Budget Draft: ODI Nations

[CerealKiller]

Time for the big guns. Waqar Younis will be the spearhead of our attack. In his prime, he was an absolutely destructive bowler with the old ball. In his later years, he became a clever new ball bowler.

CerealKiller’s XI
1. Ed Joyce
2. Anshuman Rath
3.
4. Andy Flower
5. Shakib Al Hasan
6.
7.
8.
9. Waqar Younis
10. Sandeep Lamichhane
11. Hamid Hassan
Points used 13/25

@Aislabie

 

[Aislabie]

Aqib Ilyas

ODI stats: 621 runs @ 69.00 (SR: 80.85, 2 centuries, best 109*) and 16 wickets @ 12.62 (econ: 3.74, best 4/36) in 11 matches
List A stats: 919 runs @ 41.77 (SR: 83.85, 2 centuries, best 109*) and 18 wickets @ 16.94 (econ: 4.06, best 4/36) in 24 matches

Batting VARP (top order): 260.25% (very small sample size)
Bowling VARP (spin): 175.54% (very small sample size)

Now, one has to be careful of stats with such small sample sizes as eleven games, but Aqib Ilyas has had an outstanding beginning to his one-day international career:

1. 10-0-32-2 and 11 (15) vs
2. 3-0-13-1 and 41 (41) vs
3. 3-0-10-1 and 61 (92) vs
4. 4-0-19-1 and 45 (58) vs
5. 3-0-6-1 and 63 (76) vs (MotM)
6. 5-0-17-0 and 80* (92) vs (MotM)
7. 4-0-27-0 and 18 (19) vs
8. 16 (34) and 2-0-8-1 vs
9. 5-0-20-2 and 72 (110) vs
10. 10-0-36-4 and 109* (108) vs (MotM)
11. 105 (123) and 5-1-14-3 vs (MotM)

Will his batting continue to the same standard? Who can really know. Will his cocktail of off- and leg-breaks continue to be so uncommonly effective? Probably not. Has he been up against the strongest playing opposition that ODI cricket has to offer? Most definitely not. But if it were easy to dominate at this level then surely everyone would be doing it. And they're not - it's only really Aqib who is behaving like this generation's Ryan ten Doeschate.

@Aislabie's XI

Player|#||Primary Role||Secondary Role
Rohit Sharma |15| |Top-order hitter| |-
Viv Richards |2| |Top-order hitter| |Stock spinner
Aqib Ilyas |41| |Middle-order hitter| |Attacking spinner
Michael Bevan |28| |Dynamic accumulator| |-
Shaun Pollock |11| |Stock seamer| |Firefighter
Wasim Akram |33| |Death bowler| |Lower-order hitter
Muttiah Muralitharan |22| |Attacking spinner| |-

@qpeedore

 

[qpeedore]

I think I'm pick 42 now, which with Yash's withdrawal technically gives me a double pick, right?

At number 3, I'm going for Tom Cooper from Holland. I'll be honest in saying that this is the only player I'm picking that I've never actually seen play, so I really can't describe his style to you. What I know from Cricinfo is that he has an average of 48 in 23 ODIs and 41 in List A matches. He plays domestic cricket in Australia and seems to be a consistent performer for the South Australia team. That's about all I can tell you. He usually bats at number 3 or 4, but with his average and relatively lowish strike rate of 70 (82 in List A), I'll put him at 3 and let the team build around him. He costs 2 points.

@Aislabie the next pick is the one where I said I was going to out-calculate you. Because believe me, I've calculated enough to think I was back doing my A-levels Maths again.

This guy always features in lists of finishers in cricket. You ask any 10 ex-cricketers who they'd want finishing off an innings and 8 of them would pick him. Yet his official stats lie so bloody much. A batting average of 41 and a bowling average of 29 should get one into the list of best ever all rounders in history. I mean, that's almost Kallis-level when you think about it. Yet he has never made it onto any...okay...he has rarely made it onto any top all rounder lists.

Not for his bowling, his medium (at best) pacers were effective. I suppose you could almost call him a fast spinner. I'm picking him for that ability too. But it's the batting that I want to discuss.

Batting average of 41. 137 times at bat. Problem is, 50 not outs. We all know that not outs only add to your average. So actual runs per innings is actually about 26. When you calculate the innings where he was out, it actually gives you an average runs per innings around 20. His not out innings gives you something like 32ish (going from memory, the laptop did crash...onto the floor...at one point, lost my file)...now I did a comparison with Kallis. The latter gives you an average when he is out of something much higher (don't recall the number exactly), but 63 in his not out innings.

So this guy gives you 26 runs per innings and, another calculation based on strike rates, will only face about 30 balls. So I had to look further. Why would people, especially ex-cricketers, want him in their team?

Well, almost half of all the runs he made, he was not out at the end. (Please don't ask for proof, just assume I'm correct, I'm not about to go over that using my phone calculator again.) In his 50 not out innings, 30 of them were victories for his team. His highest score actually came in a loss (again not out). You'd think that with the reputation he has as a so-called finisher, he'd have been not out more in victories chasing, but no. He actually was not out chasing in only 14 matches, but those games gave him his highest strike rate of 97. Batting first he was not out 28 times, meaning that really...if you bat first, you need to push him up the order a bit.

Believe me, I've calculated the hell out of this guy, and every result has made me either require him, or want to ignore him. Thing is, unlike Cooper above, I've seen this guy play. I know what he can do. I've seen near-miracles happen. And if there's 60 runs to get in 5 overs, I want him in the middle.

Gents and Ladies, my first 3-point pick is Lance Klusener.

That number 8 spot is just a placeholder. Anyone gets out with 10 overs to go, he's going into bat. And his medium pace all but completes my bowling attack.

1.
2. Calum MacLeod
3. Tom Cooper
4.
5.
6. Kevin O'Brien
7. Tatenda Taibu
8. Lance Klusener
9. Mujeeb Ur Rahman
10. Mustafizur Rahman
11. Ali Khan

Minus 5 points.

Points available - 10

(EDIT: Crap, sorry...Aislabie to pick next. I tagged him earlier on in the post luckily. Don't get me started on standard deviation and whatnot, because I actually do have a big enough sample size for Klusener.)

(EDITx2: It's gents and ladies here. Apologies to the equal class.)

 

[Aislabie]

Andrew Flintoff

ODI stats: 3,394 runs @ 32.01 (SR: 88.82, 3 centuries, best 123) and 169 wickets @ 24.38 (econ: 4.39, 2 5WI, best 5/19) in 141 matches
List A stats: 6,614 runs @ 29.78 (SR: n/a, 6 centuries, best 143) and 289 wickets @ 22.61 (econ: 4.16, 2 5WI, best 5/19) in 282 matches

Batting VARP (middle order): 36.60%
Bowling VARP (seam): 45.89%

Andrew Flintoff is still England's best-ever one-day cricketer in my eyes, particularly in his golden period from about 2003 to 2006. He combined hugely powerful middle-order batting with express pace yorkers to be the ultimate dual-role player in a team that was still trying to make the best of such players as Vikram Solanki, Michael Vaughan and Kabir Ali. He slots into my team at number six; he is the fifth dual-role player so far, and you may notice that we're going for a slightly different approach than the fifteen-role arrangement that I've outlined before on this forum. The main idea of that is to ensure that our seven three-pointers cover as many bases as possible (in this case, eleven roles) in order to free up the rest of the side for our four one-point players not to be overburdened.

@Aislabie's XI

Player|#||Primary Role||Secondary Role
Rohit Sharma |15| |Top-order hitter| |-
?|-| |-| |-
Viv Richards |2| |Top-order hitter| |Stock spinner
Aqib Ilyas |41| |Middle-order hitter| |Attacking spinner
Michael Bevan |28| |Dynamic accumulator| |-
Andrew Flintoff |43| |Express pace| |Middle-order hitter
Shaun Pollock |11| |Stock seamer| |Firefighter
?|-| |-| |-
Wasim Akram |33| |Death bowler| |Lower-order hitter
?|-| |-| |-
Muttiah Muralitharan |22| |Attacking spinner| |-

@CerealKiller

 

[CerealKiller]

My number 3 will be Kumar Sangakkara

CerealKiller’s XI
1. Ed Joyce
2. Anshuman Rath
3. Kumar Sangakkara
4. Andy Flower
5. Shakib Al Hasan
6.
7.
8.
9. Waqar Younis
10. Sandeep Lamichhane
11. Hamid Hassan
Points used 15/25
@ahmedleo414

 

[ahmedleo414]

I will continue my pick with Pakistan's Abdul Razzaq

Stats|Matches|Runs|HS| Ave|100s/50s|Wkts|BBM| Ave|Econ|5w/10w
List-A |345|6,851|112|30.04|3/38|385|6/35|30.36|4.83|4/0
ODI |265|5,080|122|29.70|3/23|269|6/35|31.83|4.69|3/0

