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

[Cricketman]

@ Sharavi; excellent team, very strong all-round. I would have gone for Alan Knott if I hadn't picked Marsh. Excellent keeper and a bloody decent bloke.

I think you meant me?

 

[shravi]

@ Sharavi; excellent team, very strong all-round. I would have gone for Alan Knott if I hadn't picked Marsh. Excellent keeper and a bloody decent bloke.

@ Harmy; thanks for putting Fred in there. Such a good bowler and a very, very funny man.

Just looking over all the teams: aren't we cricket fans just blessed with such quality players and people?

Do you mean Cricketman ?

EDIT: Cricketman said the same thing.

 

[Dutch]

I think you meant me?

Sorry guys, a bit late here and I am very tired!

 

[shravi]

ZoraxDoom
Herbert Sutcliffe
Stewie Dempster
Jacques Kallis
George Headley
Keith Miller (*)
Archie Jackson
Kapil Dev
Prasanna Jayawardene (+)
Malcom Marshall
Fazal Mahmood
Hedley Verity

Dutchad
G C Smith
S Jayasuriya
R T Ponting (Capt.)
S R Tendulkar
D I Gower
I T Botham
D L Vetorri
R W Marsh +
A M E Roberts
S Akhtar
C E L Ambrose

Cricketman
Sir Jack Hobbs
Vinoo Mankad
Brian Lara
Rohan Kanhai
Steve Waugh*
Aravinda De Silva
Alan Knott (+)
Shaun Pollock
Shane Warne
Wasim Akram
Shane Bond

King Pietersen
Barry Richards
Ken Barrington
Neil Harvey
Martin Crowe
Sir Garfield Sobers
Adam Gilchrist +
Imran Khan
Chaminda Vaas
George Lohmann
Joel Garner
Subhash Gupte

Dare
Geoff Boycott
Matthew Hayden
Wally Hammond
Rahul Dravid
Mahela Jayawardene *
Clyde Walcott +
Richard Hadlee 1
Clarrie Grimmett
Waqar Younis
Allan Donald 2
Courtney Walsh

hMarka
Sir Len Hutton (c)
Hanif Mohammad
Greg Chappell
Everton Weekes
Sir Frank Worrell
Kumar Sangakarra (wk)
Nathan Astle
Anil Kumble
Dale Steyn
Fred Trueman
Glenn Mcgrath

Shravi
Sunil Gavaskar
Gordon Greenidge
Sir Vivian Richards
Graeme Pollock
Javed Miandad
Allan Border
+ Brendon McCullum
Harold Larwood
Dennis Lillee
Muttiah Muralitharan
Sydney Barnes

 

[sifter132]

No room for Ray Lindwall!?

He'd be my 2nd choice for an Aussie paceman


The teams I like the most are:
Dare - possibly the most talented lineup IMO, but I'm not sure I like Walcott keeping or Hadlee at #7. It would be OK if he had someone decent with bat below him, but none of those 4 bowlers could hold the stick very well. I'd give Dare 3rd place.

Shravi - Very strong too and gone for more specialists which I like, rather than filling a team with all-rounders. That's probably the only weakness. Border and Richards would have to be your 5th bowler. 2nd place for Shravi.

But I think I like this guy's best:
Cricketman - Some big stars here and very well balanced. Lara and Hobbs are 2 all-time XIers for me, as is Warne. Mankad and Steve Waugh fit the team well as decent 5th bowlers and the main attack is very well balanced with pace (Bond), left arm swing (Akram) and control (Pollock) to go with the wizardry of Warne.

 

[shravi]

I'm torn between my own and cricketman's. both have their own special allure.

kp could have gone the distance if he hadn't picked lohman and had someone pacier than vaas. he could have gone for dravid instead of gupte and picked up a spinner later. jim laker went unpicked!

I didn't choose an all rounder because my bowlers are quite obviously good enough not to need that 5th option to back them up. All the 5th bowler has to do is fill in for a few overs while the quicks catch their breath. Murali is already there to bowl really long spells.

 

[Dare]

Dare - possibly the most talented lineup IMO, but I'm not sure I like Walcott keeping or Hadlee at #7. It would be OK if he had someone decent with bat below him, but none of those 4 bowlers could hold the stick very well. I'd give Dare 3rd place.

When I saw the draft order for the last 3 rounds I had two options. Take Dujon as keeper, a middle order batsman to come in at #6 in the Aussie round and then an opener in the England round. Basically if I hadn't taken Walcott I would have a team without a spinner and I decided that a spinner is a must so I said to my self take Walcott and make him keeper and knock out two birds with one stone (the keeper and the #6 spot) and then take Grimmett and if he is not available then Benaud and look for a opener in the England round. Overall I am happy with my team, I knew Cricketman would take Warne before me and that kind of threw my plans of but in the end things fell in place as I planed for the last 3 rounds.


