A double-pick! And honestly, an enormous range of top-quality players are still available, to the extent that this is actually an incredibly difficult pair of decisions to try to make.
Mitchell Johnson
ODI stats - 239 wickets @ 25.26 (econ: 4.83, 3 5WI, best 6/31) in 153 matches
List A stats - 284 wickets @ 26.01 (econ: 4.80, 4 5WI, best 6/31) in 184 matches
I considered picking up the truly excellent Nathan Bracken (who I will be making room for if he's still available in Round 10), but ultimately I just couldn't look past the fast, fiery and ferocious Mitchell Johnson, whose mastery of white-ball cricket would ultimately be overshadowed by his Test renaissance. How many fast bowlers have ever made Hashim Amla look as if his first priority is to be as small a target for the ball to hit as possible, only to stick his bat out as an afterthought? Johnson did it twice in that video alone. Johnson and Procter sounds like a terrifying proposition as an opening batsman, and an equally unpleasant proposition later on in the innings.
Johnson was also a gifted batsman, and reached a peak around 2009 which was demonstrated by unbeaten innings of 43 from 23 balls against England, then 73 from 47 balls against the West Indies. He won't make it any higher than number nine in this team's batting line-up, but what a luxury to have all the way down there.
Darren Lehmann
ODI stats - 3,078 runs @ 38.96 (SR: 81.34, 4 centuries, best 119) and 52 wickets @ 27.78 (econ: 4.83, best 4/7) in 117 matches
List A stats - 13,122 runs @ 46.86 (SR: n/a, 19 centuries, best 191) and 172 wickets @ 27.71 (econ: 4.48, best 4/7) in 367 matches
This is a pick I hinted at before I even announced that this was the next draft. On the surface, it seems like an odd one: Lehmann wasn't a six-hitter (hitting them at a rate of one every 45 overs of bowling he faced) and he wasn't an athlete. But he was an incredible one-day cricketer, the best player we have ever seen at manipulating the field. His running strike rate (the strike rate he achieved off all balls that he did not hit for a boundary) sits at an astronomical 58.88. This is an all-time high value of the like achieved only by players like David Warner, who hit a lot of boundaries (and therefore have a lot of balls deflected on the boundary line) and also happen to be elite runners between the wickets. Darren Lehmann was neither of those things: he was simply better than anyone else at hitting the ball where fielders weren't.
His bowling was also a profoundly underused weapon: unrelentingly accurate, he maintained an average under 28 and an economy well under 5 across his career, comparing favourably to most specialist spinners of the era. I am delighted to get him - I thought for sure he'd be picked in the phase of the draft where I only had about one pick in two weeks.
Aislabie's XI so far
1.
2.
3.
Graeme Hick (top-order hitter, part-time spin bowler)
4.
Graeme Pollock (top-order hitter)
5.
Darren Lehmann (dynamic accumulator, stock spin bowler)
6.
Andrew Symonds (middle-order hitter, stock bowler)
7.
Mike Procter (death bowler, middle-order hitter)
8.
Keith Boyce (attacking seam bowler, lower-order hitter)
9.
Mitchell Johnson (express pace bowler, lower-order hitter)
10.
Sydney Barnes (attacking spin bowler)
11.
@Neptune
