Come vote on the 90s and 00s banlist draft final teams

[stephen]

Over the last few weeks, we have been running a draft for players of the last 20 years. Please vote on which team is the best. Please remember that players were picked on the basis of their performances in the 90s and 00s. Players with significant careers outside those eras have their 90s stats next to their names.

Players were unable to select anyone from either of the two teams selected as the "best team of the decade" until the final two rounds. In round 10 players could select from the 90s team and in round 11 players could select from the 00s team. These two teams were:

90s:

Boon
Gooch
Tendulkar
Lara
De Silva
S Waugh
Healy
Warne
Akram
Ambrose
Donald

00s:

Hayden
G Smith
Ponting
Dravid
Sangakkara
Kallis
Gilchrist
Pollock
Steyn
McGrath
Murali


Here are the final teams that were selected. Please decide which one you think would be the most successful team.

bunny

Graeme Smith
Saeed Anwar
Simon Katich
Allan Border (c) (45 Matches, 2686 runs, 43.32 ave, 4 100s)
Salim Malik
Robin Smith
Brendon McCullum (wk)
Merv Hughes
Anil Kumble
Ian Bishop
Curtly Ambrose

1) Captain = AB
2) Slip catchers = Smith, AB, gullies = Katich, Malik, Smith
3) Imho, easily the best bowling lineup in this draft. A spinning pitch and Kumble will wreck havoc. A seaming wicket and I bet no other team will cross 250.
A batting wicket and Ambrose, Kumble and co will try to restrict the opponents to as low as possible.
4) Batting is strong enough to deal against fast bowling: Smith, AB and Graeme Smith. I've got good quality batsmen to deal with spin: Malik, Anwar, Katich.
Good mix of lefties and righties. Aggressive batsmen down the order to take control of the game (Smith, Malik and Mccullum) and fighters (AB, Smith and Katich) at the top of the order.
5) AB and Katich can do the spinning duties if required at all.

Weaknesses:
a) The lower order can hang around but none of them is likely to contribute a 50, let alone a 100.
b) McCullum can tend to be a bit aggressive and lose his wicket.

But, all in all a fairly balanced and strong team.

GingerFurball

Tillakaratne Dilshan
Gary Kirsten
Justin Langer
Mohammad Azharuddin (c)
Mark Waugh
VVS Laxman
Chris Cairns
Ian Healy (wk)
Brett Lee
Mohammad Asif
Glenn McGrath

metallics2006

Matthew Hayden
Phil Jaques
Daryll Cullinan
Damien Martyn
Andrew Symonds
Daniel Vettori (c)
MS Dhoni (wk)
Fanie de Villiers
Javagal Srinath
Makhaya Ntini
Alan Donald

- Middle order isn't flashy but has what it takes to do the job in tests. Not extravagant but dependable.

- Got Vettori to keep it economical and give rest to the pace bowlers which is the strength of my side.

- Got a keeper who is decent and can also score at a pace that he chooses in matches.

- Got Symonds in the lower middle order to get some quick runs when a situation arises.

- Got one of the best openers of recent times at the top in Hayden partnered by Jaques who is not a pushover himself.

- Don't need to say much about the bowling which speaks for itself. Donald, Fanie, Srinath and Ntini in the side. Donald and Fanie will open the bowling with Srinath and Ntini bowling first change

Marc71178

Gautam Gambhir
Chris Gayle
Rahul Dravid
Graeme Thorpe
Michael Clarke
Ashwell Prince
Jack Russell (wk)
Shane Warne (c)
Stuart Clark
Jason Gillespie
Angus Fraser

NUFAN

Michael Atherton
Virender Sehwag
Stephen Fleming (c)
Kevin Pietersen
Jacques Kallis
Aravinda de Silva
Brad Haddin (wk)
Mitchell Johnson
Chaminda Vaas
Saqlain Mushtaq
Shane Bond

