The Layer Cake Draft

[Bevab]

My pick is Charlie Macartney



@Dutch if he's feeling it, but @blockerdave can go ahead

Pretty much guessed you would have gone for him, was contemplating choosing the Governor-General myself but Faulkner's leg spin and his aggressive bowling swayed me towards him even if he was the worse batsman.

 

[Aislabie]

Pretty much guessed you would have gone for him, was contemplating choosing the Governor-General myself but Faulkner's leg spin and his aggressive bowling swayed me towards him even if he was the worse batsman.

Yeah, I was torn between Macartney and Faulkner, so I decided to wait until someone picked one of them then just take the other one!

 

[Ed Smith]

Alec Stewart
Quinton de Kock
Ricky Ponting (L)
Denis Compton (L)
AB de Villiers
Michael Clarke
Ravichandran Ashwin
?
Steve Harmison (P)
Les Taylor (L)
Benjamin Aislabie (L)

@Bevab

 

[blockerdave]

Oh good lord that's terrifying. Especially as I'm 95% sure who your keeper is going to be

yes i'm probably very predictable there...

 

[Bevab]

With the batting looking a little light and two number 11s in the side, my team desperately needs an all-rounder who can bowl quality pace besides being a handy lower order batsman. And who better for this role than Alan Davidson, possibly the greatest left arm pacer of all-time?

Davidson's greatest performances arguably came when he wasn't fully fit or under pressure, a testament to his fighting spirit despite being a hypochondriac. His career bowling average of just 20 (one of the best in the post-war period) is even more remarkable when you remember that he did not get the new ball until the South African tour in 1957-1958, rendering him largely ineffective. In short, Davidson was

• A pacer who could swing the ball in both directions with remarkable control and a very classic action.
  
• A batsman capable of batting in the middle order if required as shown by his first-class average of 32 and multiple compliments from fellow players. A more attacking role and of course the poor start to his international career hampered his test batting average which is still a respectable 24.
  
• A superb close fielder which earned him the nickname of 'Claw'.

@CerealKiller

 

[CerealKiller]

I’ll go with Desmond Haynes as Hanif’s opening partner. Formed a legendary opening pair with Gordon Greenidge.

CerealKiller’s XI
1. Hanif Mohammad
2. Desmond Haynes
3.
4. Ian Bell
5. Sir Frank Worrell
6. Jack Ikin
7. Mike Procter
8. Shane Warne
9. Dale Steyn
10. Bill O'Reilly
11. Dainty Ironmonger

@ahmedleo414

 

[Aislabie]

Another couple of excellent picks, and the kind of guys who usually go under the radar in an all-time draft. Some of the players being pulled out in this draft are outstanding.

Also, if he doesn't return by the end of the draft, I'll flesh out @Dutch 's team at the end of the draft

 

[ahmedleo414]

I noticed a couple picks ago that all my players were from different countries... i figures I'll go with that restriction, not that its being forced, but just to see how i can use it.. so that's what i'll be going for with my final picks.. Trying to create a team with each player from a different country..

That being said, my next pick goes to John Wright of New Zealand who will also open a Captain the team

Here is a little bio from his wiki

"During his career, he scored more than 5,000 Test runs (the first New Zealand Test player to do so) at an average of 37.82 runs per dismissal with 12 Test centuries, 10 of them in New Zealand. He also played for Derbyshire in England. In first-class cricket he scored over 25,000 runs, having scored over 50 first-class centuries. He scored over 10,000 runs in List A limited-overs cricket."

1. John Wright
2. Paul Stirling
3. Stuart Law
4. Jacques Kallis
5.
6. Andy Flower
7. Ravi Shastri
8. Derek Underwood
9. Rangana Herath
10. Rubel Hossain
11. Courtney Walsh

@El Loco

 

[Aislabie]

@ahmedleo414, @Bevab, @blockerdave, @CerealKiller, @DalePlaysCricket, @Dutch, @El Loco, @Master Bates & @Na Maloom Afraad - you may also enjoy the Lasagne Draft, opened moments ago so that the pre-draft admin can happen while this draft finishes. It's literally the exact same concept but for ODI cricket, and named after a different layered food.

