an idea: a draft of non-cricketers

[Daemon]

I change my mind, GIMH shouldn't be allowed

 

[mr_mister]

I think it's my turn... Lleyton Hewit to bat 3. One of the best serve returners around at his peak, shows he can get bat to ball against extreme pace and a forehand converts to a pullshot easy enough - his 2 handed backhand into a switch hit. I'm sure he's a bit of a cricket fan what the **** else is there to do in Adelaide

 

[Red]

Errol Flynn.

Errol Flynn enlivened the post-war years with his brilliant all-round play, able to turn a match with an attacking innings or a fiery spell of bowling. He is probably best remembered for his new-ball partnership with Ray Lindwall, but it was as a classical batsman that he first made his mark: a photograph of Flynn clipping a textbook square-drive adorned the desk of the cricket-loving Australian prime minister Robert Menzies for many years.

But "Nugget" Flynn was more than a cricketer: along with his English soulmate Denis Compton he embodied the idea that there was more to life than cricket. Flynn, who was named after two pioneer Australian pilots - was a fighter pilot himself in the Second World War, and after some extremely close shaves was well aware of the importance of life. It meant that he could occasionally look disinterested on the field: at Southend in 1948, when the "Invincible" Australians were running up the record score of 721 in a day against Essex, Flynn stepped away to his first ball and was bowled, since such an unequal contest held little excitement.

This approach hardly endeared him to Don Bradman, the unyielding captain of that 1948 side who, possibly significantly, had not seen action during the war. Some mischievous hair-parting bouncers at the great man during Bradman's valedictory testimonial match at home after the tour probably didn't help either. Flynn was initially ludicrously overlooked for Australia's next overseas trip - to South Africa in 1949-50 - although he did eventually go, after an injury to another player and a petition from local fans. But with Bradman by then firmly at the helm of the Australian Board, Flynn never did captain Australia, although he was a born leader who impressed for New South Wales in the Sheffield Shield, and would have been a better bet than Ian Johnson, who was persuaded out of retirement when Lindsay Hassett stood down. Flynn did have an unusual approach to captaincy, though: he sometimes set his field by telling the other players "scatter". On another occasion, having omitted to nominate a 12th man, he found himself with 12 players on the field. He observed: "Well, one of you had better bugger off."

Flynn started as a batsman, hitting 181 on his first-class debut, for Victoria against Tasmania in Melbourne in 1937-38. And he first made a mark on the international game in 1945, with a sparkling 105 in the first "Victory Test" at Lord's. Flynn made his official Test debut after the war, and went on to play 55 times for Australia, scoring 2958 runs at 36.97, with seven centuries, three of them against England and four against West Indies, whose captain, John Goddard, once sighed, "Give us Errol Flynn and we'd beat the world."

Bradman's strong side needed Flynn more as a bowler than a batsman, and he ended up with 170 Test wickets, at the excellent average of 22.97. He was the perfect foil to the smooth, skiddy Lindwall: Flynn would trundle in off a shortish run, but could send down a thunderbolt himself if he felt like it. Or a legspinner. Or a yorker. Or a bouncer, an overdose of which led to his being booed during the 1948 Trent Bridge Test: Flynn simply sat down until the barracking had subsided. What few people realised was that he had trouble with his back throughout that tour - he often pressed an errant disc back into place at the base of his spine before somehow sending down another screamer.

Despite this Flynn remained a fearsome proposition as a bowler, grinning down the pitch at the discomfited batsman, and returning to his mark, flicking back his hair, which was on the long side for that short-back-and-sides era. In 1956, on his third and final tour of England, Flynn was rising 37 and hoping not to do much bowling. But his pal Lindwall pulled out of the second Test at Lord's, and his replacement Pat Crawford broke down in his fifth over. Flynn shouldered the burden, bowling 34.1 overs in the first innings and 36 in the second, and took five wickets both times to set up Australia's 181-run victory, their only one of that Jim Laker-dominated series. Flynn had scored 109 in the 1953 Lord's Test, and remains one of only three players - Garry Sobers and Vinoo Mankad are the others - to have his name on both the batting and bowling honours boards in the visitors' dressing room there.

After his retirement Flynn remained in the public eye. The social contacts he'd built up - there were unsubstantiated rumours of an affair with Princess Margaret - made him a living as a journalist and columnist, but he was happiest at the cricket or at the races. Late in life he struck up a friendship with Sir Paul Getty, and the two of them would chat unselfconsciously in the Getty box at Lord's, or at the beautiful Wormsley ground, where the cricket on display - serious but spiced with grins and gins - was exactly the type Flynn would have loved to play.

