International Selections in the game

[deej3005]

Your team-by-team analysis is pretty interesting. Once you get into these statistics, it's hard to get out...

Anyway, here's my international batting analysis of Australia in all formats (min. no. of innings for qualification=5). I've included the number of matches played in that format as well, just after their age:

Test:
Brad Hodge (38) (6) (55.89)
Ricky Ponting (38) (154) (55.09)
Michael Clarke (31) (93) (54.31)
Phillip Hughes (24) (33) (52.40)
Mike Hussey (37) (74) (49.44)
Simon Katich (37) (79) (49.14)
Phil Jaques (33) (12) (46.10)
Shane Watson (31) (49) (45.28)
Marcus North (33) (27) (42.82)
Andrew Symonds (37) (26) (40.61)

Out of these batsmen, I pick 6 on a very regular basis. Hodge and Symonds have retired, while Ponting is a has-been in my save, and I've only played Jaques in 1 Test match.

ODI:
Mike Hussey (37) (178) (50.04)
Phillip Hughes (24) (49) (48.84)
Michael Clarke (31) (226) (44.02)
Ricky Ponting (38) (360) (42.45)
Mark Cosgrove (28) (34) (42.24)
Shane Watson (31) (161) (42.09)
Callum Ferguson (28) (28) (41.33)
Andrew Symonds (37) (198) (39.75)
Shaun Marsh (29) (41) (36.00)
Simon Katich (37) (45) (35.78)

5 of these batsmen would make my first team. Ponting has the same form problem as in Tests, and Symonds is unavailable through retirement. I regard Katich as a Test-only player, Callum Ferguson I have called up on 3 occasions but he hasn't scored higher than 15. Marsh I have tried quite a few times, with mixed results.

T20I:
Andrew Symonds (37) (14) (48.14)
Michael Clarke (31) (47) (38.65)
Matthew Wade (25) (11) (38.00)
Shane Watson (31) (33) (37.32)
Phillip Hughes (24) (24) (34.45)
Brad Hodge (38) (8) (31.33)
John Hastings (27) (14) (30.50)
Ricky Ponting (38) (17) (28.64)
David Hussey (35) (30) (28.29)
Cameron White (29) (36) (26.48)

It's the usual batsmen who figure again in this list. I'm seriously thinking of playing Brad Hodge a bit more now that I've seen how his averages compare to others'. T20I definitely seems to favour aggressive batsmen. The only real surprise here is Hastings whose average is boosted by lots of NOs.

I will do all of the rest of the stats for Australia soon and I might be able to do all this for some of the other international teams too, but I wouldn't expect that to be coming too soon.

 

[6ry4nj]

ODIs (New Zealand)

To ODIs now. Nicol has played three ODIs in early 2011 in the game. Seeing as how worse bats like Tennison and Flynn are still getting picked, he would have to be still in consideration. The game has never picked Guptill, which is extremely puzzling given the pre-2009 record that he retains. McCullum is only the 12th best bat in ODIs, (although he is well ahead of de Boorder) and only the sixth-best batting keeper in domestic. Williamson?s in-game average of 21.38 makes him another puzzling AI pick. Franklin makes the game?s team, albeit as a bowler. De Grandhomme is not in the database. Nathan McCullum and Kyle Mills have retired (sometime between March 2011 and now). Ellis and Bates have identically mediocre List A averages, so they?re struggling to make their domestic teams. Andy McKay has a better ODI record than any of the specialist bowlers picked by the AI, but he would still be a fringe selection at best.

Of the computer?s selections, really only Ryder and Taylor make any sense at all. Tennison may be one for the future, but for now I?d be sending him back to wow them in domestic. The inordinate amount of faith in Peter Fulton shown by the AI - in all forms ? well it?s just plain unfounded. De Boorder is well behind McCullum, as well as McGlashan. Flynn simply shouldn?t be there. Oram?s not bad ? fifth best ODI bowler in fact ? so he only misses out because of the debutant Shaw coming in. O?Brien is a complete fail, while Franklin and Southee should only ever be picked again when all other avenues have been explored.

