Draft: Old Guys

[Aislabie]

I assume he can be skipped since he hasn’t made a pick in a long time. If so I would be the next in line so @Aislabie to confirm it.

Confirmed

 

[Bevab]

Truthfully, there’s no substitute for raw pace. Doubly so when you’re bowling at a bunch of oldies who have all had their natural reflexes in decline. The problem is that most pacers also have a decline in their speeds once they become old due to the same reason and wear and tear. So how do we solve this problem?

Enter Richard Gleeson. He circumvented the age problem by starting his professional career late which still leaves him quick. He‘s capable of hitting 90 mph and above when he wants to, bowls a mean yorker and is a specialist in death bowling. For someone considered a T20 specialist, his FC average is 21 with a 10fer and he also averages 29 in List A cricket. Now that bowling action of his does ensure an increased risk of injuries like at present but his role in our side is simple; be the middle overs enforcer with short spells in ODs and FC games and the death overs specialists in T20s. With five frontline bowlers his workload will be carefully managed in the longest format too.

@Neo 7 next.

 

[Neo 7]

Dean Elgar

Alastair Cook
Dean Elgar
Sarfaraz Ahmed
MS Dhoni
Roelof van der Merwe
Wahab Riaz
Malinda Pushpakumara
Kyle Abbott

Over 40s: 1/3


@Ed Smith

 

[Ed Smith]

Mahmudulla



@Aravind.

 

[Aravind.]

Dhammika Prasad

@Ed Smith

 

[Ed Smith]

Anyone not on their phone fancy writing my team up? Is a proper pain in the arse on mobile

 

[pillowprocter]

My turn again... Chris Rushworth

Adam Lyth
Sikandar Raza
Mushfiqur Rahim
Sean Williams
Shakib al Hasan
Kieron Pollard
Mohammad Nadeem
Chris Rushworth
Michael Hogan

Outstanding:
@Ed Smith @Neo 7 @VC the slogger @Bevab @Paranoid Kendroid

Now picking:
@Supreme General

If anyone is confused, I just made pick #78

 

[Neo 7]

Ravi Bopara

Alastair Cook
Dean Elgar
Sarfaraz Ahmed
Ravi Bopara
MS Dhoni
Roelof van der Merwe
Wahab Riaz
Malinda Pushpakumara
Kyle Abbott

Over 40s: 1/3

 

[Supreme General]

1. Aaron Finch
2.
3. Cheteshwar Pujara
4. Wayne Madsen
5.
6. Mo Nabi
7. Wriddhiman Saha
8. Gareth Berg
9. Neil Wagner
10. Tim Murtagh
11. James Anderson
Well with Gareth Berg in this team we might as well give him an “Italian” friend so incomes Derbyshire legend Wayne Madsen

@Aislabie

 

[Bevab]

Rushworth had my interest but since he’s gone I suppose I’ll have to find someone else.

 

[Bevab]

Colin Munro
Shikhar Dhawan
Angelo Matthews
Shoaib Malik
Matthew Wade
Jatin Saxena
Dilruwan Perera
Richard Gleeson
Jackson Bird

With the benefit of hindsight, I’m actually pleased that Rushworth is gone as Bird is still unpicked and so shall slot into my side as the workhorse bowler. It’s extremely unfortunate that his best years have come when Australia have had perhaps their greatest trio of pacers playing with enough riches in their bowling stocks to serve as backups. Despite a sluggish stop-start to his test career he still managed to average thirty by the end of it and he’s been one of the best Shield pacers with his ability to keep it tight while using his swing expertise to compensate for the lack of pace.

 

[Bevab]

I remembered Aussie fans a few years ago holding Bird up as one of the unluckiest cricketers in terms of being born at the wrong time and so went looking into historical Shield records. The only modern players (I’ve taken this as since the 80s) with a decent enough sample size and a better record than him are…

Jhye Richardson (20.78)
Joel Paris (21.20)

…Bird’s average is a frankly ridiculous 21.99. He has more than double the appearances of Paris and nearly four times as many as Jhye. There are individual seasons like Imran Khan’s and Garner’s which were better but let’s be honest, that is already rarefied air. Scour back through history and the significant names you find being better than him include the likes of Tiger O’Reilly, Charlie Turner, Jack Iverson, Alan Davidson, Hugh Trumble, Charlie Macartney and funnily enough underarm specialist Trevor Chappell. Some of these cricketers played in an era of entirely different conditions. Our protagonist has a better record than the likes of Lillee and Lindwall (of course this doesn’t mean he’s better than them but it’s incredible statistically). His FC average is funnily enough brought down by his County stints where he has been utterly poor which is quite weird for a pacer who relies on swing and seam.

So the next thing I did was look up if he was a home ground bully and… no. He’s got a better average at the SCG (20.30), Gabba (18.19) and MCG (21.15) than at Bellerive Oval (21.49). The latter is considered to be one of the more green surfaces in Australia whilst the MCG’s flat nature is well known by now. He seems to have a fine record at the Adelaide Oval (22.00) and the WACA (24.54) too. The only places he’s struggled in Australia are the secondary grounds in a couple of states.

Even taking into account his county struggles, the Bellerive boost and the standard of Shield batters being poor during his time… this is an outstanding record... especially for a side that isn’t a traditional powerhouse domestically (they’ve made only two finals during Bird’s career and lost both of them). His BBL performances for the Sixers aren’t great in contrast to his stint with the Stars but he’s been just above average economically (let‘s just not speak about his Blast record) and he’s got a thoroughly average List A record. And if you think he is a relic on the wane these are his numbers from his most recent season…

Shield - 25.96 (second best average behind Siddle and the highest wicket taker for Tasmania while being seventh overall)
Marsh Cup - 41.33 (did only play three games though and other than Siddle everyone else conceded at least one run per over more than him)
BBL - 19.75 (only six games but he did the job economically given he was their most miserly pacer)

Quite simply put… the question that I‘m asking is… how on earth was this guy not picked till now?