The Layer Cake Draft

[blockerdave]

A few names rolling around here...

@Aislabie - I've just realised my previous pick of Herb Sutcliffe was ineligible, as he'd been rejected by @Bevab - is that correct?

Being so I will replace him as opener with EDDIE BARLOW, taking the Ed Smith approach of you can never have too many all rounders, I will add a 4th world class all rounder. Barlow will be 5th Seamer if needed (he won't be), and will renew his opening partnership with Barry Richards from the last test of the 1970 series. Barlow averaged 45 with the bat in Test Cricket, and 34 with the ball. He hit 6 hundreds and 15 50's in just 30 matches and 57 inns.

---------------

Whether with Sutcliffe or with Barlow, my batting line up is very strong, and the only thing it's really missing is elegance. Few players could supply more elegance than PETER MAY.

Over 4,500 runs at 46.77 and a record as captain of never losing a test series, May will bat first drop and captain the side.

1) Barry Richards
2) Herb Sutcliffe EDDIE BARLOW
3) PETER MAY (c)
4) Clive Rice
5) Ross Taylor
6) Keith Miller
7)
8) Franklyn Stephenson
9) Graeme Swann
10) Andy Roberts
11) Muttiah Muralitharan

@DalePlaysCricket

 

[Aislabie]

@Aislabie - I've just realised my previous pick of Herb Sutcliffe was ineligible, as he'd been rejected by @Bevab - is that correct?

That is correct! Can't believe I missed it

 

[ahmedleo414]

It's been more than 24 hours since the last post

 

[Aislabie]

@DalePlaysCricket is now late

It's time for @Bevab

(also it's just you two now for Lasagne Draft picks)

 

[Bevab]

@DalePlaysCricket is now late

It's time for @Bevab

(also it's just you two now for Lasagne Draft picks)

Completely forgot about the lasagna draft!

Will get that done by tomorrow afternoon. As for my final pick here, I shall go with one of the most deadly and fiercest bowlers in cricket history who would have certainly had a much longer career in today's game with the prevalence of biomechanics, proper nutrition and fitness schedules alongside a more suitable domestic pitch, Frank 'Typhoon' Tyson.

Few bowlers have made an impact on a series as much as the Typhoon did when he toured Australia in 1954-55. His bowling was so extraordinary that another legendary pacer in Statham was reduced to a mere supporting role by bowling against the wind. Bradman and Benaud rated him as the quickest bowler they had ever seen. Even Trueman, his rival admitted that Tyson was quicker than him on his day. His pace was once measured to be 145 kph, but this was without a run-up wearing three sweaters! The keeper and his slip fielders were often seen standing closer to the boundary than the wicket when he started to bowl.

Despite the sheer brutality of his bowling, Tyson was a scholar at heart and was well noted for his intelligent analysis as a commentator and analyst post-retirement alongside his books. Tyson did not rely much on swing or seam, instead using sheer pace to take wickets and extracting bounce even from the dead Northamptonshire pitches of his day. It must have been very effective, as he has the best bowling average among all bowlers in the post-war period. Tyson was no mug with the bat either and has thirteen first-class fifties to his name.

In my side, Tyson will take the new ball in most games along with Davidson unless we happen to play on a dustbowl. In that scenario, Faulkner will share new ball duties with Davidson. Tyson will be used in short but fiery two to four over spells to keep him fresh, alternating with Garner and Tufnell depending on the game situation.

@CerealKiller

 

[Ed Smith]

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

It's entirely possible I've been watching the 2005 ashes DVD today...

 

[Aislabie]

Simon Jones

It's entirely possible I've been watching the 2005 ashes DVD today...

Firstly, a really underrated bowler who must have been horribly difficult to face.

Secondly, I now know how I'm spending tomorrow, good call.

 

[blockerdave]

Jones is a fantastic pick. As is Tyson. In fact as a thought experiment I was putting together an XI to complete @Dutch team and Tyson was the pace bowler I’d selected.

 

[ahmedleo414]

I think @Bevab has the next pick. I didn't see him tagged

I could be wrong?

 

[Aislabie]

I think @Bevab has the next pick. I didn't see him tagged

I could be wrong?

Nope, it's @CerealKiller

 

[CerealKiller]

I wish i’d picked someone else instead of Haynes, but i guess i can’t go back now, unless @Aislabie allows it.
For my final pick, one of the classiest batsmen of this century, Mohammad Yousuf, over 7000 Test runs, averaging 52, and holds the record for most Test runs in a calendar year, making 1788 runs in 2006, including a tour of England.

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

@ahmedleo414

 

[ahmedleo414]

I wish i’d picked someone else instead of Haynes, but i guess i can’t go back now, unless @Aislabie allows it.
For my final pick, one of the classiest batsmen of this century, Mohammad Yousuf, over 7000 Test runs, averaging 52, and holds the record for most Test runs in a calendar year, making 1788 runs in 2006, including a tour of England.

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

@ahmedleo414

OMG... you took my final pick.... ...

anyways... since i can't go for Mohammad Yousuf, I'll have to go with Zaheer Abbas

Here is a little bio from his cricinfo

"Zaheer Abbas was a stylish, elegant batsman. In full flow, he was a sight for sore eyes. His avarice for runs matched that of the Australian legend, and that was why he was dubbed the Asian Bradman."

Zaheer also has more First Class runs than any other Pakistani players, coming in at just below 35000 runs

I am overall quite happy with how the team turned out, especially since i stuck with my 1 player per country rule

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


@El Loco

 

[El Loco]

Jeff Dujon to complete my XI.

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

@Na Maloom Afraad
@Master Bates

 

[Na Maloom Afraad]

MB and NMA's XI

1. Vijay Merchant
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)

And... my last pick will be Vijay Merchant. Here's a short of his ESPN bio:

The supreme yardstick for batsmanship is the Bradman scale. West Indies' George Headley was `the black Bradman'. Every Australian prodigy since 1948 has been heralded as `the new Bradman'. Gavaskar has rewritten the Test record books, and yet is still acknowledged as slightly lower caste. But if figures count, Vijay Merchant, with a first-class average of 71, is next in line only to The Don.

@Aislabie, you're up again

 

[Aislabie]

My pick is Bob Taylor

Test stats - 1,156 runs @ 16.28 (best 97) and 174 dismissals (167 caught, 7 stumped) in 57 matches
First-class stats - 12,065 runs @ 16.92 (1 century, best 100) and 1,649 dismissals (1,473 caught, 176 stumped) in 639 matches

My side doesn't need any more batting, so I've not worried about that when selecting my wicket-keeper. Instead I've picked the best pure gloveman ever to play the game: Bob Taylor. He just never made mistakes, and was good enough to keep keeping for England until well into his 40s, and for Derbyshire until almost 50. There's a fairer, kinder universe out there somewhere where he gets to play 100 or more Tests, and chooses not to walk on 97, having battled over six hours for his best chance at a Test century. Taylor was so good a keeper that he never once broke a finger trying to take a cricket ball.

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. Bob Taylor

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