* Bond to take the new ball with Chaminda Vaas.
* Johnson first change with Kallis
* Saqlain is obviously the main spinner, but potential partnership breakers and bowlers on spinning tracks include Sehwag and de Silva.
* Fleming the obvious captain, he's one of the most tactically astute captains from the past 20 years.
* RH and LH opening pair, aggressive batters in Sehwag and Pietersen blend in nicely with correct players such as Atherton and Kallis.
* A long tail with number 10 Saqlain having scored a century.
* Fleming 1st slip, Kallis 2nd slip.

stephen

Michael Slater
Marcus Trescothick
Herschelle Gibbs
Brian Lara
Shivnarine Chanderpaul
Hashan Tillakaratne
Mark Boucher (wk)
Harbhajan Singh
Craig McDermott (47 Matches, 211 wickets @ 26.52, 4.49 wpm)
Dale Steyn
Courtney Walsh (c)

My core team is centered around 3 of the 4 West Indian greats from the 90s - Lara, Chanderpaul and Walsh. Though this time they have much better support players, with a very strong opening pair in Trescothic and Slater (who, in retrospect probably deserved the opener of the 90s instead of Boon). Herschelle Gibbs at 3 and Lara at 4 give the batting some flair in the middle order, which is balanced by the grit and determination of Chanderpaul and Tillakaratne. Boucher is one of the best keepers of the last two decades, who now holds a number of keeping world records. The bowling attack is ferocious, with McDermott and Steyn acting as spearheads for their respective sides and Walsh being an all time great in his own right. Harbhajan Singh is also one of the most accomplished spinners out there.

All in all bowlers win matches, but only if the batsmen make enough runs. I believe that I have the best pace attack out there, which is backed up by a highly accomplished spinner. My batting is strong and well balanced all the way down, though it has some vulnerability in the tail. Perhaps the weakness of this side is the captaincy, with no player able to be considered a great captain. Nevertheless I believe that this side would be competative with any real historical side.

BoyBrumby

Desmond Haynes (31 Matches, 2147 runs, 44.72 ave, 6 100s)
Navjot Sidhu (38 Matches, 2517 runs, 44.94 ave, 7 100s)
Ricky Ponting
SR Tendulkar
Mahela Jayawardene (c)
MEK Hussey
AJ Stewart (wk)
BM McMillan
PR Reiffel
SP Jones
Shoaib Ahktar

Matt79

Andrew Strauss
Michael Vaughan (c)
Kumar Sangakkara
Younis Khan
Sourav Ganguly
Andy Flower (wk)
Andrew Flintoff
Wasim Akram
Heath Streak
Damien Fleming
Stuart MacGill

I'm pretty happy with it. The middle order is solid but stylish, the openers are decent and the attack is varied and solid, with Akram the undoubted star and X factor for the team.

Somerset

John Wright (18 matches, 1662 runs, 55.40 ave, 5 hundreds)
Graham Gooch
Martin Crowe (c) (32 matches, 2317 runs, 45.43 ave, 7 hundreds)
David Gower (11 matches, 848 runs, 53.00 ave, 3 hundreds)
AB de Villiers (wk)
Thilan Samaraweera
Imran Khan (9 matches, 545 runs @ 60.55, 8 wickets @ 29.62, 0.89 wpm)
Kapil Dev (28 matches, 1002 runs @ 31.31, 75 wickets @ 32.24, 2.68 wpm)
Waqar Younis
Muttiah Muralitharan
Bruce Reid (9 matches, 51 wickets @ 18.58)

Blakus

Mark Taylor (c)
Sanath Jayasuriya
Inzamam ul Haq
Mohammad Yousuf
Steve Waugh
Darren Lehmann
Richard Hadlee (7 matches, 240 runs @ 34.28, 35 wickets @ 23.2, 5 wpm)
Shaun Pollock
Prasanna Jayawardene (wk)
Malcolm Marshall (15 matches, 372 runs @ 18.6, 50 wickets @ 23.54, 3.3 wpm)
Darren Gough

My teams strength is its fantastic balance. A fantastic middle order is well backed up by a solid opening pair and dangerous hitters the lower order.
The pace attack is perhaps the best out of everyone. With three genuine all time greats in Hadlee, Marshall and Pollock and exceptional support from Gough, any batting line-up is going to have trouble.
Throw in three very handy part timers in Waugh, Jayasuriya and Lehmann, the astute captaincy of Taylor, and the dependable keeping of Jayawardene and my team becomes one of the toughest to beat.

 

[Magrat Garlick]

That was hard!

Think I'll go bunny even if he only has four bowlers, cos they're pretty decent all of them. A lot of overs from Kumble could be dangerous though. The 9-Test wonders seem to be going against the spirit of the draft somewhat. Might have picked Somerset's side if he had, say, Andy Caddick over Bruce Reid (please note: I'm not saying Caddick > Reid, I'm saying Caddick's 90s and 00s cricket > Reid's 90s cricket)

 

[Noble One]

bunny in a close one.

Bowling attack is the strength of this team. The rest is very solid, mix of flashy brilliant bats and solid determined types.

Almost picked NUFAN and also liked GingerFurball's (lack of a frontline spinner only factor that stopped me from picking this team).

For worst team, well no standout bad team. Special mention to Somerset's, no offence, but that team is largely a bunch of has been stars of the 80's. Impressive on paper though.

 

[G.I.Joe]

Going blakus. The bowling is superb, and the batting is archetypical 90's. Have to admit I had no idea Marshall played on into the 90's as well. Always thought he'd retired in the late 80's.

 

[NUFAN]

I still can't get over the fact that Gilchrist wasn't picked in the final round lol

I need more time to think about who has the best team, real tough to decide.

 

[bunny]

I still can't get over the fact that Gilchrist wasn't picked in the final round lol

I need more time to think about who has the best team, real tough to decide.

I was actually thinking that I shouldnt pick McCullum in the 9th round, and was kind of sure that either Sanga or Gilly would land on to me. (You could see it based on the number of teams who already had wicket keepers). But, it was a risk and my team would probably have been barred if that didnt happen. And I am not too sad that I got G Smith although I'd have loved to get either Dravid or Sanga.

 

[stephen]

I think I probably end up screwed here on the votes because bunny's bowling is marginally better than mine, but my batting is marginally better than his. Unfortunately for me bowling is both our teams strengths so people who vote mostly on bowlers will probably end up voting for his team.

Just a shame I got Steyn instead of McGrath or one of the 90s quicks. At least I didn't get stuck with an all rounder as my final option .

 

[stephen]

lol @ bunny and blakus voting for themselves

 

[bunny]

lol @ bunny and blakus voting for themselves

You should too, if you think yours is the best

 

[stephen]

You should too, if you think yours is the best

Generally in these type of threads I would vote for someone else, because I know I'm biased towards the best team (mine)

Honestly looking at the teams though I think that my batting is one of the strongest and my bowling is #2 behind your bowling. Still kicking myself at that horrible round 10/11 draw. The middle picks are so tough.

 

[stephen]

BoyBrumby with the undisputed best batting lineup. Pity about his 4th bowler. If he doesn't get any votes after a couple of days I might cast my vote his way.

 

[Howsie]

Hmmm, which team has the fastest bowlers

Have to go with Nufan's team tbh. The batting line-up looks really good and a lower order with Vaas at nine is always a good thing. Really liking the look of the bowling also.

 

[Matt79]

btw, was going to list my team with full stats, might as well do it in this thread. All stats are only for the period 1990 onwards:

Andrew Strauss (Eng) - 67 matches, 5266 runs @ 44.6, 18 100s (1 century per 3.7 matches)
Michael Vaughan (c) (Eng) - 82m, 5719@41.44, 18 100s (1 per 4.5m)
Kumar Sangakkara (SL) - (overall) 88m, 7549@55.10, 21 100s (1 per 4.2m). (As non keeper) 40m, 4432@73.86, 14 100s (1 per 2.8m)
Younis Khan (Pak) - 63m, 5260@50.09, 16 100s (1 per 3.9m)
Sourav Ganguly (Ind) - 113m, 7212@42.17, 16 100s (1 per 7m)
Andy Flower (+) (Zim) - 63m, 4794@51.54, 12 100s (1 per 5.25m)
Andrew Flintoff (Eng) - 79m, 3845@31.77, 5 100s (1 per 15.8m), 226 wickets @ 32.78 (2.8 wpm)
Wasim Akram (Pak) - 75m, 2430@24.30, 3 100s, 320 wickets @ 22.28 (4.3 wpm)
Heath Streak (Zim) - 65m, 1990@22.35, 1 100, 216 wickets @ 28.14 (3.3 wpm)
Damien Fleming (Aus) - 20m, 305@19, 1 50, 75 wickets @ 25.89 (3.75 wpm)
Stuart MacGill (Aus) - 44m, 208 wickets @ 29,02 (4.7 wpm)

I knew MacGill's wickets per match figure was good, but I didn't realise it was that good.

 

[NUFAN]

Yeah Matt's team looks better with Khan and Ganguly switching places and Streak up to 9.

Good work Howsie and KiWiNiNja - pretty hard for the Kiwis not to select a team with Flem as captain, Bond leading the attack

I also tried to entice Richard to vote, selecting Vaas, Atherton and de Silva, wonder what he would think of my opening pair of Atherton and Sehwag,lol

 

[stephen]

btw, was going to list my team with full stats, might as well do it in this thread. All stats are only for the period 1990 onwards:

I knew MacGill's wickets per match figure was good, but I didn't realise it was that good.

I only wanted to list the stats of players who had significant careers outside the 90s and 00s. Otherwise it would have been information overload (so I cut stats from some players lists).

I didn't realise how good McDermott's WPM was in the 90s either. MacGill probably the best bowler in the world never to have a permanant spot in his side.

 

[stephen]

BTW Matt, I fixed your batting order in the OP.

 

[Matt79]

I reckon my team would long term be the most successful, but given it's generally considered poor form to vote for yourself, I've voted for Marc's team as the one that would most consistently trouble my lads. Really like the batting, and Clark, Gillespie and Fraser would be a suffocating line up pretty similar in style to the pace line up that won Australia 16 matches in a row (McGrath, Gillespie, Kasprowicz). Plus it has this bloke named Shane Warne in the team - handy player.

 

[Matt79]

I only wanted to list the stats of players who had significant careers outside the 90s and 00s. Otherwise it would have been information overload (so I cut stats from some players lists).

I didn't realise how good McDermott's WPM was in the 90s either. MacGill probably the best bowler in the world never to have a permanant spot in his side.

Yeah, no dramas, I wanted to do it when I made my final selection, but was on the mobile and its too hard to do with the little keyboard and small screen.

 

[stephen]

My team, with stats:

Michael Slater (74 Matches, 5312 runs @ 42.83, 14 centuries)
Marcus Trescothick (76 Matches, 5825 runs @ 43.79, 14 centuries)
Herschelle Gibbs (90 Matches, 6167 runs @ 41.95, 14 centuries)
Brian Lara (131 Matches, 11953 runs @ 52.88, 34 centuries)
Shivnarine Chanderpaul (123 Matches, 8669 runs @ 48.70, 21 centuries)
Hashan Tillakaratne (82 Matches, 4539 runs @ 43.64, 11 centuries)
Mark Boucher (wk) (126 Matches, 4688 runs @ 29.85, 5 centuries, 453 catches, 22 stumpings)
Harbhajan Singh (80 Matches, 343 wickets @ 30.82, 4.28 wpm)
Craig McDermott (47 Matches, 211 wickets @ 26.52, 4.49 wpm)
Dale Steyn (33 Matches, 170 wickets @ 23.7, 5.15 wpm)
Courtney Walsh (c) (98 Matches, 397 wickets @ 24.5, 4.05 wpm)

 

[bunny]

Generally in these type of threads I would vote for someone else, because I know I'm biased towards the best team (mine)

Honestly looking at the teams though I think that my batting is one of the strongest and my bowling is #2 behind your bowling. Still kicking myself at that horrible round 10/11 draw. The middle picks are so tough.

Voting for one's team is only as bad as trying to sell one's team