Which just leaves my team, and that speaks for itself. I was amazed to find that Elliot has that good a bowling record in real life. McGlashan?s record is probably anomalous, but he deserves a chance to prove otherwise. Ryder should never be considered as fifth bowler in reality, but he?s much better in-game. Weston debuted in 2011 and has 5 innings to his credit. His domestic average is a staggering 48.49 ? staggering compared with reality, that is ? so he tops the averages in domestic. (His nearest rivals are two regen all-rounders). Taylor has underperformed in-game, which is why he bats eight behind the two all-rounders. McSkimming?s in-game debut was in 2010. Shane Bond had a really bad year ? perhaps that?s why he?s been dropped ? but he still has the best career stats in the country. In addition to Shaw, Mathew Harvie and Brent Arnel have been the pick of domestic.

 

[6ry4nj]

T20Is (New Zealand)

Guptill has barely half his real-life average in the game, yet it?s still the fifth-best in the format. Nicol is fourth in domestic behind McCullum, Bell and Weston. Ryder is the best T20I bowler for NZ in the game ? the AI picks him for his batting as well, but it?s not clear why. McCullum is the best bat of domestic and international. Williamson has had one, very unsuccessful game in the international sphere. He had a good year in domestic, but he?s still a very questionable selection in-game. Franklin is a barely adequate batsman and bowler in the game, so naturally the AI selects him to do both. The other McCullum is retired. Bracewell, Bates and Hira are yet to represent NZ in the game. Nor indeed are they ever terribly likely to, at least in this format. Southee has pretty much failed at this format in-game, although in his defence, he has only had 7 international matches.

The game foolishly persists with Fulton in this form also. Taylor has the sixth-best T20I average in the game ? followed by Broom, Tennison and Franklin ? so the AI?s selection of three of those is relatively explainable. Ryder is the game?s best T20I bowler, and a more than handy bat into the bargain, so no surprises there. Hay has scored 13 and 4 in his two games so far. He?s done much better in domestic, so maybe that?s why he?s persisted with. Perhaps when McCullum retires, de Boorder might be good enough to take his place, but then again domestic suggests Watling might make a better understudy. Oram?s figures suggest he should be in as a batsman only. Franklin likewise has nowhere near the bowling stats to make it in, and he just misses out as a batsman too. And both the AI and me picked Lance Shaw ? so it?s not actually a debut, but he is yet to take an international wicket, so that?s why his domestic average is listed.

Now to my selections. As mentioned above, Matt Bell is picked as best of the untried bats in domestic. All-rounders Oram and Elliot will not be called upon to bowl. Elliot has bowled one T20I over, in which he conceded 11 and picked up a wicket, but the international bowling average of 11.00 clearly flatters him. Lou Vincent is still around (he?s only 33) and he has the fourth-best batting record of those that are. Vettori in-game is at his bowling best in T20, and the same goes for O?Brien and Patel.

Interestingly in domestic, lining up behind Shaw are, in order, O?Brien, McSkimming, Southee, and Vettori. (Then come Hiini and McKay).

And that?s a wrap for the Kiwis. Pakistan next, I believe.

 

[CG123]

Oram, Franklin, and Vettori at 8, 9, and 10 respectively in the test team.

Hay's such a journeyman in RL as well. He still actually plays at the level below domestic cricket, but despite his outstanding averages he hasn't played domestic cricket since 2009.

