This debate is now closed.

Australia's selectors would have the luxury of choosing from two great teams - Bradman's 1948 "Invincibles" and the current side of Waugh, Warne and McGrath.

Throw in greats from other sides such as Dennis Lillee and Greg Chappell and the Aussies would be a formidable outfit.

England's team would also span the ages, from the days of WG Grace and SF Barnes right through to Botham and Willis.

They would also need to consider those that came in between: Sutcliffe and Hutton, Compton and Trueman, May and Barrington.

But could England ever muster a side to topple the Aussies?

England legends XI would be incomplete without Boycott and Alan Knott.
Ketan, India

England: JB Hobbs, L Hutton, WR Hammond, DCS Compton, PBH May, KF Barrington, IT Botham, TG Evans, FS Trueman, AV Bedser, FS Barnes. Australia: WM Woodfull, WH Ponsford, DG Bradman, GS Chappel, AR Border, SR Waugh, KR Miller, D Tallon, RR Lindwall, WJ O'Reilly. I think the above would be a rather interesting game! And looking at the Australian team, I've just noticed that there is no Dennis Lillee!
Richard Griffiths, England

Try this team for size. Simpson, Lawry, Bradman, G.Chappell, Border, Healy, S Waugh, Lillee, Warne, Benaud, McGrath, A Davidson 12th man. No England players could come close.
Jason Prins, Australia

Much as I admired Rod Marsh (not least, as a Kiwi, for his evident disgust at the underarm delivery), Gilchrist is in a class of his own as a batsman - and we never saw Marsh keeping to a spinner of Warne's class.
Stephen, NZ/UK

I am only able to comment on players I have actually seen play the game. Therefore my post-1970 selections would be: England - Boycott, Gooch, Amiss, Edrich, Gower, Botham, Knott, Illingworth (c), Snow, Gough, Underwood. Australia - Taylor, Simpson, Jones, G Chapple, Border, S. Waugh, Marsh, Warne, Lillee, Thomson, McGrath.
Paul Cranswick, Malaysia

I think it is a disgrace that Larwood is in the BBC Ashes team. The man's average tells us how good he was as a bowler (average), but worse is that he bowled bodyline thereby intimidating batsmen rather than getting wickets fair and square. Surely there is a better UK bowler to fill the quota, but if not then Glenn McGrath ought to be in the team on merit.
Simon, UK

Best Ashes team: 1. M Trescothick, 2. G Gooch, 3. M Waugh, 4. D Bradman, 5. D Gower, 6. S Waugh, 7. I Botham, 8. A Gilchrist, 9. S Warne, 10. G McGrath, 11. D Lillee.
Tom Abbott, England

I think any Australian team that could field the cricketing might of Sir Dirk Wellham, Kim Hughes, Graham Yallop the demon spin twins: Ray Bright and Kerry O'Keefe would be great: for England!
Bob, Australia

W.G. Grace, G. Boycott, M. Butcher, G. Gooch, I. Botham, A. Stewart (WKT), M. Brearly (C), D. Gough, J. Laker, D. Underwood, B. Willis.
R. Seth, England

Imagine if the following are representing one team! Hutton, Simpson, Bradman, Cowdrey, Dexter, Botham, Knott, Warne, Miller, Davidson, Grimmet and Benaud as 12th man.
Babu S.Chandran, Malaysia

For me, Australia: Hayden, Trumper, Bradman, Chapple, Border, S Waugh, Gilchrist, Miller, Warne, Lillee, McGrath. England: Hutton, Hobbs, Sutcliffe, Hammond, Barrington, Botham, Ames, Trueman, Tyson, Barnes, Laker. I think it would be pretty close between these two sides but the Don might swing it for Oz.
Gavin, England

It's going to be a combined Oz/England side over the past 21 years:- 1. Mark Taylor, 2. Graham Gooch, 3. David Boon, 4. Allan Border, 5. Adam Gilchrist, 6. Ian Botham, 7. Andy Flintoff, 8. Shane Warne, 9. Dennis Lillie, 10. Bob Willis, 11. Glenn McGrath.
Peter Richards, UK

My 23-man England squad: Gooch, Hobbs, Hutton, Sutcliffe, Barrington, Compton, Cowdrey, Gower, Grace, Hammond, May, Stewart, Ames, Botham, Rhodes, Barnes, Gough, Larwood, Trueman, Tyson, Willis, Laker, Underwood. Plus Brearley for tactical advice.

