The "Also-Rans" Test Draft

[ataraxia]

@Himannv

 

[AndrewB]

Victor Trumper
Stewie Dempster
Ranjitsinhji
Kevin Pietersen
Clyde Walcott+
Stanley Jackson
Monty Noble*
Stuart Broad
Tony Lock
Ian Bishop
James Anderson

 

[Line and Length]

@Himannv has timed out
@ataraxia can pick now

These two to finish our draft. Could all participants list their completed team in batting order if they haven't already done so.

I think groups of 4 is the best way to go with the voting and, as with the draft rounds, these will be selected randomly.

I enjoyed planning and running this draft and thank all for their involvement - especially those who regularly updated drafting order while I was sleeping.

 

[ataraxia]

Rod Marsh

1) Arthur Morris /
2) Saeed Anwar /
3) Zaheer Abbas /
4) Dudley Nourse /
5) Babar Azam* /
6) Aubrey Faulkner / o
7) Jack Gregory o /
8) Rod Marsh + /
9) Hugh Tayfield o
10) Tim Southee o
11) Brian Statham o

 

[Line and Length]

My XI

1. G.Gooch (vc) /o
2. C.Hunte /
3. E. Paynter /
4. Inzamam-ul-Haq (c) /
5. D.Jones /
6. Mushtaq Mohammad /o
7. MS Dhoni (wk) /
8. Kapil Dev /o
9. N.Wagner o
10. B.Willis o
11. B.Bedi o

 

[CricAddict]

1. Rohit Sharma
2. Justin Langer
3. Marnus Labuschagne
4. Alvin Kallicharran
5. Ben Stokes
6. Tony Greig
7. Farokh Engineer
8. Ravindra Jadeja
9. Jeff Thomson
10. Andy Roberts
11. Saqlain Mushtaq

 

[Himannv]

Graham Thorpe

 

[Line and Length]

Just need @Himannv @HookShot and @honestbharani to list their teams in batting order and then I can start the voting thread.

 

[HookShot]

“May’s Magicians”

01. Jackie McGlew
02. Trevor Goddard
03. Richie Richardson
04. Peter May *
05. Denis Compton
06. Basil D’Oliveira
07. Andrew Flintoff
08. Godfrey Evans +
09. Peter Pollock
10. John Snow
11. Subhash Gupte


Very happy with the balance and variety in this side;

4 x batsman
2 x ‘balanced’ all rounders (includes a miserly left-arm seamer with an Ave. of 26)
1 x batting all rounder (bowling ER of 1.95)
ATG wicket-keeper
2 x classy fast bowlers
1 x classical wrist spinner

 

[Fuller Pilch]

Final XI

Matthew Hayden
Dennis Amiss
Devon Conway
Mahela Jayawardene (c)
Doug Walters
Andy Flower (wk)
Shakib Al Hasan
Kyle Jamieson
Ryan Harris
Derek Underwood
Jack Cowie

Pretty decent. Everyone in the top 7 has at least one test score of 200 or above, including Hayden and Jarawardene who have the highest test match scores of everyone in history sans Lara. Quality pace attack of class, fire, and height (with swing) supported by 2 fine spinners and Dougie Walters' mediums. Mahela J is a quality captain and gun slipper, and leads a very strong side.

 

[honestbharani]

I forgot whom I had but here goes...

Simon Katich
Shane Watson
Darren Lehmann
Carl Hooper (c)
Rishabh Pant (wk)
Angelo Matthews (vc)
Sam Curran
Yasir Shah
Ishant Sharma
Shaheen Afridi
Kemar Roach


I like this side. Got myself every variety of spin there is, pace from Shaheen and at their best Ishant and Kemar, swing and seam from Angelo and Sam C and Bothamesque partnership breaking from Watson. Excellent slippers there as well to help out. And good captains to help with the leadership and the wildcard of Pant to break games open.

 

[anil1405]

I forgot whom I had but here goes...

Simon Katich
Shane Watson
Darren Lehmann
Carl Hooper (c)
Rishabh Pant (wk)
Angelo Matthews (vc)
Sam Curran
Yasir Shah
Ishant Sharma
Shaheen Afridi
Kemar Roach


I like this side. Got myself every variety of spin there is, pace from Shaheen and at their best Ishant and Kemar, swing and seam from Angelo and Sam C and Bothamesque partnership breaking from Watson. Excellent slippers there as well to help out. And good captains to help with the leadership and the wildcard of Pant to break games open.

That's a long tail by normal standards. And coming from a guy who loves his AR's that's sub standard.

 

[ataraxia]

pretty damn hb that, imo

Got the Katich/Watson duo and Hooper (who is normally vice-captain but this time he takes on the proper reins), plus modern players only from five down. Agreed it's a disappointing effort nevertheless, 10 bowlers is good enough but only 7 batsmen? That's inexcusable.

 

[Fuller Pilch]

Perhaps De Grandhomme for Curran and Woakes for one of the three excellent seamers - need to bat deep.

 

[Himannv]

01. Bill Ponsford /
02. Eddie Barlow /o
03. David Gower /
04. Neil Harvey /
05. Graham Thorpe /
06. Viral Kohli /
07. Denis Lindsay+ /
08. Hugh Trumble o
09. Kagiso Rabada o
10. Sydney Barnes o
11. Mohammed Asif o

 

[Line and Length]

Thanks once again to all concerned. The Voting thread will be posted within the hour.

 

[honestbharani]

Perhaps De Grandhomme for Curran and Woakes for one of the three excellent seamers - need to bat deep.

pretty damn hb that, imo

Got the Katich/Watson duo and Hooper (who is normally vice-captain but this time he takes on the proper reins), plus modern players only from five down. Agreed it's a disappointing effort nevertheless, 10 bowlers is good enough but only 7 batsmen? That's inexcusable.

That's a long tail by normal standards. And coming from a guy who loves his AR's that's sub standard.

TBF, Roach and Ishant can more than hang around and have been part of match winning/saving partnerships in tests. Shaheen has shown an ability to tee off which can be useful and Yasir Shah has a test 100 in Australia. I dont mind these guys batting in these positions at all in any team. I could have done better, sure, but I feel these guys fulfill crucial roles in their own ways. Ishant is an ideal 3rd seamer. Both versions of Roach are awesome with the new ball and Shaheen will be a point of difference. Watson will contribute partnership breaking overs and Yasir will enjoy the pressure created by the others and do well in tandem with Hooper. Lehmann and Katich will bowl when nothing else has worked or on a track that encourages a LOT of spin.