Here is his bio from cricinfo:

"Abdul Razzaq was once rapid enough to open the bowling and remains composed enough to bat anywhere, though he is discovering that the lower-order suits him nicely. His bowling - the reason he was first noticed - is characterised by a galloping approach, accuracy, and reverse-swing. But it is his batting that is more likely to win matches. He boasts a prodigious array of strokes and is particularly strong driving through cover and mid-off off both front and back foot. He has two gears: block or blast. Cut off the big shots and Razzaq gets bogged down, although patience is his virtue as he demonstrated in a match-saving fifty against India in Mohali in 2005. Just prior to that he had also played a bewilderingly slow innings in Australia, scoring four runs in over two hours. When the occasion demands it though, as ODIs often do, he can still slog with the best of them: England were pillaged for a 22-ball 51 at the end of 2005. and then again for nearly 60 runs in the last three overs of an ODI in September the following year.

It has hardly been smooth sailing though through his career. He suffered a slump, particularly in his bowling, between 2002 and 2004 when, though his place in the team wasn't under threat, there was uncertainty over how best to use him. But there were signs he was rediscovering some of his old guile if not his pace and nip. And if the pitch is in anyway helpful to seam - as it was in his first and only Test five-wicket haul at Karachi in 2004 or against India at the same venue in January 2006 - he can be a proper danger. Though Kamran Akmal's hundred overshadowed all in the Karachi win over India, Razzaq's performance was easily his most emphatic as an allrounder: he scored 45 and 90 as well as taking seven wickets in the match. A combination of injuries and poor form put his Test place into question and a knee injury days before the 2007 World Cup meant Pakistan missed his presence in a disastrous campaign.

A lackluster comeback to international cricket against Sri Lanka in Abu Dhabi and mediocre performance in the practice matches saw Razzaq being omitted from the 15-man squad for the Twenty20 World Championship and consequently announce his retirement from international cricket. He then went on to sign for Worcestershire towards the end of the county season as well as signing up with the Indian Cricket League, which ruled him out of Pakistan contention. He took back his decision to retire but committed himself to the ICL for two seasons, during which he served the Hyderabad Heroes as one of their star players.

After a global amnesty and quitting the ICL, he was welcomed back to the Pakistan fold for the World Twenty20 in England and made an immediate impact as Pakistan won the tournament. His Test comeback also looked set to be complete after he was included in Pakistan's 15-man squad for the tour of Sri Lanka in June. Early in his career he promised to be Pakistan's most complete allrounder since Imran Khan, and though for a variety of reasons he hasn't translated that into achievement, his country wouldn't mind having just a very solid allrounder."

Over 5000 ODI runs:
Over 250 ODI wickets:
One of my favourite players to watch:

My playing XI:

1. Sanath Jayasuriya (cost: 3)
2. Sachin Tendulkar (cost: 3)
3. Steve Tikolo (cost: 2)
4. Mushfiqur Rahim (cost: 2)
5. Khurram Khan (cost: 1)
6. Richie Berrington (cost: 1)
7. Abdul Razzaq (cost: 3)
8. ?
9. Anderson Cummins (cost: 1)
10. ?
11. ?

Budget Used: 16/25

@Bevab you are next

 

[Bevab]

My first choice for this role was Pollock but he was picked up a lot earlier in this draft than I expected. With that in mind, it is time to break the glass and introduce the backup I had for him in Sir Richard Hadlee.

He is the all-rounder who has the best bowling average (21.56) with a minimum qualification criteria of a batting average of 20. Hadlee also has a freakishly good economy of 2.88 in World Cup matches with only one other pacer bettering that. What is even more impressive is Hadlee achieving such heights despite playing in a relatively weaker team. Despite not being considered in an All-Time ODI XI, Hadlee's record and skill should certainly merit an inclusion in such a hypothetical lineup and it is surprising that he is quite often ignored despite clearly being the best bowler in ODIs among the premier all-rounders of the 80s. His career spanned over seventeen years by the end and I can only think of two other bowlers who lasted longer.

With the ball, he will bowl quickly unburdened by the need to bowl long spells or many overs and he will bowl accurately using his bevy of numerous variations that he mastered to full effect. With the bat, Hadlee was certainly no defensive player but he will work best when he is relied on as a firefighter who is given an early promotion to protect the hitters in the event of an collapse.

