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

[King Pietersen]

Chaminda Vaas

I've been so lucky with these picks. As soon as the order was sorted I had Vaas in my mind as my pick, and was just praying that he'd stay open. Wouldn't have minded Sangakkara either, but Vaas was a seriously good Test cricketer taking 355 Test wickets at an average of 29.58, which for a seam bowler brought up in Sri Lankan conditions is just exceptional. Vaas was also very handy with the bat, scoring over 3000 runs with a Test century to his name. Great player.

1. Barry Richards
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8. Chaminda Vaas
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Cricketman, you're up!

 

[pcfan123]

People always say Vaas bowled in sub continent conditions but from what I have seen, in Sri Lanka the ball swings like mad

 

[Dare]

There really wasn't much choice left so it was a good pick considering what your other options were. Jayawardene isn't all that great outside of Sri Lanka or the subcontinent but he is just so dominant in the subcontinent that it almost makes up for it. When in full flow, he's great to watch. I suppose you could have gone for their best fast bowler but there is no shortage of those. You can easily pick them up when we get to Australia, Pakistan, West Indies and England.

Yea he was a obvious choice. I looked at a few other Sri Lankan batsman to see how they have fared outside the subcontinent and many haven't done much better. The difference between the averages does stick out but like you said he more then makes up for it with his domination in the subcontinent. Also the 61 and 119 against England to save the test at Lords were incredible.

 

[King Pietersen]

Bit like people praising Pakistani bowlers for bowling in Subcontinental conditions when really it's only been the last few years where the tracks there have flattened out. There has always been something in their tracks for seam bowling, hence the history of producing quality fast bowlers. It may swing in Sri Lanka, but you still need a lot of skill and patience to be as successful as Vaas in those conditions.

 

[sifter132]

Gosh this draft is travelling fast. Poor TGS is gonna be getting the last pick in about the first 5 rounds at this point.

And Barry Richards, yep he's the guy I was thinking of when the limit idea came up. I personally hate seeing Barry in all time Test XIs. Fair enough an all time XI, but if it's specifically on Test cricket, then you can't put a guy who played 4 Tests in. Phil Hughes would have been close otherwise after his South Africa tour. No doubting Barry was awesome though, just not awesome in Test cricket.

 

[King Pietersen]

Fair point, but I'm a huge Barry Richards fan, so was not going to stop myself from being able to pick him in my own draft Also, for the record, I don't think Hughes' accomplishments compare to those of Richards in their respective short careers.

 

[Cricketman]

Aravinda De Silva

One of Sri Lanka's finest ever middle order batsman. He batted with flair and elegance, scoring runs with ease world over. He was one of the world's finest pullers, and even with a height of just 5ft3 bowlers world over feared De Silva. He has scored 6300 runs at an average of 43, with 20 hundreds to his name. A fine player to have in any team.

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6. Aravinda De Silva
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8. Shaun Pollock
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[sifter132]

Fair point, but I'm a huge Barry Richards fan, so was not going to stop myself from being able to pick him in my own draft Also, for the record, I don't think Hughes' accomplishments compare to those of Richards in their respective short careers.

Haha. Yeah, I would agree.

 

[Cricketman]

Is there a time limit on this thing? I'd say for the sake of fairness that we leave out a certain Don from the draft.

 

[pcfan123]

Can I draft Jesus?, i think he is Bangladeshi

 

[shravi]

Is there a time limit on this thing? I'd say for the sake of fairness that we leave out a certain Don from the draft.

I agree to leaving The Don out. The Don said himself that he was equal to two batsmen put together because he was twice as good as any batsman in the history of the game.

 

[pcfan123]

Im for leaving the Don out too, lets limit this draft to humans

 

[ZoraxDoom]

Nice. Early pick for the West Indies, good opportunity there.

My Sri-Lankan choice hasn't been taken yet.

EDIT - I don't mind keeping The Don in.

 

[Dutch]

Darn! this Sri Lanka one is hard now the names I had in my hat are gone.....give me a moment to think guys....................Ah, The Don was Sri Lankan, wasn't he???


Right finally made my choice: Visually this is going to look brilliant: the tall statuesque demeanor of Graham Smith and the small, child like pose of Sanath Jayasuriya as my opening pair. He was always an exciting player to watch. A prolific run scorer with the ability to remain calm in tricky situations or to bludgeon runs when necessary. A test average of over 40 and a proven batsmen against all levels of opposition. Thus my choice, Sanath Jayasuriya. Very happy with my opening pair to be honest, although there are so many great names to choose from.





1. G C Smith
2. Sanath Jayasuriya
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[pcfan123]

I see that Zorax is next and then me for England but Im off to bed, see you chaps in a few hours