Four Eras Test Draft

[AndrewB]

Herbert Sutcliffe
Barry Richards
Eddie Paynter
Bill Edrich
Andy Flower
Adam Gilchrist+
Richie Benaud*
Shaun Pollock
Frank Foster
Derek Underwood
Charlie Turner

 

[ataraxia]

Tough three-way choice here. I'll opt for Eric Rowan (inter-war).

@Silver Silva

 

[ataraxia]

1 Arthur Morris /
2 Eric Rowan /
3 George Headley /
4 Allan Border /
5 Clem Hill /
6 Warwick Armstrong / o
7 Billy Wade + /
8 Peter Pollock o /
9 Hugh Tayfield o
10 Dale Steyn o
11 James Anderson o

Saffas ftw

There's two selections in there that one would say are outside the CW canon, both with careers hamstrung by WWII. Rowan was a classic late bloomer and the 3rd best batsman in that forgotten shining batting side of South Africa headed by Nourse & Mitchell. Wade was unable to tour due to work commitments, but made the best of it at home: he averaged 57 in non-test FC, as pointed out earlier, and also averaged 38 in tests against England – no mean feat – until in his final season of FC cricket let alone test cricket, he understandably faltered against Lindwall–Miller–Johnston. One who could have been much much more, IMO. I can't really find any info about the quality of Wade's keeping, I'm afraid. But he's kept to Tayfield before!

 

[Line and Length]

By my reckoning we have 2 'Mini-drafts' to complete:

Pre WWI: @Patience and Accuracy+Gut; Pothas & Teuton (together); Bitmap

Between the Wars: @Silver Silva; Himannv; Cricket Bliss
The first two have about 5 hours left on the clock (since Red made his selection)

I'm looking for suggestions for how to run the voting. Options are (i) All 16 in together; (ii) Two groups of 8 with 2 (or 4) from each advancing; (iii) 4 groups of 4 with 1 (or 2) from each advancing

I also thought of having a voting panel of drafters from outside this draft (eg CricAddict, Boy Brumby etc) making the decision.

 

[Line and Length]

For those still making selections, here is the updated list of selections already made:

Four Eras Draft
Participant	Pre WWI (pre 1914)	Between the Wars	Pre WSC	Post WSC
Silver Silva	J.Hobbs	B.Ponsford	M.Holding	K.Sangakkara
	P.Mead	K.S. Duleepsinhji	T.Greig	R.Harris
	XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX	J.Hardstaff jnr	F.Tyson	R.Jadeja
Bitmap	S.Barnes	S.McCabe	V.Richards	Waqar Younis
		Sid Barnes	G.Pollock	I.Bishop
	XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX	B.Brown	F.Worrell	I.Healy
ankitj/Cricket Bliss	J.Darling	C.Washbrook	Imran Khan	B.Lara
	J.J.Ferris	G.Allen	N.Harvey	J.Kallis
	XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX	I.Barrow	J.Laker	K.Rabada
Red	H.Trumble	B.Woodfull	A.Davidson	M.Marshall
	J.Blackham	A.Jackson	B.Lawry	R.Ponting
	XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX	B.Bowes	C.Lloyd	M.Hussey
Patience Acc. + Gut	F.Spofforth	B.O'Reilly	R.Lindwall	S.Smith
		P.Hendren	G.Greenidge	J.Bumrah
	XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX	E.Tyldesley	A.Knott	J.Root
Krypto	A.Faulkner	J.Cameron	G.Boycott	K.Dev
	F.Woolley	D.Compton	B.Willis	M.Hayden
	XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX	M.Tate	J.Thomson	Hashim Amla
Himannv	C.B.Fry	D.Jardine	G.Sobers	A.Donald
	A.Shrewsbury	G.Duckworth	D.Lillee	P.Cummins
	XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX	A.Mailey	B.Simpson	V.Kohli
JOJOXI	S.Jackson	D.Nourse	K.Miller	S.Tendulkar
	C.Macartney	H.Collins	N.Adcock	V.Sehwag
	XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX	B.Oldfield	J.Snow	A.Kumble
trundler	M.Noble	B.Mitchell	R.Hadlee	S.Waugh
	W.Murdoch	M.Martindale	S.Gavaskar	R.Dravid
	XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX	B.Ironmonger	J.Garner	M.Crowe
Pothas	Ranjitsinhji	L.Constantine	G.Chappell	G.McGrath
		S.Dempster	K.Barrington	S.Warne
	XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX	J.Stollmeyer	D.Lindsay	C.Walsh
Line & Length	V.Trumper	M.Leyland	F.Trueman	M.Muralitharan
	G.Lohmann	V.Merchant	B.Statham	K.Pietersen
	XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX	L.Hassett	D.Walters	M.S.Dhoni
Teuton	H.Taylor	L.Hutton	M.Procter	Wasim Akram
		H.Verity	E.Weekes	A.B.de Villiers
	XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX	J.Gregory	R.Kanhai	Shakib al Hasan
Andrew B	C.Turner	H.Sutcliffe	B.Richards	A.Gilchrist
	F.Foster	E.Paynter	R.Benaud	S.Pollock
	XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX	B.Edrich	D.Underwood	A.Flower
Fuller Pilch	W.G.Grace	C.Grimmett	A.Roberts	K.Williamson
	A.McLaren	H.Larwood	I.Botham	Younis Khan
	XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX	M.Donnelly	C.Walcott	V.Philander
ataraxia	C.Hill	G.Headley	H.Tayfield	D.Steyn
	W.Armstrong	B.Wade	P.Pollock	J.Anderson
	XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX	E.Rowan	A.Morris	A.Border
capt_Luffy	W.Rhodes	W.Hammond	A.Bedser	C.Ambrose
	T.Richardson	L.Ames	J.Miandad	R.Ashwin
	XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX	J.Ryder	P.May	G.Smith

