Budget Draft: 10 Test Centuries

[blockerdave]

So this draft just got a lot harder

 

[Aislabie]

Barry Richards

Test stats: 508 runs @ 72.57 (2 centuries, best 140) in 4 matches
First-class stats: 28,358 runs @ 54.74 (80 centuries, best 356) in 339 matches

My first pick was in my eyes an obvious one, though in reality there are plenty of players who fit the bill: like WG Grace, Barry Richards is a colossus at the top of the order who was the stand-out opening batsman of his generation. Unlike Grace, Barry Richards' technique, fitness and work ethic would stand up to examination in any era. Also unlike Grace, he's always come across as a pretty nice bloke.

@Aislabie's XI:
1. Barry Richards (2)
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.

Centuries: 2/10

@VC the slogger

 

[VC the slogger]

Prior to the arrival of Sunil Gavaskar, there had perhaps never been a better opening batsman to emerge from India than Vijay Merchant, a man who was nothing short of a run scoring machine second only to Don Bradman at first-class level. Having made his debut in 1933/34, he was arguably India’s first great batsman at Test level and a brilliant player of pace bowling unlike most of his peers. He set the benchmark for Indian batsmen in generations to follow by creating the “Bombay school of batsmanship”, which has over the years produced some of the most ruthless accumulators of runs and centuries in Indian cricket such as Sunil Gavaskar (FC average of 51.46), Sachin Tendulkar (57.84), Vinod Kambli (59.97), Dilip Vengsarkar (52.86), Polly Umrigar (52.28), Sanjay Manjrekar (55.11), Ashok Mankad (50.90), Wasim Jaffer (50.95) and Rohit Sharma (56.04) among others - many of whom have gone on to forge extremely successful Test careers as well.

An overall record reading 859 runs at 47.72 with 3 centuries from only 10 Tests may not sound like much in the large scheme of things, although a sub-50 average is mainly the result of Merchant’s mediocre returns as a middle-order batsman at the very beginning of his career, a position from where he averaged an indifferent 29.66 with just 1 fifty as opposed to 56.75 as opener with all his Test centuries coming from the latter position. He also never had the opportunity to play against any other opposition other than England, and that too in England most of the time, with him playing only 4 Tests at home of which three came during the formative stages of his career. Ill health often got in the way of his selection for most of India’s Test matches following the Second World War, including their maiden tour of Australia in 1947/48 where the pitches would have greatly suited his style of batting. He played just one Test innings in India after the War in 1951 in what turned out to be his last Test match, where he scored a career best 154.

His Test record could have been but better had the Second World War not interrupted his fledgling career during the late-1930s and early-1940s when he was arguably at his peak as a batsman. It was also during this period that he had some of the greatest run scoring duels in cricket history with his namesake Vijay Hazare in Indian domestic cricket. The two were often at loggerheads with each other when it came to breaking batting records in the Ranji Trophy and Bombay Pentangular; if Merchant would score 250*, Hazare would go one better with 309, if Hazare would score 309, Merchant would go even one better with 359*, so on and so forth. You’d have had to be a complete nutter to choose a career path as a bowler with these two around. Another great innings of his during this period was a knock of 278 in the run scoring orgy that was the 1944/45 Ranji Trophy final, which helped Bombay pile up a gargantuan second innings total of 764 that proved too much for Holkar, who fell 374 runs short despite a heroic unbeaten 249 from their guest star Denis Compton.

Perhaps a much greater testament to his frankly obscene talent is a first-class batting average of 71.64 (second only to Don Bradman’s 95.14 among batsmen with a minimum of 50 innings), a ludicrous Ranji Trophy average of 98.35 (greater than Sachin Tendulkar’s 85.62 and Sunil Gavaskar’s 70.18), and the 2385 runs he scored at an average of 74.53 with 7 centuries during the 1946 English cricketing season (second only to Wally Hammond’s 84.90). His overall first-class record read 13470 runs at an average of 71.64 with 45 centuries and 52 half-centuries from 150 matches between 1929/30 and 1951/52. One shudders to think what all he might have achieved on the international stage had his career been uninterrupted throughout in the manner of a Gavaskar or a Tendulkar. To get all this in my XI for the cost of just 3 centuries is something that beggars belief.