 

[deej3005]

Here's the same for the bowling (Min. number of wickets in the relevant format to qualify for this list=10):

Test:
Stuart Clark (37) (25) (25.04)
Mitchell Starc (23) (5) (26.85)
Peter Siddle (28) (36) (27.79)
Mitchell Johnson (31) (53) (28.40)
Doug Bollinger (31) (16) (29.08)
Peter George (26) (15) (29.51)
Brett Lee (36) (76) (30.82)
Luke Feldman (28) (8) (31.09)
Ryan Harris (33) (10) (31.30)
Shane Watson (31) (49) (31.77)
(-Plus top spinner-)
12. Nathan Hauritz (31) (34) (32.15)

All these bowlers are either in or around my team, except Stuart Clark, who is too old, and Brett Lee.

ODI:
Doug Bollinger (31) (38) (19.30)
Clinton McKay (29) (12) (20.12)
Cameron Boyce (23) (10) (20.23)
Ryan Harris (33) (30) (20.63)
John Hastings (27) (46) (21.24)
Brett Lee (36) (189) (23.32)
Shaun Tait (29) (46) (23.57)
Cameron White (29) (100) (24.19)
Nathan Bracken (35) (116) (24.36)
Shane Watson (31) (161) (26.44)

This is a bit more interesting. I only gave McKay two ODIs right at the start and haven't called on him since. Brett Lee bowled awful at the start of the save so hasn't played since then. The averages don't tell the whole story because John Hastings and Mitchell Johnson (who doesn't even make the list!) would be the first two names on the team sheet for anybody. Also for the first time a batsman makes the list of top ten bowlers (White). I might try Nathan Bracken some time soon as well.

T20I (I've included players with 5 wickets or more too just to flesh out the list a bit-they're in italics):
Luke Feldman (28) (7) (13.20)
Mitchell Johnson (31) (37) (16.25)
Shaun Tait (29) (15) (16.79)
Stuart Clark (37) (9) (18.23)
Doug Bollinger (31) (3) (18.60)
Shane Watson (31) (33) (21.84)
Dirk Nannes (36) (7) (22.12)
Ben Hilfenhaus (29) (9) (22.30)
Ryan Harris (33) (12) (22.54)
Nathan Bracken (35) (19) (23.05)
(-And top spinner-)
12. Steven Smith (23) (16) (26.62)

The quicker bowlers do better in this format (Tait, Johnson, Harris). This is the only list that Ben Hilfenhaus actually makes, I think his bowling might be slightly under-rated in the game. Interestingly, I have a different top spin bowler in all three formats, I almost always play a spinner as a matter of personal preference.

 

[6ry4nj]

Ah I see. You pick spinners for realism, whereas only Boyce in ODIs has the performance to justify his place. So not so different from ICC09, although in my save (talking about Australia of course) there are no spinners either picked by the AI or deserving to be.

 

[CG123]

Australia on the 1st of April 2012 in ICC 2005

	[B][U]Test Team[/U][/B]		Age	Matches	Bat Avg	Bwl Avg	Bwl RpO	Notes
1	P Jaques	32	72	44.5			
2	D Plummer (r) 	24	42	36.6			Opener
3	R Ponting	37	173	45.8			
4	D Hussey	34	72	37.4			
5	S Watson	30	65	34.3	28.7	3.4	
6	J Hunniford (r) 25	25	33.1			Keeper
7	J Chambers (r) 	24	22	30.3			Opener
8	J Gillespie	36	136	12.1	28.6	2.9	
9	A McDonald	30	52	9.7	31.0	3.0	
10	G Jacob (r) 	24	8	6.8	29.2	2.6	Spin
11	T Jeffrey (r) 	28	71	3.7	23.8	2.6	Pace
12	B Lee		35	118	13.7	30.8	3.5

