Draft: The Worst of Test Cricket / Poll Up / Tournament Done

[Master Bates]

@VC the slogger you have two picks.
@Aislabie I think its time @CerealKiller makes his pick now.

 

[VC the slogger]

A batsman whom Lord Harris considered to be the best in the West Indies during their pre-Test days, and whom famous cricket writer CLR James once placed on a similar level to the likes of Bradman, Headley, Sobers, the 3 Ws etc. But in 3 Tests, Wilton St Hill for all his grace could manage only 117 runs at 19.50 without crossing fifty even once. He endured a miserable tour of England in 1928, West Indies' first as a Test nation where he managed a pathetic 262 runs at 10.91 from all first-class matches. Soon after, George Headley burst onto the scene in spectacular fashion and he faded into obscurity, finishing with a mediocre 1928 runs at 27.15 over a 43-match first-class career.


-

In an ideal world, Nawab Iftikhar Ali Khan of Pataudi shouldn't be anywhere near this draft, for he was a batsman who arguably had the talent to match his fellow Indian royals KS Ranjitsinhji and KS Duleepsinhji, and a far better player than his son Mansur Ali Khan who would go on to have a distinguished Test career for India. But in the one we have, he played only 6 Tests aggregating a disappointing 199 runs at 19.90 with 1 century (on debut, no less) and never crossed 25 even once apart from that knock. There were many factors owing to his underwhelming Test record, including a fallout with English skipper Douglas Jardine on the 1932/33 'Bodyline' series over his tactics over which the latter left him out of the playing XI for the remaining Tests claiming that "His Highness is a conscientious objector". This meant that his England Test career was largely jeopardized at a time when he ought to have been at his peak as a batsman. When he resurfaced again in 1946 as captain of India, his country of birth, he looked well past his prime totalling just 55 runs at 11.00 from 3 Test matches against the team he formerly represented. His first-class record of 8750 runs at 48.61 with 29 centuries from 127 matches provided a far better reading.


1. Jack Badock
2. Brian Chari
3. Fred Grace
4. Nawab of Pataudi snr
5. Wilton St Hill
6.
7. Maharajah of Vizianagram
8. CS Nayudu
9.
10. Shahadat Hossain
11.

 

[CerealKiller]

@Aislabie is it my turn?

 

[Aislabie]

@Aislabie is it my turn?

Very much so

 

[CerealKiller]

My pick is John Hastings, who played a solitary Test against South Africa in 2012, and for good reason. He scored a 32 in Australia's first innings with the bat, but ended with match figures of 153 runs for 1 wicket, as South Africa racked up 569 in the third innings, thanks to Graeme Smith's 84 off 100, Hashim Amla's 196 off 221 and AB de Villiers' 169 off 184. He was completely ineffective with the ball, and as the injured bowlers he'd replaced came back, he never got another chance. He had a fairly good ODI career, albeit once again only playing as an injury replacement.

CerealKiller's XI
1. Devon Smith (38 caps)
2. Rajendra Chandrika (5 caps)
3. Vikram Rathour (6 caps)
4.
5. Ravi Bopara (13 caps)
6.
7.
8. John Hastings (1 cap)
9. Bryce McGain (1 cap)
10. Rubel Hussain (26 caps)
11. Anwar Hossain Monir (3 caps)
(93/100 caps)
@Willoughby63

 

[Willoughby63]

Playing 3 tests for India, Nilesh Kulkarni was a slow left arm orthodox bowler and a lower order batsman. With ball in hand, he took 2 wickets at 166. He also averaged 5 with the bat. Despite this he is one of few bowlers to take a wicket with his first test delivery, getting Marvan Attapattu caught behind.

1. Albert Rose-Innes
2. Howard Francis
3. Rob Quiney
4.
5.
6. Denesh Ramdin
7. Chris Harris
8. Emile McMaster
9.
10. Nilesh Kulkarni
11. John Warr [DOUBLEPOST=1570122709][/DOUBLEPOST]@Sinister One

 

[Master Bates]

Mehrab Hossain

Asoka De Silva

Trevor Chappell

Richard Blakey
Farveez Maharoof
Darren Powell
David O'Sullivan
Alamgir Kabir

Average of 18 with bat and 65 with bowl and his cricinfo page says that he is an all-rounder. Total rubbish!

@Bigby Wolf

 

[Bigby Wolf]

Basit Ali

Represented Pakistan in 19 tests after making his debut at the age of 22 and comparison with Javed Miandad of his batting styles.Scored 1 century and 5 fifties during his tenure but couldn't quite hold on to a consistent performances at the highest level. Nowadays sits an expert on TV shows spewing hatred comments against his former colleagues,conspiracy theories about match fixing etc.

