ICC Super Series planned for failure

According to Cricinfo, the future of the Super Series is uncertain. link.

Five Reasons why the Super Series was one sided

1. It was the Aus Team vs. ICC XI. Emphasis should be on "Team". The ICC XI was a just a group of super stars. Most members of the Aus Team had played with each other, but that was not the case with the ICC XI players. Most players of the ICC XI had played against each other at an international level rather than with each other.
   
2. Held in on home ground for Australia. This gave a huge advantage to Australia. The thought process would have been based on the assumption that a group of the best players is going to crush any other team in the world. Therefore, Australia was given a huge home advantage
3. The ICC XI were not given sufficient side games to counter the Home Advantage. Inzy for example played just the one Test Match.
   
4. There was no pressure to perform on the ICC XI. ICC XI were playing for pride rather than for team and country. No doubt they trieid their best, but what was lacking was the spark needed to convert one's best effort into a winning effort.
   
5. Every fan will always say that the ICC XI did not have player X or Y. Its a bit of a flimsy excuse, but could be a factor. In my case, I'm rather disappointed that Sachin Tendulkar was not part of the team

A better series would have been 2 ICC XI teams playing each other. A sort of "All-Stars" Series. My two teams for such a test series would be

Team A

1. Mathew Hayden
2. Graeme Smith (C)
3. Rahul Dravid
4. Inzamam Ul Haq
5. Kumara Sangakara (W)
6. Andrew Flintoff
7. Shaun Pollock
8. Shane Warne
   
9. Shoaib Akthar
10. Daniel Vettori
11. Steve Harmison

Team B

1. Virendra Sehwag
2. Justin Langer
3. Ricky Ponting (C)
   
4. Brian Lara
5. Jacques Kallis
6. Kevin Pietersen
7. Adam Gilchrist (W)
8. Shane Bond
   
9. Glenn McGrath
10. Muthiah Muralitharan
11. Stuart McGill

Myopic view of Cricket, Sport