The Role-Reversal Draft

[Yash.]

My last bowler would be Nathan Astle

Qualification
Bowled in the first 4 positions in 29 innings out of 94 innings = 30.8%

Statistics
Tests: 51 Wickets @ 42.01 (BBI 3/27) in 81 Matches
First Class: 150 Wickets @ 32.64 (BBI 6/22, 2 5WI) in 171 Matches

While Nathan Astle was always known for his explosive batting, he started his career as a canny medium pacer who could bowl thriftily. Against the batting lineups he would have to bowl here, he could get more wickets, but even if he doesn't, he'll build up the pressure and George Brown, and Wooley can feast on the batsmen.

1. Kiran More
   
2. Eric Dalton
   
3. Daniel Vettori
   
4. Adil Rashid
   
5. ?
6. ?
7. A.B de Villiers
8. Nathan Astle
   
9. Carl Hooper
   
10. Frank Wooley
    
11. George Brown

[DOUBLEPOST=1590334772][/DOUBLEPOST]@ahmedleo414

 

[ahmedleo414]

I am going with Shane Warne

For the 154 innings he batted, Warne batted in the tail order in 142 innings: 92.20%

His bio:

"Warne is also noted for his exuberant (and sometimes effective) lower-order batting, once famously being dismissed for 99 with a reckless shot on what was later shown to be a no-ball. In fact, of all Test cricketers Warne has scored the most Test runs without having scored a century, with two scores in the nineties being his best efforts (99 and 91). Warne is also third overall in the most international test ducks. Of players who have batted in more than 175 Test innings, his proportion of dismissals by being out bowled is the lowest, at under seven percent. In 2006 Warne and Glenn McGrath reportedly lost a bet of which bowler would be the first to get a Test century with fellow Australian bowler Jason Gillespie after Gillespie scored a record double-century as a nightwatchman against Bangladesh."

I haven't decided on the order yet.. I am still working on that

1. Shane Warne
2. Paul Strang
3. Paul Reiffel
4. Sir Richard Hadlee
5. Vernon Philander
6. Ravindra Jadeja
7. Hanif Mohammad
8. Allan Border
9. Kane Williamson
10. ?
11. ?

@CerealKiller you have the next pick

 

[CerealKiller]

I'll go with Mitchell Johnson at 5, who averaged almost 23 in 170 innings, with 15 fifties and 2 hundreds

CerealKiller's XI
1. Wasim Bari
2. Ian Smith
3. Chris Woakes
4. Chaminda Vaas
5. Mitchell Johnson
6.
7. Javed Miandad
8. Steve Waugh
9. Shahid Afridi
10. Hansie Cronje
11.

@Na Maloom Afraad for a double pick, i think?

 

[Na Maloom Afraad]

Aravinda de Silva

Part of first four bowlers (18 out of 58 innings; 31.03%)

&

Jim Parks Sr.

Part of first four bowlers (0 out of 2 innings, he bowled at 6 and 5 respectively in both innings of his only Test)

- - -

NMA's ROLE-REVERSAL XI

Irfan Pathan
Rashid Khan
Ravichandran Ashwin
Andre Russell
Ashton Agar
Tillakaratne Dilshan
Aravinda de Silva
Steven Smith
Colin Munro
Jim Parks Sr.

Back to you @CerealKiller, I guess

 

[CerealKiller]

Mitchell Starc will round up my batting attack. Relatively the same as Johnson

CerealKiller's XI
1. Wasim Bari
2. Ian Smith
3. Chris Woakes
4. Chaminda Vaas
5. Mitchell Johnson
6. Mitchell Starc
7. Javed Miandad
8. Steve Waugh
9. Shahid Afridi
10. Hansie Cronje
11.

@ahmedleo414

 

[ahmedleo414]

I am going with Paul Collingwood

For the 55 innings he bowled, Collingwood bowled in the first 4 positions 14 times: 25.45%

His bio:

"Paul Collingwood was never the most gifted cricketer to play for England, but there was so much to admire for all that. That he was a cricketer of substance was undeniable. As his county career came to an end in 2018, at the age of 42, he symbolised how much could be achieved by pluck, good sense and a deal of athleticism.

A natural athlete with a happy-go-lucky temperament, Collingwood became the first England captain to ever deliver a global tournament when England beat Australia to win the 2010 World Twenty20. It was reward for nine years of uncomplaining professionalism, in which time he fought his way through a melee of seemingly more talented opponents to make himself indispensable in all forms of the game.