1. Kyle Coetzer
   
2. Neil Johnson
   
3. Zaheer Abbas
   
4. ?
5. AB de Villiers
   
6. Mark Chapman
   
7. John Davison
   
8. Richard Hadlee
   
9. Rashid Khan
10. ?
11. ?

(I'm really liking the look of this lineup)

Budget Used: 16/25

@Akshay. with the double pick.

 

[Akshay.]

Looking at my team currently, i need one good middle order batsman and an opener, so who better than my next two picks

First up is the Universe Boss

Chris Gayle

Statistics
ODI - 10480 runs @ 37.83 (25 hundreds, 54 fifties, Highest 215) and 167 wickets @ 35.48 (1 5W, BBI 5/46) in 301 Matches
List A - 13189 runs @ 38.67 (29 hundreds, 70 fifties, Highest 215) and 229 wickets @ 32.22 (1 5W, BBI 5/46) in 373 Matches

Cricinfo: "Tall and imposing at the crease, he loves to carve through the covers off either foot, and has the ability to decimate the figures of even the thriftiest of opening bowlers."
An aggressive batsman at the top, he is among the greats of the West Indian cricket. He is the only batsman in history to achieve triplet of 100 in T20I, 200 in ODI and 300 in Tests. He can also be considered among the one day legends considering he has scored more than 10000 runs. Also he is a handy bowler with 150+ wickets.
He will of course open the batting in my line-up
He costs 3 points


Next up is the Captain Cool

MS Dhoni

Statistics
ODI - 10773 runs @ 50.57 (10 hundreds, 73 fifties, Highest 183) in 350 Matches
List A - 13353 runs @ 50.38 (17 hundreds, 87 fifties, Highest 183) in 423 Matches

Cricinfo: "A multi-faceted ODI batsman, one who could accumulate, one who could rebuild, and one who could still unleash those big sixes."
An unorthodox and aggressive batsman at the beginning of his career, he moulded himself to address the middle order needs of Indian cricket and turned out to be the best finisher along side Virat Kohli.
He can play the dual role of a pressure absorber in case of early loss of wickets the top or can apply the finishing touches towards the end of the innings. Also, he is among the best keepers, with 444 dismissals and a superb technique for stumping.
Actually, i will have 2 keepers, but i hadn't thought this through at the starting of the drafts. (i should have planned better)
He will bat at 6 like he has done the most in his career, with Ashish Bagai at 4.
He costs another 3 points

1. Chris Gayle
2.
3. Jacques Kallis
4. Ashish Bagai
5. Eoin Morgan
6. MS Dhoni
7.
8. Heath Streak
9. Brett Lee
10. Shane Bond
11. Abdur Razzak

Points used 22/25

@Bevab your turn again

 

[Bevab]

Dhoni was going to be my next pick so that throws my plans off a bit.

 

[CerealKiller]

I’m beginning to regret not following @Aislabie 's strategy. Even if he'll be left with 4 below average bronze picks, i think his 7 gold picks will be more than enough to compensate. I thought the 5-4-2 strategy would’ve given me a good team, by first picking the best silver and bronze players, and then picking the remaining gold players, as i thought that there were enough good gold players to pick them later in the draft, as compared to silvers and bronzes, which i needed to pick immediately.

 

[Bevab]

I’m beginning to regret not following @Aislabie 's strategy. Even if he'll be left with 4 below average bronze picks, i think his 7 gold picks will be more than enough to compensate. I thought the 5-4-2 strategy would’ve given me a good team, by first picking the best silver and bronze players, and then picking the remaining gold players, as i thought that there were enough good gold players to pick them later in the draft, as compared to silvers and bronzes, which i needed to pick immediately.

I don't think @Aislabie's strategy worked because he went for 7 premium picks off the bat, but because each of his premium pick was either a player who had nearly no player on a similar level in that specific role or was just too good over the second best which is where the VARP of his helps a lot. His gold players were arguably platinum level to say the least about them.

• Abbas was the only similar player who had an average that could match Richards in his era but the latter has a clear edge and is a class above in terms of strike-rate. Further, I could find only three players who had a ninety plus strike-rate at number four and had played 90 plus matches. And out of the trio, Richards is clearly the best as a number four.
  
