The obscure XI's you've always wanted to make but never found the appropriate place thread

You ever hear of the saying that you can never trust anyone that has two first names? Well here's the...

Untrustworthy First XI:

1) Alec Stewart (ENG) +
2) Mark Taylor (AUS)
3) Brian Lara (WI)
4) Ross Taylor (NZ)
5) Brendan Taylor (ZIM)
6) Habibul Bashar (BAN)
7) Ed Joyce (IRE)
8) Ravichandran Ashwin (IND)
9) Dilhara Fernando (SL)
10) Allan Donald (SA)
11) Waqar Younis (PAK)

12th man) Qais Ahmad (AFG)

NOTE 1: For the Anglo names I used the most common ones. Technically anything can be a first name, the ones that were on the border were the -sons (eg: Anderson, Johnson) but I decided not to use them.

NOTE 2: because there's so many of them, I chose one player from each test playing nation. Plenty were unlucky to miss out, so I did a second XI, unrestrained by the one-per-country rule (therefore arguably a better team).

Untrustworthy Second XI:

1) Michael Vaughan (ENG)
2) Gary Kirsten (SA)
3) Michael Clarke (AUS)
4) Clive Lloyd (WI) c
5) Salim Malik (PAK)
6) Hanif Mohammad (PAK)
7) Alex Carey (AUS) +
8) Malcolm Marshall (WI)
9) Frank Tyson (ENG)
10) Bob Willis (ENG)
11) Chris Martin (NZ)

Ah nuts, there's still heaps so...

Untrustworthy Third XI:

1) Murali Vijay (IND)
2) Phil Jacques (AUS)
3) Ijaz Ahmed (PAK)
4) Damien Martyn (AUS) c
5) Arthur Morris (AUS)
6) Jacques Rudolph (SA)
7) Junior Murray (WI) +
8) Daren Sammy (WI)
9) Tim May (AUS)
10) Devon Malcolm (ENG)
11) Stuart Clark (AUS)

Also close were Dave Gregory (Australia's first Test captain), Lou Vincent, Michael Bevan, Sherwin Campbell, Matthew Elliott, Mervyn Dillon (the man with the most ducks in Tests in a calendar year), Peter Kirsten, Deryck Murray, Brendan Julian, George Bailey, Keemo Paul, Alistair Campbell, James Vince, Steven Jack & Sylvester Clarke (who John Dyson famously caught out). Sure I've missed many others.
 
You ever hear of the saying that you can never trust anyone that has two first names? Well here's the...

Untrustworthy First XI:

1) Alec Stewart (ENG) +
2) Mark Taylor (AUS)
3) Brian Lara (WI)
4) Ross Taylor (NZ)
5) Brendan Taylor (ZIM)
6) Habibul Bashar (BAN)
7) Ed Joyce (IRE)
8) Ravichandran Ashwin (IND)
9) Dilhara Fernando (SL)
10) Allan Donald (SA)
11) Waqar Younis (PAK)

12th man) Qais Ahmad (AFG)

NOTE 1: For the Anglo names I used the most common ones. Technically anything can be a first name, the ones that were on the border were the -sons (eg: Anderson, Johnson) but I decided not to use them.

NOTE 2: because there's so many of them, I chose one player from each test playing nation. Plenty were unlucky to miss out, so I did a second XI, unrestrained by the one-per-country rule (therefore arguably a better team).

Untrustworthy Second XI:

1) Michael Vaughan (ENG)
2) Gary Kirsten (SA)
3) Michael Clarke (AUS)
4) Clive Lloyd (WI) c
5) Salim Malik (PAK)
6) Hanif Mohammad (PAK)
7) Alex Carey (AUS) +
8) Malcolm Marshall (WI)
9) Frank Tyson (ENG)
10) Bob Willis (ENG)
11) Chris Martin (NZ)

Ah nuts, there's still heaps so...