	[B][U]ODI Team[/U][/B]		Age	Matches	Bat Avg	Bwl Avg	Bwl RpO	Notes
1	P Jaques	32	113	40.0			
2	M Hayden	40	230	38.4			
3	R Ponting	37	353	39.5			
4	S Watson	30	142	32.0	33.1	4.8	
5	D Hussey	34	82	31.4			
6	J Hunniford (r) 25	41	27.4			Keeper
7	J Chambers (r) 	24	27	25.3			Opener
8	T Hemp (r) 	24	24	24.3	22.9	3.8	Pace AR
9	J Gillespie	36	215	8.6	26.3	4.3	
10	A McDonald	30	60	8.0	23.4	4.4	
11	T Jeffrey (r) 	28	110	2.6	25.4	4.1	Pace
12	D Plummer (r) 	24	67	23.5			Opener
13	B Lee		35	228	11.6	25.1	4.8

	[B][U]XI of the Best[/U][/B]		Age	Tests	ODIs	FC Bat	OD Bat	FC Bwl	OD Bwl
1	S Marsh		28	0	0	29.7	23.4		
2	B Haddin	34	0	11	32.4	26.1		
3	C Ferguson	27	0	0	39.2	29.0		
4	M Clarke	31	18	52	38.8	34.2		
5	M Hussey	36	0	5	48.3	37.7		
6	G Bailey	29	0	0	32.2	27.7		
7	C White		28	0	0	26.4	21.7	32.2	24.6
8	M Johnson	30	0	0	28.1	25.1	34.7	27.6
9	R Harris	32	0	0	18.6	17.5	41.5	30.8
10	X Doherty	29	0	0	10.7	6.9	35.4	23.9
11	D Bollinger	30	0	0	9.1	8.2	37.7	23.3

Notes

* The players shown in the Test and ODI teams are the players who played in at least 50% of the respective format's games over the 2011/12 season. The batsman have been ordered purely on averages, while the bowlers have been picked on a mixture of average and economy rate.

* The XI of the Best is a selection of players who have consistently played for Australia in real life over the last few years, but are journeymen in ICC 2005. I have ordered them based on where they bat in real life, and not on their in game averages like I have done with the Test and ODI teams.

 

[6ry4nj]

Yeah that's amusing isn't it? Hayden and Gillespie still in the team, but Mussey never picked for Tests once.

I guess it's a problem with ICC05 that the batting standards have dropped so far. Bowling is all right, and you even have at least one decent spin regen, but the batting in both formats is woeful. The worst average in "my" ICC09 ODI team (Ponting 41.4) is better than the best in your save (Jaques 40.0). Nearly as bad in Tests - only two bats averaging 40+, compared with ICC09 where the 5th best is on 43.0, and three are over 50.

Have other countries suffered as badly? Does Australia still top the rankings?
And do you have any record of the retirees (eg. Gilly, Warne, and the rest)?

 

[puddleduck]

Australia generally slipped away in 2005.

As the game progressed through the regens you'd normally find an absolute ton of bowlers coming through and a dearth of batsmen. This was exaggerated by the fact the batsmen would generally want around 100,000 in wages and have a tendency to disappear from the game because no one could afford them.

In one of my saves all my bowlers have averages around 10-20 and my batman average 45-60. Everyone else's batsmen struggled to average much more than 30, whilst even the crap county teams would have bowlers with averages in the mid to low 20's.

 

[CG123]

Yeah that's amusing isn't it? Hayden and Gillespie still in the team, but Mussey never picked for Tests once.

I guess it's a problem with ICC05 that the batting standards have dropped so far. Bowling is all right, and you even have at least one decent spin regen, but the batting in both formats is woeful. The worst average in "my" ICC09 ODI team (Ponting 41.4) is better than the best in your save (Jaques 40.0). Nearly as bad in Tests - only two bats averaging 40+, compared with ICC09 where the 5th best is on 43.0, and three are over 50.

Have other countries suffered as badly? Does Australia still top the rankings?
And do you have any record of the retirees (eg. Gilly, Warne, and the rest)?

Gilly's still in the save at 40. He's played more international matches than he did in RL, but his average dropped off, a lot like Hayden. He didn't play a single match international last season in 2011 though, because of that regen keeper. Matthew Elliott (40), Katich (36) - he played three tests last year, Bracken (34), and Tait (29) are all still there. The likes of Warne, McGrath, Langer, etc. are all gone though. On a side note, Lara's still there at 42!

