Draft: All-Time England ODI XI

[Aislabie]

Weirdly I’m picking a player who I’d probably also pick if we were doing a draft for worst test xi.

First of all, Mullally is a great pick.

And secondly, you're going to enjoy my next draft idea then...

 

[NILAYSHAH60]

True; for the likes of Rashid, Bopara and Kieswetter (yes, I know that one was me), Tredwell and Mascarenhas to go before Fairbrother is still blasphemy though.

It also comes down to the roles you are looking in your team. I already had my top 4 picked so I was looking at an all-rounder in my team unfortunately Flintoff, Stokes and Collingwood were picked already so I didn't really find any other choice to get in an all-rounder in the team. Can't risk the last choice left being already picked by someone else. This is the disadvantage when we have a draft being conducted, but that is what it makes it competitive.

 

[NILAYSHAH60]

Mike Denness​

My next pick is this Scottish player who played for England during the early 70s era. He was a right-handed middle order batsman. He was a very confident player and loved to take on the short ball. His back-foot play was good especially in the conditions which had bounce. He was the first player to Captain England in the WC. He was a powerful striker of the ball but relied more on his timing. He loved to score his runs quick and fast and was instrumental in England reaching the Semi-final in the 1975 WC which England unfortunately lost to Australia in a low-scoring one-sided affair. He took on some of the great bowlers in his time. Had ODI Cricket started earlier he would've been a great player for England

MY XI so far

1. Jason Roy
2. Andrew Strauss
3. Graham Gooch
4. Kevin Pietersen
5. Mike Denness
6.
7. Dimitri Mascarenhas
8.
9. Adil Rashid
10.
11.

@Sinister One is up now

 

[Master Bates]

Robin Smith
and Andy Caddick

@NilayShah60

 

[blockerdave]

Robin Smith
and Andy Caddick

@NilayShah60

top choice on Smith - he was down for my next or next next pick

 

[Aislabie]

Robin Smith was also my next pick.

It was him or Ealham, then the other to be picked next.

I have made an error.

 

[blockerdave]

Robin Smith was also my next pick.

It was him or Ealham, then the other to be picked next.

I have made an error.

I was surprised on Ealham... based on his prior picks i'm a little worried that @NilayShah60 might also consider who I'm planning for my next pick, but I think my remaining picks, based on who others have picked and the bases they've covered in their side, I should be ok.

 

[Aislabie]

I was surprised on Ealham... based on his prior picks i'm a little worried that @NilayShah60 might also consider who I'm planning for my next pick, but I think my remaining picks, based on who others have picked and the bases they've covered in their side, I should be ok.

It's tricky for sure; I'm thinking I might leave number three until last as it's the role in my side for which there are most options (which is why I prioritised Ealham). I have a few contingency plans for the rest of my side though

 

[NILAYSHAH60]

Graeme Fowler
​

Graeme Fowler was a left hand wicket-keeper batsman who played 26 ODIs for England. He made his debut against New Zealand in 1983 at the SCG. He scored 744 runs at an average of 31.00. His strike-rate still seemed to be a bit lower but he was a lot more capable then that. He was at his prime in the 1983 WC where he went on to score 4 consecutive fifties which prooved to be crucial in taking England through to the Semi-Final and included a best of 81* against Sri Lanka. The major characteristics of his batting was his back-foot play. He played the ball extremely late but his timing was crisp. He was quite comfortable in ducking under those quick bouncers of Joel Garner and Michael Holding but he never got enough opportunites to play for England.

MY XI so far

1. Jason Roy
2. Andrew Strauss
3. Graham Gooch
4. Kevin Pietersen
5. Mike Denness
6. Graeme Fowler
7. Dimitri Mascarenhas
8.
9. Adil Rashid
10.
11.