 

[El Loco]

Where's Wally? Funny you should ask, he slots right in at number 3.

1. Alastair Cook
2. Ken Meuleman
3. Wally Hammond
4. Greg Chappell
5. Dudley Nourse
6.
7. Andrew Flintoff
8. Kapil Dev
9. Malcolm Marshall
10. Sydney Barnes
11. Monty Panesar

@Na Maloom Afraad @Master Bates

 

[Bevab]

Where's Wally? Funny you should ask, he slots right in at number 3.

1. Alastair Cook
2. Ken Meuleman
3. Wally Hammond
4. Greg Chappell
5. Dudley Nourse
6.
7. Andrew Flintoff
8. Kapil Dev
9. Malcolm Marshall
10. Sydney Barnes
11. Monty Panesar

@Na Maloom Afraad @Master Bates

Genius pick!

 

[Na Maloom Afraad]

Where's Wally?

Crap, that was my next pick.

 

[Na Maloom Afraad]

MB and NMA's XI

1. -
2. Fred Grace (L)
3. Steve Smith (L)
4. Sachin Tendulkar (L)
5. Shakib Al Hasan
6. Neil Harvey
7. Adam Gilchrist (P)
8. Lance Klusener
9. Bart King
10. Allan Donald
11. Simon Kerrigan (L)

Neil Harvey will be my number six. A great batsman in his own right. Picked him mainly because I can not promise that my openers (vacant and Freddie G) will deliver, and if Smith or Tendulkar go early (which is very plausible considering the bowling lineups of some of the teams in the draft), I'll need someone to come to rescue. I reckon Neil Harvey can play that role very well.

@Aislabie, you're up

 

[Aislabie]

My pick is Hedley Verity

Test stats - 669 runs @ 20.90 (best 66*) and 144 wickets @ 24.37 (5 5WI, best 8/43) in 40 matches
First-class stats - 5,603 runs @ 18.07 (1 century, best 101) and 1,946 wickets @ 14.90 (164 5WI, best 10/10) in 378 matches

Somehow, unless I've missed something really obvious, nobody has picked the greatest left-arm spinner of all time. His Test bowling average of 24 may not look that flash, but he did spend most of his career bowling at Don Bradman. His county numbers really do show his quality. Like everyone else in my side he could also bat - he played one of his 40 Tests as an opening batsman - but that won't especially be his job here. As with so many of a certain generation, Verity lost his life in the Second World War.

1. Gordon Greenidge (L)
2. Geoffrey Boycott
3. Younis Khan (L)
4. Douglas Jardine (L)
5. Everton Weekes
6. Charlie Macartney
7. Imran Khan (P)
8. Scott Kremerskothen (L)
9. George Lohmann
10. Hedley Verity
11.

@Dutch if he's feeling it, but @blockerdave can go ahead

 

[blockerdave]

My pick is Hedley Verity

Test stats - 669 runs @ 20.90 (best 66*) and 144 wickets @ 24.37 (5 5WI, best 8/43) in 40 matches
First-class stats - 5,603 runs @ 18.07 (1 century, best 101) and 1,946 wickets @ 14.90 (164 5WI, best 10/10) in 378 matches

Somehow, unless I've missed something really obvious, nobody has picked the greatest left-arm spinner of all time. His Test bowling average of 24 may not look that flash, but he did spend most of his career bowling at Don Bradman. His county numbers really do show his quality. Like everyone else in my side he could also bat - he played one of his 40 Tests as an opening batsman - but that won't especially be his job here. As with so many of a certain generation, Verity lost his life in the Second World War.

1. Gordon Greenidge (L)
2. Geoffrey Boycott
3. Younis Khan (L)
4. Douglas Jardine (L)
5. Everton Weekes
6. Charlie Macartney
7. Imran Khan (P)
8. Scott Kremerskothen (L)
9. George Lohmann
10. Hedley Verity
11.

@Dutch if he's feeling it, but @blockerdave can go ahead

Wonderful pick! Great bowler - dismissed Bradman more times than anyone else!! Also has the best first class figures in history, his magically symmetrical 10/10!