The passing of Keith Stackpole during the week and the many subsequent tributes which appeared on The Roar and elsewhere gave me pause to consider that there was much said about Stacky as a man as there was about him as a cricketer.

It reminded me of a quote from Wes Hall that I once read and have kept as a reminder that talked to the relationship between what we do and what we are.

“People will always remember great players. But they will really remember the ones that made them feel good.”

With this in mind, I selected my World XI of cricketers who I just like the best. It struck me in the planning stage of the article how many such players I chose for reasons other than their prowess on the cricket field.

There were no particular criteria underpinning the selection of any player. Generally, it will have simply been an article I read somewhere, an action I saw the player undertake, an interview with the player or a reference to them in an interview with someone else but certainly for some players it was just the way in which they played the game.

As such this article will be particular to me and reflect those values that I hold in greatest esteem, such as integrity, courage and overcoming adversity to achieve.

There can as such be no right or wrong selections and I recognise that all the players mentioned in the article will be human and while I have listed them for reasons that have been influential to me that they would also have faults and weaknesses which may have led to other people holding contrary views.

I was unable to come up with a strict selected 1 to 11 in batting order but created a side of best fit.

Dignity – Sir Frank Worrell (C). Always conducted himself and his teams with dignity and respect. Worrell and his West Indies treated opponents as worthy competitors rather than an opposition to be denigrated.

Statesmanship – Bill Woodfull. Despite pressure to do so, Woodfull refused to combat Bodyline in kind because he disagreed with it as a strategy. I also included Harold Larwood within this characteristic for giving up his Test career rather than apologise for following his captains’ instructions. Clive Lloyd and Richie Benaud were also included in the expanded group from which the final selection was made for this characteristic.

Courage – Colin Cowdrey. This characteristic is not uncommon – Rick McCosker, Allan Border and Graeme Smith very readily come to mind for going into play with broken bones. Cowdrey, however, was MCC by name and MCC by nature.

Having endured Lindwall and Miller in the 1950s and had his arm broken and continuing to bat in the match by Wes Hall who was bowling in tandem with Charlie Griffith in the 1960s he answered the phone from Mike Denness with an “I’d love to” when asked if he would come to Australia to do battle with Lillee and Thompson in 1974-75.

He opened his suitcase, and it let out a hiss which was the foam rubber padding he had brought with him in an attempt to counter the fearsome duo – he was under no illusion what he had been plucked out of the English winter for. And despite taking some fearsome blows he dug in and grimly fought his way.

How they played the game – Doug Walters. This was probably the most difficult criterion to judge. Players such as Viv and Barry Richards, Mark Waugh, Dennis Lillee, Jonty Rhodes, Lance Klusener, Wasim Akram, Virender Sehwag, Andy Bichel, Andrew Flintoff, Max Walker, Merv Hughes, Derek Underwood, Alan Knott, Darren Gough, Bob Willis, Joe Soloman, Bishen Bedi, Kapil Dev, Jasprit Bumrah and a host of others have been favourites just for the manner in which they played the game but I always seem to circle back to Dougie as my all time favourite in this regard.

Inspirational – Allan Border. I really could not split AB from Imran Khan on this criterion. I just have always felt that AB might have in fact had a lower Test average had he not had to carry the weight of the Australian team for almost his entire career. Had he been able to just play his natural game as part of a stronger overall side without having to single-handedly will his team forward, I always felt he may have played many more entertaining but shorter and smaller innings. Imran missing out because AB played in a weaker side may seem unfair but I could not split the two on any other grounds.

Allan Border and Adam Gilchrist (Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)

Fairness – Adam Gilchrist. I concede that not everyone believes in walking, and I can readily agree with Peter Roebuck challenging “if you don’t walk does it necessarily mean you aren’t out?” But I think it is a reflection of the attitude that a player packs in his kit bag on the way to the ground. Interestingly, the two players that Gilly beat out for this spot were also keepers in MS Dhoni and Rod Marsh, both of whom recalled batsmen who had been erroneously given out.

The game is bigger than the individual – Richie Benaud. There are, of course, many inflated egos in the heady world of international sport. I always felt that Richie in all his words and actions as a player, captain, journalist or commentator put the good of the game ahead of himself.

Integrity – Wes Hall. This was an area with a huge overlap with statesmanship, dignity, how they played the game, and the game is bigger than the individual. Wes seemed to come somewhere near the top in all of them but for me first in integrity. His blunt refusal to bowl bouncers at tail-enders, his refusal to do so to an 18-year-old Doug Walters because ‘you were just a boy’ and his strict adherence to his beliefs, which resulted in his becoming a religious minister in later life, never wavered. It seems a thing with West Indian cricketers that both he, Frank Worrell and others entered politics after their playing days. Depending on one’s standpoint on politicians this can, of course, be viewed as a good thing or a bad thing but it is probably above many of the modern players commentating careers in terms of integrity.

Off the field – Hedley Verity and Tibby Cotter. My admiration for any man who lays down his life for his fellow man is endless. I would not presume to place greater value on one man’s sacrifice than another. There have no doubt been others in this list but these are the two who most readily came to mind.

Overcoming Adversity – Buster Nupen finishes ahead of Bhagwat Chandrasekar in a photo finish. Nupen was born in non-Test cricket playing Norway, lost an eye in a childhood accident and was shot through both knees in the Rand Rebellion and yet somehow went on to a successful test career as a medium fast bowler for South Africa and following his retirement ran a successful law practice for 20 years. Chandra had his right arm (bowling arm) crippled by polio as a boy of five and could not even hold a ball until the age of ten.

Once he could hold a ball though he quickly worked out what to do with it and became one of the finest leg spin bowlers the game has seen. His batting was not quite on par with his bowling and he shares the dubious honour with Chris Martin of NZ of having more Test wickets than runs.

It’s only a game – Henry Olonga just beats out countryman Andy Flower for wearing black armbands to mourn the death of democracy in the native Zimbabwe. Both were banned from playing for their country and Olonga went into exile in England. Sometimes it is worth remembering that in the end it is only a game and the tragedy that Zimbabwe was suffering makes it pale into insignificance. John Traicos, who is another fascinating chapter in his own right – born in Egypt of Greek parents he represented South Africa very briefly before the apartheid ban and then Zimbabwe some twenty years later on their admission into Test cricket before imposing an exile on himself because of the trouble in Zimbabwe and settling in Perth.

Other favourites that did not make the final cut included Andy Bichel, Bishen Bedi, Anil Kumble, Inzamam Ul-Haq, Chaminda Vaas, Sanath Jayasuria.

There may also be some surprises as to who did not make it but I must admit that the players I have listed above are to the extent of my knowledge pretty much the “cleanskins” and some of my all-time favourite cricketers as players have had some flaws or done some things that have disappointed me at times. I don’t want to appear self-righteous in saying that as I hold many of them still in the highest esteem but I just don’t always find all of them to be as all-around likeable or admirable as this listing.