Almanac Teams: A South Asian-Australian XI
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With Usman Khawaja nearing the end of a remarkable career, it feels like the perfect moment to put together a team of South Asian–Australian cricketers:
Usman Khawaja (Pakistan)
Dav Whatmore (Sri Lanka)
Michael Bevan (Sri Lanka)
Jason Sangha (India)
Ashley Chandrasinghe (Sri Lanka)
Bransby Cooper (India) (WK)
Ashton Agar (Sri Lanka)
Rex Sellers (India)
Gurinder Sandhu (India)
Stuart Clark (India)
Fawad Ahmed (Pakistan)
Tanveer Sangha (India) (12th man)
Usman Khawaja (Pakistan)
88 Tests, 16 centuries, over 6000 runs for Australia. His resurgence as a Test player since the Sydney Test of 2021/22 has been a sight to behold.
Dav Whatmore (Sri Lanka)
7 Tests, over 6000 runs for Victoria. Coach of Sri Lanka’s historic 1996 World Cup victory.
Michael Bevan (Sri Lanka)
18 Tests, 6 half centuries and 29 wickets (including a ten-for), but made his name as one of the greatest ODI players of all time. 232 ODIs and a member of the 1999 and 2003 victorious World Cup teams (though curiously, he was not required to bat in either of those finals). Known as ‘the finisher’.
Jason Sangha (India)
Almost 3000 first-class runs, including a match-winning century for South Australia in the Sheffield Shield final last summer. Has represented Australia at Under-19 level.
Ashley Chandrasinghe (Sri Lanka)
13 first-class games for Victoria with one century. Carried his bat in the first innings of the 2022/23 Sheffield Shield final. Required in this bowler-heavy team to bolster the batting stocks.
Bransby Cooper (India) (WK)
A right-handed batsman and wicket-keeper who played in the first ever Test match in 1877.
Ashton Agar (Sri Lanka)
5 Tests for 9 wickets, but who will ever ever forget his astonishing run-a-ball 98 on debut in the 2013 Ashes series, batting at number 11. 22 ODIs for Australia. His brother Wes, has also represented Australia in ODIs, but just misses out on the team here.
Rex Sellers (India)
Leg-spinner who played one Test for Australia in 1964. 121 first-class wickets.
Gurinder Sandhu (India)
175 first-class wickets. Has represented Australia at ODI level.
Stuart Clark (India)
24 Tests, 94 wickets at the impressive average of 23.86. A key member of the all-conquering 2006/07 Test team. 377 first-class wickets.
Fawad Ahmed (Pakistan)
Leg-spinner who represented Australia at ODI level. 205 first-class wickets, including 48 wickets in Victoria’s triumphant 2014/15 season.
Tanveer Sangha (India) (12th man)
Leg-spinner who has represented Australia at ODI and T20I level. 47 first-class wickets. Watch this space.
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About Damian Balassone
Damian Balassone is a failed half-forward flanker who writes poetry. He is the author of 'Strange Game in a Strange Land'.
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I was rooting for Malcolm Francke
Thanks Damian,
Dav Whatmore dominated for the Vics.
Whilst not eligible as the criteria is South Asia Richard Chee Quee (China) deserves a mention as the second player of Chinese origin to play first class cricket (NSW, 21 games, average 28).
The first was a gentleman called Hunter Poon 1923 (QLD, 1 game).
Other first class and Australian Under 19 cricketers who were not good enough to make the team are:
Param Uppal (2 FC NSW 2018/Indian born) and Arjun Nair (5 FC NSW 2016/Indian descent).
Ashton Agar’s brother, Wes Agar (2 ODIs Australia 2021/50 FC South Australia 2016/17-presentSri Lankan heritage)
Nivethan Radhakrishan (9 FC Tasmania 2022/Indian born)
Yash Deshmukh (Indian origin) represented Australia at Under19 level.
Aryan Sharma (Indian origin) has represented Australia at Under 19 level and has been signed as a local replacement player for Scott Boland at the Melbourne Stars.
