Well I am a little surprised. You'd take Blythe ahead of all but one of Underwood, Bedi, Verity, Lock, Wardle, Peel or Briggs? But he does have a great average. Is there a reason he didn't play that many Tests? Was it the competition for a spot? (like Phil Mead or modern day players like Hodge, Lehmann and MacGill) or was it because of injury?
A Leftie's draft
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Well I am a little surprised. You'd take Blythe ahead of all but one of Underwood, Bedi, Verity, Lock, Wardle, Peel or Briggs? But he does have a great average. Is there a reason he didn't play that many Tests? Was it the competition for a spot? (like Phil Mead or modern day players like Hodge, Lehmann and MacGill) or was it because of injury?
drainpipe32
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I had Paynter on my list too, averaged 85 against Australia! Was tempted to go with him ahead of Lehmann but really cbfed picking a random.
Cricketman
ICC Chairman
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Is it my turn or Gazzas?
drainpipe32
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My desired pick is an Aussie, and I've already got 4!
My old school bowling line-up continues.
Frank Foster
Really what I wanted was a strike bowler here, and Foster fits that bill. Only played 11 tests but had a better SR than Akram with 54.3 and a bowling average of 20.57. Also had an ER of just 2.27. His record was identical over 159 FC games but with a SR of 46.4. He was also a fantastic hitter, with a test average of 23.57 and a FC average of 26.61, including a triple hundred.
This gives me a tail where everybody averages above 18 at test and FC level.
Matthew Hayden
Justin Langer
Gary Sobers(c)^
Alvin Kallicharan
Simon Katich^
Darren Lehmann^
Parthiv Patel(+)
Frank Foster^
Hedley Verity^
Bill Voce^
Tony Lock^
My old school bowling line-up continues.
Frank Foster
Really what I wanted was a strike bowler here, and Foster fits that bill. Only played 11 tests but had a better SR than Akram with 54.3 and a bowling average of 20.57. Also had an ER of just 2.27. His record was identical over 159 FC games but with a SR of 46.4. He was also a fantastic hitter, with a test average of 23.57 and a FC average of 26.61, including a triple hundred.
This gives me a tail where everybody averages above 18 at test and FC level.
Matthew Hayden
Justin Langer
Gary Sobers(c)^
Alvin Kallicharan
Simon Katich^
Darren Lehmann^
Parthiv Patel(+)
Frank Foster^
Hedley Verity^
Bill Voce^
Tony Lock^
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drainpipe32
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Those are people who bowl.
shravi
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He died aged 38 for one! World War 1 cut short what could have been a great career.
Peel played a similar number of tests, as did Wardle. Wardle's strike rate threw me off a little bit. Briggs was the other guy I was looking at. I guess it would actually be third choice (tied with Briggs as I would have been happy to get either), behind Underwood and Verity.
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Fair enough 
And talking about strike rates, that's what makes it so hard to compare across eras. Saw some numbers the other day for bowlers that were interesting just showing the average strike rate and economy rate over time and how it's changed:
Before WWI: S/R: 54.1, RPO: 2.71
WW1-WW2: S/R: 73.5, RPO: 2.69
PostWW2-1970: S/R: 76.9, RPO: 2.43
1970-1989: S/R: 70.5, RPO: 2.78
1990-1999: S/R: 66.4, RPO: 2.86
2000-2010: S/R: 64.1, RPO: 3.21
Watching cricket after WW2 must have been tiring. Highest strike rate and lowest RPO. At least they bowled their overs quickly though :sarcasm
And talking about strike rates, that's what makes it so hard to compare across eras. Saw some numbers the other day for bowlers that were interesting just showing the average strike rate and economy rate over time and how it's changed:Before WWI: S/R: 54.1, RPO: 2.71
WW1-WW2: S/R: 73.5, RPO: 2.69
PostWW2-1970: S/R: 76.9, RPO: 2.43
1970-1989: S/R: 70.5, RPO: 2.78
1990-1999: S/R: 66.4, RPO: 2.86
2000-2010: S/R: 64.1, RPO: 3.21
Watching cricket after WW2 must have been tiring. Highest strike rate and lowest RPO. At least they bowled their overs quickly though :sarcasm
Cricketman
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John Edrich
Cricinfo describes Edrich as 'the sort of opening batsman that every team-mate. and all selection panels, yearns for'. He was dogged and fearless, providing a calm presence at the top of the order for the English side. He was known for his strong offside play - his cut and coverdrive were among the best the game has seen. His highest score of 310* came against New Zealand in 1965, and in the same year he was given the Wisden's Cricketer of the Year award. In the same year, he scored 2319 runs at an average of 63, and at one point his last 9 innings read 139, 121*, 205*, 55, 96, 188, 92, 105 and 310*.
