Aussie_Ben91's Modern-Day Fantasy Test Draft

[usy]

THis is probably one of the best threads around.

It's a very good read, all the posts. enjoying myself.

good work lads and lassies.

 

[manee]

Pick: Dale Steyn
Explanation: Steyn may seem an impulsive pick, but you should not go ignored for having the second best Test strike rate of all time for a bowler with more than 100 Test wickets. Taking a wicket every 39.2 balls, he outperforms Waqar Younis, Sydney Barnes and everyone else bar George Lohmann. This too in a generation of the flattest, most unresponsive pitches of all time - he may not fit the basic mould of the great fast bowler operating with unnerving accuracy at 135kph, but surely you most break the mould to force wickets on featherbeds.

Pick: Kevin Pietersen
Explanation: Flamboyance, mixed with consistent run scoring in an infamously underperforming side epitomises Kevin Pietersen. He has a Test average of 51.09 and rather than wilting in the face of strong opposition, he thrives upon it. In his 20 innings against Australia, he averages 53.50 and against South Africa, 60.14.

1.
2.
3. Ricky Ponting (capt)
4. Kevin Pietersen
5.
6.
7. Adam Gilchrist (wk)
8.
9.
10. Dale Steyn
11. Glenn Mcgrath

 

[Dare]

two really good picks manee. building a really solid team.

 

[aussie_ben91]

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			Curtly Ambrose
02.05 : Mrtwisties		Muttiah Muralitharan

03.01 : Mrtwisties		Wasim Akram
03.02 : Aussie_Ben91		Allan Donald
03.03 : King Pietersen		Shaun Pollock
03.04 : Manee			Ricky Ponting
03.05 : Dare			Graeme Smith

04.01 : Dare			Courtney Walsh
04.02 : Mrtwisties		Rahul Dravid
04.03 : Aussie_Ben91		Steve Waugh
04.04 : King Pietersen		Waqar Younis
04.05 : Manee			Dale Steyn

05.01 : Manee			Kevin Pietersen
05.02 : Dare			
05.03 : Mrtwisties
05.04 : Aussie_Ben91
05.05 : King Pietersen

Dare, you are up?

 

[Dare]

Pick: Andy Flower
Explanation: Well the majority of the good WK are gone. Andy Flower is probably the best test WK batsman of the 90s and only has Sangakkara compete with. There are a few other guys that I had on my mind but Flower was the best WK remaining IMO.

1. Greame Smith
2.
3.
4. Brian Lara
5.
6. Andy Flower+
7.
8.
9.
10. Curtly Ambrose
11. Courtney Walsh

 

[aussie_ben91]

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			Curtly Ambrose
02.05 : Mrtwisties		Muttiah Muralitharan

03.01 : Mrtwisties		Wasim Akram
03.02 : Aussie_Ben91		Allan Donald
03.03 : King Pietersen		Shaun Pollock
03.04 : Manee			Ricky Ponting
03.05 : Dare			Graeme Smith

04.01 : Dare			Courtney Walsh
04.02 : Mrtwisties		Rahul Dravid
04.03 : Aussie_Ben91		Steve Waugh
04.04 : King Pietersen		Waqar Younis
04.05 : Manee			Dale Steyn

05.01 : Manee			Kevin Pietersen
05.02 : Dare			Andy Flower
05.03 : Mrtwisties
05.04 : Aussie_Ben91
05.05 : King Pietersen

06.01 : King Pietersen
06.02 : Manee
06.03 : Dare
06.04 : Mrtwisties
06.05 : Aussie_Ben91

Mrtwisties, you are up next.

 

[nightprowler10]

Pick: Waqar Younis
Explanation: One of the first men to truely introduce Reverse Swing to the masses, he was a superb fast bowler and one with a fantastic record. In the time period for this draft Waqar took 367 Test wickets at an average of 23.29 with 22 5 wicket hauls, only behind Glenn McGrath in terms of 5fer's from quicks in the time period. A class act.

Incredibly underrated player. Did for fast bowling what Warne did for leg spin. His pre-injury average was under 19 with close to 200 wickets IIRC.

 

[aussie_ben91]

Incredibly underrated player. Did for fast bowling what Warne did for leg spin. His pre-injury average was under 19 with close to 200 wickets IIRC.

Bit interesting how most say that he prospered from playing in the same side as Wasim because Wasim kept in extremely tight and gave nothing away, which allowed Waqar to attack as much as he did with his bowling.

 

[nightprowler10]

Bit interesting how most say that he prospered from playing in the same side as Wasim because Wasim kept in extremely tight and gave nothing away, which allowed Waqar to attack as much as he did with his bowling.

