All Time Test Cricket Draft

[Super Hans]

I can't believe Chanderpaul and Tony Grieg weren't taken. And Mark Waugh as a 12th man.

 

[Carbine Chaos]

I would have taken Chanderpaul but he was a sooky good guy.

 

[Jak!x]

I can't believe Chanderpaul and Tony Grieg weren't taken. And Mark Waugh as a 12th man.

I took my two last picks running on no sleep (22 hour days) and messed them up shockingly. Waugh was meant to be my 7 (played as an all rounder early in his career) or at worst 12th. Cracking player who's stats didn't do him justice

 

[The Speaker]

FWIW I'd still like to see the results of your simming that was suggested early on in any case.

Will play them once the voting is done.

 

[Oaktree]

The non selections are really interesting. There is heaps we can dissect over the draft, who took who at what point, who we didn't choose, team structure and balance, etc.

 

[Toe Poke]

The non selections are really interesting. There is heaps we can dissect over the draft, who took who at what point, who we didn't choose, team structure and balance, etc.

The aspect I find most interesting is whether people chose players based on their assessment of their ability, or if they chose them because they thought they would earn more recognition and therefore votes.

eg. Some specialist batsmen had long careers but finished with a batting average below 45, whereas other batsmen of the same era had shorter careers but much higher batting average. Likewise some bowlers had long careers but finished with a bowling average above 25, whereas other bowlers of the same era had shorter careers and finished with an average below 25.

Related to this is the role of longevity. I chose Chanderpaul in my team as my 1991 to 2000 'representative', but Vinod Kambli was a more successful batsman in his far shorter career.

This is particularly true when analysing players from before WWII - it's reasonable to assume that people in this thread have a far greater knowledge of players from the last 2 decades than they do of players from 1877 to 1950.

I'm happy with my team (Root, Mitchell, Davis, Tyldesley, Chanderpaul, Mathews, Prior, Foster, Higgs, Ferris, Adcock) from a talent point of view, but if I was trying to 'win' more votes, I would have made very different selections, and favoured players who were more well-known.

 

[The Speaker]

For what it's worth, I've selected a team from the scraps leftover:

Joe Root (2011-)
Bruce Mitchell (1941 to 1950)
Charlie Davis (1971 to 1980)
Ernest Tyldesley (1926 to 1940)
Shivnarine Chanderpaul (1990 to 2000)
Angelo Mathews (2000 to 2010; captain)
Matt Prior (2007 to 2014; wildcard; wicketkeeper)
Frank Foster 1911 to 1925
Ken Higgs 1961 to 1970
JJ Ferris 1877 to 1910
Neil Adcock 1951 to 1960

12th man: Roger Harper (1981 to 1990)
(If selecting solely on fielding ability, and not as a replacement bowler)

Ferris was selected.

Some other names to consider:

Zaheer Abbas
Lindsay Hassett
Bill Lawry
Tony Greig
Warren Bardsley
Colin Croft
Wes Hall
Clive Lloyd
Mark Waugh
Bert Oldfield
Wally Grout
Jack Blackham
Don Tallon
Godfrey Evans
Mark Taylor
Dean Jones
Alistair Cook
David Gower
Glenn Turner
Eddie Barlow
Trevor Goddard
Bob Willis
Bishan Bedi
John Snow
Bert Vogler
Arthur Mailey
Stuart MacGill
Tony Lock
Alf Valentine
Sonny Ramhadhin
Tom Richardson

 

[Van_Dyke]

Ferris was selected.

Some other names to consider:

Zaheer Abbas
Lindsay Hassett
Bill Lawry
Tony Greig
Warren Bardsley
Colin Croft
Wes Hall
Clive Lloyd
Mark Waugh
Bert Oldfield
Wally Grout
Jack Blackham
Don Tallon
Godfrey Evans
Mark Taylor
Dean Jones
Alistair Cook
David Gower
Glenn Turner
Eddie Barlow
Trevor Goddard
Bob Willis
Bishan Bedi
John Snow
Bert Vogler
Arthur Mailey
Stuart MacGill
Tony Lock
Alf Valentine
Sonny Ramhadhin
Tom Richardson

The bolded I'm surprised they didn't get picked, the italics are the somewhat surprising

 

[t_94]

Erapalli Prasanna is another I'd add to that list.

 

[Oaktree]

I reckon if we had the original 14 team draft, many of those would have been taken.

I for one had Lloyd and Taylor amongst my final selection but went with Martin Crowe.

Also, was seriously considering Bob Willis for my third paceman.

 

[Toe Poke]

Removing Ferris and replacing with Billy Barnes:

Joe Root (2011-) (3406 runs @ 54.93)
Bruce Mitchell (1941 to 1950) (3471 runs @ 48.88)
Charlie Davis (1971 to 1980) (1301 runs @ 54.20)
Ernest Tyldesley (1926 to 1940) (990 runs @ 55.00)
Shivnarine Chanderpaul (1990 to 2000) (11867 runs @ 51.37)
Angelo Mathews (2000 to 2010; captain) (4015 runs @ 50.18, 30 wickets @ 49.56)
Matt Prior (2007 to 2014; wildcard; wicketkeeper) (4099 runs @ 40.18, 243 catches, 13 stumpings)
Frank Foster (1911 to 1925) (45 wickets @ 20.57; 330 runs @ 23.57)
Billy Barnes (1877 to 1910) (51 wickets @ 15.54; 725 runs @ 23.38)
Ken Higgs (1961 to 1970) (71 wickets @ 20.74; 185 runs @ 11.56)
Neil Adcock (1951 to 1960) (104 wickets @ 21.10; 146 runs @ 5.40)

total average from top 7: 354.74
total average from the entire team: 418.65

sum of bowling averages of the 4 bowlers: 77.95

12th man: Roger Harper (1981 to 1990)
(If selecting solely on fielding ability, and not as a replacement bowler)

 

[Toe Poke]

Ferris was selected.

Some other names to consider:

Zaheer Abbas
....
Tom Richardson

A lot of good players there - but I'm still happy with my selections. Of my 11, probably only Root, Chanderpaul, Mathews and Prior are the well-known names, but the other players' records demonstrate their success.

As I said in an earlier post, if I was going for a vote-catching team, I would have chosen better-known players.

 

[eth-dog]

He was taken by you IIRC.

I must have been thinking of Colin Croft...

 

[HalloweenJack]

Removing Ferris and replacing with Billy Barnes:

You should have kept Ferris. A superior bowler and although not as good with the bat as Bates he did score a first class century. But great team any way, mind you, all of the teams are great. Do I get a vote?

 

[Toe Poke]

You should have kept Ferris. A superior bowler and although not as good with the bat as Bates he did score a first class century. But great team any way, mind you, all of the teams are great. Do I get a vote?

Ferris was already taken at pick number 137.

 

[Super Hans]

James Anderson is another I can't believe wasn't picked. 430 odd wickets.

 

[Jak!x]

James Anderson is another I can't believe wasn't picked. 430 odd wickets.

Only good in England

 

[HalloweenJack]

Ferris was already taken at pick number 137.

Apologies. Bates is a good pick in exchange.