Random Country Test Draft -- DONE. Time for comments/discussion

[Cricketman]

The Aussies call it the Wrong 'un, he was whipping them out yesterday!

 

[ZoraxDoom]

Nope. He can't bowl one due to his shoulder, didn't see him bowl one yesterday. Saw the legbreak, flipper and top-spinner.

It would be strange if he suddenly unveiled it during the IPL.

 

[Dare]

Needed an opener so I decided to take Matthew Hayden. Easily one of the best modern era openers Hayden is a tall and powerful batsman and it showed in his game and the way he dominated bowling attacks around the world. Hayden didn't have the best start to his career but from around 2000-2001 he turned it on and was one of the top batsman not just openers during that time. He had an incredible conversion rate finishing his career with 30 centuries and 29 fifties in 103 test matches.

1.
2. Matthew Hayden
3. Wally Hammond
4. Rahul Dravid
5. Mahela Jayawardene
6.
7.
8. Richard Hadlee
9.
10. Allan Donald
11. Courtney Walsh

 

[King Pietersen]

Dare. You are an absolute beauty.

Adam Gilchrist

I knew coming into the final few rounds that I needed a keeper, and effectively ruled out the possibility that I'd get the chance to have Gilly in my side, but here he is. Arguably the best all-round wicket-keeper batsman. Improved drastically as his career went on with the gloves, and was a master batsman. Managed a Test average of 47.60 as well as affecting 416 dismissals with the gloves. Really does boost the batting and allows me to bat the keeper at 6, and slot Imran in at 7.

Imran Khan

Probably the greatest cricketer in the history of Pakistani cricket. A masterful all-rounder capable of taking the game away from the opposition with both ball and bat. Averaged 37.69 in Test cricket with 6 centuries, as well as taking 362 wickets at 22.81 with the ball. Imran adds balance to the side, alongside some much needed pace to my bowling attack, and an attack of Imran, Lohmann, Vaas, Gupte and Sobers with 1 space to spare in the attack looks much more promising. Finally starting to like the look of my side.

1. Barry Richards
2.
3.
4. Martin Crowe
5. Sir Garfield Sobers
6. Adam Gilchrist +
7. Imran Khan
8. Chaminda Vaas
9. George Lohmann
10.
11. Subhash Gupte

 

[ZoraxDoom]

You're gonna need some good batsmen though.

Really wanted Imran, but it would be excessive to have Imran, Dev and Miller in the same side

Got 2 names in mind for Pak, praying they both don't get taken!

 

[King Pietersen]

You're gonna need some good batsmen though.

Don't worry about that, I've got a couple of very good options in mind, just hoping they don't go picked; if they do, I'll just have to go to plan B. Definitely have a plan for the last couple of picks though, which should give the batting some real potency, and also have a couple of world class bowlers in mind. Not like Crowe, Sobers, Gilchrist and Imran is a bad middle order either, all 4 of those were top class batsmen. Gilchrist's record in his first 45-50 Tests was exceptional, averaging between 58.24 and 61.06; Crowe was one of the best players in the world during his time; Sobers is one of the great batsmen and Imran just oozed class. I'm very happy with my batting line-up, especially considering I've got Bazza Richards opening, he was a gun.

 

[Dare]

One of the best bowlers the game has ever seen and the best ever when it comes to reverse swing Waqar is an absolute legend of the game. With 373 wickets from 87 matches, average of 23.56 and an incredible strike rate of 43.4 (the best for any bowler with 200+ wickets) Waqar is a great addition to the team and will insure that I have a dominant pace bowling attack from the first over of the new ball until the last over. As cricinfo says he was the guy that broke the trend and didn't aim at the body but pitched it up full and on the stumps and that is probably the reason for the high economy rate but I am willing to take all that for the wickets that he would take.

The man who really put the reverse into swing. Waqar Younis bucked the 1980s trend of pitching fast and short by pitching fast and full. Not an obvious recipe for success until you factor in prodigious late inswing, which was designed to smash into the base of leg stump or the batsman's toes.

