Draft: The Lasagne Draft

[Aislabie]

Lucky Dip Player 30...

Tim Ambrose

Rejected by: @DalePlaysCricket
Nominated by: @DalePlaysCricket
"Panesar" counter: 13

ODI stats: 10 runs @ 2.50 (best 6) and 3 dismissals (3 catches) in 5 matches
List A stats: 4,145 runs @ 32.38 (3 centuries, best 135) and 206 dismissals (172 catches, 34 stumpings) in 182 matches

Another Panesar that could definitely be worse. I'd list Tim Ambrose as one of the top three or four keepers in the county game along with the likes of Ben Foakes and John Simpson; he's not an explosive batsman by any means, but he's not as bad as his ODI batting average.

And the player goes to... @CerealKiller

 

[CerealKiller]

Lucky Dip Player 30...

Tim Ambrose

Rejected by: @DalePlaysCricket
Nominated by: @DalePlaysCricket
"Panesar" counter: 13

ODI stats: 10 runs @ 2.50 (best 6) and 3 dismissals (3 catches) in 5 matches
List A stats: 4,145 runs @ 32.38 (3 centuries, best 135) and 206 dismissals (172 catches, 34 stumpings) in 182 matches

Another Panesar that could definitely be worse. I'd list Tim Ambrose as one of the top three or four keepers in the county game along with the likes of Ben Foakes and John Simpson; he's not an explosive batsman by any means, but he's not as bad as his ODI batting average.

And the player goes to... @CerealKiller

Decent keeper

 

[Na Maloom Afraad]

Ouch. Whoever gets him deserves a personal apology from the man who nominated him.

Go on @CerealKiller, I'm listening.

 

[Na Maloom Afraad]

 

[CerealKiller]

Go on @CerealKiller, I'm listening.

Well, here it is then
I’m sorry

Spoiler

For not being sorry

 

[El Loco]

Lucky Dip Player 24...

Sam Hain

Rejected by: None
Nominated by: @Aislabie

List A stats: 2,810 runs @ 59.78 (10 centuries, best 161*) in 58 matches

So erm... Sam Hain hasn't played international cricket yet. Isn't that weird one? He's got the best List A average of all time, and must surely be the natural successor to Joe Root in the England side.

And the player goes to... @CerealKiller

Very underrated pick still waiting for this guy to get his chance to rip it up for England.

 

[Aislabie]

I'm not saying I know how the rest of the Lucky Dip goes for you, but yeah... you really copped it this time and on behalf of @CerealKiller and Random.org, I am sorry

 

[Aislabie]

Lucky Dip Player 31...

Yuzvendra Chahal

Rejected by: None
Nominated by: @deleted member

ODI stats: 91 wickets @ 25.83 (2 5WI, best 6/42) in 52 matches
List A stats: 150 wickets @ 26.23 (4 5WI, best 6/24) in 102 matches

An aggressive leg-spinner with a penchant for running through a team, Chahal will certainly be one of the more desirable players coming out of this Lucky Dip. Obviously not the most desirable. Remember when Viv Richards was available earlier?

And the player goes to... @Yash.

 

[Aislabie]

Lucky Dip Player 32...



Pommie Mbangwa

Rejected by: @Bevab / @DalePlaysCricket / @yash
Nominated by: @Bevab / @DalePlaysCricket / @yash
"Panesar" count: 14, 15 and 16

ODI stats: 11 wickets @ 103.63 (best 2/24) in 29 matches
List A stats: 38 wickets @ 54.39 (best 3/29) in 64 matches

For some reason, y'all really don't want Pommie Mbangwa. To be Panesared by not just one but three out of this ten-man draft is genuinely impressive. Especially given that Tony Suji hasn't even been Panesared once yet. He is to ODI cricket what Rubel Hossain is to Test matches.

And the player goes to... @Aislabie (just because I didn't Panesar him didn't mean I wanted him)

 

[Aislabie]

Lucky Dip Player 33...

Shubman Gill

Rejected by: None
Nominated by: @deleted member

ODI stats: 16 runs @ 8.00 (best 9) in 2 matches
List A stats: 2,280 runs @ 45.60 (6 centuries, best 143) in 57 matches

So the 20-year-old Gill hasn't found his feet at international level yet, but he will. When someone like Virat Kohli says they were "nowhere near" as complete a batsman at that age, it really does say something about the kind of batsman India are working with here. A generation or two ago, he'd have been in the senior side for about three years already.

And the player goes to... @Yash.

 

[Yash.]

Thats 2 good Indian players in the team.

Thanks Samarth @deleted member

 

[Aislabie]

Lucky Dip Player 34...



Chris Simpson

Rejected by: None
Nominated by: None (reserve player)

List A stats: 667 runs @ 16.26 (best 61*) and 49 wickets @ 35.44 (best 4/34) in 57 matches

Why did I put Chris Simpson on the reserve list for Lucky Dip players? Well we were never going to need five were we. So I just thought of the most unremarkable player I possibly could, and here we are. It was either him or Matt Spriegel, but Spriegel was a Northants player and therefore anything but unremarkable.

And the player goes to... @DalePlaysCricket

 

[Ed Smith]

Jesus wept

 

[Aislabie]

Lucky Dip Player 35...

Dwayne Leverock

Rejected by: @blockerdave
Nominated by: @blockerdave
"Panesar" count: 17

ODI stats: 34 wickets @ 33.02 (1 5WI, best 5/53) in 32 matches
List A stats: 47 wickets @ 32.27 (1 5WI, best 5/52) in 44 matches

Okay so here's the thing... Dwayne Leverock was actually a really good spinner. By streets Bermuda's best player at the 2007 World Cup, including Glamorgan stalwart David Hemp. What he wasn't was an athlete: blessed with a sedentary day job and a love of food, he remains the heaviest international cricketer of all time (I think - he's pretty close with big Rahkeem Cornwall).

And the player goes to... @Na Maloom Afraad (This one could definitely have been worse for you!)

 

[Aislabie]

Lucky Dip Player 36...

Waqar Younis

Rejected by: @ahmedleo414 / @Yash.
Nominated by: @Na Maloom Afraad

ODI stats: 416 wickets @ 23.84 (13 5WI, best 7/36) in 262 matches
List A stats: 674 wickets @ 22.37 (17 5WI, best 7/36) in 411 matches

This is a big one. Huge. Sizeable. Gigantic. Gargantuan. Waqar Younis is one of the all-time great white-ball fast bowlers, in particular in his younger days - before injuries forced him to become merely fast-medium. His magnum opus, though, was his 17 wickets at 7.41 apiece in the Austral-Asia Cup in Sharjah. Those wickets came in only four matches. Seriously, look!

And the player goes to... @Aislabie (Give me a moment - need to do a victorious war dance around the house. @Na Maloom Afraad I am sorry)