The final 11 would be: Hobbs, Hutton, Barrington, Gower, Cowdrey, Stewart, Botham, Trueman, Barnes, Larwood, Laker and Hammond as 12th man.
Steve, UK

Australia XI: Boon, Simpson, M Waugh, Bradman, Border, I Chappell (c), Healy, Davidson, Warne, McGrath, Lillee.

England XI: Boycott, Gooch, Gower, Hutton, Jardine (c), Botham, Knott, Laker, Trueman, Larwood, Willis.
Guha, USA

How could one English contributor pick an Australian team without Bradman? England: Hutton(c), Hobbs, Hammond, May, Compton, Botham, Knott, Larwood, Trueman, Laker, Barnes.

Australia: Ponsford, Morris, Bradman, G. Chappell, S.Waugh, Border(c), Miller, Tallon, Warne, Lillee, McGrath.
Chris, Germany

England: Len Hutton, Jack Hobbs, Wally Hammond, Dennis Compton, David Gower, Ian Botham, Alan Knott, Fred Trueman, Jim Laker, Derek Underwood, Harold Larwood.

Australia: Victor Trumper, Arthur Morris, Donald Bradman, Greg Chappell, Allan Border, Keith Miller, Rodnay Marsh, Alan Davidson, Shane Warne, Clarie Grimmet, Dennis Lillee.
Arslan, Pakistan

England: Hobbs, Hutton, Grace, Hammond, Leyland, Botham, Rhodes, Taylor, Larwood, Barnes, Underwood.

Australia: Trumper, Bardsley, Bradman, McCartney, Border, Miller, Davidson, Tallon, Lillee, Grimmett, O'Reilly.
Graeme, UK

Atherton (class act when we had no one else), Boycott (rugged, would never let you down), Gower (class in a glass), Compton (any man who can play football in the winter and cricket in the summer gets my vote), Brearley (for shear captaincy value).

Botham (the greatest match winner ever), Stewart (he's still going strong, a great servant), Larwood (pace bowling at its brilliant best), Gough (knows what it means to give it all for the three lions), Trueman (Fiery Fred terrified the Aussies), Illingworth (true grit). Any Aussie team, even with the Don, wouldn't beat this team of fighters.
Andy, England

England: Hobbs, Sutcliffe, Hammond, Compton, Gower, Botham, Knott, Laker, Underwood, S F Barnes and Trueman.

Australia: Morris, Trumper, Bradman, S Waugh, Border, Benaud, Healy, Warne, Lindwall, Lillee, McGrath. Would be quite a match!
Andrew Carr, England

How could one English contributor pick an Australian team without Bradman? England: Hutton(c), Hobbs, Hammond, May, Compton, Botham, Knott, Larwood, Trueman, Laker, Barnes.

Australia: Ponsford, Morris, Bradman, G. Chappell, S.Waugh, Border (c), Miller, Tallon, Warne, Lillee, McGrath.
Chris, Germany

Australia: Boon, Hayden, Dean Jones, Bradman, Border, S.Waugh, Healy, Warne, Lillee, McGrath, Brett Lee.
Shyam, India

England: G Gooch, M Atherton, C Cowdrey, K Barrington, D Gower, I Botham, A Knott, R Illingworth (c), J Snow, D Underwood, R Willis.

Australia: R Simpson, M Taylor, I Chappell (c), M Waugh, G Chappell, A Border, I Healey, S Warne, D Lillee, J Thomson, G McGrath.

The best combined team would be: G Gooch, R Simpson, I Chappell (c), D Gower, C Cowdrey, I Botham, A Knott, S Warne, D Lillee, D Underwood, G McGrath.
Bob, England

My England XI would be as follows: Hutton, Sutcliffe, Jardine, Close, Leyland, Atherton, Trueman, Laker, Gough, Larwood, Brearley.
Vicki, England

Australian XI: Hayden, Langer, Bradman, Boon, S Waugh, Ponting, Martyn, A Gilchrist (wk), MacGill, Lillee, Gillespie, McGrath.
John Kimble, USA

England XI: Hutton (capt), Hobbs, Compton, Hammond, Gower, Bailey, Evans (wkt), Bedser, Laker, Trueman, Underwood.