Untrustworthy Third XI:

1) Murali Vijay (IND)
2) Phil Jacques (AUS)
3) Ijaz Ahmed (PAK)
4) Damien Martyn (AUS) c
5) Arthur Morris (AUS)
6) Jacques Rudolph (SA)
7) Junior Murray (WI) +
8) Daren Sammy (WI)
9) Tim May (AUS)
10) Devon Malcolm (ENG)
11) Stuart Clark (AUS)

Also close were Dave Gregory (Australia's first Test captain), Lou Vincent, Michael Bevan, Sherwin Campbell, Matthew Elliott, Mervyn Dillon (the man with the most ducks in Tests in a calendar year), Peter Kirsten, Deryck Murray, Brendan Julian, George Bailey, Keemo Paul, Alistair Campbell, James Vince, Steven Jack & Sylvester Clarke (who John Dyson famously caught out). Sure I've missed many others.
OH NO I FORGOT NEIL HARVEY! Someone put him in one of my teams real quick.
 
All time NSW lod;

Warner
M Waugh
S Smith
M Clarke
Border
S Waugh
Gilchrist
B Lee
Starc
P Taylor
McGrath
I'm assuming this is born in NSW? And is lod living or dead? If so I'd somehow find a way to squeeze Bradman in there.
 
OK I've really set myself a challenge on this one. Here a list of players with alphabetically descending initials. It goes well for quite a while, then there's some challenges which I find some interesting solutions for...

Allan Border (AUS)
Chris Drum (NZ)
Eddie Fuller (SA)
Geoff Howarth (NZ)
Ian Johnson (AUS)


So far so good. I'm feeling like old mate here:



Let's keep going...

Kaushal Lokuarachchi (SL)
Makhaya Ntini (SA)
Ollie Pope (ENG)


Some challenges but I'm still going. Until here:

Quiney, Rob (AUS)

No QR for Test cricketers, so I've had to transpose first & last names to get through. Next one's easier...

Shaun Tait (AUS)

Ruh-roh! Here's where things get tough.

loU Vincent (NZ)

Another switcharoo, as I take the last letter of Lou's first name instead of the first letter. Don't think anyone noticed, so let's press on.

Walker, MaX(AUS)

Really tangled now, so I combine the transposition of Rob Quiney & the last letter/first letter switch of Lou Vincent to get Max. One to go...

timothY Zoehrer (AUS)

Got 'im!!! Of course the real Y with Tim Zoehrer is why Bob Simpson really dropped him, but I'm sure there's another thread in here for that.
 
Last edited:

BronCrow

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You ever hear of the saying that you can never trust anyone that has two first names? Well here's the...

Untrustworthy First XI:

1) Alec Stewart (ENG) +
2) Mark Taylor (AUS)
3) Brian Lara (WI)
4) Ross Taylor (NZ)
5) Brendan Taylor (ZIM)
6) Habibul Bashar (BAN)
7) Ed Joyce (IRE)
8) Ravichandran Ashwin (IND)
9) Dilhara Fernando (SL)
10) Allan Donald (SA)
11) Waqar Younis (PAK)

12th man) Qais Ahmad (AFG)

NOTE 1: For the Anglo names I used the most common ones. Technically anything can be a first name, the ones that were on the border were the -sons (eg: Anderson, Johnson) but I decided not to use them.

NOTE 2: because there's so many of them, I chose one player from each test playing nation. Plenty were unlucky to miss out, so I did a second XI, unrestrained by the one-per-country rule (therefore arguably a better team).

Untrustworthy Second XI:

1) Michael Vaughan (ENG)
2) Gary Kirsten (SA)
3) Michael Clarke (AUS)
4) Clive Lloyd (WI) c
5) Salim Malik (PAK)
6) Hanif Mohammad (PAK)
7) Alex Carey (AUS) +
8) Malcolm Marshall (WI)
9) Frank Tyson (ENG)
10) Bob Willis (ENG)
11) Chris Martin (NZ)

Ah nuts, there's still heaps so...

