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

[ZoraxDoom]

All teams need a good wicket-keeper, and I've always preferred someone who's safe with the gloves rather than someone who can bat. Especially in an all-time XI, you'd expect the batsmen there to be up to the task.


So I've gone with one of the finest glovemen to have played the game:

Prasanna Jayawardene​

It may be a bit premature to call Prasanna Jayawardene the finest gloveman produced by Sri Lanka, and one of the best of all times, but he certainly has the makings for it. The best pure wicket-keeper in the world at the moment, he manages to keep wicket against the likes of Murali and Mendis, and even stands up to the stumps against Vaas and Kulasekra, almost flawlessly. Fast, light on his feet, quick hands, great reflexes and the ability to get himself in the right position almost all of the times, Prasanna's presence behind the stumps adds a cutting edge to Sri Lanka's spin attack. His work behind the stumps has received high praise from several former and current international players, as well as some of the best keepers of all time.

He's also a fairly decent, technically sound batsman. But his role in this team is to take every and any chance produced, and to give my bowling attack that extra venom with his presence behind the stumps.

1.
2.
3. Jacques Kallis
4.
5.
6.
7.
8. Prasanna Jayawardene (+)
9.
10.
11.

 

[King Pietersen]

Good picks so far lads. The Sri Lankan round basically went as expected, although the final pick could really have gone to any one of Jayawardene, Atapattu, Dilshan or Samaraweera.

Hmarka up next, with England the country up for selection.

 

[shravi]

Good picks so far lads. The Sri Lankan round basically went as expected, although the final pick could really have gone to any one of Jayawardene, Atapattu, Dilshan or Samaraweera.

Hmarka up next, with England the country up for selection.

Or Hashan Tilakaratne. Good keeper-batsman. Average of 43 after 83 tests.

 

[Dutch]

This is going to be a very interesting round; so many great names to choose from, with all respect to the other countries. Shame I don't get to pick till later and hopefully my pick will still be there!

 

[ZoraxDoom]

Decent keeper-bats are in abundance. I wanted a very good keeper. I expect my batting lineup to do the run scoring.

I have a few names in mind for England. There might be a few surprises this round.

 

[shravi]

Before we go through with this round... Have we agreed to remove The Don from the draft? As hMarka said, this draft should be limited to humans .

 

[pcfan123]

Sir Len Hutton

 

[ZoraxDoom]

I want to keep The Don there. It's luck of the draw really.

 

[Dutch]

I want to keep The Don there. It's luck of the draw really.

I agree. You can't leave out the best batsman ever in an all time test draft, surely? It's like saying no-one can have Shane Warne because he took too many wickets.

 

[ZoraxDoom]

Oh, and interesting pick Hmarka. How's your lineup now?

 

[shravi]

I want to keep The Don there. It's luck of the draw really.

He is equal to two great batsmen together. If you get Bradman, you should be disallowed from having another England/Australia pick and be forced to make another Sri Lanka pick.

 

[pcfan123]

Oh, and interesting pick Hmarka. How's your lineup now?

Sorry forgot to post that,

Len Hutton

Kumar Sangakkara

Dale Steyn

A bit weird, but its my 1st draft

 

[Cricketman]

Sir Jack Hobbs

Cricket's most prolific batsman. Sir Jack Hobbs was the greatest batsman in the world before the era of Bradman.
Known as 'The Master', Hobbs plundered attacks for decades, his career ending when he was well past the age of 50 years old. 15 hundreds at the test match level, at an average of close to 57 on nightmare-ish wickets against the worlds most fearsome bowlers is a testament to this man's genius. What is even more astonishing is the sheer number of runs that Hobbs' plundered in first class cricket - 61,760 in an amazing 834 matches. He ended his career with 199 FC tons, more than any batsman. Half of those were scored after the age of 40.

1. Sir Jack Hobbs
2.
3.
4.
5.
6. Aravinda De Silva
7.
8. Shaun Pollock
9.
10.
11.

 

[ZoraxDoom]

He is equal to two great batsmen together. If you get Bradman, you should be disallowed from having another England/Australia pick and be forced to make another Sri Lanka pick.

Why? No need to take this draft so seriously. As we said, luck of the draw. There are no prizes for the best XI and The Don won't immediately make your XI the best one anyways.

 

[Cricketman]

I'm against having the Don in the draft. He is simply unmatched statistically. We want everyone to have a shot of having equal teams even if luck doesn't favor them, having Bradman totally ruins that.