Draft: The Quiz Draft - Redux

Mittal2002

Club Captain
Joined
May 7, 2021
I really thought that Qasim was a risky pick but good to have him in the end.
My team thus far
1. :saf: :bat: Barry Richards
2. :eng::bat: Graham Gooch
3.
4.
5. :saf: :wkb: Kyle Verreynne
6.
7.
8. :pak: :ar: Imran Khan
9.
10. :pak: :bwl: Iqbal Qasim
11.
 

qpeedore

SOTM Winner - July 2014
Joined
Apr 5, 2009
Location
Trinidad and Tobago
Longevity in the game is always a difficult thing to actually define. Some players naturally play their best games later on in life. Some players never play Tests until they're already older. Other players play early on in their careers and have a long gap between Tests. Some of them naturally come late to the game and still do well.

1. @ddrap14 - John Berry "Jack" Hobbs
Jack Hobbs had a damn lot of excellent innings in what normally would be considered the twilight of a career. His highest Test score of 211 came at the age of 42. And he wasn't even done there. He continued to score century after century. The amount of FC centuries he scored is...wow. A hundred and ninety-seven. The hell? Awesome pick. Stunning pick. Amazing pick. (Have I mentioned that I like this pick?)

2. @Neptune - Clarie Grimmett
You might ask...who? Grimmett had just the one 5-wicket haul at the age of 40, against the West Indies in 1931. Let's just say that a WI fanatic, I'm glad we had George Headley in the squad for that match. Grimmett is something of an underrated spin innovator - a lot of the variations he bowled were also independently being developed by other leg-spinners, but he was not to know that. He did what worked for him, and it wasn't really his stock ball that got you out, it was the variations.

3. @ahmedleo414 - Sydney Barnes
After a solid start in this Draft, you and other members have been battling for the same player in the past few rounds. Syd Barnes is one hell of a pick, taking wickets on a regular basis past the age requirement of 40. And a hell of a lot of wickets he took too. Age just made him better it seemed. One of the better picks in this round. Fight with sanchit and Aislabie over it, lol.

4. @CerealKiller - Vijay Merchant
The first few lines of his CricInfo biography says it all - for a batsman to even be compared to Bradman is a feat in itself. Unfortunately we don't have too much footage of the guy, which is something a a big missing thing in cricket. Whenever people talk about the best Indian batsmen, they always look at Sachin. My personal favourite is Laxman. But Merchant is right up there with the absolute best, not just in India, but in cricket history. Statistics be damned.

5. @Aislabie - Syd Barnes
Barnes was a player and a gentleman in his time. It's no wonder he turns up in a lot of Drafts on a regular basis. He's just that damn good.

6. @Yash. - Lance Gibbs
Yash finally gets back on the board with a pick that comes straight out of the top drawer. Lance Gibbs is, by some people's estimation, THE best spinner that the West Indies has ever produced. And for good reason. He never let anything go for runs. He was just relentless. The guy never needed to vary line and length much, he just developed, over time, the ability to spin the ball with good bounce at will. The guy was a fingerspinner with piano fingers...long, often bruised, awesome.

7. @sanchitgarg - Syd Barnes
It happens. This is a Round by Round Draft, so not everyone will get their preferred picks all the time. One final thing about Barnes - he once was told that while he might have not had the googly in his arsenal, he simply said, quote..."I never needed it." He sure as hell didn't need it, that's for sure.

8. @Mittal2002 - William "Bill" O'Reilly
Well...talking about Barnes, here's one of the bowlers who built upon that reputation. Tall, fearsome, and at the batsmen constantly...he was a guy that was just made to bowl fast. But he couldn't. And he always seemed to not enjoy that fact. You must keep in mind that he took 27 wickets in the Bodyline series as a spinner. Nobody recalls that. He was a great cricketer and personality right up until the end.

9. @qpeedore - Shivnarine Chanderpaul
Just about squeaks by for about three months, I believe this innings makes him eligible. What has Shiv not done in his career to keep the hopes of us home fans up? He can bat from now until bowlers get so fed up it's not even a match anymore, it's them versus him. And he'll never gift you his wicket.

Notable misses: (will add)

I expected more batsmen this round, I got a lot of bowlers. That's unusual. Barnes was the clear pick here. You guys can edit in your team lists, I'll update the stuff at some point. Apologies for not being on top of things with the first post.