Untrustworthy Third XI:

1) Murali Vijay (IND)
2) Phil Jacques (AUS)
3) Ijaz Ahmed (PAK)
4) Damien Martyn (AUS) c
5) Arthur Morris (AUS)
6) Jacques Rudolph (SA)
7) Junior Murray (WI) +
8) Daren Sammy (WI)
9) Tim May (AUS)
10) Devon Malcolm (ENG)
11) Stuart Clark (AUS)

Also close were Dave Gregory (Australia's first Test captain), Lou Vincent, Michael Bevan, Sherwin Campbell, Matthew Elliott, Mervyn Dillon (the man with the most ducks in Tests in a calendar year), Peter Kirsten, Deryck Murray, Brendan Julian, George Bailey, Keemo Paul, Alistair Campbell, James Vince, Steven Jack & Sylvester Clarke (who John Dyson famously caught out). Sure I've missed many others.

Could Jo Angel count in that list?


On iPhone using BigFooty.com mobile app
 
Could Jo Angel count in that list?


On iPhone using BigFooty.com mobile app
allow it.gif
 

big_e

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Apr 28, 2008
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Always been a fan of the use of initials and then the surname on the scorecard.

So on that note, here are the teams for the first annual music vs literature cricket match.

PJ Harvey
ZZ Top
LCD Soundsystem
MC Hammer
BB King
M Ward
KD Lang
T Rex
OK Go
Q Tip
REO Speedwagon

JK Rowling
HG Wells
CS Lewis
AA Milne
JD Salinger
JM Barrie
JRR Tolkien
R Crumb
WB Yeats
WH Auden
DH Lawrence
 
Always been a fan of the use of initials and then the surname on the scorecard.

So on that note, here are the teams for the first annual music vs literature cricket match.

PJ Harvey
ZZ Top
LCD Soundsystem
MC Hammer
BB King
M Ward
KD Lang
T Rex
OK Go
Q Tip
REO Speedwagon

JK Rowling
HG Wells
CS Lewis
AA Milne
JD Salinger
JM Barrie
JRR Tolkien
R Crumb
WB Yeats
WH Auden
DH Lawrence
HP Lovecraft 12th man?
 

Sea fog

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Jun 24, 2012
6,466
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You ever hear of the saying that you can never trust anyone that has two first names? Well here's the...

Untrustworthy First XI:

1) Alec Stewart (ENG) +
2) Mark Taylor (AUS)
3) Brian Lara (WI)
4) Ross Taylor (NZ)
5) Brendan Taylor (ZIM)
6) Habibul Bashar (BAN)
7) Ed Joyce (IRE)
8) Ravichandran Ashwin (IND)
9) Dilhara Fernando (SL)
10) Allan Donald (SA)
11) Waqar Younis (PAK)

12th man) Qais Ahmad (AFG)

NOTE 1: For the Anglo names I used the most common ones. Technically anything can be a first name, the ones that were on the border were the -sons (eg: Anderson, Johnson) but I decided not to use them.

NOTE 2: because there's so many of them, I chose one player from each test playing nation. Plenty were unlucky to miss out, so I did a second XI, unrestrained by the one-per-country rule (therefore arguably a better team).

Untrustworthy Second XI:

1) Michael Vaughan (ENG)
2) Gary Kirsten (SA)
3) Michael Clarke (AUS)
4) Clive Lloyd (WI) c
5) Salim Malik (PAK)
6) Hanif Mohammad (PAK)
7) Alex Carey (AUS) +
8) Malcolm Marshall (WI)
9) Frank Tyson (ENG)
10) Bob Willis (ENG)
11) Chris Martin (NZ)

Ah nuts, there's still heaps so...