It took a long time to prise out Collingwood from the middle. More than seven years after the end of his England career, he retired with quite a record: he represented Durham in 23 of their 26 years in professional cricket and amassed 304 first-class appearances, 16,844 runs and 164 wickets. In common with Marcus Trescothick at Somerset, he grew into one of the grand old stagers of the county circuit, communicating that England's professional circuit remained a place where international stars who had known the best could still find satisfaction. A phlegmatic, hard-working, get-the-job-done cricketer, he squeezed value from himself to the very last drop. He called time on his England Test career at the end of the 2010-11 Ashes series, finishing on a high by becoming a three-times Ashes winner, and by the time he ended his ODI career two months later, he was England's leading ODI run scorer and most capped player. But his contribution was far from spent: he went on to lead Durham to the Championship in 2013 and his growing reputation as one of England's old sages was amplified when he accepted a part-time coaching role with Scotland and guided them to the World Cup finals. An opportunity working as England's fielding coach under Ashley Giles began his gradual shift in the later stages of his career from player to coach.

Collingwood's greatest asset was his ability to contribute to the team in several aspects. As a batsman, he stands still at the crease, plays the ball straight and has a tantalising range of strokes up his sleeve. His bowling verged towards the dibbly-dobbly, but given the right conditions he could be irresistible, as he proved with a matchwinning display of swing bowling in the third one-day game against New Zealand in 2001-02. As a fielder, he was one of the finest in the world, capable of breathtaking moments in the covers and backward point. The final tick in his column was his determination, which made him go to Melbourne in the winter of 2000-01 to play grade cricket when he realised he was treading water."

Still haven't decided on the order yet..

1. Shane Warne
2. Paul Strang
3. Paul Reiffel
4. Sir Richard Hadlee
5. Vernon Philander
6. Ravindra Jadeja
7. Hanif Mohammad
8. Allan Border
9. Kane Williamson
10. Paul Collingwood
11. ?

@Yash. you are next

 

[Yash.]

I’ll go with Anil Kumble[DOUBLEPOST=1590764945][/DOUBLEPOST]@Aislabie

 

[Aislabie]

Brian Close

Test stats: 18 wickets @ 29.55 (best 4/35) in 22 matches
First-class stats: 1,171 wickets @ 26.42 (43 5WI, best 8/41) in 786 matches

Bowled in first four: 10 times (22.7%)

Brian Close had one of cricket's more anomalous careers; first picked for England as an eighteen-year-old prodigy and last picked as a 45-year-old human sacrifice, he somehow amassed only 22 Test matches. It is hard to say if his lack of matches were because he never scored a century or took a five-for, or if his lack of centuries and five-fors was because he didn't get a consistent run in the team until he was named England captain in his late 30s. Regardless, Close will be a likely candidate to open the bowling with Watson.

@Aislabie 's XI so far:
1. Syed Kirmani
2. Bapu Nadkarni
3. Jason Gillespie
4. Shaun Pollock
5. Jason Holder
6. Bernard Julien
7. Clyde Walcott
8. Sanath Jayasuriya
9. Shane Watson
10.
11. Brian Close

@Yash.

 

[Yash.]

My last batsmen, is a player who did win a man of the series award, and that too for his batting only, but is still eligible here.

I'm talking about Ben Foakes

He has batted at no. 8 in 7 out of his 10 innings in Test Cricket

He was the man of the series in the SL vs ENG test series in 2018-19, when England whitewashed SL 3-0. He made a century and a fifty on turning tracks. Having a first class average of 38, he'll be one of the best batsmen here, and thus will complete my team.

1. Kiran More
2. Eric Dalton
3. Daniel Vettori
4. Anil Kumble
5. Ben Foakes
6. Adil Rashid
7. AB de Villiers
8. Nathan Astle
9. George Brown
10. Frank Wooley
11. Carl Hooper

Pretty good team I think. I have two of the best bowlers in the draft, with George Brown and Frank Wooley being county beasts. Two pretty good batsmen in Kiran More and Ben Foakes, and not to forget, MR. 360 himself.
@CerealKiller

 

[CerealKiller]

Ravi Shastri will be my 4th bowler, complementing Waugh and Cronje's seam bowling and Afridi's legspin, with his left arm orthodox spin.