The teams thus far

@ddrap14
:sri: Mahela Jayawardene :bat:
:nz: Richard Hadlee :ar:
:aus: Adam Gilchrist :wkb:
:ind: Mohammed Siraj :bwl:
:sri: Kumar Dharmasena :ar:
:pak: Misbah-ul-haq :bat:
:eng: Jack Hobbs :bat:


@Neptune
:eng: Len Hutton :bat:
:aus: Clarrie Grimmet :bwl:
:aus: Fred "the Demon" Spofforth :bwl:
:wi: George Headley :bat:
:saf: Keegan Petersen :bat:


@ahmedleo414
:aus: Shane Warne :bwl:
:ind: Kapil Dev :ar:
:aus: Donald Bradman :bat:
:nzf: Devon Conway :bat:


@CerealKiller
:pak: Wasim Akram :bwl:
:ind: Shubman Gill :bat:
:ind: Srinivas Venkat :bwl:
:pak: Inzamam-ul-haq
:ind: Vijay Merchant :bat:


@Aislabie
:sri: Kumar Sangakarra :wkb:
:eng: George Lohmann :bwl:
:nzf: Jack Cowie :bwl:


@Yash.
:eng: Wally Hammond :bat:
:saf: Graeme Pollock :bat:
:wi: Lance Gibbs :bwl:


@sanchitgarg
:aus: Mark Taylor :bat:
:saf: Shaun Pollock :ar:
:wi: Joel Garner :bwl:
:ind: Mushtaq Ali :bat:


@Mittal2002
:eng: Graham Gooch :bat:
:pak: Imran Khan :ar:
:saf: Barry Richards :bat:
:saf: Kyle Verreynne :bat:
:aus: Billy O'Rielly :bwl:
:pak: Iqbal Qasim :bwl:


@qpeedore's extra team
:wi: Chris Gayle :bat:
:eng: Stuart Broad :bwl:
:wi: Malcolm Marshall :bwl:
:ind: Washington Sundar :ar:
:wi: Gerry Gomez :ar:
:pak: Waqar Younis :bwl:

:wi: Shivnarine Chanderpaul :bat:

Unavailable players
Mahela Jayawardene
Len Hutton
Kumar Sangakarra
Wally Hammond
Mark Taylor
Graham Gooch
Chris Gayle
Shane Warne
Fred Spofforth
Richard Hadlee
Kapil Dev
Wasim Akram
Shaun Pollock
Imran Khan
Stuart Broad
Adam Gilchrist
George Headley
George Lohmann
Don Bradman
Graeme Pollock
Joel Garner
Barry Richards
Malcolm Marshall
Mohammed Siraj
Keegan Petersen
Devon Conway
Shubman Gill
Kyle Verreynne
Washington Sundar
Kumar Dharmasena
Srinivas Venkat
Jack Cowie
Gerry Gomez
Misbah-ul-haq
Inzamam-ul-haq
Mushtaq Ali
Iqbal Qasim
Waqar Younis

Deadline for the next round is...next Wednesday at 6am GMT. A recovery round will follow at Round 10, because this one isn't easy.

Round 9


Murali is the current holder of the Test bowling wicket record, with 800 wickets. This is the list of every wicket he has ever taken.

Pick a player who has played a Test against Murali, but has never been dismissed by him.

Good luck!
 
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qpeedore

SOTM Winner - July 2014
Joined
Apr 5, 2009
Location
Trinidad and Tobago
I think all of us should have known that Aislabie would have gone for Barnes though. It's one of his guaranteed Draft picks very often. Hobbs is another, but ddrap got the guy before.

Again, I did say the questions would get harder. This last one is not easy, far from impossible though.
 

qpeedore

SOTM Winner - July 2014
Joined
Apr 5, 2009
Location
Trinidad and Tobago
Muttiah Muralitharan (Muralidaran, Murali, "oh, shit he's bowling now?") has been one of the greatest players to ever play the Game. 800 Test wickets is not something that happens just like that. And while I absolutely loved it when Walsh hit the 500 mark, I sort of knew that it would be broken. Look at James Anderson, passing Kumble just within the last Test (days just blur into other days at the moment. I do dates, not days...I know for sure that today's the 8th, you can honestly tell me today is Thursday and I'd believe you.)

Anyways, the variety of players that this guy who bowls offspin with a variant of a legspin action is indeed studded with greats. And yet, there were some who missed out. Maybe because they played higher up in the order and they'd only give Murali the older ball, maybe it was because they were just into defense against him and never scored but at the same time never gave their wicket away. Maybe they just read him so amazingly. This was one of the more fun rounds for me.

1. @ddrap14 - Dean Jones
Dean Jones is forever linked to Sir Curtly Ambrose. But he never got out to Murali in Tests. A showy player without going overboard into flamboyance, he was a good batsman for Australia. Just don't wear wristbands, he apparently didn't like that sort of thing. Was supposed to be part of the IPL coverage this year. Requiescat in Pace, Dean. Somewhere up there, Malcolm Marshall is about to put on wrist bands for spite.

2. @Neptune - Steve Waugh
A middle order batsman such as Waugh would definitely have faced Murali more often than not. It's a pick that's repeated here, but that doesn't mean it's a bad pick. Waugh is awesome. And while Murali might have faced him just around the times when the TV replays showed that he may or may not have been over-bending past the limit...fact is that Waugh was never out to him.