VC’s XI (3/10)

1) Vijay Merchant (3)
2)
3)
4)
5)
6)
7)
8)
9)
10)
11)

@ahmedleo414

 

[ahmedleo414]

My first choice was pretty easy for me.

Shane Warne​

​

Stats|Matches|Wickets|BBI|BBM|Bowling Ave|Econ|5w/10w
First-Class|301|1319|8/71|?|26.11|2.76|69/12
Test|145|708|8/71|12/128|25.41|2.65|37/10

here is a little of his bio from wiki

"As well as playing internationally, Warne played domestic cricket for his home state of Victoria and English domestic cricket for Hampshire. He was captain of Hampshire for three seasons from 2005 to 2007. Warne played his first Test match in 1992 and took over 1,000 international wickets (in Tests and One-Day Internationals), second to this milestone after Sri Lanka's Muttiah Muralitharan. Warne's 708 Test wickets was the record for the most wickets taken by any bowler in Test cricket, until it was broken by Muralitharan on 3 December 2007. A useful lower-order batsman, Warne is also the only player to have scored more than 3,000 Test runs without a career century."

My Team:

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8. Shane Warne
9.
10.
11.

Centuries used: 0/10

@blockerdave you have double picks

 

[blockerdave]

2 pretty "standard" picks for me, mainstays of many drafts.

JIMMY COOK will open the innings, and MIKE PROCTER will be one of the main spearheads of the planned bowling attack and could end up batting anywhere from 5-8. Apartheid might have been a moral abomination, but there's no denying it's given us all a lot of great draft options. [Yes, this is a joke.]

Neither played many tests, and neither fully did themselves justice in their few chances, but both were genuinely world class. Cook scored over 21,000 runs at 50.58 with 64 centuries - he actually only played 270 first class matches. Had he spent longer in county cricket he would certainly have scored 100 centuries - he scored 7,500 first class runs with 28 centuries in 3 seasons with Somerset. Procter actually scored more runs, albeit in 401 games, adding a further 48 centuries at a healthy average of 36. Procter also picked up the little matter of 1,417 wickets at a staggering 19.53.

Neither man scored a test century.

back to @ahmedleo414

 

[ahmedleo414]

Again, seems like a no-brainer to me

Jimmy Anderson​

Stats|Matches|Wickets|BBI|BBM|Bowling Ave|Econ|5w/10w
First-Class|248|959|7/42|?|24.92|2.87|48/6
Test|151|584|7/42|11/71|26.83|2.86|28/3

here is a little of his bio from wiki

"Anderson is the all-time leading wicket-taker among fast bowlers surpassing Glenn McGrath (563 wickets) and holds the record of most wickets for England in both Test and One-Day International (ODI) cricket. He is the only English bowler, and the 6th overall, to pass 500 Test wickets....

...Anderson plays first-class cricket for Lancashire county cricket club and since arriving on the international scene in 2002/03 (before his first full season of County cricket) has represented England in 150 Test matches and nearly 200 One Day Internationals. He is England's all-time highest international wicket-taker when combined across all three formats. He and Joe Root posted the highest ever 10th-wicket Test batting partnership in the 1st Test of India's 2014 tour of England"

My Team:

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8. Shane Warne
9.
10.
11. Jimmy Anderson

Centuries used: 0/10

@VC the slogger you are next

 

[Master Bates]

Again, seems like a no-brainer to me

Jimmy Anderson​

Stats|Matches|Wickets|BBI|BBM|Bowling Ave|Econ|5w/10w
First-Class|248|959|7/42|?|24.92|2.87|48/6
Test|151|584|7/42|11/71|26.83|2.86|28/3

here is a little of his bio from wiki

"Anderson is the all-time leading wicket-taker among fast bowlers surpassing Glenn McGrath (563 wickets) and holds the record of most wickets for England in both Test and One-Day International (ODI) cricket. He is the only English bowler, and the 6th overall, to pass 500 Test wickets....