@blockerdave​

 

[NILAYSHAH60]

I feel like I should've taken Samit Patel instead of Mascarenhas

 

[NILAYSHAH60]

I am already up with my 3 seamers but I am bit worried that they could well be taken by other members especially with @Aislabie with all his knowledge about the game would be having an eye on them

 

[blockerdave]

Fowler! A very interesting choice and one I hadn't considered at all.

My next choice is Chris Lewis.

Lewis was something of an unfulfilled talent, particularly with the bat. A man with 9 FC hundreds including one in a test match should really have averaged better than 14.38 in ODI. Still, he gives me a fantastic fielder, another strike bowler (66 wickets at 29.42 with economy rate of 4.43 and strike rate of 39.7) and dangerous lower order hitting (374 runs at 14.38 with a strike rate of 81.48.)

Lewis was of course a crucial part of our 1992 WC squad. With a pace quartet of Botham, Mullally, Plunkett and Lewis I feel there's a lot of wickets there, allowing the 5th bowler to be more containing. All of those apart from Mullally can be expected to contribute with the bat too.

1. Trescothick
2. Hales
3. Hick
4. ...
5. Fairbrother
6. Botham
7. Lewis
8. Plunkett
9. ....
10. ....
11. Mullally

If I get the remaining players I'm hoping to believe I'll have a strong and balanced side.

I've taken the advice of @Aislabie to put Botham further down the order, but I'm happy that anyone from 3-6 could bat in any of those positions. There's an argument that Lewis/Plunkett might be a place too high, but I'm backing them.

all yours @Aislabie

 

[Aislabie]

Overall Pick #46: Steven Finn

Profile
He may have only just turned thirty, but Steven Finn is already something of a has-been. Constant tinkering and over-coaching of his bowling action rendered him "unselectable" in the words of former England limited-overs coach and prize bellend Ashley Giles. It is a crying shame that he has come to be remembered for this as opposed to a two-year period in which he was one of the best and most hostile ODI fast bowlers in the world. Finn first broke into the world's top-ten bowlers on the 21st February 2012 on the back of six excellent months in which he terrorised India and Pakistan's batsmen on benign pitches. Although he faded out of the top ten 20 months later, his contributions during that time are hard to overstate. In 31 One-Day Internationals during his purple patch, he took 51 wickets at an exemplary average of 24.25 whilst conceding only 4.5 runs per over. Without Finn shouldering responsibility for an entire bowling attack at this time, England's lethargic batting order would absolutely not have been enough to make them the number one ranked team in the world.

Statistics

| | Right-handed batsman | Right-arm fast bowler |
England ODIs|69 matches|136 runs @ 8.00, SR: 60.98 (best 38)|102 wickets @ 29.37, econ. 5.06 (2 5WI, best: 5/33)|15 catches
List A|144 matches|411 runs @ 12.08, SR: 67/48 (best 42*)|201 wickets @ 29.08, econ. 5.14 (3 5WI, best: 5/33)|33 catches

Finest Performances

(Finn took 13 wickets @ 10.30 in this series; unfortunately, the only highlights available are hour-long PTV Sports videos)

Aislabie's XI so far:
1. Craig Kieswetter (Pick #22)
2. Dennis Amiss (Pick #9)
3.
4. Eoin Morgan (Pick #15)
5. Allan Lamb (Pick #33)
6. Andrew Flintoff (Pick #4)
7. Moeen Ali (Pick #28)
8. Mark Ealham (Pick #39)
9.
10.
11. Steven Finn (Pick #46)

Next pick:
@Rebel2k19

 

[Gaurav_7]

I was 50-50 between Robin Smith and James Taylor when I picked Taylor. Taylor's list A record was too good to pass on him ans hence I went ahead. I will pick Chris Woakes now. A solid lower order bat and a brilliant bowler. A perfect number 7/8.

1. Nick Knight
2. Alec Stewart
3. Joe Root
4. James Taylor
5.
6. Ben Stokes
7.
8. Chris Woakes
9.
10. Derek Underwood
11. James Anderson

 

[Gaurav_7]

@CerealKiller your turn.