From 1864, when Alfred Shaw made his debut, to Kevin Pietersen in 2004, this is a side to represent almost the full spectrum of Nottinghamshire's history. I have restricted myself to a pair of overseas players: Garry Sobers and Richard Hadlee, both of them knighted and, respectively, the greatest players from West Indies and New Zealand.

The wonderful Bruce Dooland is chosen as English-qualified, and no doubt I could have had Clive Rice on a Kolpak these days. Rice came close, as did Derek Randall (my 12th man), Bill Voce, Fred Morley, Chris Read, George Gunn and Tom Wass. Keith Miller was almost a sneak pick: he played once and scored a hundred with a borrowed bat. But it didn't seem right.

1. Arthur Shrewsbury: "Give me Arthur," WG Grace said of a player whose average of more than 37 compiled on treacherous, 19th Century pitches is worth at least 50 in today's currency. He stood pre-eminent among professionals in Nottinghamshire's golden age, only to shoot himself when he thought he was suffering from an incurable disease.

2. Reg Simpson: The Second World War delayed his introduction until 1946, but he quickly established himself as an upright, elegant strokemaker who also scored 156 not out for England in Australia. Captained from 1951-60 and is still, at 87, a regular at Trent Bridge holding trenchant views of heavy bats and lazy techniques.

3. Tim Robinson: A quietly effective player for more than 20 seasons, Robinson stands second in Nottinghamshire's all-time run-scoring list. He was also deceptively good in the one-day game. He prepared meticulously and set himself high standards which few of those who criticised his dour mien ever threatened to match.

4. Joe Hardstaff Jr: "Young Joe", whose father also played for England, was good enough to score Test hundreds either side of the war. One of many players in the county's history to hail from colliery villages, he drove as sweetly as any batsman in the land and once hit a 51-minute hundred without the compliance of declaration bowling.

5. Kevin Pietersen: Having arrived as an off-spinning all-rounder in 2001 he transformed his game to average more than 55 with the bat before leaving in a huff. Nobody who saw some explosive innings at Trent Bridge, including a destruction of Murali, will be surprised that he now ranks among England's best post-war batsmen.

6. Garry Sobers: Nottinghamshire broke the bank to bring Sobers to Trent Bridge on the princely wage of £5,000 for the 1968 season. In return, he brought style and ambition to the county, who immediately leapt from sixteenth to fourth in the championship. The highlight was his six sixes off a Malcolm Nash over at Swansea.

7. Richard Hadlee: An average of 14.51 is usually associated with hirsute bowlers from the Victorian era rather than all-rounders of the 80s. But nobody exploited Ron Allsopp's emerald pitches more skilfully, or single-mindedly, and his ultimately successful pursuit of the Double in 1984 bordered on the obsessive.

8. Bruce French: The youngest player to represent the county when he made his debut at 16, having kept wicket in the tough Bassetlaw League from the age of 12. A supreme gloveman whose relatively modest batting restricted his England appearances, he represented Notts without blemish before retiring through illness.

9. Bruce Dooland: Over five seasons he never took fewer than 136 wickets, making amends for that relatively barren summer of 1957 by scoring 1,517 runs. He was a Commando who fought in the Pacific and left service to bamboozle bastmen with his wrist spin, forsaking a potentially long career with Australia to make a living in England.

10. Harold Larwood: Has any pace bowler been as influential for England in Australia as Larwood in 1932-33? From 1927-36 he topped the national bowling averages five times (more than Trueman and Statham managed put together) with a combination of pace, stamina and accuracy. A modest man, he did not lose his north Notts accent when he emigrated Down Under.

11. Alfred Shaw: Bowling more overs (25,699.5) than he conceded runs (24,873) during his career, Shaw was one of the best length bowlers of an era spanning over 30 years. Notts won the title in all four seasons of his captaincy. A cricket man through and through, he went into business with Shrewsbury and is buried in the same churchyard at Gedling.

My favourite XI

1. George Gunn: It is said that he played only one home Test for England because the selectors thought he was too much of a "character". He certainly had moods, but he was also the most prolific of the famous dynasty and played until he was past 50. By then he had become the first (and only) batsman to score 30,000 runs for the county.

2. Mike Harris: Known as "Pasty " because of his roots in Cornwall, he left Middlesex in the late sixties and immediately prospered outside London. Never shy to go for his strokes, he was an attractive opening batsman, adequate wicket-keeper for one-day purposes and has stayed in the game as coach and first-class umpire.

3. Basharat Hassan: "Basher" has been associated with the club as player, marketing man and now committee member since arriving from Kenya in 1966. A hugely talented sportsman and true team player, he announced his retirement on the day he fielded for England in the 1985 Test against Australia on his home ground.

4. Paul Johnson: It remains a travesty that he never played one-day cricket for England. A spiky, gifted batsman who never worried about kow-towing to authority, his value is barely scratched by statistics because his pugnacious approach always brought one or two extra wins each season. Now assisting Mick Newell with the first team.

5. Derek Randall: The first name on this particular team sheet, Randall could easily make a full England team on the popularity front. Whoever titled his autobiography 'The Sun Has Got His Hat On' deserves a medal. He was worth the admission for his fielding alone and the club lost something when he retired in 1993.

6. John Birch: Developed a reputation as a man who chipped in when things were going well and saved his best for the darkest hours when it was needed most. It is fair to say that he became less popular in a later role as manager, but that has not stopped him from finding work on the fringes of the game in Nottinghamshire.

7. Chris Cairns: Having first come over at the age of 18 he developed an affinity for the club and returned whenever international commitments allowed, becoming an inspiration to the younger players in the 1990s. Everything was positive about Cairns and, unlike Hadlee, he did not allow cricket to take over at the expense of everything else.

8. Eddie Hemmings: The unsung hero of the Nottinghamshire side of the 1980s, he was even described as being "ever popular" by a public address man in an up-country game in Australia. He could be a bit of a grump, but those who grew to know him recognised a hate-love relationship with cricket, the world and the people in it.

9. Kevin Saxelby: Enjoyed an incredible run in the Sunday League in 1989 when he took five wickets in four successive innings. On a bad day he could be very, very bad, and his popularity derived from being an Everyman in a team at least half-full of stars. Later served on the committee without ever convincing as a suit and tie man.

10. Carlton Forbes: A laid back, bowling all-rounder from Jamaica who was discovered playing in Middlesbrough, he shouldered the bowling during the first half of the 1960s when he also owned a night spot called the Calypso Club on a side street off the Market Square. Thus his nickname of "Cha-Cha".

11. Dave Pennett: "Dasher" was one of those wholehearted players you longed to do well. A dapper, one-time male model, he was always flawlessly groomed - off the field. On it, his constant diving after lost causes, often ending with a thud against an advertising board, made him look like the "before" man in the Persil advert.