The Budget Draft: Project 200

[ahmedleo414]

My last pick goes to the English cricketer and soccer player Andy Ducat. Having played only one test and scoring 5 runs, avg 2.5. His First Class runs however are over 20,000 and an avg of 38.31 with a top score of 306*. He was also handy with the ball as well, though not an all-rounder, but could pick up a few when needed.

5 runs @ 2.5 (best 3)

1. Marvan Atapattu (Cost: 39)
2. Wasim Bari (Cost: 15)
3. Ricky Ponting (Cost: 51)
4. Neil Fairbrother (Cost: 15)
5. Andy Ducat (Cost: 2)
6. Wasim Akram (Cost: 22)
7. Fred Titmus (Cost: 22)
8. Ian Bishop (Cost: 12)
9. Danish Kaneria (Cost: 7)
10. Courtney Walsh (Cost: 8)
11. Lance Gibbs (Cost: 7)

Budget Remaining: 0


That is it for my team... I really love how it turned out. I would put this bowling attack up against any team of any era, and with the batting lined up could set or defend any total

 

[blockerdave]

Something I've really enjoyed about this draft in particular is that there was actually so many routes to a really good side, and there were players picked I didn't know much about, if at all.

 

[Aislabie]

1. Marvan Atapattu (Cost: 39)
2. Wasim Bari (Cost: 15)
3. Ricky Ponting (Cost: 51)
4. Neil Fairbrother (Cost: 15)
5. Andy Ducat (Cost: 2)
6. Wasim Akram (Cost: 22)
7. Fred Titmus (Cost: 22)
8. Ian Bishop (Cost: 12)
9. Danish Kaneria (Cost: 7)
10. Courtney Walsh (Cost: 8)
11. Lance Gibbs (Cost: 7)

You've got a fantastic pace attack there for sure. Bishop, Walsh and Akram is a trio to match pretty much any other.
Having Atapattu and Ponting in your top three is a good effort considering the constraints of the draft.
There's no way around it - if Atapattu or Ponting fails then your batting might as well be made of prawn crackers. You've gone all-in on bowlers to create a low-scoring game for both sides

1. WG Grace (Cost: 32)
2. Javed Omar Belim (Cost: 22)
3. Jacques Kallis (Cost: 55)
4. Dooley Briscoe (Cost: 11)
5. Syd Gregory (Cost: 24)
6. Richie Benaud (Cost: 24)
7. Godfrey Evans (Cost: 20)
8. Fred Spofforth (Cost: 9)
9. Jasprit Bumrah (Cost: 2)
10. Jack Iverson (Cost: 0)
11. Brett Schultz (Cost: 1)

Both WG and Kallis in the top three is pretty elite stuff.
A couple of express quicks, a genuine all-rounder and a world-class wicket-keeper go together to make a very well-balanced side.
I only selected one player who wasn't proven at Test level, which meant I overlooked guys like Meuleman and Law.

1. Jimmy Cook (cost 17)
2. Andy Lloyd (cost 0)
3. Alec Stewart (cost 39)
4. Brian Lara (cost 52)
5. Viv Richards (cost 50) - CAPTAIN
6. Stuart Law (cost 0)
7. Learie Constantine (cost 19)
8. Richard Blakey (cost 1) - WICKETKEEPER
9. George Lohmann (cost 8)
10. Sydney Barnes (cost 8)
11. Wayne Daniel (cost 6)

Well there's the batting - you have a middle-order of Stewart, Lara, Richards and Law. This wasn't something you were meant to be able to do.
In Lohmann and Barnes you have two bowlers who are generally considered to be GOAT contenders.
You do slightly lack modern-style bowlers - either an outright spinner or a genuinely world-class fast bowler (sorry, I personally don't rate Daniel especially highly even though his stats do agree more with you than me).

CerealKiller’s XI
1. Ken Meuleman (Cost: 0)
2. Tim Curtis (Cost: 15)
3. Victor Trumper (Cost: 39)
4. Rob Bailey (Cost: 14)
5. Neil Harvey (Cost: 48)
6. Mike Procter (Cost: 25)
7. Prasanna Jayawardena (Cost: 29)
8. Waqar Younis (Cost: 10)
9. Allan Donald (Cost: 10)
10. Glenn McGrath (Cost: 7)
11. Bert Ironmonger (Cost: 2)

Your bowling attack is excellent: there can't ever have been a better pace quartet than Procter, Donald, McGrath and Younis. Who do you even give the new ball to?
Picks like Meuleman and Rob Bailey gave you the budget to pick some excellent Australian batsmen.
Your top four is pretty unproven; there's no way of knowing that Neil Harvey wouldn't regularly come to the crease to try to fix a score of 20 for three.

1. Eric Tindill (9)
2. Moeen Ali (29)
3. Peter Kirsten (31)
4. Nasser Hussain (38)
5. Mark Ramprakash (27)
6. Andrew Flintoff (32)
7. Arthur McIntyre (3)
8. Terry Alderman (7)
9. Chris Martin (2)
10. Muttiah Muralitharan (12)
11. James Anderson (10)

You've got arguably the greatest swing bowler and the greatest spin bowler of all time in your side.
Kirsten and Ramprakash are excellent selections in the search for players who were better than their Test averages.
You don't really have a star batsman in your team. There's nobody who you'd point to as a guaranteed source of runs.

 

[blockerdave]

Well there's the batting - you have a middle-order of Stewart, Lara, Richards and Law. This wasn't something you were meant to be able to do.
In Lohmann and Barnes you have two bowlers who are generally considered to be GOAT contenders.
You do slightly lack modern-style bowlers - either an outright spinner or a genuinely world-class fast bowler (sorry, I personally don't rate Daniel especially highly even though his stats do agree more with you than me).

Fair comment. One configuration of my side had Basil D'Oliveira, Warren Hegg & Frank Tyson in place of Viv, Blakey and Daniel; and another had Peter Kirsten, Shane Warne and Bert Strudwick for the same 3.

Finally, I also considered Sobers, Grahame Chevalier and Hopper Read in place of Richards, Daniel and Blakey with Stewie still keeping...

 

[Aislabie]

Something I've really enjoyed about this draft in particular is that there was actually so many routes to a really good side, and there were players picked I didn't know much about, if at all.

I completely agree with this! It's part of the reason I've wanted to do a budget draft for a while - they really encourage creative problem-solving. Like I thought "Jack Iverson will be a good pick - he was a terrible batsman" but I didn't think of trying good batsmen who didn't have averages at all. That kind of curveball was exceptional thinking

 

[Master Bates]

Meanwhile, I tried to make a modern day test team while keeping the budget in mind:

01. Kraigg Brathwaite (33)
02. Pieter Malan (26)
03. Zubayr Hamza (18)
04. Joe Root (48)
05. Ben Stokes (36)
06. Heinrich Klaasen (5)
07. Stuart Poynter (0)
08. Nathan Lyon (12)
09. Neil Wagner (12)
10. Mohammad Abbas (7)
11. Jasprit Bumrah (2)

Budget - 199/200

Not a great batting line-up but bowling seems good.