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Furball's Greatest XI

nightprowler10

Global Moderator
Hmm, interesting twist. I'm still banking on Freddie. Unless you want a four pace attack (which would be delicious), you miss out on Steyn, or just take Steyn and forgo the well rounded Freddie. In that case you could get another spinner in like a Swann or Ajmal. I take it Murali is out of the question with the far end of the tail already filled out. Not to make it sound like you don't have more options.
 

Prince EWS

Global Moderator
or just take Steyn and forgo the well rounded Freddie. In that case you could get another spinner in like a Swann or Ajmal. I take it Murali is out of the question with the far end of the tail already filled out.
Well I don't think he's going to bat Steyn, Swann or Ajmal at 7 either...
 

Hurricane

Hall of Fame Member
how many number 3s have kept? won't he be crocked from keeping to bat 3? I used to bat 4 and keep in high school. One day I scored a century and couldn't catch a cold in the following session with the gloves on.
or I am taking this too seriously. forget me.
 

Jono

Virat Kohli (c)
Dead set you are a ****head of a coach. Forcing Dravid to open and forcing Sanga to bend his back for days on end keeping in a test match when they would prefer not to do that. Hard arse!

I'd have cried if you were my under 12s coach.

No doubt you'll choose Zaheer as 12th man so he has to carry the drinks and therefore exercise.
 

Adders

Cricketer Of The Year
Dead set you are a ****head of a coach. Forcing Dravid to open and forcing Sanga to bend his back for days on end keeping in a test match when they would prefer not to do that. Hard arse!
.
C'mon Jono, those blokes are recieving the honour of taking the field with such legends as Strauss, KP, Jimmy and I suspect Big Fred........they'll be happy to do whatever the **** GF tells them to do.
 

Furball

Evil Scotsman
Dead set you are a ****head of a coach. Forcing Dravid to open and forcing Sanga to bend his back for days on end keeping in a test match when they would prefer not to do that. Hard arse!

I'd have cried if you were my under 12s coach.

No doubt you'll choose Zaheer as 12th man so he has to carry the drinks and therefore exercise.
I've got McGrath, Warne and Jimmeh in my attack. There's no way this team spends days on end in the field.
 

Jono

Virat Kohli (c)
Was going to answer "Well Dravid and Laxman made them spend days in the field", but then realised you have Dravid and Laxman in your team too #dilemma
 

Cabinet96

Hall of Fame Member
I've got McGrath, Warne and Jimmeh in my attack. There's no way this team spends days on end in the field.
If you're playing run of the mill test teams then yeah, sure. But if that were the case, you could bat yourself at three and it wouldn't matter. Sort of defeats the purpose.
 

Howe_zat

Audio File
If you're playing run of the mill test teams then yeah, sure. But if that were the case, you could bat yourself at three and it wouldn't matter. Sort of defeats the purpose.
When other people do threads like this they ought to pick no players that are the same, and then you can put those sides against each other.

First come first serve works because writing is a time-consumer. Lack of effort would mean a disqualified XI.
 

uvelocity

International Coach
disqualified/cbf XI

b00nchmark00
r00gins
pews
ajdud
cupboard96
rvd987542
+spikey
mw140862
derm0
uvelocity*
gimp
 

Red

The normal awards that everyone else has
Is PEWS counter attacking enough for Chappelli's stamp of approval at #3?
 

Furball

Evil Scotsman
Andrew Flintoff



If ever there someone personified the “stats don’t tell the whole story” argument, that someone would have to be Andrew Flintoff. In 20 years time when a new generation of CWebbers come along and try to work out what the fuss is over someone averaging 32 with the ball and 31 with the bat. Those of us who watched him play know that he was more, so much more than that.

His defining series will always be the 2005 Ashes series, and with good reason – he was mighty with both bat and ball – but his breakthrough series occurred 2 years earlier against South Africa where he played a number of superb innings at 7. He proved himself to be a hard hitting, clean striker of the ball and batted extremely well with the tail. His 142 at Lord’s was a cracking innings, bettered IMO by his 95 at The Oval. Flintoff came to the wicket with England still 4 in arrears, and 3 more wickets quickly fell to leave England 502/8, a lead of just 18 runs. Flintoff was the next man out having scored 85 of the 99 runs the 9[SUP]th[/SUP] wicket partnership had brought, giving England a crucial lead and allowing them to chase a series levelling victory.

His coming of age as a bowler occurred that winter, but where we will always remember him is the Ashes 2005. That marathon spell at the Oval on day 4. The fire and hostility every time he bowled. The way things just seemed to happen for him every time he had the ball in his hand. And of course, THAT over at Edgbaston.


I still get goosebumps watching that. Just listen to the crowd. Cricket, in fact all sport, is about theatre, drama and emotion. It’s the big moments that we remember. There’s no way in hell Flintoff would swap bowling that over for a bowling average of 27 over his career. We loved Freddie because he had us on the edge of our seats, with him every step of his run up, willing him on because he was our hero. You don’t get the crowd with you the way Freddie did without being a great player. Statistics can only tell you so much about the story that unfolds during a game. Some people can point to the fact that yes, Flintoff perhaps didn’t get the wickets that he really should have in Test cricket. For all his talent as a bowler he didn’t run through sides the way he should have, as his three 5 wicket hauls will attest to. Stats be damned though. I’ve never seen a player lift a crowd the way Flintoff did that summer or would continue to do every time he bowled until his body got the better of him. You don’t do what he did on the final morning of the 2009 Lord’s Ashes Test without being great.

Incidentally, in this team I’ve accidentally created the perfect role for Flintoff. His batting IMO was always better suited to 7 than it was to 6. It should give him a license and a freedom to play his natural attacking game and go after the bowlers. And as a bowler, McGrath, Anderson, Warne and AN Other can do the grunt work. Flintoff can bowl short, sharp, hostile spells that get the crowd on their feet and the opposition batsmen jumping around their crease, a role that should be perfect for him. Perhaps having that sort of role would have given Flintoff the numbers to match his greatness.
 

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