Aussie_Ben91's Modern-Day Fantasy Test Draft

[mrtwisties]

Pick: AB de Villiers
Explanation: Another contemporary great for my lineup. Ever since giving up his disastrous experiment as an opener, AB has thrived in the middle order. He averages 51.06 there, fields like a demon and is pretty handy with the wicketkeeping gloves, too. Picking AB gives me a South African (finally), six 50+ batsmen at the top of my order and the flexibility to take an allrounder for my last pick rather than a specialist wicketkeeper, depending on how I feel.

One thing I'm particularly happy about with my batting lineup is its sheer depth and the fact that none of my top six have "areas" you can bowl at - they'll be looking to score no matter where you put the ball. Those factors both put tremendous pressure on a bowling attack.

1. Gautam Gambhir
2. Virender Sehwag
3. Rahul Dravid
4. Mahela Jayawardene
5. Michael Clarke
6. AB de Villiers
7.
8. Wasim Akram
9. Shane Warne (c)
10. Muttiah Muralitharan
11. Ian Bishop

 

[aussie_ben91]

Alec Stewart - The riggers of wicketkeeping probably recked his chances of finishing his career with an average in the high 40's. An extremely talented batsman and a fairly decent wicketkeeper aswell. To have finished with a career average of just under 40, with the gloves, in a bowler-friendly era, with the stress of captaincy at times and also playing into his 40's is pretty damn good.

1. Mark Taylor
2. Matthew Hayden
3. Jacques Kallis
4. Inzamam-ul-Haq
5. Steve Waugh (c)
6.
7. Alec Stewart (wk)
8. Anil Kumble
9. Jason Gillespie
10. Shane Bond
11. Allan Donald

 

[King Pietersen]

Pick: Stuart MacGill
Explantion: Probably the unluckiest bowler in the history of Test cricket. A superbly talented leg-spin bowler that was unfortunately for him born in the era of a genius, in Shane Warne. If MacGill had been any other nationality but Australian, or born 20 years earlier he'd have been a legend of the game, but it wasn't to be. MacGill's record is still impressive though. In the shadows of Shane Warne, MacGill still managed to play 44 Tests, picking up 208 Test wickets at a very healthy average of 29.02 with 12 5 Wicket hauls. He deserved to take far more though!

Pick: Herschelle Gibbs
Explanation: When you think Herschelle Gibbs, and look at his overall Test record, you'd regard him as a pretty run of the mill batsman, but as a Test opener, Gibbs has been superb. He has 5242 runs at an extremely healthy average of 47.22, with 14 Test hundreds. He averages over 40 against every country bar Sri Lanka (23) and Australia (37) and has a hundred against every country bar Sri Lanka. In the position I'll be batting him in my team his average goes up to 48.31 with 10 of his 14 hundreds in this position. He'll work as the perfect foil for Justin Langer, and not let the opening bowlers settle.

1. Justin Langer
2. Herschelle Gibbs
3. Younis Khan
4. Sachin Tendulkar
5. Shiv Chanderpaul
6. Kumar Sangakkara +
7. Chris Cairns
8. Shaun Pollock
9. Waqar Younis
10. Stuart MacGill
11. Shoaib Akhtar

That's my team complete then. Very happy with my selections. We bat very strongly all the way down to number 8. Have 3 superb strike fast bowlers, a very talented all-rounder and a superb wrist spinner. Have a wicket-keeper that averages over 50 in Test cricket, 2 incredibly solid openers and the greatest batsman of the generation in Sachin Tendulkar. Couldn't have gone much better I don't think.

 

[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		Justin Langer

06.01 : King Pietersen		Shoaib Akhtar
06.02 : Manee			Andrew Flintoff
06.03 : Dare			Mohammad Yousuf
06.04 : Mrtwisties		Mahela Jayawardene
06.05 : Aussie_Ben91		Anil Kumble

07.01 : Aussie_Ben91		Inzamam-ul-Haq
07.02 : King Pietersen		Shivnarine Chanderpaul
07.03 : Manee			VVS Laxman
07.04 : Dare			Michael Hussey
07.05 : Mrtwisties		Ian Bishop

08.01 : Mrtwisties		Virender Sehwag
08.02 : Aussie_Ben91		Jason Gillespie
08.03 : King Pietersen		Younis Khan
08.04 : Manee			Gary Kirsten
08.05 : Dare			Andrew Strauss

09.01 : Dare			Makhaya Ntini
09.02 : Mrtwisties		Michael Clarke
09.03 : Aussie_Ben91		Mark Taylor
09.04 : King Pietersen		Chris Cairns
09.05 : Manee			Saeed Anwar

10.01 : Manee			Harbhajan Singh
10.02 : Dare			Chaminda Vaas
10.03 : Mrtwisties		AB de Villiers
10.04 : Aussie_Ben91		Alec Stewart
10.05 : King Pietersen		Stuart MacGil

11.01 : King Pietersen		Herschelle Gibbs
11.02 : Manee			
11.03 : Dare			
11.04 : Mrtwisties		
11.05 : Aussie_Ben91

Manee, you are up next.

King Pietersen, could you please write a short summary about your team and then send it to me via private mail. Give reasons to why your team would function well as a unit and try to give details over any unique selections that may persuade the voters in your favour.

 

[Howsie]

Pick: Stuart MacGill
Explantion: Probably the unluckiest bowler in the history of Test cricket. A superbly talented leg-spin bowler that was unfortunately for him born in the era of a genius, in Shane Warne. If MacGill had been any other nationality but Australian, or born 20 years earlier he'd have been a legend of the game, but it wasn't to be. MacGill's record is still impressive though. In the shadows of Shane Warne, MacGill still managed to play 44 Tests, picking up 208 Test wickets at a very healthy average of 29.02 with 12 5 Wicket hauls. He deserved to take far more though!

Pick: Herschelle Gibbs
Explanation: When you think Herschelle Gibbs, and look at his overall Test record, you'd regard him as a pretty run of the mill batsman, but as a Test opener, Gibbs has been superb. He has 5242 runs at an extremely healthy average of 47.22, with 14 Test hundreds. He averages over 40 against every country bar Sri Lanka (23) and Australia (37) and has a hundred against every country bar Sri Lanka. In the position I'll be batting him in my team his average goes up to 48.31 with 10 of his 14 hundreds in this position. He'll work as the perfect foil for Justin Langer, and not let the opening bowlers settle.

1. Justin Langer
2. Herschelle Gibbs
3. Younis Khan
4. Sachin Tendulkar
5. Shiv Chanderpaul
6. Kumar Sangakkara +
7. Chris Cairns
8. Shaun Pollock
9. Waqar Younis
10. Stuart MacGill
11. Shoaib Akhtar

That's my team complete then. Very happy with my selections. We bat very strongly all the way down to number 8. Have 3 superb strike fast bowlers, a very talented all-rounder and a superb wrist spinner. Have a wicket-keeper that averages over 50 in Test cricket, 2 incredibly solid openers and the greatest batsman of the generation in Sachin Tendulkar. Couldn't have gone much better I don't think.

That's a pretty good team KP, Your've got a real good bwoling attack there. And having Cairns and Pollock at seven and eight helps Chanderpaul out alot I feel.

 

[manee]

Pick: Fanie de Villiers

Explanation: Fanie De Villiers had a career blighted by the isolation of South Africa, debuting at the age of 29. However, he forged an impressive period of 18 Tests where he amassed 85 wickets at 24.27. It must be noted that this was not an isolated period of greatness, as he also has 427 FC wickets at 22.37. As to complete the hallmark of the team, his record against Australia is strong, with 22 wickets at 32.54.

1. Gary Kirsten
2. Saeed Anwar
3. Ricky Ponting (capt)
4. Kevin Pietersen
5. VVS Laxman
6. Adam Gilchrist (wk)
7. Andrew Flintoff
8. Harbhajan Singh
9. Fanie de Villiers
10. Dale Steyn
11. Glenn Mcgrath

 

[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		Justin Langer

06.01 : King Pietersen		Shoaib Akhtar
06.02 : Manee			Andrew Flintoff
06.03 : Dare			Mohammad Yousuf
06.04 : Mrtwisties		Mahela Jayawardene
06.05 : Aussie_Ben91		Anil Kumble

07.01 : Aussie_Ben91		Inzamam-ul-Haq
07.02 : King Pietersen		Shivnarine Chanderpaul
07.03 : Manee			VVS Laxman
07.04 : Dare			Michael Hussey
07.05 : Mrtwisties		Ian Bishop

08.01 : Mrtwisties		Virender Sehwag
08.02 : Aussie_Ben91		Jason Gillespie
08.03 : King Pietersen		Younis Khan
08.04 : Manee			Gary Kirsten
08.05 : Dare			Andrew Strauss

09.01 : Dare			Makhaya Ntini
09.02 : Mrtwisties		Michael Clarke
09.03 : Aussie_Ben91		Mark Taylor
09.04 : King Pietersen		Chris Cairns
09.05 : Manee			Saeed Anwar

10.01 : Manee			Harbhajan Singh
10.02 : Dare			Chaminda Vaas
10.03 : Mrtwisties		AB de Villiers
10.04 : Aussie_Ben91		Alec Stewart
10.05 : King Pietersen		Stuart MacGil

11.01 : King Pietersen		Herschelle Gibbs
11.02 : Manee			Fanie de Villiers
11.03 : Dare			
11.04 : Mrtwisties		
11.05 : Aussie_Ben91

Dare, you are up?

Manee, could you please write a short summary about your team and then send it to me via private mail. Give reasons to why your team would function well as a unit and try to give details over any unique selections that may persuade the voters in your favour.

 

[Dare]

Pick: Daniel Vettori
Explanation: Daniel Vettori isn't a spinner who can rip you apart on almost any surface like Warne and Murali but he is more than a useful spinner and can contribute with the bat. In this team I am choosing to play Vettori more as a all-rounder rather then a full time spinner. Of course If I was captaining the side he would get more then enough of his overs depending on the pitch/situation and wouldn't be just used to rest the full time bowlers.

1. Greame Smith
2. Andrew Strauss
3. Michael Hussey
4. Mohammad Yousuf
5. Brian Lara
6. Andy Flower+
7. Daniel Vettori
8. Chaminda Vaas
9. Makhaya Ntini
10. Curtly Ambrose
11. Courtney Walsh

Happy with this. Curtly and Courtney are just too much.

 

[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		Justin Langer

06.01 : King Pietersen		Shoaib Akhtar
06.02 : Manee			Andrew Flintoff
06.03 : Dare			Mohammad Yousuf
06.04 : Mrtwisties		Mahela Jayawardene
06.05 : Aussie_Ben91		Anil Kumble

07.01 : Aussie_Ben91		Inzamam-ul-Haq
07.02 : King Pietersen		Shivnarine Chanderpaul
07.03 : Manee			VVS Laxman
07.04 : Dare			Michael Hussey
07.05 : Mrtwisties		Ian Bishop

08.01 : Mrtwisties		Virender Sehwag
08.02 : Aussie_Ben91		Jason Gillespie
08.03 : King Pietersen		Younis Khan
08.04 : Manee			Gary Kirsten
08.05 : Dare			Andrew Strauss

09.01 : Dare			Makhaya Ntini
09.02 : Mrtwisties		Michael Clarke
09.03 : Aussie_Ben91		Mark Taylor
09.04 : King Pietersen		Chris Cairns
09.05 : Manee			Saeed Anwar

10.01 : Manee			Harbhajan Singh
10.02 : Dare			Chaminda Vaas
10.03 : Mrtwisties		AB de Villiers
10.04 : Aussie_Ben91		Alec Stewart
10.05 : King Pietersen		Stuart MacGil

11.01 : King Pietersen		Herschelle Gibbs
11.02 : Manee			Fanie de Villiers
11.03 : Dare			Daniel Vettori
11.04 : Mrtwisties		
11.05 : Aussie_Ben91

Mrtwisties is up.

Dare, could you please write a short summary about your team and then send it to me via private mail. Give reasons to why your team would function well as a unit and try to give details over any unique selections that may persuade the voters in your favour.

 

[mrtwisties]

Pick: Damien Martyn
Explanation: Another strokeplayer with all the shots who made it look too easy, Martyn is probably one of the best batsmen from his era not to have averaged over 50. That he did not is probably due more to poor career management than anything else - anyone who saw one of Martyn's centuries knows that statistics don't tell the whole truth about this man. Perhaps most importantly in a number six he rose to the occasion when the team needed him, averaging 50+ in the the tough games against top teams.

