Found this article from "The Roar"....

 

Titled as - "Who are the ‘greats’ of modern Test cricket?"

I've added one to the list.

The Test greats of the past 20 years:

Australia (5) – Shane Warne, Glenn McGrath, Ricky Ponting, Steve Waugh, Adam Gilchrist.

South Africa (4) – Jacques Kallis, Shaun Pollock, Allan Donald, Dale Steyn, AB De Villiers

West Indies (3) – Brian Lara, Curtly Ambrose, Courtney Walsh.

Sri Lanka (2) – Muttiah Muralitharan, Kumar Sangakkara

India (2) – Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid

Pakistan (2) – Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis

New Zealand – zero

England – zero

 Denny
I looked at that list and what is surprising is that on that original list is only one player who still play cricket - if and when he is not injured - and that is Dale Steyn.  
AB de Villiers is probably the best shorter versions batsman ever and you were right to add his name iro test cricket as well.
What I find fascinating is the way the Indian crowds behave when he comes on to bat in India.  They cheer him like it is unbelievable even against India.   I gained the impression that he is even more appreciated as a cricketer in India than in SA.   They shouted out his name ABD all the time and it must be dispiriting for the Indian bowlers themselves.  Maybe it is because he played so much cricket in the Indian Professional League, which is making him one of the wealthiest players ever.   It is never shouted about, but he is making near to $2 million a season in IPL alone.   

 Funny that there is no openers on that list, unless you count Gilchrist...but he wasn't really a test opener. In test cricket, the openers are most vital for success...batting openers and bowling openers. IMO Graeme Smith should be on that list, even without his captaincy. One of my all time cricket heroes and right up there with other greats like Langer, who is also absent from the list.
From the 19, there are only 9 bats, of which 2 is WK's...good batting ones, but still....2 top spinners and 8 front line seamers, with Polly probably being the best bat of the bowlers and JHK being more than a handy bowler amongst the bats.
My Team from that lot would be.

1. Langer (not on the list, but should be)/Dravid
2. Graeme/Hayden (not on the list, but should be)
3. Ponting/Tendulkar/Dravid (Surely Amla might also be a contender)
4. Lara/Steve Waugh
5. JHK/AB
6. Gilchrist/Sangakkara
7. Pollock
8. Steyn
9. Warne/Muttiah 
10. McGrath/Walsh/Akram
11. Ambrose/Yunis

So much hard choices to be made and with the 2 players I've added, we can field 2 teams, what a match that would be!

 I believe the idea was to separate the greats from the goods...Graeme Smith might have been good but he certainly wasn't a great.....likewise Mathew Hayden.

 Sure Denny, I know my POV is a bit against the grain, but do yourself a favour and have a look ar GS's stats batting in the 4th innings to win or save a tests. Look at his 4th innings' century records and then l ook at the impact it had on series results and compare that with the stats of the greats on that list. Unsung here if ever there was one.

"My Team from that lot would be.

1. Langer (not on the list, but should be)/Dravid
2. Graeme/Hayden (not on the list, but should be)......"

 Langer over Smith? Really?
Smith, GC Langer, JL Hayden, ML Born: 01/02/1981 21/11/1970 29/10/1971 Matches: 117 105 103 Bats: LH LH LH Bowls: RA Medium RA Medium RA Medium Batting Innings: 205 182 184 Not Outs: 13 12 14 Aggregate: 9265 7696 8625 Average: 48.26 45.27 50.74 Balls Faced: 15521 14192 14349 Scoring Rate: 59.69 54.23 60.11 Highest Score: 277 250 380 50s: 38 30 29 100s: 27 23 30 200s: 5 3 2 300s: 0 0 1 Ducks: 11 11 14 Pairs: 0 1 0 4s: 1165 911 1046 6s: 24 40 82 Opened Batting: 196 115 184     Bowling Overs: 236.2 3.0 9.0 Balls: 1418 18 54 Maidens: 28 0 0 Runs: 885 12 40 Wickets: 8 0 0 Average: 110.63     Economy Rate: 3.74 4.00 4.44 Strike Rate: 177.25     5 Wickets in an Innings 0 0 0 10 Wickets in a Match 0 0 0 Best (Innings): 2/145    Best (Match): 2/145        Fielding Catches: 169 73 128 Most Catches in an Innings: 5 2 4 Most Catches in a Match: 6 3 7

 Ceradunce -- the stupid
Smith never was a cricket great - Denny is correct in that.  You know nothing about cricket and less about rugby.  

 Vlag, I did not chose Langer over Smith, I picked both. I picked Langer over Hayden, which looks like an error. Hayden edges the stats.
Mike and Denny, it seams our yardstick for greatness is not the same.

On average South African openers are under more pressure than Aussie openers....so Smith's averages are forged in a bit more fire. To say an opener who played over 200 test innings and averaged almost 50 runs is not a "great" questions the meaning of the word.

 "Vlag, I did not chose Langer over Smith, I picked both. I picked Langer over Hayden, which looks like an error. Hayden edges the stats."
My bad, in a way. Yes, you did not have Smith ahead of Langer but as you said, Langer shouldnot be there at all, based on stats.
PS. I wish I had the strength to keep on helping ou Hangtiete Tokkie out but I just could not be bothered anymore. Hy moet maar verstik  in sy snot. He was, after all the p@epol who reckoned that Amla should not open the ODI batting, and that he should be moved to no 3 where was his "regular ODI batting position". You cannot make that sh!t up.

"On average South African openers are under more pressure than Aussie openers....so Smith's averages are forged in a bit more fire."
 Well in that case then Ozzie openers would have forged their careers in a bonfire having faced the West Indian attack when it was at it's best over a period lasting 15 years.

Probably true at one point Denny, but did Hayden and Langer see Ambrose and Walsh at their best?