John James will represent Australia in the Under 19 World Cup from January 15 to February 6, 2026. He is of Indian origin.
Damian glad to see- Rex Sellers get a mention a man I respect enormously.What do you and Rex have in common? Thank you
Fawad Ahmed was very unlucky. He appeared in a few Australian limited over squads then disappeared into the ether.
Back in the 1960’s Sri Lankan born leg spinner Gamini Goonesena played a few seasons for New South Wales. He appeared in a few Sr Lankan teams prior to them getting test status.
Glen!
Other players who have also missed out on this team are Naden Cooray and Nitesh Samuel, two players of Sri Lankan heritage that have been selected in the ICC Under 19 Men’s Cricket World Cup 2026.
Yuvraj Sharma represented Australia Under -19s in one-day games for 3 matches in 2019.
Ruwantha Kellepotha is Sri-Lankan first class cricketer who currently resides in Australia. In October 2022, he debuted for Victoria in the Sheffield Shield, marking the first such appearance by a Sri Lankan player in 60 years, and went on to score a maiden first-class century. In 2025, he transitioned to Tasmania, debuting for them in List A cricket in October. He has also played 3 BBL matches for the Melbourne Renegades from 2023-24.
Peter/Glen, I wasn’t aware of Malcolm Francke or Gamini Goonesena, but what impressive records they possess. Dan, maybe I should have extended the criteria to included Richard Chee Quee. We definitely need another batsmen in the XI. Anon, thank for the list of up and comers. Some food for thought. It would be interesting to do this exercise again in 15-20 years. And Rulebook, what do I have in common with Rex? Is he a Pies man?
Following the recent news that the AFL has lofty goals to gain a foothold in India, with league boss Andrew Dillon flying to Mumbai last Sunday, it got me thinking of doing an equivalent South Asian football team.
In order to complete the numbers, as well as strengthening the team, there were a few “ring-ins” where the surname had to represent South Asia in some way, whether it be the surname Indian or places in South Asia where the spelling of the surname is close enough to the player’s surname. eg Modra for Madras, Cheney for Chennai, Gale for Galle and Hore for Lahore.
Although Jai Saxena is yet to play a senior game for Collingwood and is on Collingwood’s list, he is eligible for this team , as he has Indian born parents. Also eligible was former Adelaide listed player, Balraj Singh, who didn’t play a senior game in the AFL but also has Indian born parents.
Some players were played out of position, for team balance.
This is the VFL/AFL South Asian Team:
B: Ben McNiece (Ess/Anglo-Indian mother), Alex Rance (c) (Rich/Indian great-grandfather), Hayden Crozier (Frem/WB/Sri Lankan father)
HB: Bernie Hore (Geel 1936-1940/Lahore), Alex Silvagni (Frem/Carl/Anglo-Indian mother), Alex Morgan (NM 2018/Indian parent)
C: Kyle Cheney (Melb/Haw/Adel/Chennai), Daniel Kerr (West Coast/Anglo-Indian father), David Gallagher (Adel/Carl/1999-2002/Indian heritage)
HF: Jai Saxena (Coll list/Indian born parents), Brendan Gale (Richmond/Galle Sri Lanka), Jordan McMahon (WB/Rich/ Indian heritage)
F: Jack Indian (St K 1946/Indian as surname), Tony Modra (Adelaide/Frem/Madras), Fred Pringle (Carl 1923-24/Indian born)
R: Enrico Misso (St K 1985/Sri Lankan descent), Clancee Pearce (Frem/Indian mother), Craig Jacotine (Coll 1999-2000/parents born in Sri Lanka)
Interchange: Balraj Singh (on Adelaide Crows list/drafted 1999/played West Adelaide SANFL/Peel Thunder WAFL/Indian born parents)
This team will play a pretend exhibition match against the African Australian AFL Team.
Venue: Narendra Modi Stadium, India
Entertainment: Bollywood and African music
Let’s hope for a good game of football where multiculturalism is the winner!
GutenTag Anon, wie geht es dir ?