That means I need to put in AB as my wicketkeeper. I'd rather have Gilly, Sangakkara or Flower but I don't have too much of a problem with AB - in the era of the wicketkeeper-batsman I'm more concerned to have a proven batsman in the role who won't screw up the keeping, and AB fits that description.

Reasonably happy with the team. Obviously the bowling is its strong point - with three all-time XI candidates, one of history's fiercest strike bowlers, 5 decent part-timers and Shane "bowling tactics" Warne calling the shots it'd be a hard attack to face in any conditions and absolute doom on a turning wicket. On the other hand I've had to make some unconventional choices to get the free-flowing batting lineup that I wanted. I do think my choices will look good in five years' time but have to concede that it's not 2014 yet.

1. Gautam Gambhir
2. Virender Sehwag
3. Rahul Dravid
4. Mahela Jayawardene
5. Michael Clarke
6. Damien Martyn
7. AB de Villiers (wk)
8. Wasim Akram
9. Shane Warne (c)
10. Muttiah Muralitharan
11. Ian Bishop

 

[shravi]

Probably lacking 1 or 2 left handed batsmen but a good team overall.

 

[Aoun13]

I also want to play it when it will start again or coul you startup a same draft as best team for T20 please:upray:upray:upray
I can't wait to play it

 

[aussie_ben91]

Mark Waugh - One of the most gifted strokemakers of his generation, who produced 20 Test hundreds and featured in over 100 Tests for the strongest cricketing nation in the world. I was deciding between Waugh & Martyn but decided that Waugh was easily the better batsman despite the law of averages, but regardless of which I wouldn't of been able to select Martyn, even if I wanted to. Mark Waugh averages over 50 batting at number 6. Arguably the greatest fielder of alltime aswell.

1. Mark Taylor
2. Matthew Hayden
3. Jacques Kallis
4. Inzamam-ul-Haq
5. Steve Waugh (c)
6. Mark Waugh
7. Alec Stewart (wk)
8. Anil Kumble
9. Jason Gillespie
10. Shane Bond
11. Allan Donald

 

[jordox]

Great choice Ben. I can't believe Mark Waugh has only just been chosen, I think a few people missed a trick there.

 

[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		Justin Langer

06.01 : King Pietersen		Shoaib Akhtar
06.02 : Manee			Andrew Flintoff
06.03 : Dare			Mohammad Yousuf
06.04 : Mrtwisties		Mahela Jayawardene
06.05 : Aussie_Ben91		Anil Kumble

07.01 : Aussie_Ben91		Inzamam-ul-Haq
07.02 : King Pietersen		Shivnarine Chanderpaul
07.03 : Manee			VVS Laxman
07.04 : Dare			Michael Hussey
07.05 : Mrtwisties		Ian Bishop

08.01 : Mrtwisties		Virender Sehwag
08.02 : Aussie_Ben91		Jason Gillespie
08.03 : King Pietersen		Younis Khan
08.04 : Manee			Gary Kirsten
08.05 : Dare			Andrew Strauss

09.01 : Dare			Makhaya Ntini
09.02 : Mrtwisties		Michael Clarke
09.03 : Aussie_Ben91		Mark Taylor
09.04 : King Pietersen		Chris Cairns
09.05 : Manee			Saeed Anwar

10.01 : Manee			Harbhajan Singh
10.02 : Dare			Chaminda Vaas
10.03 : Mrtwisties		AB de Villiers
10.04 : Aussie_Ben91		Alec Stewart
10.05 : King Pietersen		Stuart MacGil

11.01 : King Pietersen		Herschelle Gibbs
11.02 : Manee			Fanie de Villiers
11.03 : Dare			Daniel Vettori
11.04 : Mrtwisties		Damien Martyn
11.05 : Aussie_Ben91		Mark Waugh

Well that's the draft. Hoped all that participated enjoyed themselves and I hope this thread was good for viewing. Quite suprised that Saqlain Mushtaq wasn't selected, TBH.

Right now, I'm going to make another thread, with a poll that will last for 2 weeks and at the end of the last 2 weeks, the team with the leading amount of votes will be declared the victor. The participants in this draft are NOT allowed to vote in the draft and those who 'accidently' do it, will not count.

All of the teams look fairly even, so it should be interesting to see who everyone thinks has the best XI.