Cricketman did really well for a guy who didn't have a first pick in any of the rounds. The highest he had was #2 and that was twice.

 

[Num]

I like Shravi's team the best. Amazing bowling attack coupled with a very solid batting line up. I guess you could say that about all the teams, but Shravi's team especially so in my opinion.

 

[sifter132]

When I saw the draft order for the last 3 rounds I had two options. Take Dujon as keeper, a middle order batsman to come in at #6 in the Aussie round and then an opener in the England round. Basically if I hadn't taken Walcott I would have a team without a spinner and I decided that a spinner is a must so I said to my self take Walcott and make him keeper and knock out two birds with one stone (the keeper and the #6 spot) and then take Grimmett and if he is not available then Benaud and look for a opener in the England round. Overall I am happy with my team, I knew Cricketman would take Warne before me and that kind of threw my plans of but in the end things fell in place as I planed for the last 3 rounds.

I know the temptation - I was VERY tempted to take AB De Villiers in the ODI draft and make him my keeper.

 

[StinkyBoHoon]

I would agree with sifter about the best 3. Dare, your team doesn't have a week link except for its balance. It's just a little muddled together. the actual picks though are great, don't think you made a dud one.

shravi's is the best batting line up by miles, cricketmans bowling attack is amazing, though just because bonds stats are great doesn't mean he should be classed as great. the reality with bond is he is not in that bracket because of injuries.

Must say that I like KPs middle though. the bowling is a bit pedestrian and harvey and crowe is maybe not the strongest no.3 and 4 combo, but the 5-7 spots are a fantastic middle order, multi-skilled and able.

 

[Cricketman]

I guess I'll post my thoughts on each team.

ZoraxDoom

Herbert Sutcliffe
Stewie Dempster
Jacques Kallis
George Headley
Keith Miller (*)
Archie Jackson
Kapil Dev
Prasanna Jayawardene (+)
Malcom Marshall
Fazal Mahmood
Hedley Verity

You've got some big names in there - Sutcliffe, Kallis, Miller, Kapil, and Marshall are all great picks. But some of them are simply obscure. Stewie Dempster was a very odd pick in my opinion, and there were certainly better options available for you. Hedley Verity again, what was up with that. Why not just go with Jim Laker if you wanted an English spinner?

I reckon it's a pretty good team. Although I will raise question marks over the picks mentioned and Jayawardene (to call him one of the finest keepers ever is just stupid IMO, he's barely played for 2 years) but I understand the selection, considering it was a late pick for Sri Lanka and you wanted to get the keeper out of the way quickly.

Dutchad
G C Smith
S Jayasuriya
R T Ponting (Capt.)
S R Tendulkar
D I Gower
I T Botham
D L Vetorri
R W Marsh +
A M E Roberts
S Akhtar
C E L Ambrose

I like this team, I like it a lot. Although I was surprised at some of your initial picks, you really picked it up at the end and made a formidable XI. Graeme Smith, who is undoubtedly a modern great for South Africa, was strange considering there were so many other options available for selection. Jayasuriya was someone I had in mind, and although he isn't statistically that great of a player I won't dispute this selection, he is certainly a Sri Lankan great. However, I think you really struck gold in the middle order. Ponting was a great pick and to back it up with Sachin makes this simply awesome. Vettori isn't the best spinner but he is one of the best NZ have to offer so good pick there as well. Good pace attack to round it off as well.


King Pietersen

Barry Richards
Ken Barrington
Neil Harvey
Martin Crowe
Sir Garfield Sobers
Adam Gilchrist +
Imran Khan
Chaminda Vaas
George Lohmann
Joel Garner
Subhash Gupte

A good team with some HUGE names. Any XI that features Sobers and Imran is already a good un IMO. But what was up with George Lohmann, I think that just messed it up for me. Jim Laker! Even with Gupte, I still think one of the members of the quartet, or maybe a batsman would have suited you better. A bit unfair on Richards but to judge someone after 4 matches is just odd, but I understand the fanboyism . Decent bowling attack, decent batting. I would've had more (big name) specialists with the ball and bat, however.