Australian XI: Morris, McDonald, Simpson, Bradman (capt), G Chappell, Border, Davidson, Grout (wkt), Benaud, Lillee, Lindwall.
Chris, Australia

Aussie team: Ponsford (vc), Trumper, Bradman, Border (c), S.Waugh, Miller, Healy, Warne, Lillee, McGrath, Alderman. There is no way any English team in history could beat these gentleman in a five match Ashes series. The best an English team could hope for would be to draw one Test and lose the other four.
Michael V, Australia

England: Hobbs, Sutcliffe, Gower, Hutton, Hammond, Cowdrey, Stewart, Botham, Tyson, Larwood, Laker.

Australia: Langer, Hayden, Bradman, Chappell, McCabe, Border, Gilchrist, Lillee, McGrath, Thomson, Warne.
Niranjan de Silva, USA

England XI: Hutton, Boycott, Gower, Compton, Cowdrey, Botham, Knott, Trueman, Laker, Underwood, Larwood.
Aj, Japan

1 Mark Taylor, 2 Bobby Simpson, 3 Don Bradman (c), 4 Allan Border, 5 Steve Waugh, 6 Stan McCabe, 7 Adam Gilchrist, 8 Shane Warne, 9 Terry Alderman, 10 Dennis Lillee, 11 Glenn McGrath.
Graham Johnston, England

Great names all. But my money is on whichever team can field the name D.G. Bradman. He is worth two of any other.
Greg, Australia

Gilchrist, Gilchrist. You only pick wicketkeeper/batsmen when you are nervous of your batting. Not the case here I think. Ian Healey, Rodney Marsh, Don Tallon, even perhaps Bert Oldfield would be considered before him.
Paul Stevens, Australia

England captained by Jardine - and every player at the peak of their Ashes form - should just shade it.

England: Hobbs, Sutcliffe, Gower, Hammond, Compton, Jardine (c) Botham, Evans, Laker, Tyson, Larwood.

Australia: McCartney, Trumper, Bradman, Border (c), McCabe, Miller, Gilchrist, O'Reilly, Lindwall, Warne, Lillee.
Paul Roberts, UK

Australia have the greatest batsman (no name required), the greatest spinner (Warne), the two greatest pacement (Lillee and McGrath), the greatest wicketkeeper/batsman (Gilchrist), the greatest captain (Taylor), the toughest batsmen (Border and SR Waugh), the most technically accomplished postwar batsman (G Chappell), and that would be more than enough.

England can claim only the best all-rounder (Beefy) and the most lethal spinner on a wet pitch (Underwood).
James Wilson, UK/NZ

Fred Trueman - the epitome of fast bowling. David Gower - for sheer elegance and an excess of talent
Robert Woods, UK

The current England bowling line-up may well be our downfall in the Ashes. Imagine if England could field Trueman, Larwood, Barnes and Lock. Throw in Botham and Alan Knott and a batting line-up including Hobbs, Hutton, Compton, Hammond and Colin Cowdrey and even the mighty Don would be quaking in his boots.
Paul W, England

England XI: Hobbs, Sutcliffe, Ranji, Hutton, Botham, Knott, Statham, Trueman, Underwood, SF Barnes, Rhodes.
Alex Scott, England

1. Gooch, 2. Hobbs, 3. Boycott, 4. Barrington, 5. Hutton, 6. Botham, 7. Stewart, 8. Underwood, 9. Laker, 10. Trueman, 11. Willis.
The Shadow, UK

D Boon, Morris, Bradman, Border, Gilchrist, R Ponting, S Warne, DK Lillee, G Chappell, McGrath, Gillespie.
Sasamka, India

Mark Taylor, A Morris, Dean Jones, D Bradman, S Waugh, A Gilchrist, S Warne, G McGrath, Merv Hughes, D Lillee, Craig McDermott. 12th man: Ricky Ponting.
Buck, USA

