Jamee999
Hall of Fame Member
Grace Road, Leicester, 25th October 2005.
The formation of the Foxes
Lots of fans had flocked to see the 16 players finally united in the one place.
There had been rumours about the captaincy, with Imran Khan and Steve Waugh, the frontrunners, and a media circus had been tracking their every move, until they arrived in Leicester, yesterday morning.
It is reported that all 16 players have been given houses or flats, obviously quite luxurious, in the Leicestershire area, and that the pay, is around 50,000 a week for most players.
Then, at exactly 1 o'clock, BST, the Chairman and Head Selector, Jamee Gray, stepped up to the podium, and addressed the media, and the fans.
"Ladies and gentlemen. I welcome you to witness a great day in cricketing history! A great day in Leicestershire history! A great day for the 16 men who have been selected to play here! A great day!"
The crowd stirred and cheered at this memorable speech.
"So now, I reveal the 16 players who will play for the Leicestershire Foxes!"
The board of the Foxes had been careful and had infact only realeased 3 names, Steve Waugh, Imran Khan and Alan Donald.
"In alphabetical order, we have our first player.
BILLY BATES
The English off spinner will be leading our spin attack, and allthough the Grace Road pitch isn't a spinners paridice, the whole team is confident that he will be a force to be reckoned with"
The big screen flashes up with stats.
656 runs @ 27.33
50 wickets @ 16.42
"The second member of the squad is:
ALEC BEDSER
The seam bowler, from England again, is a great exponant of swing and seam, not relying on raw pace, but instead on out thinking the batsmen, and being a great player as part of a unit"
714 runs @ 12.75
236 wickets @ 24.89
"The third man:
DENIS COMPTON
Yet another Englishman, Compton is a top line batsman, and will be one of the key figures in the middle order, forging big totals, and sending us to victory"
5807 runs @ 50.06
25 wickets @ 56.39
"Our 4th player:
ALLAN DONALD
The South African, Donald is a great bowler, who will go down as one of the best players ever to come out of his nation. Returning to teams under Jamee Gray, after playing for the Basin Reserve Bears last year"
652 runs @ 10.68
330 wickets @ 22.25
"Fantastic 5!
RAHUL DRAVID
Dravid, one of the greatest ever Indians, is also one of greatest batsmen of the modern age, "The Wall" who has been a solid player, will quite possibly lead the batting attack, and will need to contribute well for the Foxes to go well"
7894 runs @ 57.62
1 wicket @ 39
"The Wicket Keeper
ADAM GILCHRIST
Gilchrist, is the best wicket-keeper batsman in the history of Test Cricket. His destructive batting, from Number 7 has seen off many a team, and while he does admit he's not the greatest wicket keeper the world has seen, he's up to the standard, and was Our First Man Drafted"
4728 runs @ 52.53
"Our Sri Lankan
ASANKA GURUSINHA
A technical batsman, Gurusinha was thought to be the future of wicket-keeping in Sri Lanka, but as it turned out he was a solid specialist batsmen for many years, and will be a useful squad member"
2452 runs @ 38.92
20 wickets @ 34.04
"The Great Allrounder
IMRAN KHAN
One of the greatest cricketers ever, a fantastic fast bowler, who ripped through lineups single handedly and could then come out and bat them out of the game, and he used his talent to its full extent, and will be key in the Foxes season"
3807 runs @ 37.69
362 wickets @ 22.81
"Bhajji!
HARBHAJAN SINGH
The offspinner, who's been tricking batsmen with his armoury of variations and tricks for many years, is a very mysterious player, famous for his turban, and will be weaving his magic at Grace Road this year"
782 runs @ 14.48
205 wickets @ 28.25
"The dangerous dynamo
TIP SNOOKE
Tip, hailing from South Africa, is a dangerous weapon with the ball, and will be running in this year looking to use his economical bowling effectively"
1008 runs @ 22.39
35 wickets @ 20.05
"The water boy
PAUL STRANG
Paul is being dubbed as a "token Zimbabwean" and that's he's "only in the team to fill the quota." Out you come Paul!"
839 runs @ 27.06
70 wickets @ 36.02
"The new kid on the block
ANDREW STRAUSS
The English opener, will be a great asset to the team, with his determined batting, which really came to the fore in the 5th Ashes Test of 2005, where he hit a century which set up the scene for Kevin Pietersen, and the last day of the series"
1716 runs @ 50.47
"Giant
BRUCE TAYLOR
The Kiwi seam bowler, who's very much useful with the bat, will be used as a backup bowler, but his talents are known to us all here, and if impresses, he could be used to strengthen the bowling if it needs it at any point"
898 runs @ 20.40
111 wickets @ 26.60
"Dragon
CYRIL WALTERS
The flairy batsman from Glamorgan, is at Grace Road, to open the batting against the best bowling in the world (and Danish Kaneria, from the Western Vikings), and he's relishing the prospect like everyone would"
784 runs @ 52.26
"Tugga
STEVE WAUGH
Waugh, one of the greatest tacticians in the history of the game will be LEADING THE LEICESTERSHIRE FOXES! That's right, Mr Waugh will be the captain for this season"
10927 runs @ 51.06
92 wickets @ 37.44
"Liverpool versus
EVERTON WEEKES
Weekes, one of the great batsmen of history, Everton was one of the 3 W's that graced West Indian cricket at the same time, and will hopefully be able to form the same partnership with Steve Waugh here"
4455 runs @ 58.61
1 wicket @ 77
That's our squad of 16 players.
We will now announce what our first choice team will be:
LEICESTERSHIRE FOXES
Cyril Walters
Andrew Strauss
Rahul Dravid
Everton Weekes
Steve Waugh(c)
Denis Compton
Adam Gilchrist(wk)
Imran Khan
Billy Bates
Alec Bedser
Allan Donald
The formation of the Foxes
Lots of fans had flocked to see the 16 players finally united in the one place.