3. @ahmedleo414 - Curtly Ambrose
Yeah, take my fav cricketer away from me, why don't you. But he honestly never bowled badly in his entire career.

@CerealKiller - Steve Waugh
I think that a lot of people knew what he did for Australian cricket, but they didn't quite know the full impact until years later. He was integral to a team that once was struggling, and he took them back to somewhere near the top of the world.

5. @Aislabie - no pick
I didn't pick in his Draft, it's about fair. We were talking about other stuff actually.

6. @Yash. - Desmond Haynes
Well, well, well...you got one of the very best openers in the Game here. Haynes was much more than just a facilitator to his usual partner Greenidge - the guy could bat you out of your skin when it came down to it. A great player, a great cricketing brain, and one of the best we in the West Indies have ever had represent us.

7. @sanchitgarg - Steve Waugh
Then there's the twin brother Mark...I mean, arguably the best set of brothers to ever play cricket together.

8. @Mittal2002 - Ross Taylor
Just like Waugh, this one is unusual, because he's a middle order batsman and as such, would have faced Murali a lot. Fun thing I learned while researching this writeup: I always thought that he was Maori...he isn't, he's actually Samoan. Now the Ka Rite haka totally beats the Siv Tau in every single way, but...I wonder what happens in Taylor's mind when the All Blacks rugby team plays the Samoans?

9. @qpeedore - Graeme Smith
The first time I saw this guy in real life, I just thought...he's big. I'm not talking about height, he was probably three inches taller than me, but he was built. Solid. I quickly saw how he could lead the South African team from the forefront, and he did just that. You don't play as many matches as him just because.

Notable misses: (will add, once again)

Now that most of us have gotten the core of our teams, let's get into the real things.

Round 10

I promised a recovery Round. Here it is: Pick any player, from any era, whoever you think your team requires. One rule to follow...they must have played at least 100 Tests.
 

ahmedleo414

The Butcher
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Here is my team with Ambrose

  1. ?
  2. :nzf: :bat: Devon Conway
  3. :aus: :bat: Sir Don Bradman
  4. ?
  5. ?
  6. ?
  7. :ind: :ar: Kapil Dev
  8. :aus: :bwl: Shane Warne
  9. :wi: :bwl: Curtly Ambrose
  10. ?
  11. ?
Pretty good team so far if I do say so myself
 

qpeedore

SOTM Winner - July 2014
Joined
Apr 5, 2009
Location
Trinidad and Tobago
Everyone has been pretty amazing. Got all of the picks in within less than 24 hours. Kudos to all.

So this was a round where you could pick anyone. But playing at least 100 Tests meant that everyone who was picked were great. And because it was a recovery round, not a single player was double-picked. You all get your chosen player.

1. @ddrap14 - Virender Sehwag
Zero foot movement. That's what struck me about Sehwag's batting ability first up. And yet he'd find a way to crash boundary after boundary with ease. It was unreal, and this is coming from a West Indian here, who has seen his share of zero footwork players simply muscle the ball to the ropes. But with Sehwag, it was different. He could muscle the ball, yes, but he could also finesse it and still get the same results. ddrap, you're quickly amassing a very good team here.

2. @Neptune - Viv Richards
There is no more intimidating sight in the world than seeing Viv strut out to the middle with just a cap and chewing his gum. Against the fastest bowlers in the world at the time, indeed, perhaps of any era, he flat out never wore a helmet. He said that he did so once, but it was too restrictive and after that one experiment, he never wore one again. Too restrictive...true, for someone with such quick hands and his playing style, he never needed a helmet. He'd know which shot to play as soon as the ball left the bowler's hand. A great eye, amazing skill, and just the sight of him coming to the crease put fear into many a bowler's mind. You guys can talk about Don, Sachin, Brian...IVA Richards had swagger, persona, everything.

3. @ahmedleo414 - Jacques Kallis
You got him this time around. Kallis was pretty much Mr. South Africa for a long time. Part of a team that contained the likes of Smith, Pollock, Ntini, Boucher, and Donald...well, I mean the South Africans truly could be unbeatable when they were on form. As I mentioned prior in this thread, Kallis played absolute textbook cricket - there was very little unorthodox about him. He could bowl at a decent enough pace...maybe fast medium, which is nothing to shake your head at. With the bat, he'd just bat until he felt like it. You had to actually bowl a good ball to get him out more often than not. He'd not be out giving his wicket away.

@CerealKiller - Javed Miandad
Fun fact about Miandad I just learned from research: his batting average never fell below 50 for his entire Test career. This is a Round where you need to pick players that have played at least 100 Tests. Does anyone else realise the significance of that particular statistic? Imran Khan might be Mr. Pakistan, but Miandad is miles ahead of him as far as I'm concerned. No other player can even come close to winning as many matches with the bat in hand than this guy. Pick of the Round, Cereal. (And to think I just about almost posted early, you were the last to pick...figured I'd wait at least 24 hours. Glad I did.)

