Blockers bits... (retro)

[blockerdave]

This is an amazing piece. I have heard of some of the South Africans, could Jimmy Cook get into this side? Jim Allen who was an attacking West Indian batsman who played WSC for the West Indies but not Test Cricket. Love the story about poor Amol Muzumdar!

Thanks man!

I hadn't heard of Jim Allen until the other day when you mentioned him, but I think i'll add him. The irony now is the squad is so big some of these poor bastards still can't get a test cap!

Jimmy Cook actually played 3 tests after readmission, so he doesn't qualify. Shame actually as Trimble aside we're light on openers.

 

[T.J.Hooker]

well as Franklyn Stephenson who had a great West Indian side to break into and then was banned after going on the Windies Rebel Tour.

Random cross reference - the other day I was looking up Michael Holding's stats from the 1981 Lancashire League, assuming Holding in 81 on club wickets would have been nigh unplayable. Turns out he didn't finish first in the League for wickets or average, because your man Franklyn Stephenson beat him to it.

Also featuring in the league averages that year : Andy Roberts, Kapil Dev, Madan Lal, Mohsin Khan and Mohinder Armarnath.

http://lancashireleague.com/Seasons/1981/Averages/1981_AVERAGES.html

 

[blockerdave]

Random cross reference - the other day I was looking up Michael Holding's stats from the 1981 Lancashire League, assuming Holding in 81 on club wickets would have been nigh unplayable. Turns out he didn't finish first in the League for wickets or average, because your man Franklyn Stephenson beat him to it.

Also featuring in the league averages that year : Andy Roberts, Kapil Dev, Madan Lal, Mohsin Khan and Mohinder Armarnath.

http://lancashireleague.com/Seasons/1981/Averages/1981_AVERAGES.html

Hey TJ! How are you? Still in the beta?

That's an awesome stat!

My favourite Franklyn Stephenson stat though, was where he completed the 1000 run/100 wicket double (last guy to do it) by scoring a ton in each innings of the last match (111 and 117, he also took 11 wickets in the match, though was past 100 before) and yet Notts still lost buy 127 runs!

 

[T.J.Hooker]

Hey TJ! How are you?

Good thanks!

Still in the beta?

It's so secret nobody knows whether they're in it or not.

That's an awesome stat!

My favourite Franklyn Stephenson stat though, was where he completed the 1000 run/100 wicket double (last guy to do it) by scoring a ton in each innings of the last match (111 and 117, he also took 11 wickets in the match, though was past 100 before) and yet Notts still lost buy 127 runs!

Yeah he was such a brilliant player, unjustly denied test cricket. He should have had 200 test wickets and 2000 runs, at least. Legendary slower ball, genuinely quick when he wanted to be, could hit the ball miles. Deadly pro in club cricket and a match for anyone.

I'd actually love to get that genre of club cricket happening in the video game - one superstar pro and a bunch of grizzled club veterans on each side. 80s equipment and playing style. Tough batting conditions. 46 over game.

 

[blockerdave]

I'd actually love to get that genre of club cricket happening in the video game - one superstar pro and a bunch of grizzled club veterans on each side. 80s equipment and playing style. Tough batting conditions. 46 over game.

Theoretically that'd be possible in the academy (well not the equipment any more sadly)... but a lot of work.

Be great fun though

 

[T.J.Hooker]

Not sure it would work without some club cricket specific AI built in to take full advantage of the super player.

For instance, strategically your pro cricketer has to shoulder a big chunk of the bowling burden. Opening spell might be 10 or 12 overs for a fast bowler. A medium pace pro might bowl unchanged at one end.

ETA

Actually, while I'm here : you might have missed this recent upload to youtube. There's a load of 80s English footage from the ITN cameras, which is nice to see as it's a slightly different angle from the more famous BBC feeds.

There's some epic footage of Botham storming in to bounce Greg Ritchie at 48.32. Possibly his quickest spell in test cricket.

 

[Rowdoss]

Share away be my guest! Can’t wait!