During the course of his Test career, Erdich scored 5138 runs in 77 matches at an average of 43.54, with 12 hundreds to his name. In FC cricket he scored nearly 40,000 runs, with a whopping 103 centuries.
He provides perfect foil for the aggressive Roy Fredericks at the top of the order, but he too can play the punishers role at the top of the innings.
1. Roy Fredericks (WI)
2. John Edrich (ENG)
3. Kumar Sangakkara (wk) (SRL)
4. Graeme Pollock (RSA)
5. Michael Hussey (AUS)
6. Ashwell Prince (RSA)
7. Wilfred Rhodes (ENG)
8.
9. Zaheer Khan (IND)
10. BS Bedi (IND)
11. Bill Whitty (AUS)
Really loving that batting lineup
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But I think I'm the only guy left who needs an opener so I'll be able to have any non Aussie/English opener I like 
mattfb
Chairman of Selectors
Bob Cowper
Cowper was an intelligent batsmen who scored 2061 runs for Australia with an average of 46. Before Haydens 380, he had the only test triple century on Australian soil with 307. He also scored over 10,000 FC runs at just over 53. Cowper could bowl a little, with 36 test wickets @ 31.
1. Mark Taylor
2. Marcus Trescothick
3. Bob Cowper
4. Brian Lara
5. Allan Border (c)
6.
7. Shakib Al Hasan
8. Jack Russell+
9. Johnny Briggs
10. Iqbal Qasim
11. Bruce Reid
drainpipe32
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Nice pick. Along with Lehmann he was very much in my considerations. But Lehmann's FC average of 57 did it for me.
And here I thought it was his great record vs Bangladesh :laugh
Dare
Chairman of Selectors
Larry Gomes
One of the lesser know West Indian cricketers Gomes was not a typical West Indian batsman. He wasn't flashy and he wasn't a big hitter of the ball but he made some really important contributions to the great West Indies team and even after peace was restored following the Packer years he kept his spot in the team. In a career spanning 11 years Gomes played 60 test matches, made 9 centuries and 13 half centuries. However it is his record against Australia that is most impressive, he scored 6 (4 in Australia) centuries and 3 fifties (all in Australia) against them at an average of 56 (70 in Australia).
Hashan Tillakaratne
I honestly had no better option. I was tired of searching for some no name guy that might turn out to be a diamond in the rough. Tillakaratne was dominant at home and average away from it. He averaged 33+ against every country and 42.8 overall during his entire career, scored 11 centuries and 20 fifties with a high score of 204* against the West Indies.
1. Saeed Anwar
2. Gary Kirsten
3. Stephen Fleming
4. Larry Gomes
5. Clive Lloyd *
6. Hashan Tillakaratne
7. Ridley Jacobs +
8. Bobby Peel
9. Derek Underwood
10. Richard Collinge
11. Pedro Collins
One of the lesser know West Indian cricketers Gomes was not a typical West Indian batsman. He wasn't flashy and he wasn't a big hitter of the ball but he made some really important contributions to the great West Indies team and even after peace was restored following the Packer years he kept his spot in the team. In a career spanning 11 years Gomes played 60 test matches, made 9 centuries and 13 half centuries. However it is his record against Australia that is most impressive, he scored 6 (4 in Australia) centuries and 3 fifties (all in Australia) against them at an average of 56 (70 in Australia).
Hashan Tillakaratne
I honestly had no better option. I was tired of searching for some no name guy that might turn out to be a diamond in the rough. Tillakaratne was dominant at home and average away from it. He averaged 33+ against every country and 42.8 overall during his entire career, scored 11 centuries and 20 fifties with a high score of 204* against the West Indies.
1. Saeed Anwar
2. Gary Kirsten
3. Stephen Fleming
4. Larry Gomes
5. Clive Lloyd *
6. Hashan Tillakaratne
7. Ridley Jacobs +
8. Bobby Peel
9. Derek Underwood
10. Richard Collinge
11. Pedro Collins
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