Untrustworthy Third XI:

1) Murali Vijay (IND)
2) Phil Jacques (AUS)
3) Ijaz Ahmed (PAK)
4) Damien Martyn (AUS) c
5) Arthur Morris (AUS)
6) Jacques Rudolph (SA)
7) Junior Murray (WI) +
8) Daren Sammy (WI)
9) Tim May (AUS)
10) Devon Malcolm (ENG)
11) Stuart Clark (AUS)

Also close were Dave Gregory (Australia's first Test captain), Lou Vincent, Michael Bevan, Sherwin Campbell, Matthew Elliott, Mervyn Dillon (the man with the most ducks in Tests in a calendar year), Peter Kirsten, Deryck Murray, Brendan Julian, George Bailey, Keemo Paul, Alistair Campbell, James Vince, Steven Jack & Sylvester Clarke (who John Dyson famously caught out). Sure I've missed many others.
Chris Gayle?
 
Yeah, there's an absolute poultice of them, starting with WG's brothers E(dward)M and Fred.
Ed, Fred & Billy sound like a breakfast radio crew, ngl.
 
The Ornithological First XI:

1) Aaron Finch (AUS) +
2) Robin Smith (ENG)
3) Martin Crowe (NZ) c
4) Graeme Fowler (ENG)
5) Jeff Crowe (NZ)
6) Neil Hawke (AUS)
7) Robin Pietersen (SA)
8) Graeme Swann (ENG)
9) Joe Partridge (SA/ZIM)
10) Jackson Bird (AUS)
11) Joel Garner (WI)

12th man) Hunter 'Stork' Hendry (AUS)

Coach) Lord Martin Hawke, 7th Baron Hawke

Flew the coop and weren't selected: Robin Jackman (ENG), Robin Hobbs (ENG), Morice Bird (ENG), Ernest Bock (Bock Bock) (SA), Robin Singh (IND), Robin Bynoe (WI), Gul Mohammad (PAK), Vasbert Drakes (WI) & George Duckworth (ENG - not to be confused with the Duckworth-Lewis Duckworth).
Umar Gul unlucky.
 
That's dated you.
I referenced Warwick Armstrong just now in another thread and you got me on A Flock Of Seagulls? Oof!
 
Next up

The First XI As Named By The Map From Dora The Explorer:

1641944145799.png

1) Geoff Marsh (AUS)
2) Shaun Marsh (AUS)
3) Clem Hill (AUS)
4) Allan Border (AUS) c
5) Mitch Marsh (AUS)
6) Rod Marsh (AUS) +
7) Allen Hill (ENG) - the man who took the first wicket in Test matches
8) Dale Steyn (SA)
9) Jim Laker (ENG)
10) Harry Cave (NZ)
11) Adam Dale (AUS)

The Hills are alive with the sound of disgruntled players who didn't get selected - including John Hill, Arthur 'Ledger' Hill, and Edwin & Wilton St Hill.
 
Tragic news everyone - the List of Test Cricketers page on Wikipedia has changed to be an index of individual Test nation lists as opposed to a single list of all players, which adds a few steps to my searching for obscure player names.

1642037736980.png
 
Undeterred, here's the next list:

Joseph and his Multicoloured Dream XI:

1) Gordon Greenidge (WI)
2) Bill Brown (AUS)
3) Ian Redpath (AUS) c
4) Jermaine Blackwood (WI)
5) Rodney Redmond (NZ) - this cat played only one test, scored 107 & 56 to have a batting average of 81.5, and also had a son that played a Test
6) Cameron Green (AUS)
7) Jack Blackham (AUS - first Test wicketkeeper) +
8) Cameron White (AUS)
9) Craig White (ENG)
10) Chris Silverwood (ENG)
11) Marlon Black (WI)

12th man) Snuffy Browne (WI), because his name is Snuffy.

Others that came close but faded from selection include Courtney Browne, Evan Gray, Reggie Schwarz, James Lillywhite, the other Greenidge brothers, Don Blackie and assorted other Whites & Browns.
 
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