Flyonthewall
U19 Captain
Well, as the calendar draft is now finished, it's about time we submitted the thread to decide who has the best teams. Not one of CW's finest drafts in terms of organisation and length, but many genuinely outstanding sides were created. I feel that it is only fair that voters should be allowed to pick their best three teams for this draft, otherwise, as suggested by Teja, the team wth Bradman in is just going to win all of the awards even if it is not necessarily the best team available.
Anyway, I shall attempt to decide my best teams on a categorical basis - starting with...
Best Opening Partnership
Well, I hate to blow my own trumpet, but it will have to be mine. Many good ones of course, but you simply can't go past Hobbs and Sutcliffe. Expect massive opening partnerships to be routine.
Best Middle Order
Howezat - Obviously the presence Bradman does somewhat tilt it in his favour, but Barrington, Miandad and Amla are capable of ruthlessly compiling massive scores at will. The fact that Amla is positioned at No.6 says everything you need to know about this middle order IMO.
Best Lower Middle Order/Tail
Shri/Weeman27bob's effort. Unbelievable 7-8-9 trio of Kapil/Knott/Shakib, you could swap any of those three around and it wouldn't really look any different. An honorary mention to Cevno for being able to have one of England's better openers of his time at No.8, but having test centurions all the way down to No.9 is enviable depth.
Best Pace Bowling Attack
I can't split Noble One and Teja here. Both of them are utterly sensational, having unbridled raw pace (Tyson and Shoaib respectively) and phenomenal skill (Marshall, Bedser) in equal measures. Both of them an intidimating prospect for even the strongest batting line-ups. Markarse's pace line-up is also brilliant, but just loses out because the third quick probably isn't quite as good as Tyson or Spofforth.
Best Spin Bowling Attack
Himmanv a fairly clear-cut winner in this one, what with him possessing no less than three spinners, all greats of the genre, and all purveying very different styles. A side truly for the connoseiurs of spin bowling!
Most Entertaining Side
No such thing as a dull side in this draft, but after much consideration, it's another award to the team of Shri and Weeman27bob. A very stylish top-order led by the mighty Greg Chappell, and the prospect of Miller and Dev batting together in the middle order promises fireworks. Steyn, Garner and Miller is an explosive pace attack, and also there's Knott with his impish batting improvisation and genius wicket-keeping. I would quite happily pay large sums of money to watch this side. Marc's middle order of Gower and Compton deserves some credit in this category too.
Overall Best Side
While he hasn't actually won any categories (although he was admittedly bloody close on the Middle Order category), I overall feel that Blakus has the best side here. There are perhaps slight questions over the wicket-keeper, who's the only thing even resembling a weak link, but otherwise the side's basically flawless from 1 to 11. That he was able to leave a spinner as good as Tayfield out says it all!
Happy voting everyone, and well done to you all for your teams!
Anyway, I shall attempt to decide my best teams on a categorical basis - starting with...
Best Opening Partnership
Well, I hate to blow my own trumpet, but it will have to be mine. Many good ones of course, but you simply can't go past Hobbs and Sutcliffe. Expect massive opening partnerships to be routine.
Best Middle Order
Howezat - Obviously the presence Bradman does somewhat tilt it in his favour, but Barrington, Miandad and Amla are capable of ruthlessly compiling massive scores at will. The fact that Amla is positioned at No.6 says everything you need to know about this middle order IMO.
Best Lower Middle Order/Tail
Shri/Weeman27bob's effort. Unbelievable 7-8-9 trio of Kapil/Knott/Shakib, you could swap any of those three around and it wouldn't really look any different. An honorary mention to Cevno for being able to have one of England's better openers of his time at No.8, but having test centurions all the way down to No.9 is enviable depth.
Best Pace Bowling Attack
I can't split Noble One and Teja here. Both of them are utterly sensational, having unbridled raw pace (Tyson and Shoaib respectively) and phenomenal skill (Marshall, Bedser) in equal measures. Both of them an intidimating prospect for even the strongest batting line-ups. Markarse's pace line-up is also brilliant, but just loses out because the third quick probably isn't quite as good as Tyson or Spofforth.
Best Spin Bowling Attack
Himmanv a fairly clear-cut winner in this one, what with him possessing no less than three spinners, all greats of the genre, and all purveying very different styles. A side truly for the connoseiurs of spin bowling!
Most Entertaining Side
No such thing as a dull side in this draft, but after much consideration, it's another award to the team of Shri and Weeman27bob. A very stylish top-order led by the mighty Greg Chappell, and the prospect of Miller and Dev batting together in the middle order promises fireworks. Steyn, Garner and Miller is an explosive pace attack, and also there's Knott with his impish batting improvisation and genius wicket-keeping. I would quite happily pay large sums of money to watch this side. Marc's middle order of Gower and Compton deserves some credit in this category too.
Overall Best Side
While he hasn't actually won any categories (although he was admittedly bloody close on the Middle Order category), I overall feel that Blakus has the best side here. There are perhaps slight questions over the wicket-keeper, who's the only thing even resembling a weak link, but otherwise the side's basically flawless from 1 to 11. That he was able to leave a spinner as good as Tayfield out says it all!
Happy voting everyone, and well done to you all for your teams!
Last edited:
