So the time has come for me to make a decision. To do this I think I'm going to rank each side on the basis of a few key metrics.
Top order (bats 1-3), middle order (bats 4-6), tail batting strength (7-11), fast bowling attack, spin bowling attack, wicket keeper, 5th bowling option and balance.
Please take all this with a grain of salt as it's all my opinion only and I may feel differently tomorrow.
Top order
Code:
bunny
Graeme Smith
Saeed Anwar
Simon Katich
GingerFurball
Tillakaratne Dilshan
Gary Kirsten
Justin Langer
metallics2006
Matthew Hayden
Phil Jaques
Daryll Cullinan
Marc71178
Gautam Gambhir
Chris Gayle
Rahul Dravid
NUFAN
Michael Atherton
Virender Sehwag
Stephen Fleming (c)
stephen
Michael Slater
Marcus Trescothick
Herschelle Gibbs
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
Matt79
Andrew Strauss
Michael Vaughan (c)
Kumar Sangakkara
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)
Blakus
Mark Taylor (c)
Sanath Jayasuriya
Inzamam ul Haq
Here is my rankings in order -
1) Boybrumby
2) Somerset
3) bunny
4) Marc71178
5) metallics2006
6) NUFAN
7) Matt79
8) stephen
9) Blakus
10) Gingerfurball
Middle Order
Code:
bunny
Allan Border (c) (45 Matches, 2686 runs, 43.32 ave, 4 100s)
Salim Malik
Robin Smith
GingerFurball
Mohammad Azharuddin (c)
Mark Waugh
VVS Laxman
metallics2006
Damien Martyn
Andrew Symonds
Daniel Vettori (c)
Marc71178
Graeme Thorpe
Michael Clarke
Ashwell Prince
NUFAN
Kevin Pietersen
Jacques Kallis
Aravinda de Silva
stephen
Brian Lara
Shivnarine Chanderpaul
Hashan Tillakaratne
BoyBrumby
SR Tendulkar
Mahela Jayawardene (c)
MEK Hussey
Matt79
Younis Khan
Sourav Ganguly
Andy Flower (wk)
Somerset
David Gower (11 matches, 848 runs, 53.00 ave, 3 hundreds)
AB de Villiers (wk)
Thilan Samaraweera
Blakus
Mohammad Yousuf
Steve Waugh
Darren Lehmann
Rankings -
1) NUFAN
2) stephen
3) Blakus
4) BoyBrumby
5) GingerFurball
6) Matt79
7) Marc71178
8) bunny
9) Somerset
10) metallics2006
Tail Batting Strength
Code:
bunny
Brendon McCullum (wk)
Merv Hughes
Anil Kumble
Ian Bishop
Curtly Ambrose
GingerFurball
Chris Cairns
Ian Healy (wk)
Brett Lee
Mohammad Asif
Glenn McGrath
metallics2006
MS Dhoni (wk)
Fanie de Villiers
Javagal Srinath
Makhaya Ntini
Alan Donald
Marc71178
Jack Russell (wk)
Shane Warne (c)
Stuart Clark
Jason Gillespie
Angus Fraser
NUFAN
Brad Haddin (wk)
Mitchell Johnson
Chaminda Vaas
Saqlain Mushtaq
Shane Bond
stephen
Mark Boucher (wk)
Harbhajan Singh
Craig McDermott (47 Matches, 211 wickets @ 26.52, 4.49 wpm)
Dale Steyn
Courtney Walsh (c)
BoyBrumby
AJ Stewart (wk)
BM McMillan
PR Reiffel
SP Jones
Shoaib Ahktar
Matt79
Andrew Flintoff
Wasim Akram
Heath Streak
Damien Fleming
Stuart MacGill
Somerset
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
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
Rankings -
1) Blakus
2) NUFAN
3) Marc71178
4) Matt79
5) Somerset
6) BoyBrumby
7) GingerFurball
8) metallics2006
9) stephen
10) bunny
Fast Bowling Attack
Code:
stephen
Craig McDermott (47 Matches, 211 wickets @ 26.52, 4.49 wpm)
Dale Steyn
Courtney Walsh (c)
bunny
Merv Hughes
Ian Bishop
Curtly Ambrose
metallics2006
Javagal Srinath
Makhaya Ntini
Alan Donald
GingerFurball
Chris Cairns
Brett Lee
Mohammad Asif
Glenn McGrath
Matt79
Wasim Akram
Heath Streak
Damien Fleming
BoyBrumby
BM McMillan
PR Reiffel
SP Jones
Shoaib Ahktar
Marc71178
Stuart Clark
Jason Gillespie
Angus Fraser
Blakus
Richard Hadlee (7 matches, 240 runs @ 34.28, 35 wickets @ 23.2, 5 wpm)
Shaun Pollock
Malcolm Marshall (15 matches, 372 runs @ 18.6, 50 wickets @ 23.54, 3.3 wpm)
Darren Gough
NUFAN
Mitchell Johnson
Chaminda Vaas
Shane Bond
Somerset
Kapil Dev (28 matches, 1002 runs @ 31.31, 75 wickets @ 32.24, 2.68 wpm)
Waqar Younis
Bruce Reid (9 matches, 51 wickets @ 18.58)
Rankings -
1) stephen
2) bunny
3) metallics2006
4) GingerFurball
5) Matt79
6) BoyBrumby
7) Marc71178
8) Blakus
9) NUFAN
10) Somerset
Spin Bowling Attack
Code:
bunny
Anil Kumble
GingerFurball
n/a
metallics2006
Daniel Vettori (c)
Marc71178
Shane Warne (c)
NUFAN
Saqlain Mushtaq
stephen
Harbhajan Singh
BoyBrumby
n/a
Matt79
Stuart MacGill
Somerset
Muttiah Muralitharan
Blakus
n/a
Rankings -
1) Somerset, Marc71178
3) bunny
4) NUFAN, Stephen, Matt79
7) matallics2006
n/a) GingerFurball, BoyBrumby, Blakus
Wicket Keeping
Code:
bunny
Brendon McCullum (wk)
GingerFurball
Ian Healy (wk)
metallics2006
MS Dhoni (wk)
Marc71178
Jack Russell (wk)
NUFAN
Brad Haddin (wk)
stephen
Mark Boucher (wk)
BoyBrumby
AJ Stewart (wk)
Matt79
Andy Flower (wk)
Somerset
AB de Villiers (wk)
Blakus
Prasanna Jayawardene (wk)
Rankings -
1) GingerFurball
2) stephen
3) Blakus
4) metallics2006
5) bunny
6) Marc71178
7) BoyBrumby
8) NUFAN
9) Matt79
10) Somerset
5th Bowling Option
Code:
bunny
Allan Border (c) (45 Matches, 2686 runs, 43.32 ave, 4 100s)
GingerFurball
Mark Waugh
metallics2006
Andrew Symonds
Fanie de Villiers
Marc71178
Chris Gayle
Michael Clarke
NUFAN
Jacques Kallis
stephen
n/a
BoyBrumby
n/a
Matt79
Andrew Flintoff
Somerset
Imran Khan (9 matches, 545 runs @ 60.55, 8 wickets @ 29.62, 0.89 wpm)
Blakus
Steve Waugh
Darren Lehmann
Rankings -
1) metallics2006
2) Matt79
3) Somerset
4) NUFAN
5) Blakus
6) Marc71178
7) GingerFurball
8) bunny
n/a) stephen, BoyBrumby
Balance
Rankings -
1) Somerset, Matt79, NUFAN, Metallics2006
5) Marc71178
6) bunny
7) stephen
8) Blakus
9) GingerFurball
10) BoyBrumby
Batting overall
Rankings -
1) Boybrumby
2) NUFAN
3) stephen
4) Marc71178
5) Somerset
6) bunny
7) Blakus
8) Matt79
9) GingerFurball
10) metallics2006
Bowling Overall
1) bunny
2) stephen
3) Marc71178
4) Matt79
5) metallics2006
6) Somerset
7) NUFAN
8) GingerFurball
9) Blakus
10) BoyBrumby
Team overall
1) stephen
2) NUFAN
3) bunny
4) Marc71178
5) Somerset
6) Matt79
7) Boybrumby
8) metallics2006
9) Blakus
10) GingerFurball
So in the end, according to my ranking system I end up as the highest ranked. But as I will not vote for myself, NUFAN gets my vote. The final team rankings came down to a combination of the bowling and batting rankings, with team balance playing a key but lesser role in deciding the final order. Any ties went to the side with the better batting and bowling and any ties (there was one) went to the best keeping. All in all, I'd say that the standard in this was so high that even if you came in the bottom three, there really was not much in it. My ranking system punished people without a spinner a LOT.