Yes thank you
I'm Spikey McSpikeSpike and I'm am very happy to be here today, representing
Out With Gout '88 as we conclude the 2012 Quiz Draft.
As has been reported in the press in recent days, we at Out With Gout '88 weren't quite sure what sort of player to pick with this pick, our final pick of the draft. Do we pick a batsman, leaving us with only 4 bowlers but with Ian Botham batting at 8, or a bowler, forcing Adam Gilchrist to suit up at number at 6. Both had their positives and their negatives. We're well awhile that Adam Gilchrist averaged 53 and scored 4 centuries in 24 innings batting in the middle order (Deemed to be number 3 to number 6), but he of course is presumed to be a number 7 when you see his name on the team sheet. We're under no illusions. If we picked Adam Gilchrist at 6, people would probably not look very favourably upon us. However, if we pick another batsman we'd be left with only four bowlers, three of them English! This was a deeply troubling problem with no easy answer.
Until we saw the cricketweb.net thread 'Fully Scientific Selection'.
And we formed a cunning idea.
That's right people! With our last pick Out With Gout '88 will be turning to the PEWS bot. Cribbage's Standardised Test Averages will decide our last pick, ultimately deciding our team. The method is simple, we go through both lists (found
here and
here) and simply pick the player with the highest ranking who is yet to be undrafted. What do the Gods have in store???
On no! There's a problem! Like Odysseus before us the Gods have interfered with our best laid plans. For the players ranked number 37 in both lists are yet to be drafted! That's right! The top 36 batsmen and top 36 bowlers have all been taken, but number 37 for both remain in play. What are the chances? The players ranked 37 in each list are of course, the West Indian pace bowler Manny Martindale who bowled leg theory to D. Jardine and the Indian match fixing **** Mohammad Azharuddin.
Now if it was up to me, I'd pick the fast bowler who gave D. Jardine a bit of his own medicine (medicine Jardine clearly liked ftr) over the **** that helped stain the game, but in the spirit of Cribbage's Standardised Test Averages, Out With Gout '88 will use the longevity rankings as the tiebreaker. Which means....The final member of Out With Gout '88 is.......
That's right!
Mohammad Azharuddin! With a longevity ranking of 14.41 Azza, as I like to call him, beats out Manny Martindale and will be joining Out With Gout '88. In his 10 tests Manny Martindale was only able to muster a ranking of 5.00, a pretty piss poor effort that.
So here's the final team, with their Cribbage's Standardised Test Averages ranking noted in brackets.
Out With Gout '88 XI
1. Geoff Boycott (53) Round 5 selection
2. Gordon Greenidge (44) Round 6 selection
3. Ian Chappell (*) (93) Round 7 selection
4. Lindsay Hassett (39) Round 10 selection
5. Mohammad Azharuddin (37) Round 11 selection
6. Vijay Hazare (54) Round 9 selection
7. Adam Gilchrist (+) (119) Round 1 selection
8. Ian Botham (203 batting) (50 bowling) Round 2 selection
9. Harold Larwood (158) Round 4 selection
10. Bob Willis (47) Round 8 selection
11. Clarrie Grimmett (12) Round 3 selection
Thank you for your company, and may Gold bless you
