Draft: Test Cricket Scrubs XI Draft

[Aislabie]

It's also @blockerdave for a second pick

 

[blockerdave]

It's also @blockerdave for a second pick

yeah sorry, a little busy will make it this evening.

 

[ahmedleo414]

Your eleven must have at least 50 Test caps between them.

I just realized, this rule isn't a max limit.... i've been making my picks based on thinking that 50 caps was the max limit....

 

[Aislabie]

I just realized, this rule isn't a max limit.... i've been making my picks based on thinking that 50 caps was the max limit....

Ironically, that's a pretty good route to picking a good XI. If somebody has played just one Test and failed in it (see: Ken Meuleman) then they probably just didn't get enough opportunities. If they played a dozen Tests and failed in all of those (see: Louis Stricker) then that's probably a problem with them.

Of course, with Duckworth, Kelly and Strudwick all available as keepers, nobody was ever really in any danger of falling short

 

[ahmedleo414]

@blockerdave missed his time @qpeedore has the next pick again

 

[qpeedore]

One of the few picks who still plays international cricket, Wiaan Mulder is probably the most likely of the lot to continue to play Tests, and who probably won't remain on the scrubs list for very long, if his recent performances against Sri Lanka are anything to go by. Still only 22, he has potential by the truckload and given time and an extended run in the team, he will go a long way. He'll be the first one to tell you he isn't what you'll call a strike bowler. His job is to keep things quiet at his end while the attack happens from the other end. But there's no denying that for a non-strike bowler, he strikes pretty frequently enough - 99 FC wickets at a SR of 44.4 isn't too shabby. That ends up pretty much averaging out to about a wicket per spell. With the bat, he's handy rather than an outright superstar, but again, the potential is there for him to turn into something resembling Kallis. His career can only go up, so here's to hoping that he keeps fit and works hard at his game.

3 Tests, average 14.25, best 36 - 10 wickets at 19.70, best 3/25
35 FC, averge 38.73, best 146, 5 centuries, 5 fifties - 99 wickets at 24.43, best 7/25

1.
2. Shafiq Ahmed (Facilitating opener)
3.
4.
5. Chandu Sarwate (Jack of all trades, second spinner, offie and leggie, mostly leggie)
6. Chandrakant Pandit (Middle order anchor)
7. Dane Vilas (Second new ball specialist batsman)
8. Wiaan Mulder (Lower order batsman, workhorse seamer)
9. Chris Drum (Second seamer, short spells)
10. Shaun Tait (First seamer, short spells)
11. Tabraiz Shamsi (Strike spinner, chinaman spin)

39/50 caps currently

@Aislabie

 

[blockerdave]

Sorry, my pick is Chris Cowdrey

 

[Aislabie]

Sameer Dighe

Test stats: 141 runs @ 15.66 (best 47) and 14 dismissals (12 ct, 2 st) in 6 matches
First-class stats: 3,958 runs @ 35.98 (10 centuries, best 153) and 288 dismissals (243 ct, 45 st) in 83 matches

With my first and second choice keepers disappearing in quick succession, I've decided to pick up my third choice so that I don't end up having to scrape the barrel and pick Richmond Mutumbami. Dighe was pretty good - a 32-year-old Test debutant, selected for the third installment of one of the very greatest Test series of all time, Dighe held his nerve batting at number seven to guide the run-chase that sealed the most improbable of series comebacks. He was similarly respectable behind the stumps, but this was the era when India went all-in on picking kids to keep wicket in the hope they'd mature into Test players - which neither Parthiv Patel, nor Dinesh Karthik, ever really did.

@Aislabie's XI so far:
1.
2. Ken Meuleman
3.
4. Usman Salahuddin
5.
6. Simon O'Donnell
7. Sameer Dighe
8. Pat Trimborn
9. Pat Crawford
10. Dick Tyldesley
11. Gordon Rorke

(33 of 50 caps)

@Yash.

 

[Aislabie]

@Yash. is late; @Dale88 is up

 

[Ed Smith]

1.Lendl Simmons
3.Shujauddin
4.Ed Joyce
5. Ronnie Irani
7. Guy de Alwis
8.Gareth Batty
10.Nixon McLean
11.Lonwabo Tsotobe



Some runs, some wickets. Bits and pieces. What a dream.

@Yash. For the late one or @ahmedleo414 to carry on

 

[Aislabie]

You're certainly racking up your cap count. Would be amusing to stick him at five, seeing as it's the only place in the batting order where he didn't fail

 

[Ed Smith]

You're certainly racking up your cap count. Would be amusing to stick him at five, seeing as it's the only place in the batting order where he didn't fail

I'm intrigued to see how many pointless caps I can aquire

 

[ahmedleo414]

So my pick will be Dulip Samaraweera

Stats	Matches	Runs	HS	Batting Ave	100s/50s
First Class	136	7,210	250*	39.18	16/34
Test	7	211	42	15.07	0/0

From cricinfo:

"Dulip Samaraweera was a determined stoic opening batsman. Chosen as a replacement for Chandika Hathrurusinghe, Samaraweera did not do enough in his limited opportunities to warrant further selection. Making his debut against the West Indies in the inaugural Test between the two nations, he scored 16 and 5. In the following three-Test series against India he failed to pass 50 in any of his six innings. A solid batsman at domestic level, for Sri Lanka he fell below the required standard. When he did see off the opening bowlers he failed to display the required strokeplay to take full advantage, failing to pass 50 in 14 Test innings. He was a handy offspiner."

I feel like he got unlucky in his selection, considering he was playing during Sri Lankas peak in the mid 90s, and because of the quality of players at the time did not get another chance to play.

1. ?
2. Dulip Samaraweera
3. ?
4. Azmat Rana
5. Charles Passailaigue
6. ?
7. Nigel Haig
8. James Foster
9. Sam Staples
10. Kabir Khan
11. Les Jackson

Test caps used (30/50)

@Dale88 you are next

 

[Aislabie]

Dsmmit - Dulip was my pick for my second opener and I felt so sure no-one else would nab him

 

[ahmedleo414]

@Dale88 missed his time @Yash. Has the next pick