age of the fall
International Cricketer
Am I too late?crying Please, Ben. I really love these games! Please
Did you read it? There was no Sign up. Ben picked 5 of the top PC members. And It's a damn fine list too. I'm following this.
Aussie_Ben91's Modern-Day Fantasy Test Draft
- Thread starter aussie_ben91
- Start date
Did you read it? There was no Sign up. Ben picked 5 of the top PC members. And It's a damn fine list too. I'm following this.
mrtwisties
Club Cricketer
Pick: Shane Warne
Explanation: The spinner is one of two sine qua non positions in the Test team, so he absolutely has to be first rate - and the rarity of first rate spinners makes them a priority pick in a draft of this kind. I don't think there's much separating Warne and Murali as bowlers, but with Warne you also get leadership, a brilliant cricketing mind and a mind-game demon. That's more than enough to tip the selection in his favour.
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mrtwisties added 31 Minutes and 11 Seconds later...
And of course, he's one of the better slip fielders in recent years, too.
For ease of reference, these are all the players who've played 10 or more matches after 1st Jan 1990. You'll need to apply the "did not debut before 1985" criterion yourself.
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Dare
Chairman of Selectors
I dont know if we should be putting up a list like this. Might be helping the people you are going against.
aussie_ben91
School Cricketer
Matthew Hayden - The best Opening Batsman of the modern era and an integeral part of Australia's dominance over the past decade. Brings a presence to the side and is a mighty fine slip & gully fieldsmen.
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Jacques Kallis - The best allrounder of the modern era by a country mile. A top 4 batsman and a bowler with well over 200 Test wickets under his belt. His selection balances out my side and allows me to have 5 potenant bowlers in my side.
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aussie_ben91 added 6 Minutes and 26 Seconds later...
Code:
01.01 : King Pietersen Sachin Tendulkar
01.02 : Manee Glenn McGrath
01.03 : Dare Brian Lara
01.04 : Mrtwisties Shane Warne
01.05 : Aussie_Ben91 Matthew Hayden
02.01 : Aussie_Ben91 Jacques Kallis
02.02 : King Pietersen
02.03 : Manee
02.04 : Dare
02.05 : Mrtwisties
03.01 : Mrtwisties
03.02 : Aussie_Ben91
03.03 : King Pietersen
03.04 : Manee
03.05 : Dare
aussie_ben91
School Cricketer
ANNOUNCEMENT - All of the following players are eligable for selection, despite the criteria. The reason being is that they have all played over 50 Test matches since January 1st, 1990, despite debuting during or before the year 1985. As I said, the following players are eligable for selection:
Courtney Walsh
Wasim Akram
Steve Waugh
Aravinda de Silva
David Boon
Mohammad Azharuddin
Arjuna Ranatunga
Courtney Walsh
Wasim Akram
Steve Waugh
Aravinda de Silva
David Boon
Mohammad Azharuddin
Arjuna Ranatunga
King Pietersen
ICC Board Member
- Joined
- Nov 15, 2006
- Location
- Manchester
Pick: Kumar Sangakkara
Explanation: I could have gone for Adam Gilchrist, but I think Sangakkara's a better batsman. Averages 54.99 from the 80 Tests he's played and he's just a class act.
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Explanation: I could have gone for Adam Gilchrist, but I think Sangakkara's a better batsman. Averages 54.99 from the 80 Tests he's played and he's just a class act.
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aussie_ben91
School Cricketer
Code:
01.01 : King Pietersen Sachin Tendulkar
01.02 : Manee Glenn McGrath
01.03 : Dare Brian Lara
01.04 : Mrtwisties Shane Warne
01.05 : Aussie_Ben91 Matthew Hayden
02.01 : Aussie_Ben91 Jacques Kallis
02.02 : King Pietersen Kumar Sangakkara
02.03 : Manee Adam Gilchrist
02.04 : Dare
02.05 : Mrtwisties
03.01 : Mrtwisties
03.02 : Aussie_Ben91
03.03 : King Pietersen
03.04 : Manee
03.05 : Daremrtwisties
Club Cricketer
Interesting pick. He averages quite a bit lower (low 40s) when he's keeping, even in recent years - and he has a much lower strike rate. With time he might outdo Gilchrist, but at the moment I just don't see it.
Dare
Chairman of Selectors
Pick: Curtly Ambrose
Explanation: One of the top pace bowlers the world has ever seen. Has one of the best averages ever and the strike rate is great too. Having him as my 1st bowler allows me to build a good team around him and Lara.
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Explanation: One of the top pace bowlers the world has ever seen. Has one of the best averages ever and the strike rate is great too. Having him as my 1st bowler allows me to build a good team around him and Lara.
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mrtwisties
Club Cricketer
Good pick. His average is even better if you only include his performances from the 1990s, isn't it? Something sub-20?
Dare
Chairman of Selectors
yea 81 tests, 345 wickets, average 19.88 and economy 2.23. he was great from the start of the 1990s.
mrtwisties
Club Cricketer
Pick: Muttiah Muralitharan
Explanation: I know, a seriously unconventional pick - but I've got four good reasons.
1. India has shown us how much more dangerous quality spinners become when they hunt in packs. Shared insights/tricks/innovations lift their game, and the sustained pressure at either end is a killer - especially after a few days of Test cricket have already taken their toll. You can't say that the prospect of Murali/Warne becoming more dangerous than they already are isn't terrifying.
2. Spinners have become very effective at containing runs. This gives us an option to switch off another team's momentum at will, like a tap.
3. We get to comprehensively win the fourth and fifth days of most Tests, which means we'll need to be comprehensively outplayed on the first three days if we're to be beaten.
4. These two are serious bang for buck - with almost 1500 Test wickets between them (much more than the entire bowling lineup of a normal team), they can be expected to bowl a combined 60+ overs per innings with figures of 6/120 to 7/140. If I'd picked two equivalently legendary quicks, I'd be getting 30ish overs with figures of 3/60 to 4/70. It's the difference between a good start and a rout.
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mrtwisties added 4 Minutes and 7 Seconds later...
Just noticed I'm up again, so give me a second...
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