Draft: Selection: Impossible

[ddrap14]

I'll make my pick after Yash's clock expires or my power comes back (it has to be turned off soon for building work)

 

[ddrap14]

Jamie Siddons

Another of the many Aussies not to get a Test because we were really good in the 90s and 00s, Siddons can count himself particularly unfortunate as he was good around the transition into that dominant side and still never got a run. He was twice injured at the worst possible times, and as such never got anything more than a lone, late-career ODI. That said, he's also the third highest runscorer in Shield history, so we'll take him at 3.

1. Michael di Venuto
3. Jamie Siddons
4. Clive Rice
5. Ryan ten Doeschate
6. David Hussey
7. Craig Kieswetter
9. Adam Milne
11. Bilal Khan

@ahmedleo414

 

[Aislabie]

I'm afraid our man @Yash. is staring down the barrel of a couple of Auto Picks:







... if I'm honest, I'm not sure this team needed any more spinners. Random.org has not been kind.

1.
2. James McCollum ()
3. Kane Williamson
4. Steve Smith
5.
6. Ben Stokes
7. Ravindra Jadeja
8.
9. Nathan Lyon
10. Jomel Warrican ()
11. Prabath Jayasuriya ()

 

[Bevab]

Time for @Yash. to throw down the dustiest dustbowl planet Earth has ever seen for his side. Maybe even establish a Martian base for this purpose.

 

[ahmedleo414]

My next pick Sir. Aubrey Smith




My Team so far:

1. Johnny Douglas
2. Alan Melville
3. ?
4. C.K. Nayudu
5. Dave Houghton
6. Frank Mann
7. Freddie Calthorpe
8. ?
9. James Lillywhite
10. ?
11. Aubrey Smith

@Verified Enigma you're next

 

[Sherlock Holmes]

Muttiah Muralitharan

800.

Barakadi 11:

1. Sir Len Hutton
2. 
   
3. Rahul Dravid
4. Wally Hammond
5. AB de Villiers
6. 
   
7. Sir Richard Hadlee
8. Ravichandran Ashwin
9. 
   
10. Sydney Barnes
11. Muttiah Muralitharan

@CerealKiller next in line

 

[CerealKiller]

The legendary Victor Trumper will open the innings for me.

CerealKiller's XI
Victor Trumper
2.
Don Bradman
Jacques Kallis
Clyde Walcott
Aubrey Faulkner
Imran Khan
Shaun Pollock
Kapil Dev
10.
11.

@Till Valhalla

 

[Till Valhalla]

Do I pick an opener?
Or
Do I pick a finisher?
Or
Do I pick a Frontline spinner who takes wicket?
Or
Do I take a spinner who can hold from one end?
Or
Do I take a player who energises the whole XI?

Why shall I only pick one when I can pick all of them.

Lala Shahid Afridi

@Paranoid Kendroid

 

[Paranoid Kendroid]

Fred Root
​

No point in copy-pasting since you can read about him if you want. Well, I needed a bowler who could bat a bit considering how weak the overall strength of the team is. Although he only averaged 14.78 with the bat, it was in the era of uncovered pitches and unlimited bouncers and no helmets and suspect actions (@Aislabie probably knows more). Honestly, Harold Rhodes was the other contender for the second pacer slot but I am giving more preference to Fred Root. Oh, and he has also been an umpire so probably won't waste reviews.

Still not sure who should be the team's captain. Maybe someone can help me find out which of these guys have actually led their team at FC level.

​

No Career Runs XI:
01. Ken Meuleman
03. Gerald Bond
04. Shahidullah
05. Bal Dani
08. Vijay Rajindernath
09. Fred Root
10. Arthur Mold
11. Charles Marriott


@Viper. your turn

 

[Viper.]

Back to my bowling, a subtle addition to my currently singular spin unit comprising of Herath, a left arm orthodox tweaker from the land of completely-pace bowling attacks, who's not just a specialist bowler either-



Daniel Vettori enters the side at Number 7, a quality bowling all-rounder in tests who had a batting average of 30 and is probably New Zealand's greatest to ever spin the ball in Test Cricket. He's now active in his coaching job- his team recently made 277 in a T20- how is that for a brilliant cricketing mind as well as a player.

---

1. Arthur Morris
2. Bill Lawry
3.
4.
5. Allan Border
6. Quinton de Kock
7. Daniel Vettori
8. Wasim Akram
9. Chaminda Vaas
10. Rangana Herath
11.

I'm afraid @pillowprocter is not here at the moment, so I guess @mohsin7827 to pick next?