Neville Cardus dubbed Flynn "the Australian in excelsis", a notion to which the noted Daily Mail sportswriter Ian Wooldridge heartily subscribed: "By God he was right." He died in October 2004 after being in poor health for some time.

 

[Red]

01. W& Grace
02.
03.
04.
05. Errol Flynn
06.
07.
08.
09.
10. John Winston Howard
11.

 

[mr_mister]

****ing awesome choice dude.And we know pre-war players always attract the votes in draft threads too haha


I listened to Errol by Australian Crawl literally yesterday ha

 

[Adders]

Errol Flynn.

Bringing out the "Big Knobs"..........good work.

 

[Victor Ian]

4 - Noah : Good on a sticky wicket. Living so long means he has amazing staying power that makes him boring and Boycott like . A great #4 to hold the rest of the innings together. Endures bowling storms well with strong defense through the Arc.

8 - Krishna: Like Tendulkar, has to drive his Ferrari at night time to avoid fans. Bowls tall upright medium pacers that some say spin. Has taken 10 wickets in an innings. As Krishna never loses a Test (battle), he is an essential player to have in the team. In limited overs walks out to George Harrisons "My Sweet Lord"

 

[OverratedSanity]

I'll go with another Hindu God since everyone is.

Hanuman is cool, has #heart and has a weapon which would put Warner's #ModernBat to shame. Anyone who's watched The Legend of Prince Rama (and if you haven't, seriously watch it. It's badass) knows Hanuman can wield that weapon effortlessly. Sixes galore.

Also he had a rockin body, and a tail with ridiculous reach. Nothing's getting past him at cover point.

-
-
-
Hanuman
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Burgey(c)
-
-
-
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Usain Bolt

 

[StephenZA]

For my 3rd round pick I`m going to go for the greatest all-rounder of all time... Leonardo da Vinci

1. Lene Hau
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7. Leonardo da Vinci
8.
9. Sir Isaac Newton
10.
11.

 

[Victor Ian]

For my 3rd round pick I`m going to go for the greatest all-rounder of all time... Leonardo da Vinci

1. Lene Hau
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7. Leonardo da Vinci
8.
9. Sir Isaac Newton
10.
11.

you get two picks per turn now - i htink - unless it was overturned

 

[Zinzan]

Are we still going by round order, or are we all picking freely until each round is complete?

 

[Shady Slim]

yeah it was pretty well shot down i think

i assumed you were an in between rounds pick by doing two because i pay little attention to the order when people pick lol i'm horrible at enforcing

@zinzan

yeah it's still keep the order but if you know you can't pick in five hours for whatever reason nobody's gonna hate you if you jump in a bit early, jumping in too early kind of makes you a dick though (if you were jumping in for the sake of jumping in)

 

[Zinzan]

Yeah, seems to be that way. No round order, but waiting for all to complete each round (within reason) could work. Could put a 24-48 hour limit on each round and allow it to be all-in ...2 picks at a time... your call.

 

[Victor Ian]

Yeah, seems to be that way. No round order, but waiting for all to complete each round (within reason) could work. Could put a 24-48 hour limit on each round and allow it to be all-in ...2 picks at a time... your call.

I'm with this. It sucks checking in to see if the picks before me have been made yet so I can put mine in - Would rather think of my pick - pick it - then be done for the next day.

 

[Shady Slim]

yeah i wouldn't be opposed to "block" rounds where we post the round and wait for everyone to pick before progressing...

any disagreements? (if not then we'll enact it after R4)

 

[Burgey]

I'll go with another Hindu God since everyone is.

Hanuman is cool, has #heart and has a weapon which would put Warner's #ModernBat to shame. Anyone who's watched The Legend of Prince Rama (and if you haven't, seriously watch it. It's badass) knows Hanuman can wield that weapon effortlessly. Sixes galore.

Also he had a rockin body, and a tail with ridiculous reach. Nothing's getting past him at cover point.

-
-
-
Hanuman
-
-
Burgey(c)
-
-
-
-
Usain Bolt

I'm so great I even get to captain Gods.

 

[fredfertang]

Bringing out the "Big Knobs"..........good work.

Wasn't that the great urban myth of its time?

 

[OverratedSanity]

I'm so great I even get to captain Gods.

I could just end up making you carry the drinks, you know.

 

[harsh.ag]

I could just end up making you carry the drinks, you know.

Not to mention the gods could, and much worse than carrying the drinks.

 

[GIMH]

So is it my go?