An alternative history of Australian cricket, this book asks what-if questions and reimagines our national game. Using 66 case studies from 1877 to 2011 it reflects on choices made and not made: when well-credentialled players were overlooked; and lesser players persevered with when their performances did not demand their retention. The search for team balance is often elusive and while the book’s subject is Test cricket the competing forms of limited-over and Twenty20 cricket make the selection task more difficult in the modern era.