I notice Enrico Misso’s game for St. Kilda was at Princess Park in 1985, a year Carlton finished fourth, St. Kilda got the wooden spoon. Princess Park was not a happy hunting ground for St. Kilda when they played Carlton back in that period. There were a series of huge drubbings, some by 100+ points. In 1985 the margin was only 32 points.
Anon, did Enrico not also turn out for Essendon?
Glen!
Excellent team Anon – what is your real name by the way.
I once did an Asian-Pacific Team of the Century which may have included some of these players. All I would add is that David Gallagher is Sri Lankan, not Indian, I used to have a crush on his big sister.
Mir geht es gut, danke Glen.
I always thought that Enrico Misso had played senior games for Essendon, but according to Wikipedia, he only played a senior game for St Kilda in 1985. Maybe he played night matches in the Escort Cup for Essendon. He coached the Sri Lankan team in the 2917 Australian Football International Cup.
However, you are right in that Enrico Misso was on Essendon’s list in 1983-84 but didn’t play any senior games for Essendon. Furthermore, in his only senior game for St Kilda in 1985, Enrico Misso had 11 disposals, including 8 hit outs in the loss to Carlton.
Yes, Princes Park wasn’t a happy hunting ground for St Kilda, as were many other grounds. As you mentioned, 1985 was a wooden spoon year for St Kilda, with several 100+ thrashings, to begin the year. In fact, 1983-1986 inclusive, were wooden spoon years for St Kilda.
Thank goodness for St Kilda, that they are still in the AFL, although they are yet to break their premiership drought, now 60 years (1st flag took 69 years in the then VFL), at least the draft and salary cap have made them more competitive and not as many wooden spoons since the late 1980s. Alternatively, Carlton haven’t won a flag since 1995 and have won more wooden spoons than St Kilda since 1995.
Another option for this VFL/AFL team is to play a pretend exhibition match against the Asia-Pacific Team of the Century, named by Damian in the Footy Almanac on September 20, 2013. In that team, Daniel Kerr was named in the 18, (so he could play a half for both teams) and on the extended interchange bench were Wally Koochew, Enrico Misso, Craig Jacotine, David Gallagher, Jordan McMahon, Clancee Pearce and Alex Silvagni. Those players could play for the South Asia team, as there are enough other players on the extended interchange bench for the Asia-Pacific Team of the Century.
Thanks Damian. I was under the name of Anon but after around 6 years of commenting under that name, I’m now going to use my real name of Stephen.
Good to see that David Gallagher is Sri Lankan, as per your article for the Asia-Pacific Team of the Century. Before I read your team, I couldn’t find anywhere else on the internet where it stated that David Gallagher was Sri Lankan heritage, so I had assumed it was Indian heritage but thank you for clearing it up that it’s Sri Lankan heritage.
Hallo Stefan.
I also have a ‘recollection’ Enrico Misso appeared for Essendon in the night series during the early 80’s.
As for coaching Sri Lanka in the 2917 Australian Football International Cup, he’d put Methuselah to shame.
Glen!
Yes Glen, that was a bad typing error of 2917, instead of typing 2017. I knew it straight away after reading that comment when I posted it but didn’t want to post another comment, without anything else to mention.
Methuselah of course lived to the age of 969. As Enrico Misso was born in 1964, 969 years later would be 2933, so 2917 is still before 2933. Of course, Misso isn’t Methuselah but hopefully Misso will still live a long enough life.
I’m not sure why Misso didn’t play more games for St Kilda during that period where St Kilda were a poor team. Maybe, he was filling in for another ruckman that was unable to play that match because of injury. Perhaps, the St Kilda selectors weren’t impressed by his debut match and therefore decided to drop him, never to play another senior VFL/AFL game again. I might be wrong but I don’t think Misso became injury prone after his one and only senior game.
Otherwise, I might have MISSED something about MISSO!