...Anderson plays first-class cricket for Lancashire county cricket club and since arriving on the international scene in 2002/03 (before his first full season of County cricket) has represented England in 150 Test matches and nearly 200 One Day Internationals. He is England's all-time highest international wicket-taker when combined across all three formats. He and Joe Root posted the highest ever 10th-wicket Test batting partnership in the 1st Test of India's 2014 tour of England"

My Team:

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8. Shane Warne
9.
10.
11. Jimmy Anderson

Centuries used: 0/10

@VC the slogger you are next

I don't wanna sound mean or question your cricketing knowledge and the research (if any) you put in but I'm sure that there are much better picks available. Just a heads up from me!

 

[ahmedleo414]

I'm sure there are, but as mentioned Jimmy Anderson one of the highest wicket takers in test cricket history, I figured I'd rather have him in my team instead of bowling at me

 

[VC the slogger]

Ranjitsinhji (2), writeup coming shortly..

@Aislabie

 

[VC the slogger]

Cricket has had it’s fair share of batsmen that can be considered great, but it takes a truly special player to change the way the game is played. Prior to the arrival of KS Ranjitsinhji aka Ranji, scoring runs on the leg side was considered taboo or ‘ungentlemanly’ and according to CB Fry, another great batsman during Ranji’s era, one generally apologized to the bowler if one accidentally hit the ball in that region. Then came Ranji with his leg glance, and back foot dominant technique in the process adding a whole new dimension to the art of batting which up till that point was mostly done on the front foot with most of one’s runs coming on the offside.

He had to face his fair share of problems in the beginning of his career due to his race and unconventional batting method whilst attending Cambridge University, where their captain Stanley Jackson remained unconvinced that he could succeed as a batsman at first-class level and didn’t pick him for the university’s cricket team until 1893, a decision he would later regret. It was during this time that he worked hard in the nets to perfect his leg glance, a shot he first came up with whilst trying to fix a glitch in his technique that had him backing away from faster deliveries, although whether he was the true inventor of this particular shot is something that can be disputed; Malcolm Jardine, a batsman for Oxford and later the father of controversial English skipper Douglas Jardine, is said to have played several unorthodox shots or leg glances on the on-side during an innings of 140 against Cambridge in 1892, a year prior to Ranjitsinhji’s official debut in 1893.

In his very first season of first-class cricket, he scored an impressive 58 for Cambridge against a touring Australian team that included the legendary Charlie Turner, George Giffen and Hugh Trumble among others. Following some more impressive performances for his university and the MCC, for whom he scored 387 runs at 32.25 with a best of 94 in the following year, he was signed up by Sussex for the 1895 season. There would be no looking back for him once at his new county, as he would record batting numbers hitherto unseen in first-class cricket until the emergence of Don Bradman, George Headley and Wally Hammond in the 1930s - passing 1000 runs in nine successive seasons from 1895 to 1904, the only exception being 1898, which he missed entirely while he was away in his native India trying to stake his claim to the throne of Nawanagar, whose deceased former ruler had adopted him as an heir. His unconventional method and connection to Indian royalty caused a huge sensation wherever he played in England, and he was thought of as more of a wizard than a batsman for his wristy legside shots which made some of the best bowlers in the country appear powerless against him.

Ranji’s run-scoring spree between 1895 and 1904 included 1775 runs at 49.31 with 4 centuries in 1895; 2780 runs at 57.91 with 10 centuries in 1896; 1940 runs at 45.12 with 5 centuries in 1897; 3159 runs at 63.18 with 7 centuries in 1899; 3065 runs at 87.57 with 11 centuries in 1900; 2067 runs at 76.55 with 7 centuries in 1901; 1106 runs at 46.08 with 3 centuries in 1902; 1924 runs at 56.58 with 5 centuries in 1903; and 2077 runs at 74.17 with 8 centuries in 1904 - his overall aggregate being a mind-boggling 19893 runs at 61.21 with 60 centuries during this period. As skipper of Sussex between 1899 and 1903, his aggregate was an even more stunning 11321 runs at 66.59 with 33 centuries. All this at a time when averaging in the late 30s and early 40s was considered an awesome achievement for most batsmen.