These are the rankings (I was playing as New Zealand on easy, hence how good they are).

Tests:

Ind 12
NZ 9
Pak 5
WI 4
SL 3
Eng 3
Aus -4
SA -7
Bng -7
Zim -18

ODIs:

NZ 10
SL 8
Pak 4
WI 2
Ind 1
SA 0
Aus -1
Eng -3
Bng -4
Zim -12

So overall:

NZ 19
Ind 13
SL 11
Pak 9
WI 6
Eng 0
Aus -5
SA -7
Bng -11
Zim -30

So like puddleduck says, Australia have definitely slipped away. They're actually semi-close to the opposite of the RL rankings atm.

And again like puddleduck says the batsmen dropping off is an overall trend in ICC 2005, except NZ because I'm playing as them on easy. Eng have no one averaging over 36! Tendulkar, Sahwag, and Laxman are the only Indians averaging over 40. Yousuf is Pak's best averaging 39, etc. Bowling wise there's no one averaging under 20, there are quite a few players in the low 20s though. In ODIs there are actually quite a few bowlers averaging under 20. This guy has taken 67 ODI wickets at 12.8, with an E/R of 3.6!

 

[6ry4nj]

Pakistan - Tests

Hafeez is a controversial selection in real life. In the game he is a complete reject in this form. Umar is unlucky to miss out in the game ? if I had picked two openers, he would have been Manzoor?s partner. I guess he deserves the gig in real life. Can?t really fault Azhar Ali on his performance so far, but in the game he is a long way from making the team. Younis Khan is one selection we can all agree on. Misbah-ul-Haq is much better in reality, and well-deserving of his spot. I have him scraping in in-game as well ? the AI disagrees and puzzlingly picks Jamshed. Asad Shafiq has a good enough domestic average in the game, but not good enough for Tests at present. The selection of Adnan Akmal makes no sense ? in the game, in real life, or anywhere else for that matter. Yes you read that right ? he has the 54th best batting average in domestic ? among specialist keepers.

Mohammad Yousuf has only played four Tests in the last year, but his 322 runs at 46.00 are not an indication that he should be retired. Jamshed has been the most successful opener this year, which goes some way towards explaining his selection. Ghani, a mediocre domestic bat in real life, is a prodigy in the game. Alam is slightly better in-game than in reality, but both versions of him are hard to omit. Rizwan?s 60.69 domestic average is the best of any batsman. He?s not yet 20 years old, but has already played 7 Tests in a total of 44 first-class matches, since his 2008 debut. While his Test batting record has not yet matched his potential, he makes the best choice over Kamran Akmal and Sarfraz Ahmed.

To bowlers now. Gul is more of a Test-standard bowler in-game than in reality. The AI understandably picks him ? he is the fourth best bowler to have played 10 Tests or more. Cheema is not Test quality in this save, and neither is Ajmal. Abdur Rehman has only had 3 Test appearances, and none for two years. He deserves to be persevered with, in the hope that his performances will improve. But not right now. The AI has gone with the four best experienced Test bowlers (minimum of 15 Tests). I?ve gone with the three best overall, and thus have included two veterans who made the most of limited opportunities some years ago (Ali and Ahmed both debuted in 2003). I also look to introduce the best from domestic, and ? surprise, surprise ? it?s none other than ?Mohammad Aamer?, as ICC09 calls him. Asif is the bowler missing out to give him his chance. The next most promising domestic bowler is Junaid Khan.