 

[Line and Length]

My final team:

Victor Trumper
Vijay Merchant
Lindsay Hassett
Kevin Pietersen
Maurice Leyland
Doug Walters
M.S.Dhoni
Fred Trueman
George Lohmann
Brian Statham
Muttiah Muralitharan

An interesting aspect is the fact that my 4 main bowlers all held/hold the record for most wickets in Test cricket at some stage.

 

[Red]

Bill Woodfull
Bill Lawry
Ricky Ponting
Mike Hussey
Archie Jackson
Clive Lloyd *
Jack Blackham +
Hugh Trumble
Alan Davidson
Malcolm Marshall
Bill Bowes

I thought Bowes could bat a bit but he clearly couldn’t at all upon investigation. Overall I’m very happy with this XI. Missing a genuine 5th bowler but Lloyd bowled some handy medium pace earlier in his career. I have two stoic openers in a left/right combo, who also happen to be two of the great gentlemen of cricket. Blistering middle order, great early keeper and a varied bowling attack. Gun fielding combo with Punter, Lloyd and Davo.

 

[Fuller Pilch]

I thought Bowes could bat a bit but he clearly couldn’t at all upon investigation.

Doesn't really matter when you've got Trumble, Davidson, and Marshall though.

 

[Cricket Bliss]

Just a query : Do all of you consider batting average or performance at different batting positions while assigning them or assigning them just based on logic?
eg : A batsmen avg excellently at number 4 but doesn’t have good avg at 5! so if i place him at number 5 , will that act as a limitation to my lineup?

 

[Cricket Bliss]

Query came because in my team After No. 6 Imran Khan , I don’t have any batsmen or all rounder apart from Gubby Allen, so logic makes me pick him at 7. But he averages exceptionally at number 9! So im in doubt whether to place pure bolwers ahead of him or to move as per logic

 

[Line and Length]

I always look at team balance, rather than batting positions. Having said that, if a player is hopelessly out of position I note that. Take my side, for instance. I have Victor Trumper opening yet he averaged more while at 3, 5 or 6. Because he opened in almost 60% of his innings, it makes sense to have him opening. Similarly I have Pietersen at 4 and Leyland at 5 because these were the positions they occupied most. If I was concerned about averages in positions this pair would be swapped as Leyland averaged over 50 @ 4.

 

[Fuller Pilch]

Query came because in my team After No. 6 Imran Khan , I don’t have any batsmen or all rounder apart from Gubby Allen, so logic makes me pick him at 7. But he averages exceptionally at number 9! So im in doubt whether to place pure bolwers ahead of him or to move as per logic

Why don't you pick Ian Healy at no 7?

 

[Cricket Bliss]

Why don't you pick Ian Healy at no 7?

My after WSC quota is filled with Lara, Kallis and Rabada

 

[Krypto]

Just a query : Do all of you consider batting average or performance at different batting positions while assigning them or assigning them just based on logic?
eg : A batsmen avg excellently at number 4 but doesn’t have good avg at 5! so if i place him at number 5 , will that act as a limitation to my lineup?

I definetly do however it's not the end all. Most cricketers have primary and secondary batting positions. Some will have multiple. It's just important for me personally to not bat a batsman where he didn't bat. However this is just a game and my opinion about your team in the end means very little unless you care about the voting. In general a great batsman is a great batsman and even if Tendulkar opened only once in tests and never batted 3 I'm sure he would've been able to score runs there. Just grinds my bones when someone does that. However I've gathered I'm in the minority.

 

[Fuller Pilch]

My after WSC quota is filled with Lara, Kallis and Rabada

Oops I misread L & L's table. He's in someone else's team.

 

[Silver Silva]

Joe Hardstaff Jr
@Himannv

1.Sir Jack Hobbs
2.Bill Ponsford
3.Kumar Duleepsinji
4.Phil Mead
5.Joe Hardstaff Jr
6.Tony Greig (C)
7.Kumar Sangakkara (WK)
8.Ravindra Jadeja
9.Ryan Harris
10.Michael Holding
11.Frank Tyson

 

[Himannv]

Arthur Mailey

@Cricket Bliss I think.

 

[Himannv]

Batting order:

01. Bob Simpson** /o
02. Arthur Shrewsbury /
03. C. B. Fry /
04. Virat Kohli /
05. Douglas Jardine* /
06. Garry Sobers /o
07. George Duckworth+ /
08. Pat Cummins o/
09. Dennis Lillee o
10. Arthur Mailey o
11. Allan Donald o

Bowling order: 1. Lillee | 2. Donald | 3. Cummins | 4. Mailey | 5. Sobers | 6. Simpson

 

[Cricket Bliss]

Ivan Barrow

 

[Line and Length]

Pre WWI: @Patience and Accuracy+Gut timed out
@Pothas & @Teuton can both select then @Bitmap to complete.

Each of the eras had 4 round 11 selections but hasn't yet started while the other 3 have been completed.