All-Time England Test Draft

[Aislabie]

Paul Collingwood

Test stats: 4,259 runs @ 40.56 (10 centuries, best 206) in 68 matches
First-class stats: 16,938 runs @ 35.65 (35 centuries, best 206) in 306 matches

Paul Collingwood was not blessed with incredible talent. He did not score freely; he did not look comfortable at the crease. His batting did not inspire confidence, and nor was it especially likely to turn a game on its head in the space of a session. He did not appear in Brylcreem adverts, or really any adverts. He did not even have a positive VARP, owing to his time in the middle-order coinciding with Hussey, Clarke and Chanderpaul all averaging over 60 in the same role while Bell and Prior both averaged over 50 - Prior doing so at nearly five an over - contributing to a truly top-quality "replacement" player.

But I love Paul Collingwood; he was and probably still is my favourite English cricketer. He also scored an Ashes double-century, worked harder than anyone else, and was an entirely selfless team man who backed his bowlers up better than anyone else in the field. He also got an MBE for scoring 7 and 10. I am happy with this pick.

1. Dennis Amiss ( 81.10%)
2. Colin Cowdrey ( 28.53%)
3. Ken Barrington ( 65.29%)
4. Duleepsinhji ( 25.58%}
5. Ranjitsinhji ( 15.84%)
6. Paul Collingwood ( 2.85%)
7.
8. Hedley Verity ( 105.02%)
9. George Lohmann ( 104.83%)
10. John Snow ( 6.90%)
11. Bob Appleyard ( 38.96%)

@Yash.

 

[Yash.]

That was my next pick...

 

[Bevab]

Colly is a national treasure, there should be no ifs or buts over picking him.

 

[Ashutosh.]

That was my next pick...

That was my next pick too.

 

[Aislabie]

I'm very pleased with how that played out; I knew Collingwood would never go unpicked, but was reasonably confident that he'd be a bunch of people's last batsman. Figured I'd leave him as late as I could while I went after guys like Snow and Cowdrey

 

[Yash.]

Jonny Bairstow for me...

 

[ahmedleo414]

@Ashutosh. For the next pick

 

[Ashutosh.]

Brian Statham

1. Graham Gooch
2.
3. Joe Root
4. Kevin Pietersen
5. Ian Bell
6. Matt Prior
7. Moeen Ali
8. Graeme Swann
9. Brain Statham
10. James Anderson
11. Matthew Hoggard

@Bevab

 

[ahmedleo414]

@Bevab has the next pick not @blockerdave

 

[blockerdave]

@Bevab is late, so I’ll go ahead with my double pick to complete my team.

Firstly, I pick TOM GRAVENEY as my number 3 batsman. Graveney averaged 49.45 at number 3 (against a career average of 44.38) and scored 4 of his 11 test hundreds from that position.

Graveney was a classy, elegant batsman. In his early career he was in and out of the England side, largely due to the mistrust of Len Hutton, who felt Graveney “wasn’t the man for a crisis”. This was a very unfair judgment, Graveney thrived on responsibility as his higher average at number 3 shows. Possessor of one of the most elegant cover drives in the game, Graveney rounds out my top order, and adds the benefit of being someone who’ll help get the best out of Basil D’Oliveira, due to their close friendship. (If they don’t get too pissed.)

My final pick, is RAY ILLINGWORTH. To most people my age, Illingworth is primarily known for his awful period as England’s cricket “supremo” in the 90s. He ruined Devon Malcolm by tinkering with his action, prematurely jettisoned Robin Smith, and selected countless awful players. But as a player Illlingworth was a talented spinning all rounder and great captain. He was particularly effective as an attacking captain managing fast bowlers, and he has a battery of 4 top-class bowlers, 3 of whom are genuinely fast. As a spinner, he relied as much on flight and guile as big turn, but he’s an English off-spinner: of course he did! He was a doughty batsman, with a lot of not-outs, and 2 test hundreds. He raised his game against the best opponents, as in the 1970 series vs Rest of the World.

