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Fantasy Cricket thread

Perm

Cricket Web: All-Time Legend
Attached are the cumulative averages for the season. Highlights what a tough series this has been for the bowlers, as well as what a brilliant series Graeme Pollock has had.

Conversely, while Hobbs, Hutton and Sutcliffe have all done well, it also shows how poorly Hammond and Compton have been performing. One or both of Barrington and Grace must be good chances to play at the Oval given the importance of the decider.
Amazing series from Graeme Pollock, Barnes has been the only bowler to put his hand up.
 

Magrat Garlick

Rather Mad Witch
What an epic series from RG Pollock. Barnes' figures are superb too, considering the dominance of bat over ball.

I can't belive Wally would go 5 Tests without a significant contribution. Backing him to light up The Oval.
Yeah, me too. Drop the overrated Brylcreem boy for Grace.

Last Test is at the Oval, so I think Laker should be kept too. I'd suggest Bedser in for Tyson. (Yes, I know I've already selected for South Africa and probably should keep my mouth shut about England. :p ) Also, I'd want Gary Kirsten over Dudley Nourse, but that's partly personal bias against Nourse coming through to charge on a man who is down on his luck.
 
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Matt79

Hall of Fame Member
Yeah, I thought Nourse had flown under the radar a bit to date, helped to do so no doubt by Pollock's brilliance.

Do the changes Grace for Compton, Bedser for Tyson, and Kirsten for Nourse have general approval? And SA bowling - one of the Pollock boys or Tayfield out for either Proctor to have another shot, or Adcock to get his first run this tour?
 

Matt79

Hall of Fame Member
Final match - apology for the delay and abbreviated match report - tonight is the first time I've been home before 8 all week.

-------------
England won the toss and chose to bat on what looked likely to be a normal Oval road. Grace and Bedser had come in at the expense of Compton and Tyson, while Kirsten had come in for the underperforming Nourse.

Disaster struck for England when all but two overs of the first days play was lost to very heavy rain which flooded sections of the ground. The disaster occurred when it was revealed that the covers had been incorrectly laid, and that the pitch had become seriously waterlogged. After discussion with the umpires, the match referee, as the ICC representative, decided that television revenue was the most important consideration and ordered the game continue.

As the English attempted to commence for the second time, Hutton knew that getting some runs on the board would be vital, in case the wicket developed into a sticky gluepot. However, Donald got the early breakthroughs, removing both Hobbs and Hutton. Peter Pollock produced an inspired spell, taking 7 for 26 from 11.5, to shoot England out for a pitiful 158 from 56. England imploded against Pollock’s accurate line and length, combined with the odd bit of late movement, and some unpredictable bounce.

The pitch had started to dry out somewhat late in the second session. With Tyson out, Botham took the new ball with Fiery and stepped up, taking five wickets. Kirsten did well in his first showing of the tour, while Faulkner scored the first half-century of a match dominated thus far, surprisingly, by the ball. South Africa were all out at lunch on day two for 284 – a first innings lead of 126.

England’s second innings was, remarkably enough, more disappointing than their first. This time the home team was dispatched for only 183 off only 59 overs. On the whole in this test, the mighty English line up, containing some of the finest batsmen in history, by reputation the all-time greats on a rain affected wicket, managed to bat for 115 overs for a paltry 341 runs over two innings. The sun had come out as the English had come in to bat again, and as the still drying wicket began to develop sticky patches, Faulkner was the destroyer as his wrist spin found purchase. His normal variations were something of a redundancy as he found sharp spin and uneven bounce to rip through the fancied Englishmen, taking 7 for 51 from 15 overs.

The South Africans were left with 58 runs to get to secure the series. Despite Barnes striking twice, they secured those runs easily with Graeme Pollock fittingly hitting the winning runs.

Player of the Match: G.A. Faulkner (8-91 and match top score of 52)
Series: 3-2 to South Africa.
Player of the Series: Graeme Pollock (644@92. HS: 196)
 

Attachments

Magrat Garlick

Rather Mad Witch
:laugh: Wrong spinner dominating at the Oval. :D

Top work with the series! Think both sides are going to get a rather nasty time of it against Oz or WI though...
 

Matt79

Hall of Fame Member
OK, got a bit of time again - thought I'd try the India-Pakistan test series that had been mooted.

Can I get nominations for a squad of 16 for each team - maybe everyone pick one team and stick with it through the series, but neutrals should feel free to pick a team.
 

