Draft: No Landmarks XI - Poll Added - Running till 25 April

[blockerdave]

You know that bowling is more important than batting in winning matches. And with Salisbury you have a team of only 10 players.

well i'll give you this one

 

[Aislabie]

@Aislabie is also doing the same but picks like Mortaza is not really the best.

Say what now? Mortaza carried a crap team on his shoulders at a time his knees would barely take his own weight. He performed the thankless task of bowling seam on pitches curated to make that pointless. And he did all of that despite a backdrop of poverty and no real coaching, after being picked from nowhere to make his first-class debut in a Test match.

Aislabie's pick of Tony Gray, which is actually good, has put him a bit behind him.

And how does picking the West Indian fast bowler whose average was the best of them all somehow put me behind Nuwan Kulasekera?

with Salisbury you have a team of only 10 players.

Yeah true

 

[blockerdave]

Say what now? Mortaza carried a crap team on his shoulders at a time his knees would barely take his own weight. He performed the thankless task of bowling seam on pitches curated to make that pointless. And he did all of that despite a backdrop of poverty and no real coaching, after being picked from nowhere to make his first-class debut in a Test match.


And how does picking the West Indian fast bowler whose average was the best of them all somehow put me behind Nuwan Kulasekera?

Yeah true

Yes. Mortaza has pretty fair mitigating circumstances, and Tony Gray had issues with injuries. So I'd say they are two of the strongest qualifying bowlers, in the same way as Cook and Law are on the batting side.

In Gray's place in particular, you could say "oh he only played 5 tests so who knows, if he played 35 he might not have been as good, so we rate the guy who did play 35 tests as better", whereas lets be honest if Gray HAD played 35 tests he wouldn't qualify for this draft because he'd have got a 5-fer!

In my book promise beats definitely not up to it.

 

[Aislabie]

Yes. Mortaza has pretty fair mitigating circumstances, and Tony Gray had issues with injuries. So I'd say they are two of the strongest qualifying bowlers, in the same way as Cook and Law are on the batting side.

In Gray's place in particular, you could say "oh he only played 5 tests so who knows, if he played 35 he might not have been as good, so we rate the guy who did play 35 tests as better", whereas lets be honest if Gray HAD played 35 tests he wouldn't qualify for this draft because he'd have got a 5-fer!

In my book promise beats definitely not up to it.

I completely agree with this. Chris Rogers would have been another player like that, had he not been Zimmer-framed out to open the batting in the Ashes. He's one of the rare cases of one of those "what-if" players actually getting to kick on and show us very well what if.

My approach to openers was a little different though - in Bruce Laird you had someone of obvious Test class (just look at his WSC exploits) but for whatever reason just never quite reached that milestone in Tests.

In fact, he and Chauhan both demonstrate ably that a top three batsman can indeed do his job without making daddy-hundreds. For example, Ravi Bopara. Similar average to Denly but with three hundreds to Denly's none. But I would say that Denly has done much better in the role of a Test number three. I think it was Jonathan Trott who said that he believed he was of greater value to the team scoring 50 and 50 than 100 and 0, because the latter left his team in the lurch when he got out

 

[Master Bates]

Well, everyone has different way of looking at things. Let's stop this arguement.

@Aislabie your pick.

 

[Aislabie]

My next pick is a classy left-hander who was only just eligible - his country didn't become a Test nation until his 40th year - but Ed Joyce's excellence on the county circuit shows what a player both Test cricket in general and England specifically (remember when they poached him as an ODI specialist?) missed out on. Comfortable anywhere in the top four, it is at number four that he bats for us.

1. Bruce Laird
2. Chetan Chauhan
3. Brian Bolus
4. Ed Joyce
5.
6.
7. Niroshan Dickwella
8. Winston Benjamin
9. Mashrafe Mortaza
10.
11. Tony Gray

@Master Bates

 

[blockerdave]

Well, everyone has different way of looking at things. Let's stop this arguement.

@Aislabie your pick.

My ideal top 3 would have been Cook and Laird to open, Larkins number 3.

 

[Master Bates]

Vic Stollmeyer- Scored 96 in his first test match (and innings) but never played again. His brother, though, managed to captain the Windies test side in his career.
According to his younger brother Jeff, he had been told he was not playing and so went out on the town the night before the game. Luckily, West Indies fielded first. When West Indies did bat, Vic Stollmeyer ran out George Headley, but stayed out there to put on 163 in 100 minutes with Bam Bam Weekes. His first class career was good as he managed an average above 40 in 33 matches. He will bat at 4 where he batted in his only test innings.

CerealKiller's XI:
01.
02. Parthiv Patel
03.
04. Vic Stollmeyer
05. Barry Shepherd
06. Asim Kamal
07. Vallance Jupp
08. Sam Curran
09. Andre Adams
10. Jhye Richardson
11. Mike Hendrick

@Aislabie you again!