So then, my team is:

1. Herbert Sutcliffe
2. Michael Vaughan
3. TOM GRAVENEY
4. Graham Thorpe
5. Basil D'Oliveira
6. Ben Stokes
7. RAY ILLINGWORTH (c)
8. Jack Russell (wk)
9. Harold Larwood
10. Darren Gough
11. Simon Jones

Very pleased with that. In the mould of the 2005 ashes team a little - heavy on the seam bowling and with a generally containing spinner. But it is a high-quality team with every player in their best role, bats deep, and with a captain who can get the best out of his arsenal of fast bowlers.

@Ashutosh.

 

[Bevab]

I'll take Godfrey Evans. His infectious energy and the charisma he brought to the zone behind the stumps ensured that his name will always be there in any Hall of Fame for England's greatest wicket-keepers. Miraculous saves and catches are only a part of his extensive gallery filled with the spectacular and showman attitude he brought to a position that was normally regarded as nothing more than a shadow's role. Unlike some of the other contenders for the best keepers, Evans was more than handy with the bat too, averaging 20 in times where Les Ames was the only one who could have been regarded as a superior batsman. Without any doubt, he would be good enough to play in any era as a specialist keeper first and still average in the high 20s in the modern era. For the number eight spot where he shall slot in my side, that is more than enough. Alan Knott may be widely regarded as England's greatest keeper, but Evans does very well offer him stiff competition for that.

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

 

[Ashutosh.]

Marcus Trescothick

Graham Gooch
Marcus Trescothick
Joe Root
Kevin Pietersen
Ian Bell
Matt Prior
Moeen Ali
Graeme Swann
Brain Statham
James Anderson
Matthew Hoggard

 

[blockerdave]

@ahmedleo414

 

[ahmedleo414]

My final pick will be Trevor Bailey (late steal of the draft??)

Stats||Matches||Runs||HS|| Ave||100s/50s||Wkts||BBI||BBM|| Ave||Econ||5w/10w
First-Class | |682| |28,641| |205| |33.42| |28/150| |2,082| |10/90| |?| |23.13| |2.47| |110/13
Test | |61| |2,290| |134*| |29.74| |2/32| |132| |7/34| |11/98| |29.21| |2.38| |5/1

A bit of his bio from wiki:

"An all-rounder, Bailey was known for his skilful but unspectacular batting. As the BBC reflected in his obituary: "His stubborn refusal to be out normally brought more pleasure to the team than to the spectators." This defensive style of play brought him the first of his nicknames, "Barnacle Bailey", but he was a good enough cricketer that he has retrospectively been calculated to have been the leading all-rounder in the world for most of his international career....

...He remains the only player since the Second World War to score more than 2,000 runs in a season and take 100 wickets, a feat he achieved in 1959, and he achieved the all-rounders' double of 1,000 runs and 100 wickets in a season eight times, a post-World War II record he shares with Fred Titmus. He was selected as one of the five Wisden Cricketers of the Year in 1950. He is also one of three players (the others are Fred Titmus and Ray Illingworth) to have scored 20,000 first-class runs and taken 2,000 wickets since the Second World War. According to the retrospectively calculated ICC cricket ratings, for most of his career, Bailey was the best all-rounder in the world. In the individual disciplines, his bowling saw him achieve the higher ranking, as high as eighth in the summer of 1957."

​

ahmedleo414's England all time playing XI:

1. Leonard Hutton
2. W.G. Grace
3. Jonathan Trott
4. Frank Wooley
5. Allan Lamb
6. Ian Botham
7. Alan Knott
8. Trevor Bailey
9. Jofra Archer
10. Tony Lock
11. Bob Willis

Overall, this is probably one of my favourite teams I have ever picked in a draft. I am very happy with how the whole team comes together. I may even move Alan down and Trevor up, but for now I am happy with the lineup.

@Yash. to finish out his team

 

[Yash.]

Eddie Paynter for me...

@Bevab