Some of his many records during this ruthless spree included him breaking WG Grace’s record season aggregate of 2739 at 78.25 with 10 centuries in 1871, which Ranji topped in terms of runs in 1896 and equalled in terms of centuries, but obliterated in 1899 when he became the first batsman to record more than 3000 runs in a season, and once again in 1900 when he replicated the feat but this time went one better than Grace with a record 11 centuries (five of which were doubles, another record). He also became the first and only batsman till date to score two first-class centuries on the same day i.e 22 August 1896, scoring 100 & 125* against Yorkshire. Earlier in the season, he had very nearly recorded the fastest first-class fifty of all time when he belted 47 off just 13 balls in just 10 mintutes for the Gentlemen against the Players, whose bowling attack consisted of George Lohmann, Tom Richardson, Johnny Briggs and Jack Hearne. This performance came after he was overlooked for the 1st Test of the 1896 Ashes by chief selector Lord Harris on the grounds that he wasn’t born in England; ironically Harris of all people was born in Trinidad and yet captained England in Test cricket during his playing career.

England could no longer turn a blind eye to this young Indian man, and he was selected to make his Test debut against Australia in the 2nd Test of the Ashes at Old Trafford, scoring 62 in the first innings and a marvellous 154* out of a total of 305 in the second - at the time the highest score by a man on Test debut, though this record would soon be overhauled by R. E. “Tip” Foster’s 287 on debut in 1903. They lost the match by 7 wickets, but Ranjitsinhji’s batting nevertheless earned the admiration of his opponents with Australia’s star all-rounder George Giffen claiming it to be the greatest innings he had ever seen, and proclaiming Ranji as ‘the batting wonder of the age’. England recovered to win the series 2-1 with Ranjitsinhji scoring 235 runs at 78.33 in his first Test series. Although he didn’t know it at the time, but this would be the only victorious Test series of his career.

Ranji made his only overseas Test tour of Australia in 1897/98, scoring 457 runs at 50.77 in the Test matches with a career best 175 batting from No 7 in the 1st Test at Sydney in what would be England’s only Test victory on tour. They were hammered 4-1 by Australia despite Ranji’s returns with the bat; he finished with 1157 runs at 60.89 from all first-class matches on tour. He played in only two more Test series; in 1899, scoring 278 runs at 46.33 as England were beaten yet again with Australia unearthing Victor Trumper, who would go on to become the most highly regarded batsman of cricket’s ‘Golden Age’; and 1902 when he reached his annus horribilis as a batsman with just 19 runs from 4 innings at a dreadful average of 4.75 as he battled through personal and financial problems which greatly affected his batting that year. England lost a scintillating series by a 2-1 margin, which spelled the end of a few Test careers including that of Ranjitsinhji’s aged only 30. He played only 15 Tests, totalling 989 runs at an average of 44.95 with 2 centuries - more than respectable figures for the time, but which nonetheless paled in comparison to his monstrous run scoring feats on the first-class arena.

Ranjitsinhji did not play regular cricket again after the 1904 season, choosing to return to India in pursuit of the throne of Nawanagar which he claimed was his by right. He was finally named ‘Jam Saheb’ aka ruler in 1907, after the mysterious death of the incumbent ruler Jaswantsinhji in late 1906; there were rumours he was murdered by poison in a plot hatched by Ranjitsinhji himself as he had been in good health prior to developing an unexplained fever which he never recovered from. It was a position he would hold on to from 1907 until his death in 1933. In this time, he only returned to England for two more full seasons, aggregating 1138 runs at 45.52 in 1908; and 1113 runs at 42.81 in 1912, where he looked overweight and no longer resembled the slim trim batsman he once was despite showing occasional glimpses of his former brilliance. He would go on to serve as an honorary major in the British Army during the War, although him being an Indian ruler meant he wasn’t allowed near any of the fighting. In 1915, fate struck in the most cruel manner in the form of a hunting accident where he lost an eye, thereby effectively ending any notion of another cricketing comeback after the War, or so one would have thought..

