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Gooch names legendary SA batsman in best-ever XI

Cape Town - Former England skipper Graham Gooch has named his best-ever cricketing XI, with legendary batsman Barry Richards the only South African represented.

Gooch revealed his all-time XI on the Lord's Cricket YouTube channel, with the criteria being that he had to have played with or against them, or have been strongly influenced by the players mentioned.

The 66-year-old Englishman named the "usual suspects", which included Sachin Tendulkar and Shane Warne, both of whom regularly make such lists.

Gooch, who played 118 Tests for England and scored 8 900 runs, revealed a line-up with former greats that he had the privilege of playing with during his career, which spanned from 1973 to 2000.

Richards was the first player listed on Gooch's list and the Englishman did not shy from complimenting him.

"Simply the most graceful and my favourite batsman of all-time," said Gooch.

Richards, who was forced to play elsewhere by South Africa's isolation, only managed to play four Tests for South Africa scoring 508 runs with an average of 72.57.

The 73-year-old, whose career spanned from 1964/65-1982/83, played in 339 First Class games and scored 28 358 runs.

Graham Gooch's all-time XI:

Barry Richards (South Africa), Geoffrey Boycott (England), Sir Viv Richards (West Indies), Sachin Tendulkar (India), Allan Border (Australia), Sir Ian Botham (England), Alan Knott (England - wicketkeeper), Shane Warne (Australia), Wasim Akram (Pakistan), Malcolm Marshall (West Indies), Dennis Lillee (Australia)

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