Alphabet Teams

[The Sean]

Yeah, with my teams I've always used the "second" name, regardless of whether that is their family name or not - just as a consistency thing. Besides, it makes Q a lot harder.

T would be a wonderful team to watch - it would have one of the scarier pace attacks ever, plus the incomparable (to watch) Trumper and Tallon.
Trecothick
Taylor, M
Taylor, H
Tendulkar
Trumper
Thorpe
Tallon+
Trueman
Trumble/Tayfield
Tyson
Thompson

You've lost all credibility leaving out Chris Tavare.

Seriously though - I reckon Charlie Turner is a better bowler than anyone but Trueman in that team. Get him in there!

 

[The Sean]

Done this myself in my spare time - the answer is M,, with L or H close behind

M:
Morris
Mitchell
McCartney
McCabe
Miandad
Miller
Marsh+
Marshall
Muralitharan
McDermott/McKenzie/MacDonald
McGrath

With Martyn, Mushtaq and MacGill on the bench.
Very even team with a lethal bowling attack.

H:
Hutton
Hobbs
Hammond
Headley
Harvey
Hill
Healy+
Hadlee
Holding
Hughes
Hoggard

Easily the strongest batting of any one letter, bowling not quite as good as "M" or "L", and no decent spinner is an issue.

L:
Lawry
Langer
Lara
Lloyd
Laxman
Langley+
Lindwall
Laker
Larwood
Lillee
Lohmann
L's bowling is top drawer, batting is quite strong, albeit a bit short.

G is not bad either:
Greenidge
Gavaskar
Grace
Gomes
Ganguly
Gilchrist
Grout+
Gregory, J
Gillespie
Garner
Grimmett

Cheating and playing Gilchrist as a specialist bat.

Great sides mate - I'd have Hall over Hughes though in the H attack, and I reckon Tom Graveney deserves a spot ahead of Larry Gomes in the G batting line up.

 

[Matt79]

I stuffed up the H's, yes Hall should be there ahead of one of Hoggard or Hughes (I initally forgot about Hadlee and had Trevor Hohns in - which I knew was wrong).

I had Graveney in until I realised I'd forgotten one W.G. Grace. I'd probably leave out Grout, make Gilly keeper, ditch one of Gomes or Ganguly for one of Graveney, Gatting, or Gower.

 

[The Sean]

Can't believe I'd forgotten Gower - one of my favourite players.

Goddard, Giffen, Gibbs and Gupte all unlucky too.

Peter May a contender for the Ms?

 

[The Sean]

The Fabulous F's

1. Fredericks, Roy
2. Fingleton
3. Fry, C B
4. Foster, Reginald E
5. Flower,
6. Faulkner
7. Flintoff
8. Farnes, Ken
9. Fazal Mahmood
10. Freeman
11. Ferris, John

Can't argue too much there - Frank Foster a potential addition to the bowling attack, and I reckon I'd definitely have Stephen Fleming in the side, either in place of RE Foster, or in place of Fingleton (moving Fry up to open and Fleming in at no.3).

 

[The Sean]

Saeed Anwar would be close. Wasim Akram would make my team but I know he's a W for you. Zaheer Abbas and Azharuddin would have to be close or ahead of Ames..

But then who would take the gloves?

 

[biased indian]

some body can have a 'O' team ???

 

[The Sean]

1 Compton, Dennis
2 Cowper, Bob
3 Chappell, Ian
4 Chappell, Greg
5 Cowdrey, Colin
6 Crowe, Martin
7 Cairns, Chris,
8 Cameron, Jock
9 Chandrasehkar
10 Caddick, Andy
11 Colin Croft

LOL some help with the bowling!!

Great batting lineup but worried about the balance with no specialist openers - Denis Compton was a genius but I can't think of anything that would waste his talents more than to ask him to open the batting. Herbie Collins would solve half the problem, and perhaps it'd be even worth considering Alistair Cook - though Cowper or Cowdrey would make an acceptable second opener.

There'd be an argument to include "Tibby" Cotter or Richard Collinge in the bowling lineup too, though the bowlers you've got would do the job well.

 

[andruid]

Yeah, with my teams I've always used the "second" name, regardless of whether that is their family name or not - just as a consistency thing. Besides, it makes Q a lot harder.

T would be a wonderful team to watch - it would have one of the scarier pace attacks ever, plus the incomparable (to watch) Trumper and Tallon.
Trecothick
Taylor, M
Taylor, H
Tendulkar
Trumper
Thorpe
Tallon+
Trueman
Trumble/Tayfield
Tyson
Thompson

No Tikolo ?

 

[Matt79]

You've lost all credibility leaving out Chris Tavare.

Seriously though - I reckon Charlie Turner is a better bowler than anyone but Trueman in that team. Get him in there!

I like the idea of Tyson operating with Thompson too much.

 

[Matt79]

No Tikolo ?

Who would you suggest Steve could force out?

 

[SJS]

Saeed Anwar would be close. Wasim Akram would make my team but I know he's a W for you. Zaheer Abbas and Azharuddin would have to be close or ahead of Ames..

I take the muslilm names as they are written. There really isn't a family name in Muslim's traditionally you know although many people start using the same 'second' name which makes it sound as if this is so.

So I take the alphabetical order as given in most stats sites for cricket.

 

[Matt79]

I don't pretend to be an expert so I just universly use the second name element

 

[SJS]

The one excercise that has always stumped me is to have an alphabetical side starting from A to B to C...through to K in batting order !!

The condition is not to fudge the batting order. You cant, for example put I for Imran at number 9 unless all those who are above him deserve to bat above him. I wouldn't, for example put Healy at 8 above him.

Its tough also because IJK do not seem to have many great bowlers except Imran who has the problem above. You could make one of them a keeper but Knott probably ythe best option doesn't fit at number 11 !!

I have a side of sorts but it would be fun for people to try this.

1. A......
   [*]B......
   [*]C......
   [*]D......
   [*]E......
   [*]F......
   [*]G......
   [*]H......
   [*]I.......
   [*]J......
   [*]K......

Its so frustrating to have to leave out Bradman since he cant open, all rhe great H's (Hutton, Hammond, Hobbs, Headley) since they cant bat at 8, leave out the magnificient W's, the murali's and the Lillee's.

 

[Matt79]

Atherton
Boycott (going ok so far...)
Compton
Dexter
Edrich (he played a proportion of his innings in the middle order)
Faulkner
Gilchrist
Hadlee
Illingworth
Jones, Simon
King, Bart

 

[Matt79]

Next team:
Lawry
Morris
Nourse
O'Neill
Pollock
Q... got nothing frankly
Russell
Statham
Trueman
Underwood
Voce

 

[The Sean]

Qasim Omar?

Other than that - sensational effort.

 

[Matt79]

Statham shouldn't be at 8, and certainly not ahead of Trueman, other than that, I think they're all fair enough.

 

[Magrat Garlick]

Statham shouldn't be at 8, and certainly not ahead of Trueman, other than that, I think they're all fair enough.

Norm O'Neill was that good?

 

[The Sean]

Norm O'Neill was that good?

He sure was. And had he not been one of the most nervous, unassuming cricketers ever to pick up a bat (not to mention horribly burdened and weighed down by the "new Bradman" tag throughout his career) he could have been even better.

Bob Simpson was asked in the 1980s who he would most like to watch bat for an hour of all the men he'd ever seen play. His answer was as quick as it was unequivocal - Norm O'Neill.