 

[mohsin7827]

Malinda Pushpakumara

01. Ed Joyce
02 Joseph Vine
05. Charles Passailaigue
06. Heinrich Klaasen
07. Michael Neser
08. Andre Adams
09. Malinda Pushpakumara
10. Dick Tyldesle

@Aislabie

 

[Aislabie]

DUDLEY NOURSE

Dudley Nourse is the batter who's made me leave out Virat Kohli from my side. Nourse averaged 53.81 in Test cricket while scoring at four runs per over, despite playing his entire career on uncovered pitches. His 34-Test career straddled World War Two, which meant that he missed his entire peak: the War came when Nourse was a 28-year-old averaging 48 with the bat, and Test cricket did not return until Nourse had turned 36. Most observers will agree that the years from 28 to 36 are a batter's peak and after that they start to decline, yet Nourse came back and continued to dominate attacks for another four years. At 40 years of age, he scored an incredible 208 with a broken thumb, and in local cricket at home he is recorded to have hit nine consecutive sixes in a competitive game. An absolute legend of South African cricket - can you imagine what he might have achieved if he'd not lost his eight best years?

1. Herbert Sutcliffe
2. Matthew Hayden
3. Brian Lara
4. Dudley Nourse
5. Adam Gilchrist
6.
7. Bob Taylor
8.
9. Courtney Walsh
10. Glenn McGrath
11.



@icyman

 

[Aislabie]

With @Bigby Wolf and @pillowprocter having let me know about enforced absences, I'm going to make some picks to round off their teams.

While this will mean making some picks ahead of where we currently are in the draft, it seems like the fairest way to handle the situation that won't cause any hold-ups later.

Bigby Wolf's XI

1. Geoffery Boycott.
2. 
   
3. 
   
4. Sachin Tendulkar
5. Misbah-Ul-Haq
6. Clive Lloyd
7. Warwick Armstrong
8. 
   
9. 
   
10. Tich Freeman
11. Jimmy Anderson

Pick 1: Alec Stewart - one of England's best ever players, and could easily make this XI as a batter or a keeper.

Pick 2: Clarrie Grimmett - arguably the second-best leg-spinner of all time, and someone who played Test cricket to a ripe old age.

Pick 3: Gubby Allen - not that many players have bowled fast in Tests aged over 40, but Gubby Allen is one of them at the end of his distinguished career.

Pick 4: Graham Gooch - Graham Gooch's last Test double-hundred came after his 40th birthday, capping off a long and successful Test career.

1. Geoffery Boycott.
2. Graham Gooch
3. Alec Stewart
4. Sachin Tendulkar
5. Misbah-Ul-Haq
6. Clive Lloyd
7. Warwick Armstrong
8. Gubby Allen
9. Clarrie Grimmett
10. Tich Freeman
11. Jimmy Anderson

---

Pillowprocter's XI

1. Chetan Chauhan
2. 
   
3. Michael Bevan
4. 
   
5. Alyssa Healy
6. 
   
7. Malcolm Marshall
8. Shane Warne
9. Mitchell Starc
10. Sarfraz Nawaz

Pick 1: Learie Constantine - legendary for his big hitting and fast bowling, Learie Constantine put West Indies cricket on the map and would have been a T20 megastar in this era.

Pick 2: Rassie van der Dussen - despite relative struggles at Test level, a first-class average of 41 and ODI average of 52 certainly suggest that he was more than capable of becoming a Test player of note.

Pick 3: Bruce Laird - a courageous opening batter who made the most of his ability, Laird averaged 35 in Tests with 11 half-centuries.

Pick 4: Vic Stollmeyer - on debut, Stollmeyer scored a superb 96 in just two hours at the crease while very hungover; unfortunately, that debut came in West Indies' last pre-WWII Test and he never got a chance to better it.

1. Chetan Chauhan
2. Bruce Laird
3. Rassie van der Dussen
4. Michael Bevan
5. Vic Stollmeyer
6. Alyssa Healy
7. Learie Constantine
8. Malcolm Marshall
9. Shane Warne
10. Mitchell Starc
11. Sarfraz Nawaz

---

If either @Bigby Wolf or @pillowprocter return before the end of the draft, they are both welcome to change my picks for them if they wish.

 

[CerealKiller]

Do I pick an opener?
Or
Do I pick a finisher?
Or
Do I pick a Frontline spinner who takes wicket?
Or
Do I take a spinner who can hold from one end?
Or
Do I take a player who energises the whole XI?

Why shall I only pick one when I can pick all of them.

Lala Shahid Afridi

@Paranoid Kendroid

Still rocking

WATCH: Shahid Afridi smashes fifty in first Sindh Premier League game

Boom Boom smashed 50 off 32 balls with the help of four sixes and as many fours

www.geosuper.tv

 

[Till Valhalla]

Still rocking

WATCH: Shahid Afridi smashes fifty in first Sindh Premier League game

Boom Boom smashed 50 off 32 balls with the help of four sixes and as many fours

www.geosuper.tv

He is the GOAT!