G Gooch, T Dexter, D Gower, M Gatting, Colin Cowdrey, I Botham, J Russell, J Laker, D Gough, F Trueman, H Larwood
David, USA

My England Ashes Dream Team would be: G. Boycott, M. Atherton, G. Thorpe, D. Gower, M. Gatting, I. Botham, J. Russell, D. Gough, B. Willis, A. Fraser, Ray Illingworth.
Bijesh Kanani , Ohio, USA

England: JB Hobbs, H Sutcliffe, L Hutton, W Hammond, WG Grace (cpt), KS Ranjitsinhji, W Rhodes, L Ames (wkt), H Verity, H Larwood, B Statham. Reserves: FS Trueman, K Barrington, E Dexter, G Boycott, IT Botham.

Australia: W Woodfull (cpt), S Barnes, V Trumper, DG Bradman, G Chappell, C Hill, K Miller, W Murdoch (wkt), SK Warne, WJ O'Reilly, D Lillee. Reserves: R Benaud, C Grimmett, S McCabe, A Morris, T Alderman, ME Waugh.
Richard Dickinson, England

M. Atherton, G.Gooch, D.Gower, D.Compton, I.Botham, F Trueman, D. Underwood, A. Stewart, B. Willis, D. Gough, H. Larwood. Now there's an English cricket team that could challenge for the Ashes.
Benno, Oz

Hayden, W Ponsford, D Bradman, G Chappell, M Waugh, S Waugh, A Gilchrist, DK Lillee, S Warne, G McGrath, Alderman.
Sagar, Australia

Australian XI: A Morris, V Trumper, D Bradman, R Ponting, S Waugh, D Walters, A Gilchrist, S Warne, D Lillee, G McGrath, C Grimmett. (K Miller 12th man).

England XI: G Gooch, J Hobbs, L Hutton, W Hammond, D Gower, I Botham, A Knott, D Underwood, H Larwood, J Laker, F Tyson (B Willis 12th man).
David Burt, Sydney, Australia

Simpson, Lawrie, Bradman, O'Neill, G. Chappell, S.Waugh, Davidson, Benaud, Grout, Lindwall, Grimmet and Mackay as 12th man.
Chandran Sukumaran, Malaysia

Botham. If he's in the team then I could probably play and England would still win! Same goes for Warne and the Aussies. Respect to the both of them.
Paul, England

I would be tempted to put Jeff Thomson in, just for sheer pace and shock effect. Lillee and Thomson with the new ball were horrendously effective. There is a question, however, of how comparable past "greats" are to today's players.

Yesterday's players were talented players with less than optimal training and support compared to today's. Some of the past masters would probably need modern training to come within range of their previous scores.

As for an Australia captain, Steve Waugh would be the man - I doubt there has ever been a harder or more determined captain.
Don, Australia

The great Aussie sides would always have an advantage because they played cricket with a spirit and aggression we will never match in England.
David Pearce, Hong Kong

Slater, Taylor, Boon, Bradman, S.Waugh, A.Border, Gilchrist, Warne, Lillee, McGrath, Thomson.
Damen, Hong Kong

All-time England: Hutton, Hobbs, Compton, May , Cowdrey, Botham, Knott, Trueman, Statham, Laker, SF Barnes.
Ben Green, England

Langer, Boon, Bradman, Chappell, Border, Waugh, Marsh, Lindwall, Warne, Lillee, McGrath (12th man Alderman).
Joe, UK

Our side would be: Hutton, Sutcliffe, Boycott, Close, Leyland, Rhodes, Appleyard, Trueman, Bowes, Gough, Binks. We have a few useful reserves to.
Neil, Yorkshire

My Australian XI would be (in batting order): Hayden, Morris, Bradman, G Chappell, S Waugh, A Border (capt), Gilchrist, Warne, Lillee, Alderman, McGrath (M Waugh 12th man).
Dave Whitely, UK

From an Aussie point of view, my team would be: A Morris, W Ponsford, D Bradman, N Harvey, G Chappell, S Waugh, A Gilchrist, K Miller, R Lindwall, D K Lillee, S Warne, G McGrath.
Daryl, Australia