Draft: The Alphabet Draft

[ahmedleo414]

@ahmedleo414 @Murtaza96 you guys are kerfuffling me. For years I associated Jushin Liger with Ahmed...now there's been an avatar swap it seems.

I had to change mine because i felt like this

 

[qpeedore]

Kumble's prodigious capacity to bear pain was proved in Antigua in 2002 when he bandaged his fractured jaw to deliver a stirring spell

I remember that match. Apart from making Ajay Ratra's entire Test career as a batsman (he scored a century and that was his only Test score of note, if memory serves me correctly), that match saw all 11 Indians bowl. Just a few years later in 2005, all 11 South Africans would bowl to the West Indies. On the same ground. That's Mark Boucher's only bowling wicket in his entire FC career. When they say that the old Recreation Ground in Antigua was one of the most docile pitches you'd ever hope to meet, they're not lying.

Just a (non-exhaustive) quick run-through of things that have happened at the ARG:

- Twice had all 11 members of a team bowl
- Twice had the highest individual Test innings (BC Lara, 375 in 1994 and 400* in 2004), both against England
- Has the highest current successful Test 4th innings chase (418/7, West Indies vs. Australia)...Ramnaresh Sarwan and Shiv Chanderpaul batted the hell out of that chase. I've rarely seen Glenn McGrath absolutely lose his cool on the field of play, Sarwan had him totally rankled in that match
- Sir IVA Richards scored a Test century in 56 balls (England again), a record that stood for some time as the fastest Test ton
- Had a spectators' stand at almost right angles to the popping crease at one end, you'd hear the crowd calling a no-ball before the umpire did...and in a couple cases the umpire actually looked at the stand before being convinced it was a no-ball

...among others, including Gravy and his wedding dress, probably most famously.

EDIT:

 

[Sherlock Holmes]

8. Shaun Pollock

Format	Mat	Inns	NO	Runs	HS	Ave	BF	SR	100s	50s	4s	6s	Ct	St
Test	108	156	39	3781	111	32.31	7198	52.52	2	16	412	35	72	0

Format	Mat	Inns	Balls	Runs	Wkts	BBI	BBM	Ave	Econ	SR	4w	5w	10w
Test	108	202	24353	9733	421	7/87	10/147	23.11	2.39	57.80	23	16	1

Everything I look for from a number 8

1. ?
2. ?
3. Norm O'Neill
4. ?
5. Sir Vivian Richards
6. ?
7. Polly Umrigar
8. Shaun Pollock
9. ?
10. ?
11. ?

@AsadRM

 

[AsadRM]

Sir Everton Weekes

One of the greatest West Indian and all-time players, Sir Everton Weekes would come in at #4 for my side.

Spoiler: Asad's XI:

1. Justin Langer
2. Hashim Amla
3. Misbah-ul-Haq
4. Sir Everton Weekes

@ahmedleo414

 

[ahmedleo414]

My next pick, Courtney Walsh

Stats	Matches	Wickets	BBI	BBM	Bowling Ave	Econ
First Class	429	1,807	9/72	?	21.71	2.75
Test	132	519	7/37	13/55	24.44	2.53

Bio from cric info:

A physiological phenomenon, Courtney Walsh probably bowled faster for longer than any man in history. His spirit was as unbreakable as his body, urging him on to the previously undreamed-of heights of 519 Test wickets and 30,019 balls, not to mention the countless overs he sent down for Gloucestershire and Jamaica. For the first half of his career, Walsh was the willing workhorse cantering into the wind while Curtly Ambrose or Malcolm Marshall galloped down the hill. But he grew stronger and wilier with age, graduating to the new ball around 1993, and forming one of the great opening partnerships with Ambrose: 421 wickets between them from 49 Tests. Walsh's action was neither elegant nor orthodox, but it was hugely economical, catapulting the ball down from 10 foot high with a simple snap of the hips. An old-fashioned specialist, his comic incompetence with the bat earned him a Test-record 43 ducks.

My team so far:

1. Bill Ponsford
2. R
3. I
4. C
5. Imran Khan
6. L
7. E
8. B
9. Anil Kumble
10. Courtney Walsh
11. K

Post automatically merged: May 1, 2021

@mohsin7827 you have next pick

 

[mohsin7827]

9. Sydney Barnes

A seamer, a swing bowler, a devious spinner, all rolled into one unfathomable package. In 27 Tests he claimed a staggering 189 wickets, including 17 in a single match against South Africa in 1913-14
Barnes is top of the ICC all-time rankings. A cantankerous old goat at the best of times, in wickets he more than made up on the field for what he lacked in charm off it.


@ddrap14

 

[ddrap14]

Graham Thorpe comes in to bat at five.

Sadly a well known batsman with a surname starting with T has already been taken. But Thorpe is not a bad replacement. Test average of 45 anyone?

@Murtaza96 yay I remembered

 

[ahmedleo414]

@Murtaza96 you have about 3 hours to finish your turn, otherwise I will have my go

 

[Khan Sahab54]

Sorry for getting late.

Eoin Morgan

He is the only English captain to win a 50 over world cup for England

 

[ahmedleo414]

My next pick, Barry Richards

Stats​	Matches​	Runs​	HS​	Batting Ave​	100s/50s​
First Class	339	28,358	356	54.74	80/152
Test	4	508	140	72.57	2/2

Bio from cric info:

Barry Richards played just four Tests - and the cricket world is poorer for it. They were all in 1969-70 against Australia, and Richards made the most of his limited time in the limelight. A talent of such enormous stature that he once batted (and did well) using only the leading edge in a Durban club match, Richards was forced by South Africa's sporting isolation to play elsewhere, thrilling spectators with his nimble, aggressive strokeplay for Hampshire, Natal and South Australia, and in Kerry Packer's World Series Cricket. There were many feats of remarkable batsmanship from one of the finest talents of the 20th century, including nine hundreds before lunch and 1000 runs in a season 15 times. But South Africans will never forget the Durban Test of 1969-70, when Richards and Graeme Pollock flayed the Australian attack to all parts of the Kingsmead ground.

My team so far:

1. Bill Ponsford
2. Barry Richards
3. I
4. C
5. Imran Khan
6. L
7. E
8. B
9. Anil Kumble
10. Courtney Walsh
11. K

@AsadRM you are next

 

[AsadRM]

Ntini at #11 for me.

@qpeedore

 

[qpeedore]

I'll take Saqlain Mushtaq. He may not have actually invented the doosra, but he was the one who brought it to the forefront of the cricketing world.

@Ashutosh.

 

[Ashutosh.]

8. Ravichandran Ashwin

@Parth D

 

[Ashutosh.]

My next pick Mohammad Amir

My Xi
1. Alaistar Cook
2. Younis Khan
3. Brendon Mccullum
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11. Mohammad Amir

@ddrap14 you're next

You picked Amir but not James Anderson

 

[ahmedleo414]

Sorry for getting late.

Eoin Morgan

He is the only English captain to win a 50 over world cup for England

Just FYI, this draft is considering more the first class and test stats rather than od.. Eoin isn't someone I'd have on my first class team