Stats : Tests M - 19 I - 33 Runs- 858 Avg - 26.81 HS - 103 100s/50s - 1/5

Bigby's XI :

1. Lawrence Miller
2.Akash Chopra
3.
4.Basit Ali
5.
6 Neil Fairbrother
7. MSK Prasad
8.
9. Tapash Basiya
10.Abdur Razzak
11. Charl Langeveldt

Caps - 97/100

@Aislabie

 

[Aislabie]

@Sinister One first, like it says on the index page

 

[Bigby Wolf]

@Sinister One first, like it says on the index page

Again my bad! Just can't seem to get that right.

 

[Master Bates]

Mehrab Hossain

Asoka De Silva
George Hearne
Trevor Chappell

Richard Blakey
Farveez Maharoof
Darren Powell
David O'Sullivan
Alamgir Kabir

I am not sure whether he is a bowler or all-rounder but the only test he played was at no.4 position. He played only 1 inning and scored a duck. He will bat at no.4 obviously and score nothing obviously.

@Aislabie

 

[Aislabie]

Overall Pick #66: Lord Hawke

Profile
"Lord Hawke strode the cricketing world like a colossus for half a century," begins the famous man's Cricinfo biography. And it is true; Martin Bladen Hawke, who became Lord Hawke at the ripe old age of 26, was a huge modernising force in the game. Without him, it is entirely possible that foreign tours would have continued to be ragtag, amateur, privately organised affairs. Instead, and owing to his success in positioning himself at the very top of the English game, they were very well-run, amateur, privately organised affairs.

Often, he decided that the best form of leadership on his tours was for him to be captain, coach and chief selector. This resulted in him wearing all of the hats in his team, with the exception of batsman (never once batted in the top six), bowler (never once turned his arm over) or wicket-keeper (never did it). As captain - his role for four out of his five Tests - his highest score was twelve. In that fifth Test, he managed to reach 30, batting at number ten.

Lord Hawke was a great cricketing figure, but he was not a great cricketing player. Not at all. Which is precisely why he makes this team.

Statistics
TESTS - 55 runs @ 7.85 (best 30) in 5 matches
FIRST CLASS - 16,749 runs @ 20.15 (13 centuries, best 166) in 633 matches

Role in the Team
Okay, so Hawke's best Test performance came as a specialist number ten batsman and non-captain, so that will be exactly his role in this team.

Aislabie's XI so far:
1. Monkey Hornby (Pick #40, 3 caps)
2.
3. Matt Poore (Pick #1, 14 caps)
4. Floyd Reifer (Pick #16, 6 caps)
5. Jack Edwards (Pick #59, 3 caps)
6. Mushfiqur Rahman (Pick #54, 10 caps)
7. Khaled Mashud (Pick #25, 44 caps)
8. Andy Whittall (Pick #41, 10 caps)
9. Walter Giffen (Pick #24, 3 caps)
10. Lord Hawke (Pick #66, 5 caps)
11.

(98/100 caps so far)

Next pick:
@blockerdave

 

[Bevab]

@Aislabie fascinating selection there mate.

 

[blockerdave]

Daren Powell. 37 matches for the West Indies, for a bowling average of 47.85 and a batting average of 7.82.

As Harry Redknapp would say, he was "bang average", and couldn't even spell his name right.

1. Trevor Gripper (Zim) 20 Caps
2. -
3. Matthew Maynard (Eng) 4 Caps
4. -
5. Maqsood Ahmed (Pak) 16 Caps
6. Alok Kapali (Ban) 17 Caps
7. Louis Stricker (SA) 12 Caps
8. Ian Salisbury (Eng) 15 Caps
9. Daren Powell (WI) 37 Caps
10. Manjurul Islan (Ban) 17 Caps
11. Everton Matambanadzo (Zim) 3 Caps

141 Caps used.

@Bevab is up next

 

[Master Bates]

Daren Powell. 37 matches for the West Indies, for a bowling average of 47.85 and a batting average of 7.82.

As Harry Redknapp would say, he was "bang average", and couldn't even spell his name right.

1. Trevor Gripper (Zim) 20 Caps
2. -
3. Matthew Maynard (Eng) 4 Caps
4. -
5. Maqsood Ahmed (Pak) 16 Caps
6. Alok Kapali (Ban) 17 Caps
7. Louis Stricker (SA) 12 Caps
8. Ian Salisbury (Eng) 15 Caps
9. Daren Powell (WI) 37 Caps
10. Manjurul Islan (Ban) 17 Caps
11. Everton Matambanadzo (Zim) 3 Caps

141 Caps used.

@Bevab is up next

Invalid pick as I had already picked him very early in the draft. No. 26