CerealKiller's XI
1. Wasim Bari
2. Ian Smith
3. Chris Woakes
4. Chaminda Vaas
5. Mitchell Johnson
6. Mitchell Starc
7. Javed Miandad
8. Steve Waugh
9. Shahid Afridi
10. Hansie Cronje
11. Ravi Shastri

@ahmedleo414

 

[ahmedleo414]

My Final pick is Bert Hopkins

For the 19 innings he bowled, Hopkins bowled in the first four positions 6 times: 31.58%

His bio:

"Albert Hopkins, born at Sydney on May 3, 1874, and died there on April 25, 1931. A right-hand slow-medium bowler with a pronounced swerve and break from the off, a brilliant field and a forceful batsman, he was one of several good allround cricketers who came to England in 1902 under the captaincy of Joseph Darling. During that tour he scored 1192 runs (average 25.91) and took 38 wickets (average 17.60). He made two other visits -- in 1905 and 1909 -- but in the latter tour did not show anything like such good ability in batting as when previously in England, his aggregate runs amounting to only 432. Altogether he took part in seventeen Test Matches, scoring 434 runs and taking twenty-one wickets. On one occasion he earned great distinction. In the second Test match at Lord's in 1902, when play was restricted to an hour and three-quarters on the opening day, Darling, to everyone's surprise chose Hopkins to open the bowling from the Pavilion end, although such capable men as Saunders, Armstrong and Noble were there to share the attack with E Jones. As it happened, CB Fry made a wretched stroke to short-leg and Ranjitsinhji was bowled off his pad, both these famous batsmen failing to get a run. AC Maclaren and FS Jackson took the score to 102, and that was the extent of the cricket in that game.

As it happened Hopkins did not get another wicket in Test matches during that tour. His highest innings in this country was 154 against Northamptonshire in August, 1905, when the Australians ran up the great total of 609. He usually went in first for New South Wales, and against South Australia at Adelaide in December 1908 he played a great innings of 218, his partnership with Noble yielding 283 runs for the second wicket in two hours and fifty minutes. This brilliant display was characteristic of his forcing game. His record in Sheffield Shield cricket was 1594 runs at an average of 30.65 and 96 wickets, average 22.57."

That completes my team... am I happy with it?... probably not, is it the worst team ever assembled?... probably not, did I completely understand the concept of this draft?... probably not, would I give it another go with a similar draft?... OH HELL YEAH!!

With that out of the way, for my batting order, i picked the highest position each player has batted up the order, not the best way to pick the batting order, but at the same time it is what it is. For my bowlers, I have two spinners and two pace bowlers, with Bert being my fast bowler that opens it up with Collingwood. Had I thought about the draft a bit more maybe I could've picked better options.

1. Paul Strang
2. Vernon Philander
3. Shane Warne
4. Paul Reiffel
5. Ravindra Jadeja
6. Sir Richard Hadlee
7. Hanif Mohammad
8. Allan Border
9. Kane Williamson
10. Paul Collingwood
11. Bert Hopkins

@Aislabie to finish out his team

 

[ahmedleo414]

@Aislabie missed his time, @Na Maloom Afraad to finish out his team

 

[Na Maloom Afraad]

Yasir Shah to finish off my team. He scored a century against Australia in Australia when rest of the proper batsmen above him faltered. That's my sole reason for picking him.

He's batted at a position higher than 8 three times in his 58 innings, that's 5.17%.

- - -

NMA's ROLE-REVERSAL XI

Irfan Pathan
Rashid Khan
Ravichandran Ashwin
Andre Russell
Ashton Agar
Yasir Shah
Tillakaratne Dilshan
Aravinda de Silva
Steven Smith
Colin Munro
Jim Parks Sr.

 

[Aislabie]

Stanley Jackson

Test stats: 24 wickets @ 33.29 (1 5WI, best 5/52) in 20 matches
First-class stats: 774 wickets @ 20.37 (42 5WI, best 8/54) in 309 matches

Bowled in first four: 13 times (32.5%)

And to finish, a seamer who took nearly 800 first-class wickets at only 20 apiece. Can't really go wrong with a pick like that; he was a particularly effective bowler as captain when he was allowed to set his own fields and stuff, but I'm not going to specify a captain because I could just as easily go with Close, Holder or Walcott.

@Aislabie 's XI so far:
1. Syed Kirmani
2. Bapu Nadkarni
3. Jason Gillespie
4. Shaun Pollock
5. Jason Holder
6. Bernard Julien
7. Clyde Walcott
8. Sanath Jayasuriya
9. Shane Watson
10. Stanley Jackson
11. Brian Close

Also, I must emphasise:

In this way, he's very comparable to a more modern legend in Kumar Sangakkara... who in hindsight I should have picked

How did nobody pick up this blatant clue that Kumar Sangakkara was eligible as a keeper?

 

[ahmedleo414]

i believe other than @Asham & @Life Warrior this draft is completed