• Bevan was the only one to average fifty plus in his time with only Sachin coming close. His strike-rate is the obvious concern and you could find another classic finisher with better aggression but then again, Bevan was the first to thrive in such a role and in addition also offers a handy option with the ball.
• Flintoff is the most genius pick of them all, as there is no one who has a batting average above 30 and a bowling average below 25 with the exception of ten Doeschate who was more of a batting all-rounder anyways and there is the question of stat padding as always with an associate player.
  
• It is a similar story with Pollock as no one else has an average on either side of 25 as an all-rounder with that economy. In fact, only two other bowlers have a similar economy rate in the same time period and both are worse off with one of them also being picked by @Aislabie.
• Murali does have some decent alternatives and had Rashid Khan been available I imagine he would have been the first choice. Murali's economy is unmatched although I do think one other spinner might be on the same level (era adjusted economy needed to confirm that though).
  
• Sharma is another pick who is too good when compared to the alternatives who are aplenty. He averages 10 more than the next best opener of his time period and the only other player you should take over him is Tendulkar who was unavailable when Sharma was picked. He also offers the unique ability to win matches on his own when he clicks which happens roughly once in three games.

I don't think we should have all gone for premium picks upfront but one or two more who followed a similar strategy particularly hunting for such VARP positive players could have maybe forced @Aislabie to make some detours from his established plan. I still don't think he would have been impacted heavily as there are other players like de Villiers, Kohli, Fizz and Bond who could have also been natural picks for him to make.

 

[Bevab]

Speaking of VARP positive players, I'm not sure where this guy would rank on the overall list but I imagine it will be fairly high.

Yet again we are forced to break open the emergency glass for a backup player and just like before, I'm wondering if I actually was lucky as the backup player seems to be more impressive the more I look at it. This time, I shall go for Jos Buttler. He might not have the mighty average that other middle order legends have but he more than makes up for it with a blistering strike-rate that is unmatched by anyone who is as consistent as him. Too many times have the opposition celebrated a wicket only to dread as Buttler walks out.

This might sound controversial but I believe that Buttler is better than what his numbers suggest. His team's batting lineup is so stacked that he is mostly used as the player who adds the icing on top of the cake when he has shown on multiple occasions that he can also build an innings if required. If anyone wonders whether he can play a calm innings to take his side to victory in a low scoring chase, one must only look at the game versus Australia in 2018 where England won with a single wicket courtesy of Buttler's century where none of his other teammates even scored more than 20. Another innings that has unfortunately been overshadowed by the heroics of another player was his World Cup final performance. When he walked in his team's run-rate was 3.7 and New Zealand had just become the statistical favourite to win the game from there on. When he left the crease, England's run-rate improved markedly to 4.35. His run a ball fifty relieved Stokes from the pressure that he felt in earlier group stage games when they lost to Sri Lanka and Australia and allowed the all-rounder to go for it towards the end with the target still in sight rather than it being a lost cause. In a game where no other batsman could play fluently Buttler made batting look like a piece of cake on the biggest stage of them all, something that a certain South African is also capable of in my team. Watching them both bat together will be a treat for every fan irrespective of the team they support and also be an absolute nightmare for bowlers.

In my team, Buttler does not have a set position. Just like his role in England's team he can be introduced anytime after the 20th over, ideally when it is nearing the 30 over mark. With that in mind, Buttler will remain in the number six slot for now but do not be surprised to see him promoted frequently to five or even four. His presence also allows de Villiers to focus exclusively on his batting while he stands behind the stumps.

1. Kyle Coetzer
   
2. Neil Johnson
   
3. Zaheer Abbas
   
4. AB de Villiers
5. Mark Chapman
   
6. Jos Buttler
   
7. John Davison
   
8. Richard Hadlee
   
9. Rashid Khan
10. ?
11. ?

Budget Used: 19/25

@ahmedleo414 to pick.

 

[Aislabie]

Speaking of VARP positive players

I can do a pick-by-pick analysis with VARP after the draft if it'd interest people

 

[CerealKiller]

I can do a pick-by-pick analysis with VARP after the draft if it'd interest people

That’d be awesome.
How do you calculate it though? Could be handy in future drafts. If you wanna reveal it, of course.

 

[qpeedore]

@Aislabie once it's not too much work then yeah that would be amazing.

I think after the draft it would also be cool to see who were behind that emergency glass, as @Bevab referred to it. Otherwise unpicked guys who we would have picked if someone else took our first choice, or maybe that we couldn't pick because we'd hit the 1-per-nation limit, or the team balance wasn't panning out how we expected, that sort of thing.