That's certainly plausible as Wasim was the much tighter bowler with a career Test ER of well under 3, though such a thing could really be said for many great bowlers. Wasim himself benefited greatly from Waqar's bowling as the latter was more likely to topple the top order and Wasim would take better advantage of the tail. Doesn't really take anything away from either bowlers in my eyes. They both destroyed lineups on their own as well whenever the other was out injured.

 

[aussie_ben91]

Ben and mr.twisties (very daring to go with three bowlers in three picks) have got the best looking lineups for mine. Manee's is pretty good as well though as much as I love Gilly, he wouldn't be in my top picks unless we're considering limited overs as well.

Great idea for a thread, I'm certainly enjoying it.

I think it's evenly balanced at the moment, TBH. There is no clear winner and that's because all there has been no ridiculous selections made. Basically what the goal of this draft was. I'll probably do another draft some other time with different members.

 

[mrtwisties]

Pick: Gautam Gambhir
Explanation: Gambhir is an absolute star. Since reinventing his technique in late 2007 he's hit a century every 4 innings and averaged 75.19 while facing some of the world's best bowling attacks - and at 27 he's only just entering his prime run-scoring years. He's got talent, technique and temperament and will be one of the modern game's best openers.

With Gambhir and Dravid, I've got two flexible players in my upper order who can deliver whatever the match situation demands, from setting up an innings to scoring freely in the middle overs to batting out a draw. That gives me the option of either putting a more aggressive, potentially match-winning opener into the mix or putting another wall at #2 to guarantee that my middle order will face tired, vulnerable bowlers.

1. Gautam Gambhir
2.
3. Rahul Dravid
4.
5.
6.
7.
8. Wasim Akram
9. Shane Warne (c)
10. Muttiah Muralitharan
11.

 

[aussie_ben91]

Shane Bond - Accuracy, pace, bounce, swing, cut, angle - You name it, Shane Bond has it. A devestating bowler when onsong and rarely bowls poorly when on the park. He has the best strike-rate of any bowler in this bowler in this draft and has a remarkable ability to produce unplayable delieveries due to his shear pace and swing. He is a fine addition to my bowling attack.

1.
2. Matthew Hayden
3.
4. Jacques Kallis
5. Steve Waugh (c)
6.
7.
8.
9.
10. Shane Bond
11. Allan Donald

 

[mrtwisties]

A good bowler, but a bit overrated. Hugely injury prone and one hell of a minnow-basher - take out his performances against Zimbabwe and Bangladesh and his average jumps to 27.25 with a mid 40s strike rate.

 

[aussie_ben91]

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			Curtly Ambrose
02.05 : Mrtwisties		Muttiah Muralitharan

03.01 : Mrtwisties		Wasim Akram
03.02 : Aussie_Ben91		Allan Donald
03.03 : King Pietersen		Shaun Pollock
03.04 : Manee			Ricky Ponting
03.05 : Dare			Graeme Smith

04.01 : Dare			Courtney Walsh
04.02 : Mrtwisties		Rahul Dravid
04.03 : Aussie_Ben91		Steve Waugh
04.04 : King Pietersen		Waqar Younis
04.05 : Manee			Dale Steyn

05.01 : Manee			Kevin Pietersen
05.02 : Dare			Andy Flower
05.03 : Mrtwisties		Gautam Gambhir
05.04 : Aussie_Ben91		Shane Bond
05.05 : King Pietersen

06.01 : King Pietersen
06.02 : Manee
06.03 : Dare
06.04 : Mrtwisties
06.05 : Aussie_Ben91

King Pietersen, you have the next two selections.

aussie_ben91 added 3 Minutes and 41 Seconds later...

A good bowler, but a bit overrated. Hugely injury prone and one hell of a minnow-basher - take out his performances against Zimbabwe and Bangladesh and his average jumps to 27.25 with a mid 40s strike rate.

Look at what he did to India in Tests and Australia in ODI's.

 

[mrtwisties]

Look at what he did to India in Tests and Australia in ODI's.

I'd say his performances against Sri Lanka and South Africa are probably better reflections of his ability. But we'll never get to know for sure - whoever his manager and physiotherapist were, they both ought to look for new careers.

mrtwisties added 5 Minutes and 27 Seconds later...

Incredibly underrated player. Did for fast bowling what Warne did for leg spin. His pre-injury average was under 19 with close to 200 wickets IIRC.

I love Waqar Younis - during that initial dream run in the early 90s he averaged 18.49 with a strike rate of 35.3. If I'd gotten the chance to pick him, I was gonna post his name alongside that video clip where he bowls Lara.