All-Time England Test Draft

[Bevab]

There aren't a whole lot of good all-rounders left so I shall pick one of the few left in Tony Greig. Has gone a bit under the radar with the other more fashionable fiery all-rounders being the talk of the town but Greig was no slouch himself either, averaging 40 with the bat, eight tons in varied places and six five-wicket hauls, only one less than Stokes and Flintoff combined. He shall offer some good balance to my side. As for the second pick, I shall opt for Denis Compton, another one of England's greatest batsmen of all-time and a name that I'm surprised still remains up for grabs. He slots in right at number four and he can be relied on to roll his arm over if required as shown by a five-wicket haul.

1. Jack Hobbs
2. ?
3. ?
4. Denis Compton
   
5. ?
6. Tony Greig
7. ?
8. ?
9. ?
10. Fred Trueman
11. Sydney Barnes

 

[ahmedleo414]

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

Also first post has been updated with the picks

 

[Yash.]

Frank Tyson for me

 

[ahmedleo414]

dang, that was going to be my next pick

 

[Ed Smith]

My team needs some wickets, so I'll take Deadly Derek Underwood and his 297 test wickets.

1. Alistair Cook
2. Andrew Strauss
3. Alec Stewart
6. Freddie Flintoff
9. Derek Underwood
10.Steve Harmison

@blockerdave

 

[blockerdave]

My team needs some wickets, so I'll take Deadly Derek Underwood and his 297 test wickets.

1. Alistair Cook
2. Andrew Strauss
3. Alec Stewart
6. Freddie Flintoff
9. Derek Underwood
10.Steve Harmison

@blockerdave

was gonna be my spinner!

for now I’ll continue batting focus and take Graham Thorpe. Played in a rubbish team, against some of the best bowlers in history, and averaged nearly 45.
Nasser Hussain talks of selectors meetings where a selector would say “but what does Thorpe give you apart from the runs?” And he’d say “I’ll take the runs thanks”.

I’ll take the runs too, from a genuine great.[DOUBLEPOST=1606127064][/DOUBLEPOST]Next up is @Bevab

 

[Bevab]

Underwood was supposed to be my previous pick until I noticed that Compton was unpicked. Oh well. Might as well go with his nemesis, Lord Ted Dexter who had his number in the 60s in county cricket. The Lord (one of the few who could unironically claim that title given how good he was) was equally skilled versus pace and took a particular liking to the highest of speeds, right from the type of bowling he liked, his aggressive style at the crease and love for races and bikes. And he could bat for long periods to save a game if required too as Australia found to their detriment when he saved a test at the Edgbaston fortress with an excellent 180. Five out of his nine test centuries were over 150, showing that he could convert those centuries into big ones. Dexter's medium pace was more than handy too and he was one of the foremost strategists in the early days of OD cricket with his innovative field placements and strategies that were borne out of his superb tactical mind. Players with such personalities usually tend to be short on substance compared to style but Dexter indeed had both to offer to a grateful English and Sussex sides.

1. Jack Hobbs
2. ?
3. Ted Dexter
   
4. Denis Compton
   
5. ?
6. Tony Greig
7. ?
8. ?
9. ?
10. Fred Trueman
11. Sydney Barnes

@Ashutosh. is next.

 

[Ashutosh.]

Matt Prior

1. Graham Gooch
2.
3. Joe Root
4. Kevin Pietersen
5.
6.
7. Matt Prior
8.
9. Graeme Swann
10.
11. James Anderson

@Aislabie

 

[Aislabie]

Ranjitsinhji

Test stats: 989 runs @ 44.95 (2 centuries, best 175) in 15 matches
First-class stats: 24,692 runs @ 56.37 (72 centuries, best 285*) in 307 matches

He might not look it from that photograph, but Ranjitsinhji was the game's second great batting pioneer after WG Grace, responsible for revolutionising batting by redefining the norms around leg-side play, as well as reinventing most of the shots that that included. The only real question is of where he should bat; despite it not being his favourite position, I'm going to go with number four. His top order VARP is not quite what it could have been due to lack of information from scorecards of the time, as well as that some of his finest innings occurred down the order on a drying wicket, as batting orders used to be far more flexible.

1. Dennis Amiss ( 81.10%)
2.
3. Ken Barrington ( 65.29%)
4. Ranjitsinhji ( 15.84%)
5.
6.
7.
8. Hedley Verity ( 105.02%)
9. George Lohmann ( 104.83%)
10.
11. Bob Appleyard ( 38.96%)

@ahmedleo414

 

[ahmedleo414]

This will be more difficult than I thought since my next 3 picks were taken. I have to regroup and think of another pick

 

[ahmedleo414]

I'm going to have to go with Jofra Archer, true he's still young in his career but I feel like he's one for the future.

@Bevab

 

[Bevab]

I shall pick Billy Bates as my next pick. While it is tough to ascertain how good players were in the 19th century, Bates was very much a right-handed Ravindra Jadeja of his day as one of the era's better batsmen and an outstanding bowler, with the only difference being that Bates was not a good catcher at all. All of his fifteen tests were overseas on Australian grounds (England's highest wicket-taker in the 1880s over there) and he was England's first hat-trick hero whose 14 wicket haul led England to a superb win in Melbourne over Australia by an innings. It is a pity that his career was cut short by a freak accident to his eye at the peak of his powers. Had he played on without any such incident, we might have seen far more plaudits that a player of his skill and class deserve.

1. Jack Hobbs
2. ?
3. Ted Dexter
   
4. Denis Compton
   
5. ?
6. Tony Greig
7. Billy Bates
   
8. ?
9. ?
10. Fred Trueman
11. Sydney Barnes

@Aislabie to continue.

 

[ahmedleo414]

@Aislabie has just over an hour to make his pick otherwise @Dale88 can go ahead

 

[Ed Smith]

1. Alistair Cook
2. Andrew Strauss
3. Alec Stewart
4. David Gower
6. Freddie Flintoff
9. Derek Underwood
10.Steve Harmison

 

[Aislabie]

Duleepsinhji

Test stats: 995 runs @ 58.52 (3 centuries, best 173) in 12 matches
First-class stats: 15,485 runs @ 49.95 (50 centuries, best 333) in 307 matches

Like father, like son. The perfect number four and five duo. Duleep averaged over 60 in the top three, and manages a healthy positive VARP in the role despite sharing his Test career with fellow top-order giants Wally Hammond and Don Bradman. Duleep's short dalliance with Test cricket was mightily impressive.

1. Dennis Amiss ( 81.10%)
2.
3. Ken Barrington ( 65.29%)
4. Duleepsinhji ( 25.58%}
5. Ranjitsinhji ( 15.84%)
6.
7.
8. Hedley Verity ( 105.02%)
9. George Lohmann ( 104.83%)
10.
11. Bob Appleyard ( 38.96%)