Against all wisdom, Ranjitsinhji made one last desperate attempt at a cricketing comeback aged 48 in 1920 where he totalled just 39 runs at 9.75 from 4 innings, never once looking comfortable against bowlers he could have otherwise toyed with during his prime. It was one of the most inglorious exits of all time, for a man who scored 24692 runs at 56.37 with 72 centuries and 109 fifties (HS 285*) during his career. His first-class batting average was considerably higher than most of the prominent names of his era aka the ‘Golden Age of cricket’ such as Victor Trumper (44.57), Clem Hill (43.57), Jack Hobbs (50.70), CB Fry (50.22), Warren Bardsley (49.92), Warwick Armstrong (46.83), Tom Hayward (41.79), Monty Noble (40.74), Johnny Tyldesley (40.66), WG Grace (39.45), Archie MacLaren (34.15) - showing just how much more consistent he was compared to his peers. It remained the highest batting average by an English batsman in first-class cricket until Geoff Boycott eclipsed it with 56.83 nearly 70 years after Ranji’s retirement.

Ranji’s legacy was carried on by his nephew KS Duleepsinhji, who would go on to enjoy a short but fruitful 12-match Test career which could have been longer if not for poor health from which he scored 995 runs at an average of 58.52, with a career best of 173 made against Australia in 1930 in the presence of Ranji who watched on proudly from the stands, which was eventually overshadowed by Don Bradman’s 254. He died of heart failure in 1933 aged 60, and India’s new premier first-class tournament which was inaugurated the very next year in 1934/35 was named the Ranji Trophy in his honor. While he may have never represented India or played any official first-class cricket on Indian soil, there is little doubt as to the impact he had on aspiring Indians who wanted to take up the sport of their colonial rulers that no Indian had ever before mastered in such a way.

VC’s XI (5/10)

1) Vijay Merchant (3)
2)
3) KS Ranjitsinhji (2)
4)
5)
6)
7)
8)
9)
10)
11)

@Aislabie

 

[Aislabie]

Archie Jackson

Test stats: 474 runs @ 47.40 (1 century, best 164) in 8 matches
First-class stats: 4,383 runs @ 45.65 (11 centuries, best 182) in 70 matches

The slight downside to this draft is that to find a quality player who doesn't dent your budget too much, there's a solid chance of their career having been cut short through no fault of their own. That was certainly the case for poor Archie Jackson - one half of the great Australian batting duo with Don Bradman. Even as he excelled for New South Wales and Australia, it was obvious to all who watched him that his health was failing. Tragically, he would not recover; by 23, he was dead - one of his last acts was to send a congratulatory letter to his friend Harold Larwood, who had helped England regain the Ashes in the Bodyline series. What an opening partner he makes for Barry Richards.

@Aislabie's XI:
1. Barry Richards (2)
2. Archie Jackson (1)
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.

Centuries: 3/10

@Na Maloom Afraad

 

[Na Maloom Afraad]

NMA's 10-TEST CENTURY XI

WG Grace (2)
Glenn McGrath (0)

Glenn McGrath, a bowler it is then. A true all-timer.

Test Stats: 563 wickets in 124 matches at an average of 21.64, 28 4-wicket hauls, 29 5-wicket hauls and 3 10-wicket hauls
First-Class Stats: 835 wickets in 189 matches at an average of 20.85, 42 5-wicket hauls and 7 10-wicket hauls

"Catapulted from the outback of New South Wales into Test cricket to replace Merv Hughes in 1993, McGrath became the greatest Australian fast bowler of his time. He went on to beat Courtney Walsh's 519 wickets in the 2005 Super Test to become the leading wicket-taker among fast bowlers and his claim to the title of Australia's greatest fast man is contested only by Dennis Lillee."