Dare
Geoff Boycott
Matthew Hayden
Wally Hammond
Rahul Dravid
Mahela Jayawardene *
Clyde Walcott +
Richard Hadlee 1
Clarrie Grimmett
Waqar Younis
Allan Donald 2
Courtney Walsh

Good team. I think Boycott and Hayden would've complimented each other well. Solid middle order in Hammond, Dravid, and Jayawardene as well. A bit questionable about selecting Walcott as keeper, but I kind of had the same plan in mind for Rohan Kanhai in case Alan Knott was picked. Digging the bowling attack as well.

hMarka
Sir Len Hutton (c)
Hanif Mohammad
Greg Chappell
Everton Weekes
Sir Frank Worrell
Kumar Sangakarra (wk)
Nathan Astle
Anil Kumble
Dale Steyn
Fred Trueman
Glenn Mcgrath

I like it. You've got a solid opening pair, amazing middle order with Chappell, 2 of the 3 W's, and Sanga. Some people have been dissing on Astle but he is one of the more successful NZ cricketers. Plus he can really turn it on if need be. Considering the format of this draft I think it was a decent pick. Nice bowling attack as well. I think the side has great balance and good depth in all departments, nice job.

Shravi
Sunil Gavaskar
Gordon Greenidge
Sir Vivian Richards
Graeme Pollock
Javed Miandad
Allan Border
+ Brendon McCullum
Harold Larwood
Dennis Lillee
Muttiah Muralitharan
Sydney Barnes

Lots of emphasis on the batting. Gavaskar and Greenidge were dominant openers, Viv is Viv, Pollock, Miandad, and Border make a solid middle order. Can't see any holes in that, at all. Good bowling attack as well but I would have sacrificed a seamer and gone for Shane Warne since you had the opportunity. Warne-Murali would have been a deathly combination IMO. You could have then perhaps gone on to pick a fast bowling allrounder if need be (even flintoff would've sufficed). I think you jumped the gun a bit early on the keeper, Brendon McCullum sticks out like a sore thumb in a team full of greats. Can't see him successfully keeping to that bowling line up either.

 

[StinkyBoHoon]

It's interesting you mention the spin quartet and they are totally absent from all the teams. Bill O'Reilly never tickled anyones fancy either, despite australia going round twice.

I still maintain that Morris, ponsford and trumper are greater batsmen than hayden, so it is suprising that only hayden came out of them.

 

[ZoraxDoom]

Hedley Verity again, what was up with that. Why not just go with Jim Laker if you wanted an English spinner?

Considered it, but from what I read, Laker never performed on the International level till his 19 wicket haul against what was described as the weakest Australian batting lineup he played against. He was a giant on the domestic scene, but failed in several of his international tours, leading to him not being selected for several games in between.

Verity, on the other hand, was key on England's bowling while he was playing, along with guys like Bedser. Those two, along with Bill O'Reilly, were more or less the only bowlers capable of troubling Don Bradman.

Dempster made the Cricinfo NZ All-time XI too, so there weren't many better options when Crowe left. Donelly, Fleming, Glen Turner. Thought Dempster was a better bet than those, as he was regarded one of the best in the world in his time unlike Fleming/Turner. And it was tough call between Donelly and Dempster too.


I will understand the doubts over Archie Jackson's selection though. But at that stage, I could have gone for an above-average Aussie batsman with a good career, or someone who had no real career, but was touted by many to have the makings of a legend. Chose the latter.


I like Dare's team most. Shravi's batting is great too.

 

[vaibhav mehta]

In my opinion, Dutchad got the best team. I would like to sweep Akhtar with McGrath and Jayasuria with Barry Richards and that would be my dream team. I can not believe ZoraxDoom actually picked Prasanna Jayawardene. With all due respects, he would not even qualify in all time Srilankan 11.

 

[Dutch]

In my opinion, Dutchad got the best team. I would like to sweep Akhtar with McGrath and Jayasuria with Barry Richards and that would be my dream team. I can not believe ZoraxDoom actually picked Prasanna Jayawardene. With all due respects, he would not even qualify in all time Srilankan 11.

yep I agree!

I think you are right about the two swaps as well: those two I chose were the mist vulnerable in my team. But you have to do with the picking order. Anyway it was great fun to do.

If i were to choose a team from the others that I really like the look of it would be Dare's team: look at that bowling attack and the solid batting line-up. It has a very balanced look about it. It is not just a question of sticking a few famous names together and it will be a great team (see Real Madrid for confirmation). You have to have players with qualities that are going to support and enhance the other players. Dare's team looks the most likely one to achieve that in my opinion. Plus the fact that I am a great, great fan of Mr Boycott. He was never in a rush and could sometimes drive teams to infuriation but he was an excellent, excellent opening batsmen in a time that there were some very ferocious bowlers out there and test cricket was pure and demanding. In partnership with Hayden they would have formed a wonderfully contrasting opening pair and very difficult to get through.