1.
2. Matthew Hayden
3. Wally Hammond
4. Rahul Dravid
5. Mahela Jayawardene
6.
7.
8. Richard Hadlee
9. Waqar Younis
10. Allan Donald
11. Courtney Walsh

 

[ZoraxDoom]

Good pick, had him in mind too. Looking good with Donald/Waqar/Walsh. Not as good as Marshall/Miller/Dev though

 

[Dare]

Good pick, had him in mind too. Looking good with Donald/Waqar/Walsh. Not as good as Marshall/Miller/Dev though

You forget Hadlee

 

[ZoraxDoom]

Aha. Yea, that's a nice pace attack.

 

[Cricketman]

Damn you KP, I had Gilchrist booked for my second Aus pick :doh. Need to rethink my plans now.

But this pick won't change:

Wasim Akram

A true master of swing and seam. He has the ability to move it even both ways in one delivery. All this is released from a concealed, quick, smooth action and is backed up with a dangerous bouncer, toe crunching yorker, and deceptive slower delivery. 414 wickets at an average of 23 is simply brilliant.

Akram's inclusion finishes my bowling attack. Akram/Bond/Pollock with Warne and Mankad doing the spin work. I'll take that.

1. Sir Jack Hobbs (ENG)
2. Vinoo Mankad (IND)
3. Brian Lara (WI)
4.
5.
6. Aravinda De Silva (SL)
7.
8. Shaun Pollock (RSA)
9. Shane Warne (AUS)
10. Wasim Akram (PAK)
11. Shane Bond (NZ)

 

[ZoraxDoom]

Fark you Cricketman! I wanted him for my pace quartet

Still got a great fourth seamer though:

Fazal Mahmood

I'm quite sleepy, so I'm just going to rip off quotes from Cricinfo:

FAZAL MAHMOOD, who died on May 30, 2005, aged 78, was Pakistan's first great bowler, inspiring his country to several famous victories in the 1950s. "He was the torch-bearer," said his modern counterpart Shoaib Akhtar. Tall and handsome, with a Comptonesque mop of hair that led him to feature in advertisements as Pakistan's own Brylcreem Boy, Fazal's ability to cut and seam the ball at a fair pace led him to be compared - in style and stamina - to England's -------. He was especially difficult to handle on the artificial pitches widely used in Pakistan in the 1950s: Neil Harvey, the great Australian batsman of the time, said that Fazal "could make the ball talk" on matting.

On the inaugural tour of England in 1954, he again took 12 wickets as Pakistan pulled off a stunning series-levelling win at The Oval. England were 109 for two, chasing only 168, but lost their last eight wickets for 34. He took 13 for 114 at Karachi when Pakistan won their maiden Test against Australia, "varying his swing with a mixture of leg-cutters and breakbacks", according to Wisden. Overwork dulled his edge after that: he bowled 250 overs in the first three Tests of the 1957-58 series in West Indies. Fazal still managed eight wickets in the final Test, which Pakistan won. And the following season he became the first Pakistani to reach 100 Test wickets, in only his 22nd match, and added 12 more as they won the next game, against West Indies at Dacca. By then, he was Pakistan's captain, and led them in ten Tests in all.

He was instrumental in getting the new country Test status: his six for 40 in an unofficial Test against the 1951-52 MCC tourists helped convince Lord's of Pakistan's suitability.

And that rounds off a pretty strong, if pace-heavy, bowling attack:

1.
2.
3. Jacques Kallis
4. Stewie Dempster
5. Keith Miller
6.
7. Kapil Dev
8. Prasanna Jayawardene (+)
9. Malcom Marshall
10. Fazal Mahmood
11. Hedley Verity

Dev and Mahmood get the new ball, to swing and cut it all over the place. Then you have Marshall and Miller's mix of pace, accuracy, slow legcutters, lethal bouncers, and yorkers to tie them up. Not to mention two brilliant cricketing minds as well. And when it get's old, Hedley Verity's genius will make it talk, and Marshall will aid him in reverse-swinging it. And if this 5 man attack starts tiring, Jacques Kallis comes on to give them a break.

I think I may have gone overboard with the bowling, but better too many than too little

 

[Dare]

 

[pcfan123]

Lol, looks like Im going to have to settle for a Pakistani batsman now

 

[Dare]

Lol, looks like Im going to have to settle for a Pakistani batsman now

4-5 really good ones left. They can still be a really useful addition to your team.