5. @Aislabie - Geoffrey Boycott
Fiery. Weird that a man so set on defense at the crease would get that nickname. Boycs was a man that was often difficult to get out, and he just kept scoring when he could. You had to get very aggressive to even rattle him, or else he'd probably pad you away from now until next week. Warne might have bowled the ball of the Century, but Fiery faced the over of the Century. Michael Holding, 1981. How the hell he did not die right then and there is beyond me. He just about survived gloving a couple at neck height. Of course he was bowled off of the final ball of the over, but I think even he would say that was probably almost an act of mercy. I genuinely love this pick.

6. @Yash. -AB de Villiers
This was, in my opinion, one of the late, great Tony Cozier's favourite players, and that was even before he started wicketkeeping regularly. Coze would never stop talking about him while on commentary. But he had good reasons to admire AB. Not just a great cricketer, he's also good at rugby, tennis, and golf. But if it's cricket you're talking about, I think that AB was truly one of South Africa's best ever players. The ability to play shots to all parts of the park, the catches, the fielding in general. There is that video of that blind runout that gets a mention now and then, but that one was luck. He's got way too many other amazing attributes as a natural athlete to ignore. At one point, he probably could have represented South Africa in any sport, and excelled at it.

7. @sanchitgarg -Sachin Tendulkar
Where to even begin with Sachin? Hell, where to end with Sachin? The Little Master of the Game, he's simply one of the best that we'll be likely to see within our lifetimes. Okay, Lara made 400. Sachin will give you 4 hundreds back to back to back to back. Consistency was a key asset to his game. He'd play any bowlers almost as if it was a net session - oh, he'd respect the good balls, but just err marginally and he'd punish you. He holds records the likes of which may never be broken. That balance at the crease...only Lara had better balance. Lara could bat big and be flamboyant, Sachin never cared about flamboyancy. He just batted. Almost like a never-ending net session at times.

8. @Mittal2002 -Chaminda Vaas
One of my biggest personal regrets is not seeing this guy in person. I'm a left-handed bowler in backyard games, and I always thought that if ever I wanted to bowl fast...he would be the guy to model myself after. Warnakulasuriya Patabendige Joseph Chaminda Vaas (what a name, that's a champion's name right there) bowled his heart out for Sri Lanka at a time when you'd never really consider Sri Lanka to develop seamers. He wasn't out and out fast, but he got movement both through the air and off the seam. He'd always bowl this new ball line to right handers where it would start off outside leg, swing to pitch just on middle and leg at a good length, and then seam back in. But every now and then it might just hold up and get the edge. I'll always say that Chris Gayle is his bunny, at one point Gayle just could not cope with him. In general, left arm seamers don't usually go around the wicket, but he could do that too without looking awkward.

9. @qpeedore - Stephen Fleming
I like the guy. When New Zealand were just becoming a threat in Test cricket, he was there. Now New Zealand are arguably the best team in the world. If not for him, they would never have reached these heights. As a captain, he was simply incredible. He new when to rotate bowlers, where to place the field, how to motivate players. As a batsman he was probably without peer during his time. It's a pick more for captaincy more than anything, but his average of 40 with the bat is nothing to ignore either.

Notable misses: (will add, for the third time)

So everyone got their pick with no misses this time around. Let's get things devious.

Round 11

If you need a batsman, it's this: Pick a player who has at least ten 50s to their name, but no centuries.

If you need a bowler, it's this: Pick a player who has at least 100 wickets to their name without ever having 5 in an innings.

If you need a wicketkeeper, it's this: Pick a wicketkeeper with more than 100 catches as a designated keeper, but also has more than 10 stumpings.

Also, if you guys don't mind, check out my Creative Writing thread.

Good luck.
 

CerealKiller

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CerealKiller's XI
1. :ind: Shubman Gill :bat:
2. :ind: Vijay Merchant :bat:
3.
4. :pak: Javed Miandad :bat:
5. :pak: Inzamam-ul-Haq :bat:
6.
7.
8. :pak: Wasim Akram :ar:
9. :ind: Srinivas Venkataraghavan :bwl:
10.
11.
 

ddrap14

Shitposter in Chief
AUS..
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:eng: Jack Hobbs :bat:
:ind: Virender Sehwag :bat:
:aus: Dean Jones :bat:
:sri: Mahela Jayawardene :bat:

5.
:pak: Misbah-ul-haq :bat:
:aus: Adam Gilchrist :wkb:
:nz: Richard Hadlee :ar:
:sri: Kumar Dharmasena :ar:
:ind: Mohammed Siraj :bwl:
11.
 

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