ICC announces Test Cricket Team 2012

The International Cricket Council (ICC) Thursday announced the squad of Test Team for year 2012 in which Australian captain Michael Clark has been selected as the 'skipper' of this 'glorious' team.

The South African pacer Dell Steyn has been able to make a part of the team in the fifth consecutive year while no Indian has been able to secure his place in the 'Dream Team'.

This team has been finalized by a panel of selectors comprising former West Indies Batsman Carl Hooper, former Sri Lanka opener Marvan Attapatu, former Australia all rounder Tom Moody and former England Women's captain Clare Connor, in the chairmanship of former ace West Indies Captain Clive Llyod who have selected the team on the basis of player's performance during August 4, 2011 to August 6, 2012.

Five South African players have been selected in 12 team squad in which AB de Villiers has been selected as a 12th man. Hashim Amla, Jacques Kallis, Vernon Philander and Dale Steyn are other fours.

Three English Players comprising Alastair Cook, Matt Prior and Stuart Broad has been selected as opener, wicketkeeper and strike pacer in the ICC Test team 2012.

One player from Sri Lanka (Kumar Sangakkara), West Indies (Shivnarine Chanderpaul) and Pakistan (Saeed Ajmal) has been selected in the team.

While announcing the team, Llyod said, "The selectors did utilise a vast amount of statistics from the period under observation, but we also took into account all other factors like the opposition, pitch conditions, match situation etc.".

"The process of selection was a difficult one, with a lengthy debate between the panel on all the top performances during the voting period, and various combinations were considered," he added.

The ICC ODI Team of the Year will be announced prior to the awards function, which is set for September 15 in Colombo.

ICC Test Team of the Year 2011-12: Alastair Cook (opener), Hashim Amla (opener), Kumar Sangakkara, Jacques Kallis (all-rounder), Michael Clarke (capt), Shivnarine Chanderpaul (all-rounder), Matt Prior (wk), Stuart Broad (pacer), Saeed Ajmal(spinner), Vernon Philander (pacer), Dale Steyn (pacer), AB de Villiers (12th man).

Stats of the Players

• Alastair Cook: 1005 runs at 52.89 in 12 Tests
• Hashim Amla: 915 at 65.35 in 10
• Kumar Sangakkara: 1444 at 60.16 in 14
• Jacques Kallis: 660 at 55.00 in 9
• Michael Clarke: 1355 at 58.91 in 14
• Shivnarine Chanderpaul: 975 at 65.00 in 11
• Matt Prior: 442 at 31.57, with 30 dismissals, in 12
• Stuart Broad: 47 wickets at 24.10 in 10
• Saeed Ajmal: 72 at 24.29 in 12
• Vernon Philander: 56 at 16.57 in 9
• Dale Steyn: 44 at 24.18 in 10
• AB de Villiers: 807 runs at 62.07 in 10

--With Agencies Inputs--