 

[6ry4nj]

Picking bowlers cos they bat a bit is a bad idea, so I disagree with the selectors and the AI for picking Afridi ? too inconsistent. Hafeez similarly does not justify his place in the real-life squad. Farhat is similar in game to in reality ? which is to say, he?s not good enough. Again the Azhar Ali experiment looks solid enough, although it is not replicated in the game, and the same goes for Asad Shafiq. The only batting newcomer in-game is Azeem Ghumman, who is in fact a complete no-hoper irl. Ul-Haq isn?t as good in the game, but only just misses out. Umar Akmal is Ghumman in reverse ? although he is at least of an adequate standard in the game for List A. Adnan Akmal in the game is an even bigger waste of space.

The AI seems to have a completely blinkered attitude to Manzoor and Jamshed ? wunderkind Ghumman is the only other opener it ever picks ? and it picks him down the order despite his record. It picks Younis Khan and Fawad Alam likewise without giving it a second thought, it seems. Rizwan is gradually taking over from Sarfraz as the keeper of choice, and the selection makes sense. I?ve only gone with Ali because of his batting heroics in two ODIs in 2008.

My other batting selections ? Yousuf, Butt and Sabri ? have stats which speak for themselves. Sabri is a 26-year-old batting all-rounder who debuted way back in 2005. With that average after 47 matches, I?ve got to try him. Also note that in real life he?s nowhere.

To bowlers now, and apart from the all-rounders, the real-life selections are quite rational. Gul is quite a bit better than life in the game, but he misses out on my team because Riaz, Munir and Samiullah Khan are better still. The game?s picking of Arafat and Kaneria ahead of him doesn?t make a lot of sense. The game has been picking Gul, but in the last year he has struggled for a spot with Kaneria. Ajmal has not been picked by the game, despite having played 5 ODIs in 2008. Cheema is strictly domestic up to now, but with his career average creeping down towards the teens, he could have a call-up in his future.

Tanvir must be picked for a bit of batting, but I don?t see how he deserves to be. The AI has picked Kaneria for 17 out of his career total of 35 ODIs. Why it persists with the clearly failed experiment is a mystery. Munir ? a left-arm spinner representing Faisalabad in the game ? is the bowling star and the first to be picked. Arafat has played 57 of his 65 ODIs under the patronage of the AI selection panel. You?d think they?d be looking elsewhere by now, although Munir and Gul are the only really experienced bowlers ahead of him.

As for my bowlers, Kamran Hussain bowled 17 ODI overs in two matches in 2008 ? against Zimbabwe. So he got hugely inflated figures, which in turn got him selected by me. Asad Ali ? that makes two A Alis from left-field in my selection ? is the best of domestic, a 23-year-old medium-fast bowler who appears to have been around since he was 16.

 

[6ry4nj]

T20Is (Pakistan)

In real life, Pakistan?s six best available batsmen by average are: Misbah, Umar Akmal, Shoaib Malik, Kamran Akmal, Imran Nazir and Abdul Razzaq. Razzaq?s average is just over 23. (Number seven ? exactly as in the above team ? is Hammad Azam). In the game, you will notice, the first five batsmen hardly go below 30. Either way, there are too many underperformers in that real-life batting lineup. Shafiq?s average in domestic is only 22.36 ? so what is he doing there. Zia can be explained away as one for the future, picked on potential.

Similarly in the game: I can understand the unwillingness to pick Shahzaib Hasan ? his 5 matches were all in 2009-10 (although this does mean he was an AI ?discovery?, in that he was first picked in this format by the AI). But why reject ul-Haq, Alam and Kamran Akmal ? and Malik - in favour of the completely unrealized potential of Manzoor, Ghani, Ahmed and even Ghumman?

Best five real-life bowlers are Cheema, Gul, Ajmal, Rehman and Afridi (although Sami?s 6 wickets in 3 games in 2010 is worthy of consideration). Afridi?s average is just under 20. Note that the game foursome average 13 or less, although Malik hasn?t really been a fully-fledged fifth bowler. Neither has he in real life, which is why I haven?t included him in the above best 5. So really those real-life selections are pretty close to the mark.