Pup Clarke

Cricketer Of The Year
Pakistan

M.Hafeez
T.Umar
Y.Hameed
S.Malik
Y.Khan
Inzamam-ul-Haq
A.Kamal
K.Akmal
H.Raza
S.Afridi
S.Mushtaq
M.Asif
S.Akthar
U.Gul
D.Kaneria
S.Ahmed
 

Matt79

Hall of Fame Member
To fire some creative juices, my nominations for the Pakistani squad:
Hanif Mohammad
Saeed Anwar
Zaheer Abbas
Javed Miandad
Inzamum Ul-Haq
Imran Khan
Wasim Akram
Wasim Bari+
Abdul Qadir
Saqlain Mushtaq
Waqar Younis
plus
Mohammad Youssuf
Fazul Mahmoud
Shoaib Akhtar
Mohammad Asif
 

The Sean

Cricketer Of The Year
To fire some creative juices, my nominations for the Pakistani squad:
Hanif Mohammad
Saeed Anwar
Zaheer Abbas
Javed Miandad
Inzamum Ul-Haq
Imran Khan
Wasim Akram
Wasim Bari+
Abdul Qadir
Saqlain Mushtaq
Waqar Younis
plus
Mohammad Youssuf
Fazul Mahmoud
Shoaib Akhtar
Mohammad Asif
Very close to the squad I'd select, though I'd have Safraz ahead of both Shoaib and Asif, and I'd find a place for Mushtaq Mohammed as a top-quality batting all rounder as well.
 

The Sean

Cricketer Of The Year
As for an Indian squad, here's mine to start discussion...

Sunil Gavaskar
Vijay Merchant
Rahul Dravid
Sachin Tendulkar
Vijay Hazare
Vinoo Mankad
Kapil Dev
Syed Kirmani
Anil Kumble
Mohammed Nissar
Bishan Bedi
Baghwat Chandrasekhar
Subhash Gupte
Gundappa Viswanath
Amar Singh
 

Perm

Cricket Web: All-Time Legend
Pakistan All-Time Squad

Saeed Anwar
Hanif Mohammad
Zaheer Abbas
Javed Miandad (c)
Inzamam-ul-Haq
Mohammad Yousuf
Imran Khan
Wasim Bari (wk)
Wasim Akram
Abdul Qadir
Waqar Younis

Saqlain Mushtaq
Shoaib Akhtar
Fazal Mahmood
Younis Khan

I had to make some really difficult decisions when picking this squad. I had most of the batting lineup sorted in my head, and the top 5 pick themselves. Then I started wondering whether I should have another batsman at #6, or play with 5 bowlers. If so, who would the batsman be? Two spinners and three fast bowlers or four fast bowlers and a spinner? Will Imran be able to handle being a specialist bowler? Younis Khan in the squad was probably the hardest decision, picking him over guys like Salim Malik, Mudassar Nazar, Majid Khan and Mushtaq Mohammad was tough, but I think he will end up as by far the better batsman, and is at the moment. Combine that with the fact that most of the batting lineup can bat most places, and I think we're set. The lack of a 3rd opener is of some concern though.
 

Perm

Cricket Web: All-Time Legend
Indian All Time Squad

Sunil Gavaskar
Vijay Merchant
Rahul Dravid
Sachin Tendulkar
Vijay Hazare
Kapil Dev (c)
Syed Kirmani (wk)
Anil Kumble
Mohammad Nissar
Bishan Bedi
Erapalli Prasanna

Mohammad Azharuddin
Bhagwat Chandasekhar
Amar Singh
Subhash Gupte

Again, some really hard choices. Vijay Merchant makes it into the side despite only playing ten Tests, there were no other options for the openers slot, although I suppose Vinoo Mankad and Ravi Shastri both could have staked claims. Gavaskar, Dravid and Tendulkar pick themselves while I opted with Vijay Hazare at #5 ahead of Azharuddin, Viswanath, Amarnath and Vengsarkar. Kapil Dev was an automatic choice, and I felt Syed Kirmani was a better keeper than Farokh Engineer. The bowlers were difficult, but I went with Mohammad Nissar to share the new ball. Kumble picks himself IMO, due to sheer number of wickets while Bedi and Prasanna made it into the team. For the reserves I wanted to have a batsman, fast bowler and two spinners. Azharuddin was the pick for the batsman while Chandaskehar and Gupte were the only other two spinners in contention, Amar Singh makes the fast bowlers slot his own.
 

Matt79

Hall of Fame Member
Good team. Javagal Srinath is the only one I'd probably have that you've missed, but as you say, finding a new ball partner for Kapil ain't easy.

We haven't exactly been swamped with interest for this series, but I'll leave it open another day and then get on with it.
 

Perm

Cricket Web: All-Time Legend
Good team. Javagal Srinath is the only one I'd probably have that you've missed, but as you say, finding a new ball partner for Kapil ain't easy.

We haven't exactly been swamped with interest for this series, but I'll leave it open another day and then get on with it.
I contemplated Javagal Srinath, but knew he would be rubbish against that Pakistani batting lineup. Just a shame that fantastic bowlers like Mohammad Nissar and Amar Singh never played more Tests, otherwise I don't think we'd even be having this discussion :)
 

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