*Official* Road to 2013 Ashes

[NUFAN]

I don't think Mahela is exceptionally close but he would look fine in the second World XI team. I was just throwing a name into the ring to try and work out who Prince thinks is better than Clarke and KP. Only other name I can think of is Younis Khan.

 

[Spark]

Yeah also a good shout. Really the clear alternative is Chanders and I'm not picking him after a middle order of Amla/Sanga/Kallis given the alternatives available.

 

[Daemon]

It's because generally two sessions average out to be roughly 60 overs, 30 overs a session. 180 balls. Say you face half those balls, that's approx 90 balls. Means you're scoring fast if you get a hundred.

Similar assumptions can be made about minutes, though admittedly slightly less accurate. It's also not always that a batsmen comes in right at the start of a session, so there are limitations.

Basically my point was that you can't just scoff at the use of minutes to judge how quick a bloke scored and then use sessions in the next post.

FTR I'd rather use neither and just go by strike rate, unless like Spark mentioned, one is making a general point rather than a detailed comparison.

 

[Spark]

Similar assumptions can be made about minutes, though admittedly slightly less accurate. It's also not always that a batsmen comes in right at the start of a session, so there are limitations.

Basically my point was that you can't just scoff at the use of minutes to judge how quick a bloke scored and then use sessions in the next post.

FTR I'd rather use neither and just go by strike rate, unless like Spark mentioned, one is making a general point rather than a detailed comparison.

Yeah I was just saying that he was scoring ****ing fast.

 

[NUFAN]

Yeah correct.

It'd hard to balance the team really; I want both Amla and Sangakkara in there but it's hard because they've both scored all their runs at three and you wouldn't really want Kallis lower than four either. Until a couple of weeks ago my option was to just cheat and make Amla open, but Cook's more than forced his way in as a specialist opener now. Chanderpaul and Clarke are without doubt the best lower middle order players going at the moment so I'd probably include them both and (controversially?) leave Amla out, but it's hard. Any of that entire top six barring Kallis could find themselves out of my side on any given day if I was asked to name one, including either of the openers. Seven just doesn't go into six. Pietersen is in the next tier down for mine.

At the moment its quite straight forward for me picking the best 6 bats, just the order is a tad tough to decide. If pressed I would go:

1. Cook 2. Smith 3. Amla 4. Kallis 5. Clarke 6. Sangakkara

 

[Spark]

You're not forcing out Smith instead of Cook? Or are you locking him in?

FTR I'm batting Sanga at 3 and putting Amla at 5. Has the game.

 

[Pup Clarke]

Prior gets in ahead of Sanga for mine. Bats at 5 for his county and has
been sporadically at 6 in tests but where he bats wouldn't bother him - he's just in much better form and there very close as overall players.

 

[Spark]

Nah you can't leave out Sanga IMO. Has been too good for too long, and it's not like he has many holes left to plug at in his record nowadays.

 

[Daemon]

Crazy how 5 of the top 10 batsmen in the world atm are South Africans

 

[Prince EWS]

You're not forcing out Smith instead of Cook? Or are you locking him in?

I had Smith in ahead of Cook a little while ago with Amla opening, but it seems a bit silly to not pick a specialist opener and then leave someone batting as well as Cook out, so I've changed my mind in the wake of Cook's performances in India. Dropping Smith instead and leaving Amla as opener is an option I suppose, but I like Smith and I think I'd probably like to make him captain, so it's something I'm loathe to do.

 

[Prince EWS]

Crazy how 5 of the top 10 batsmen in the world atm are South Africans

No way IMO.

 

[NUFAN]

Prior gets in ahead of Sanga for mine. Bats at 5 for his county and has
been sporadically at 6 in tests but where he bats wouldn't bother him - he's just in much better form and there very close as overall players.

They aren't competing for the same spot, they both make my team.

 

[Daemon]

No way IMO.

Maybe top 10-12 or at worst 15. Who's in your top 10?

 

[Spark]

I had Smith in ahead of Cook a little while ago with Amla opening, but it seems a bit silly to not pick a specialist opener and then leave someone batting as well as Cook out, so I've changed my mind in the wake of Cook's performances in India. Dropping Smith instead and leaving Amla as opener is an option I suppose, but I like Smith and I think I'd probably like to make him captain, so it's something I'm loathe to do.

Smith is a gun captain, but when you have another gun captain in your side and another quite good one, I don't think you gain enough by his decent but not world-breaking performances lately compared to what you'd get by just picking the best six bats in the world IMO.

 

[Pup Clarke]

Sanga's been dire for a while now though ain't he?

Dire may be a tad harsh, but talk about an 'all or nothing' batsman this past year. Really struggled with left armers (Junaid, Boult) so Starc should be on pronto when he's first at the crease.

 

[Spark]

Maybe top 10-12 or at worst 15. Who's in your top 10?

Amla
Clarke
Cook
Sanga
Kallis
Chanders
ABdV
KP

Assuming you're making the obvious joke, 5/8 for me

 

[Spark]

Sanga's been dire for a while now though ain't he?

Dire may be a tad harsh, but talk about an 'all or nothing' batsman this past year. Really struggled with left armers (Junaid, Boult) so Starc should be on pronto when he's first at the crease.

Well, he's up against Clarke and Cook, so he's not really disadvantaged by being "all-or-nothing".

 

[Pup Clarke]

Nah you can't leave out Sanga IMO. Has been too good for too long, and it's not like he has many holes left to plug at in his record nowadays.

I'm not really interested in his career record if we're talking about an XI that takes the field tomorrow though. It's useful as a rough guide to how a batsman may go - but that's all.

 

[NUFAN]

Maybe top 10-12 or at worst 15. Who's in your top 10?

Are you including KP as a South African or are you referring to players playing for SA? Who's your fifth SA (if not inc. KP) Faf?

Smith is a gun captain, but when you have another gun captain in your side and another quite good one, I don't think you gain enough by his decent but not world-breaking performances lately compared to what you'd get by just picking the best six bats in the world IMO.

Don't think Smith is a gun captain at all. He has been a brilliant fit for SA and leads from the front superbly but tactically I don't consider him anything but reasonable/adequate in the captaincy stakes.

 

[Spark]

I'm not really interested in his career record if we're talking about an XI that takes the field tomorrow though. It's useful as a rough guide to how a batsman may go - but that's all.

I meant he's been in gun form for so long that I'm willing to use that as a hedge against the fact that whilst he might be in decent but not godly nick now, I'm more confident that he won't suddenly lose it in the short-term. Gives me stability in a lineup where several guys are as likely to score 10 as 210.

EDIT: Though maybe if I'm picking Amla/Kallis/Chanders, that doesn't matter so much. Still reckon he's one of the top six bats in the world, mind.