"His obituary was prepared a few times - he was doubted after coming back in 2004 from ankle surgery and there were similar fears following a long lay-off to care for his wife two years later - but he wrote his own farewells. He retired from Tests at the SCG - his home ground - after Australia whitewashed England 5-0 in the 2006-07 Ashes and was adjudged the Man of the Tournament during Australia's successful World Cup campaign in 2007, his final one-day appearance."

"McGrath's USP was an unremitting off-stump line and an immaculate length. He gained off-cut and bounce, specialised in the opposition's biggest wickets - especially Atherton's and Brian Lara's - and he was unafraid to back himself publicly in these key duels. He was a batting rabbit who applied himself so intently that while playing for Worcestershire he won a bet with an Australian team-mate by scoring a fifty. The hard work eventually paid off in Tests, when he made 61, then the third-highest score by a No. 11, against New Zealand in 2004-05. Only in his occasional fits of ill-temper did he fail himself."

"He rewrote the World Cup record-books in 2003 with 7 for 15 against the outclassed Namibians, on his way to adding another winner's medal to a bulging collection. An ankle injury threatened to derail his quest for 500 Test wickets, but after briefly contemplating retirement he bounced back with yet another five-wicket haul against Sri Lanka at Darwin in July 2004. Three months later, at Nagpur, he became the first fast bowler to play 100 matches in the baggy green, and his greatness was further confirmed when knocking down the brittle Pakistanis at Perth with 8 for 24, the second-best figures by an Australian."

"Adept at picking his moments, he chose the first day at Lord's to reach 500 and his subsequent ankle and arm injuries were crucial to Australia losing the Ashes in 2005. The following summer was also painfully disrupted with the recurrence of his wife Jane's cancer, which called for immediate treatment and McGrath's full attention. He pulled out of the VB Series finals as well as tours to South Africa and Bangladesh, but he made an emphatic comeback that culminated in him taking a record 26 wickets in the 2007 World Cup."[DOUBLEPOST=1588259685][/DOUBLEPOST]@Yash., you are next.

 

[Yash.]

I'll go with Sid Barnes.



The great Aussie opening batsman, the partner with Don Bradman in the historic 405 run partnership against England, and a truly intriguing character. He was a talented and a gifted batsman. In his first trip to England, he fractured his wrist during some games during the journey. Guess how he played in that tour, he made 720 runs in 19 innings, but played only one test.

The next tour, he showed his batting strengths and made 1354 runs in that tour (including the first class matches) at an average of 56.41. All in all, he made 3 centuries in Test cricket and ended with an average of 63.05. In first class cricket, he made 8333 runs at an average of 54.11. So he’ll be a great guy in my team.

@blockerdave

 

[blockerdave]

I shall take another South African, TREVOR GODDARD an all rounder good enough to open the batting and the bowling on numerous occasions as well as captaining the side that drew a series in Australia in 1963/64 and launched the international careers of Eddie Barlow, Colin Bland and of course Peter and Graeme Pollock.

A classical left-hand batsman in technique, he also bowled left-arm medium, making up for what he lacked in pace with swing and accuracy.

In tests he scored over 2,5000 runs from 41 tests at an average of 34.46 with 1 century, and took 123 wickets at 26.22 with 5 5-fers. His first class stats (40.60/21.65) mark him out as a player from the top draw.

May open with Richards, may slot in the middle order, see how it goes in terms of who else I get. If I get near to my target side he'll probably be a 4th seamer, though he's good enough to be more than that.

back to @Yash.

 

[Yash.]

My pick would be Peter Kirsten.

Half brother of the legendary batsman and coach, Gary, he was among the many legendary cricketers who were robbed of his glory due to South Africa’s absence from cricket. By the time of his Test debut at the age of 37, his prime days were past him. But still, he made 626 runs in 12 matches with 1 century.

In first class cricket, he made 22000 runs at an average of 44.82 with 57 centuries. He’ll be the opening batsman for my team. Also, if needed, he can give me few overs of off break bowling.

@Na Maloom Afraad up next.