There had been rumours about the captaincy, with Imran Khan and Steve Waugh, the frontrunners, and a media circus had been tracking their every move, until they arrived in Leicester, yesterday morning.
It is reported that all 16 players have been given houses or flats, obviously quite luxurious, in the Leicestershire area, and that the pay, is around 50,000 a week for most players.
Then, at exactly 1 o'clock, BST, the Chairman and Head Selector, Jamee Gray, stepped up to the podium, and addressed the media, and the fans.
"Ladies and gentlemen. I welcome you to witness a great day in cricketing history! A great day in Leicestershire history! A great day for the 16 men who have been selected to play here! A great day!"
The crowd stirred and cheered at this memorable speech.
"So now, I reveal the 16 players who will play for the Leicestershire Foxes!"
The board of the Foxes had been careful and had infact only realeased 3 names, Steve Waugh, Imran Khan and Alan Donald.
"In alphabetical order, we have our first player.
BILLY BATES
The English off spinner will be leading our spin attack, and allthough the Grace Road pitch isn't a spinners paridice, the whole team is confident that he will be a force to be reckoned with"
The big screen flashes up with stats.
656 runs @ 27.33
50 wickets @ 16.42
"The second member of the squad is:
ALEC BEDSER
The seam bowler, from England again, is a great exponant of swing and seam, not relying on raw pace, but instead on out thinking the batsmen, and being a great player as part of a unit"
714 runs @ 12.75
236 wickets @ 24.89
"The third man:
DENIS COMPTON
Yet another Englishman, Compton is a top line batsman, and will be one of the key figures in the middle order, forging big totals, and sending us to victory"
5807 runs @ 50.06
25 wickets @ 56.39
"Our 4th player:
ALLAN DONALD
The South African, Donald is a great bowler, who will go down as one of the best players ever to come out of his nation. Returning to teams under Jamee Gray, after playing for the Basin Reserve Bears last year"
652 runs @ 10.68
330 wickets @ 22.25
"Fantastic 5!
RAHUL DRAVID
Dravid, one of the greatest ever Indians, is also one of greatest batsmen of the modern age, "The Wall" who has been a solid player, will quite possibly lead the batting attack, and will need to contribute well for the Foxes to go well"
7894 runs @ 57.62
1 wicket @ 39
"The Wicket Keeper
ADAM GILCHRIST
Gilchrist, is the best wicket-keeper batsman in the history of Test Cricket. His destructive batting, from Number 7 has seen off many a team, and while he does admit he's not the greatest wicket keeper the world has seen, he's up to the standard, and was Our First Man Drafted"
4728 runs @ 52.53
"Our Sri Lankan
ASANKA GURUSINHA
A technical batsman, Gurusinha was thought to be the future of wicket-keeping in Sri Lanka, but as it turned out he was a solid specialist batsmen for many years, and will be a useful squad member"
2452 runs @ 38.92
20 wickets @ 34.04
"The Great Allrounder
IMRAN KHAN
One of the greatest cricketers ever, a fantastic fast bowler, who ripped through lineups single handedly and could then come out and bat them out of the game, and he used his talent to its full extent, and will be key in the Foxes season"
3807 runs @ 37.69
362 wickets @ 22.81
"Bhajji!
HARBHAJAN SINGH
The offspinner, who's been tricking batsmen with his armoury of variations and tricks for many years, is a very mysterious player, famous for his turban, and will be weaving his magic at Grace Road this year"
782 runs @ 14.48
205 wickets @ 28.25
"The dangerous dynamo
TIP SNOOKE
Tip, hailing from South Africa, is a dangerous weapon with the ball, and will be running in this year looking to use his economical bowling effectively"
1008 runs @ 22.39
35 wickets @ 20.05
"The water boy
PAUL STRANG
Paul is being dubbed as a "token Zimbabwean" and that's he's "only in the team to fill the quota." Out you come Paul!"
839 runs @ 27.06
70 wickets @ 36.02
"The new kid on the block
ANDREW STRAUSS
The English opener, will be a great asset to the team, with his determined batting, which really came to the fore in the 5th Ashes Test of 2005, where he hit a century which set up the scene for Kevin Pietersen, and the last day of the series"
1716 runs @ 50.47
"Giant
BRUCE TAYLOR
The Kiwi seam bowler, who's very much useful with the bat, will be used as a backup bowler, but his talents are known to us all here, and if impresses, he could be used to strengthen the bowling if it needs it at any point"
898 runs @ 20.40
111 wickets @ 26.60
"Dragon
CYRIL WALTERS
The flairy batsman from Glamorgan, is at Grace Road, to open the batting against the best bowling in the world (and Danish Kaneria, from the Western Vikings), and he's relishing the prospect like everyone would"
784 runs @ 52.26
"Tugga
STEVE WAUGH
Waugh, one of the greatest tacticians in the history of the game will be LEADING THE LEICESTERSHIRE FOXES! That's right, Mr Waugh will be the captain for this season"
10927 runs @ 51.06
92 wickets @ 37.44
"Liverpool versus
EVERTON WEEKES
Weekes, one of the great batsmen of history, Everton was one of the 3 W's that graced West Indian cricket at the same time, and will hopefully be able to form the same partnership with Steve Waugh here"
4455 runs @ 58.61
1 wicket @ 77
That's our squad of 16 players.
We will now announce what our first choice team will be:
LEICESTERSHIRE FOXES
Cyril Walters
Andrew Strauss
Rahul Dravid
Everton Weekes
Steve Waugh(c)
Denis Compton
Adam Gilchrist(wk)
Imran Khan
Billy Bates
Alec Bedser
Allan Donald