Speaking about MISSES, it reminds me of Glen MiddleMISS, the son of Geelong premiership player in 1951 and 1952, Russell Middlemiss. Glen Middlemiss played a total of 50 games for Geelong and St Kilda in a not too dissimilar period from Misso in 1979-1984. After playing 16 games for St Kilda from 1981-84, he was suspended 5 times, for a total of 9 games. He never played another senior game for St Kilda. While playing for Geelong West in 1977, Middlemiss was knocked unconscious in an accidental collision, after which he was clinically dead for two and a half minutes. After recovering, Middlemiss resumed his career, against doctors’ advice.
Moin Stefan.
Glenn Middlemiss was one of the numerous forward options Geelong tried under Billy Goggin. A very strong backline, but forward of the centre…………………………..?
Yes, clinically dead for two minutes in a 1977 match against Williamstown. Thanks to a quick thinking crowd, who supported the ambulance onto/off the playing arena, Glenn Middlemiss survived. From here he had a VFL career.
He was one of the many players crossing to Linton St. in the early 80’s, as the Saints did it hard.
Glen!
Ah, Glenn Middlemiss. The man who came back from the dead. I had his footy card. Wiki tells me he kicked the winning goal of a QAFL Grand Final.
As tonight is the semi final in the Australian Open between Djokovic and Sinner, the winner of that match will end up potentially playing a match in the Final against Alcaraz, assuming Alcaraz beats Zverev in this afternoon’s other semi final.
The final could then be known as “Escape to Alcaraz” (instead of “Escape from Alcatraz)”. Sinner really escaped in the 3rd round last Saturday in the extreme heat when he was severely affected by cramps. Fortunately for him, the roof was closed and he could take a break in between and then was able to win his next 2 matches.
Djokovic was lucky to receive a walkover in the 4th round when Mensik was unable to play due to injury. Djokovic was also extremely fortunate in the quarter finals, when his opponent Musetti retired due to injury during the 3rd set, after Musetti was leading 2 sets to love. It reminds of what Steve Bradbury achieved many years ago in the Winter Olympics, which will be starting again soon.
Furthermore, the recent comments about Glen Middlemiss, who fortunately escaped death on the football field in 1997 when he was knocked unconscious on the football field for Geelong West against Williamstown and was clinically dead for 2 and a half minutes, before being revived by a doctor, got me thinking of doing an equivalent cricket team.
Some players were named in different positions in the batting order, to fit into the team.
This is the World Test Cricket Team of Players Who Fortunately Escaped Death:
Geoff Boycott (Diagnosed with Throat Cancer in 2003)
Matthew Wade (Testicular Cancer before becoming a professional cricketer)
Dinesh Chandimal (Escaped 2004 Tsunami in Sri Lanka)
Damien Martyn (Induced Coma after suffering a bout of menangitis in the Gold Coast in December 2024)
Michael Clarke (c) (Diagnosed with Skin Cancer in 2004)
Rishabh Pant (wk) (Suffered Serious Car Accident in India/Dragged out of car before it caught fire and burst into flames)
Yuvraj Singh (Diagnosed with Lung a cancer during the 2011 World Cup)
Jesse Ryder (In 2013, he was in a coma after being assaulted outside Airman’s Bar in Christchurch)
Andrew Flintoff (Drunk & Drowning in the Caribbean when his boat capsized during the 2007 World Cup)
Wasim Akram (Attacked by gunman in Karachi who fired at his car after a car accident)
Muttiah Muralitharan (Close shave with the waves in the 2004 Tsunami in Sri Lanka)
12th man: Nicholas Pooran (no tests but 60 ODIs/106 T20s for West Indies/multiple injuries after road accident)
Coach: Simon Helmot (no great escape but he will also be in charge of Headgear)
There won’t be a concussion sub, in the hope that no player will suffer concussion.
This team will play a pretend exhibition match against the Sri Lankan Test Cricket Team who Fortunately Escaped a Terrorist Attack on their team bus, near Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore in 2009.
Venue: Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore
Entertainment: “Escape (The Pina Colada Song)”, by Rupert Holmes
Let’s hope for a good game of cricket where the players will be kept safe at all times!