 

[Master Bates]

@VC the slogger you are up.

@Aislabie is late.

 

[Aislabie]

It's kind of strange that KC Ibrahim never quite cracked Test cricket given that he managed a batting feat greater than anyone else when he was at his best by flaying more than 700 runs between first class dismissals. Comfortable anywhere in the batting order, his attacking style means he fits at five.

1. Bruce Laird
2. Chetan Chauhan
3. Brian Bolus
4. Ed Joyce
5. KC Ibrahim
6.
7. Niroshan Dickwella
8. Winston Benjamin
9. Mashrafe Mortaza
10.
11. Tony Gray

@VC the slogger

 

[blockerdave]

I assume I can go as @VC the slogger is late?

So I choose Wayne Clark to open my bowling. A bowler who helped the Aussies during the WSC defections, Clark had a "controversial" action that generated good pace (he was a chucker). Helped himself to 7 4-wicket hauls in his 10 tests, but never the elusive 5-fer.

@Aislabie to go

 

[Aislabie]

There was a man I'd had my eye on for some time for spinning duties but who I thought might slip under the radar. Happily, that is exactly what he's done, and with the addition of Simon Harmer I have gained the services of a genuinely world-class spinner in the tenth round of the draft. Not only that, but when Mortaza's knees fall off on the eve of his second spell, Harmer can take over captaincy duties.

1. Bruce Laird
2. Chetan Chauhan
3. Brian Bolus
4. Ed Joyce
5. KC Ibrahim
6.
7. Niroshan Dickwella
8. Winston Benjamin
9. Simon Harmer
10. Mashrafe Mortaza
11. Tony Gray

@blockerdave

 

[blockerdave]

Brun Smith will bat number 5 for me. A New Zealander who played in the late 40w/early 50s, smith scored 2 50s in 6 inns, including a high score of 96, finishing with a test average of 47.40


1 Jimmy Cook
2 Wayne Larkins
3
4 Stuart Law
5 Brun Smith
6 Adrian Kuiper
7 Ben Hollioake
8 Bob Taylor
9 Ian Salisbury
10 Dayle Hadlee
11 Wayne Clark

Over to @VC the slogger

 

[blockerdave]

@VC the slogger and @Master Bates are both late so it’s my turn again.

I choose Michael Carberry, he will open with Jimmy Cook and Larkins will drop to 3.


In all the brouhaha over the KP sacking at the end of the 2013/14 Ashes, the harsh dropping of Carberry was largely overlooked.

Despite facing Johnson and Harris at their lethal best while trying to find a place in a rapidly disintegrating team, Carberry was one of the better performers on that tour. Sure an average of 28 isn’t great, but most of the rest of the squad would have killed for that.

So that completes my team:

1 Jimmy Cook (c)
2 Michael Carberry
3 Wayne Larkins
4 Stuart Law
5 Brun Smith
6 Adrian Kuiper
7 Ben Hollioake
8 Bob Taylor
9 Ian Salisbury
10 Dayle Hadlee
11 Wayne Clark

So we have 2 world class batsmen in Cook and Law, a top notch all rounder in Kuiper and one of huge promise in Hollioake, and a world class keeper.

Bowling maybe not great - nobody in the class of Tony Grey - but Clark, Hadlee, Kuiper and Holliake is not the worst seam attack (if Clark isn’t called for throwing!) albeit spin is obviously poor.

we will get around that by playing exclusively in Durham in April and May.

overall though I’m pleased with it - not that many journeymen there and most have a reasonable excuse for not hitting the landmarks through lack of opportunity rather than ability.

@Aislabie

 

[Aislabie]

So I've picked a slightly out-of-the-box player to complete my side, but Anthony McGrath finished his Test career with a batting average of 40.20 and a bowling average of 14.00. Absolute GOAT numbers those, even if in reality he was very much a batting all-rounder. His first-class numbers back up that he was a player of reasonable quality though: 35 first-class hundreds at an average of 36.83 to go with 134 wickets at an average of 35.66 is not to be sniffed at. Okay, so maybe his one-day international record was utterly dreadful, but who cares - we're here for Test players and it's Test players we've selected.

1. Bruce Laird
2. Chetan Chauhan
3. Brian Bolus
4. Ed Joyce
5. KC Ibrahim
6. Anthony McGrath
7. Niroshan Dickwella
8. Winston Benjamin
9. Simon Harmer
10. Mashrafe Mortaza
11. Tony Gray

On balance, quite a strong team. Benjamin and Gray with the new ball, Mortaza to provide a holding seamer's role and Harmer's off-spin is a decent front-line bowling attack, while three proven Test openers is something that none of the rest of the teams can boast. The rest are a little unproven (save for Dickwella) but that was always going to be an issue in this draft.