Share away

Thanks fellas. I’ll get around to it in the next couple of days. Going to fine tune it and I’ll add the players that weren’t in the 84/85 series v West Indies that ended up going to England later in ‘85 for the ashes.
As I know you were keen for that series Blocker.
I was going through the scorecards of the West Indies series last night and gee we were terrible. So many changes to not only the batting order from test to test (and indeed innings to innings) but even the amount of players used across the series.

 

[blockerdave]

Not sure it would work without some club cricket specific AI built in to take full advantage of the super player.

For instance, strategically your pro cricketer has to shoulder a big chunk of the bowling burden. Opening spell might be 10 or 12 overs for a fast bowler. A medium pace pro might bowl unchanged at one end.

ETA

Actually, while I'm here : you might have missed this recent upload to youtube. There's a load of 80s English footage from the ITN cameras, which is nice to see as it's a slightly different angle from the more famous BBC feeds.

There's some epic footage of Botham storming in to bounce Greg Ritchie at 48.32. Possibly his quickest spell in test cricket.

Thanks for the vid!

 

[Sweppy12]

Hey @blockerdave for the barbarians team, I know he played 5 tests, but Martin Love is a shout; 16952 First class runs at 49.9 and only the 5 tests(233 runs at 46.6 mind you)

 

[Sweppy12]

Hey @blockerdave for the barbarians team, I know he played 5 tests, but Martin Love is a shout; 16952 First class runs at 49.9 and only the 5 tests(233 runs at 46.6 mind you)

Also Jamie Cox made over 18,600 FC runs at 43 with no cap

 

[blockerdave]

Also Jamie Cox made over 18,600 FC runs at 43 with no cap

Cox is a good shout but for Love I was purely putting in players who didn’t play any tests

 

[gleeso73]

Thanks fellas. I’ll get around to it in the next couple of days. Going to fine tune it and I’ll add the players that weren’t in the 84/85 series v West Indies that ended up going to England later in ‘85 for the ashes.
As I know you were keen for that series Blocker.
I was going through the scorecards of the West Indies series last night and gee we were terrible. So many changes to not only the batting order from test to test (and indeed innings to innings) but even the amount of players used across the series.

As a kid I went to the 5th test of the 84/85 series at the SCG and amazingly saw the mighty West Indies team beaten by an innings thanks to Kepler Wessels and Bob Holland.

It was a rare moment of sunshine for Australian Cricket in the mid-80s

 

[Rowdoss]

As a kid I went to the 5th test of the 84/85 series at the SCG and amazingly saw the mighty West Indies team beaten by an innings thanks to Kepler Wessels and Bob Holland.

It was a rare moment of sunshine for Australian Cricket in the mid-80s

Looking through the scorecards the last few days I actually didn’t recall us winning a test let alone the last so easily. It also got me wondering about the scheduling. I mean whose master stroke was it to roll out the red carpet to the WACA for West Indies bowlers to start a 5 test series?
(We got rolled for 76 in the first dig for those playing at home)
I’m thinking of sharing that as a scenario when I share the Australia 84/85 side shortly.
Come back and force the draw or steal a win after being 300+ behind after the first innings.

 

[gleeso73]

Looking through the scorecards the last few days I actually didn’t recall us winning a test let alone the last so easily. It also got me wondering about the scheduling. I mean whose master stroke was it to roll out the red carpet to the WACA for West Indies bowlers to start a 5 test series?
(We got rolled for 76 in the first dig for those playing at home).

It was a pretty savage series, particularly sad seeing Kim Hughes’s decline after resigning the captaincy in Brisbane and pair at his final test at the MCG.

I was a big fan of Hughes after seeing him score a century in the first test I went to in ‘82/83 (showing my age )

 

[blockerdave]

It was a pretty savage series, particularly sad seeing Kim Hughes’s decline after resigning the captaincy in Brisbane and pair at his final test at the MCG.

I was a big fan of Hughes after seeing him score a century in the first test I went to in ‘82/83 (showing my age )

The “Golden Boy” biography of Kim Hughes is a great book.