Cricket may well be a batsman's game, but here at Wisden.com we believe that the sterling work of all those No. 11s is rarely given the attention it deserves. With this in mind, we are proud to present Battleof the Bunnies, a year-long search for a team of the greatest rabbits – or worst batsmen, if you really must – currently playing Test cricket. The rules are simple: statistical incompetence alone will decide places in the side, and each month an updated World Bunny XI will be published here. Catherine Hanley has a hotline to the selectors ...

Monday, November 4, 2002

Life is an uncertain business, but it would seem that cricket is becoming ever more predictable: if there's one thing anyone can be sure of, it's that any table in world cricket will feature Australia or an Australian at the top.

And so it is with this month's Bunny XI. The tougher rules – players must have completed at least four innings – have sorted the men from the boys, but this did not worry Jason Gillespie one little bit as he wafted his way to scores of 0 and 1 in his only Test in Pakistan.

The serious nature of the green-and-gold push for rabbit stardom is also shown by the presence of the ever-reliable Glenn McGrath, and the slightly more surprising inclusion in the XI of Brett Lee, who is obviously keen to emulate his more illustrious compatriots in every respect, even if that means starting to hold his bat the wrong way up.

Holding on in clear second place is the one and only Muttiah Muralitharan, who didn't play this month but is still a shining example to all would-be rabbits, having only got off the mark once since the competition started. He is fending off a challenge from Bangladeshi bunny Manjural Islam, who turned up the heat during the recent series against South Africa to secure third place.

Meanwhile, the Calypso Kings are at it again: Cameron Cuffy (who really needs to deal with all those not outs if he is to achieve true bunniness) leads a contingent of no less than four West Indian rabbits all seeking higher honours.

Will the Windians make a concerted push for the top places? Or will the Aussie juggernaut continue to dominate in the quest for the Golden Carrot of success? Roll on the Ashes ...

The Bunny XI (as at 4/11/02)

1 Jason Gillespie (Aus) 0, 1, 3, 0, 1 av: 1.00

2 Muttiah Muralitharan (SL) 0, 0*, 6, 0, 0 av: 1.50

3 Manjural Islam (Ban)0, 2, 0, 0, 4, 8, 0, 5 av: 2.37

4 Cameron Cuffy (WI) 0, 1*, 4, 1, 0*, 0*, 3*, 0*, 4*, 0, 0 av: 2.60

5 Talha Jubair (Ban) 0*, 5*, 0, 0, 3, 4*, 0, 1* av: 3.25

6 Ashish Nehra (Ind) 0, 0, 0*, 3, 1*, 0, 0*, 0, 19, 0, 0* av: 3.29

7 Glenn McGrath (Aus) 2, 4*, 0, 4, 5*, 0, 3 av: 3.60

8 Adam Sanford (WI) 1, 12, 1, 0, 2, 1, 5, 1, 0*, 12 av: 3.89

9 Mervyn Dillon (WI) 0, 9, 0, 6, 43, 0, 4, 0, 0, 21, 0, 4, 4, 0 av: 6.50

10 Brett Lee (Aus) 0, 0, 23*, 2, 12, 12, 1 av: 8.33

11 Ryan Hinds (WI) 9, 2, 16, 7 av: 8.50

This month's Guest Twelfth Man is Ashwell Prince (SA): while all around him were hammering centuries and double centuries against the hapless Bangladeshis, Prince resisted temptation and stood tall with his scores of 2 and 0. Now that's class.

Catherine Hanley is a university lecturer, a keen cricketer and a regular contributor to Wisden.com. She was born in Tasmania and now lives in Sheffield, England.

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