In-game, I can make allowances for trialling Abbas and doubting Malik. But rejecting Gul and Kaneria in favour of Afridi and Arafat ? that makes no sense. Apart from anything else, Rehman and Asif are next in line (by T20I average).

Finally, a bit about my debutants. Naved Yasin is a 24-year-old left-hander playing for Multan in-game (and irl). 39 of his 40 domestic T20 matches have been in the last three years, although his debut in FC was way back in ?06. Mohammad Talha is a 23-year-old right-arm medium-fast bowler with no domestic club in-game. His T20 debut was in late 2008, so like Yasin he has played the vast majority of his games (39 of 42) since the start of 2009-10. Both of them are useless in reality (in T20 anyway). However, Talha did play in a Test against Sri Lanka in March 2009 (thus both in game and in reality), and also played for the PCB XI against England in Dubai early this year (of course this match did not happen in-game).

South Africa next?

Once you get into these statistics, it's hard to get out...

Don't I know it!

 

[CG123]

England on the 1st of April 2012 in ICC 2005

	[B][U]Test Team[/U][/B]		Age	Matches	Bat Avg	Bwl Avg	Bwl RpO	Notes
1	A Strauss	35	100	33.2			
2	S Newman	32	43	29.3			
3	V Chivers (r) 	24	62	33.3			Batsman
4	K Pietersen	31	75	31.2			
5	A Flintoff	34	131	30.1	32.8	2.9	
6	M Eden (r) 	24	11	28.5			Opener
7	M Prior		30	12	15.8			
8	C Tremlett	30	71	13.0	23.2	3.1	
9	L Andrews (r) 	26	19	12.8	34.3	3.3	Pace
10	S Harmison	33	116	7.8	25.9	2.9	
11	J Anderson	29	87	7.2	26.1	3.3	
12	T Webster (r) 	28	35	27.4			Batsman

	[B][U]ODI Team[/U][/B]		Age	Matches	Bat Avg	Bwl Avg	Bwl RpO	Notes
1	A Strauss	35	143	29.0			
2	S Newman	32	78	26.9			
3	K Pietersen	31	123	33.6			
4	V Chivers (r) 	24	93	33.6			Batsman
5	A Flintoff	34	206	27.0	25.3	4.1	
6	M Eden (r) 	24	25	26.4			Opener
7	M Prior		30	26	19.9			
8	J Binden (r) 	26	44	12.6	21.1	4.1	Pace
9	C Tremlett	30	102	8.5	25.5	4.4	
10	S Harmison	33	151	5.5	32.4	4.2	
11	J Anderson	29	167	5.3	22.3	4.4

	[B][U]XI of the Best[/U][/B]		Age	Test	ODI	FC Bat	OD Bat	FC Bwl	OD Bwl
1	A Cook		27	0	0	44.0	29.2		
2	I Bell		29	4	22	49.1	40.1		
3	O Shah		33	0	15	38.8	34.0		
4	R Bopara	26	0	0	28.5	28.1		
5	E Morgan	25	0	0	21.3	20.0		
6	S Patel		27	0	0	25.2	20.2	40.3	31.6
7	L Wright	27	0	0	16.5	14.3	49.4	25.2
8	T Bresnan	27	0	0	15.3	16.4	31.3	24.4
9	S Broad		28	0	0	21.2	16.8	43.0	29.1
10	J Dernbach	26	0	0	9.3	7.7	42.7	27.3
11	M Panesar	29	0	0	6.9	8.4	29.8	20.2

 

[6ry4nj]

Particularly pleasing to see the game 'discovering' Newman and Tremlett. A bit disappointing that Harmison is still there - there must be better bowlers. In particular, Monty with that domestic record mustn't be far from the ODI team. (You'd think Bell would play more Tests as well with his standout 49 in domestic)

Shame about those batting averages. Are they trending down towards the heat death of the universe? Or might they go back up at some stage?