
And there will be a lot of players who have taken a beating from Australia in the past and will be keen to put one over on them.
There have been some complaints, from scorers in particular, about the six-day game's Test status. Do you think it should be a Test match?
I think it should. It's going to be 22 outstanding players, hopefully playing at top motivation. I think Test status will give that motivation as well.
Who do you think are favourites for the series?
Picking the cream of world talent, you would say the World XI ought to be slight favourites.
But then Australia have got the advantage of playing at home, as a unit that has been together for a long time.
And maybe one or two of the World players won't have had that much cricket through the English summer.
MMIX
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