Test Cricket Draft - Ordinary Edition

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t_94

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Potshots, you say?


Classic BF, indeed.

Good try mate but at no point there did i comment on their cricket ability, only their demeanour.

Have any of us claimed to be better cricketers than these?

No but the underlying premise is 'hur hur' rubbish test cricketers.

Plenty of Zimbabwean and Bangladeshi picked players too who have been great servants of their fledgling test sides.

I thought you were a strong advocate of developing test countries?
 
He's right on one point, never lost much sleep about the quicker bowlers but the 100kph guys used to give me nightmares, always found a way to get out to them!

Anyway, think it's my pick, I'll bring in my captain, WG Grace - Ave 32.29. Took nearly 3,000 first class wickets but luckily only 9 in Tests

1 WG Grace (Eng, Capt)
2 P Kirsten (SAf)
3
4
5
6 N Johnson (Zim)
7 K Akmal (Pak)
8 E Baptiste (WI)
9 S Venkat (Ind)
10 M Mortaza (Bang)
11 D Malcolm (Eng)
12

11kgm
 
Good try mate but at no point there did i comment on their cricket ability, only their demeanour.



No but the underlying premise is 'hur hur' rubbish test cricketers.

Plenty of Zimbabwean and Bangladeshi picked players too who have been great servants of their fledgling test sides.

I thought you were a strong advocate of developing test countries?

Statistical mediocrity in Test cricket is inherently worth celebrating. Every other draft thread is the same players - this is about reminding/teaching/remembering that not everyone gets to the great heights, and/or those whose records don't show just how good they were, depending on how you look at it. It's no insult to be remembered for playing 10 or more Tests.
 

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Jan 13, 2015
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Should that be allowed? In terms of perception vs law, Grace is one of the greatest cricketers of all time, and not just for his batting.

i guess thats because of his first class record, which started well before the birth of test cricket.

this is worse than the butcher and guptill cases.

i'm easy either way, but ya surely can't mount a case for his bowling when pitching why his team is the best at the end of this draft.
 
1. Marsh (Aus)
2. Braithwaite (WI)
3. Ajit Wadekar (Ind)
4. D Randall (Eng)
5.
6. Williams (Zim)
7. Ramdan (WI)
8. Perrera (Sri)
9.
10.
11. Rahman (Ban
12.
Wild, New Zealand, South Africa, Pakistan

D Randall is my pick from England, credited with being a gun fielder so i will gladly snaffle him

Van_Dyke
 
I don’t mind WG Grace being in. If First Class record mattered most would be disqualified.

But perception to me muddies the rules. Based off first class record he is perceived to be an all-rounder so his bowling record would make him ineligible but does 9 test wickets reflect that?

I’d say a slight wording change to batsman and bowler criteria would solve it “specialist” batsman must average or “specialist” bowlers must average.

Bowlers who can bat a bit are all rounders, but batsmen who get a few wickets could just be bowling a few overs at ferrets and bunnies and getting lucky
 
*the rules were the batting had to be 10 runs less than there bowling - 32/26 isn't.
*the rules were the bowling had to be 35+ as well.

he also bowled 5-6 overs per test - hardly a fluke bowler, also given his 1st class feats.

good luck if ya end up with him though reggie

The ten run rule was disregarded if he took under 10 wickets, so no rule was broken. Like I said, happy if he needs to be ruled out. Probably need to rule out my other opener too because he was far from ordinary, just couldn’t play international cricket until he was almost hanging up the boots
 
I suppose we might wonder why his bowling average wasn't even more impressive, given the ropey pitches on which Dr Grace played. No modern cricketer would deign to turn out on them, which makes his batting all the more wondrous, and comparisons with Bradman or anyone since quite pointless.
 
Feb 6, 2013
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I suppose we might wonder why his bowling average wasn't even more impressive, given the ropey pitches on which Dr Grace played. No modern cricketer would deign to turn out on them, which makes his batting all the more wondrous, and comparisons with Bradman or anyone since quite pointless.
No expert on the period, but I don't think every pitch was a minefield. The main thing was they didn't use pitch covers at all so rains would make any pitch deadly no matter who the groundskeeper was, but you still had people scoring 200's and stuff back in the era so they can't have all been sticky.
 
To round out my bowling attack, I look across the ditch, to the man who was robbed of a man of the match award in his finest hour in test cricket, with his 6/40 in his 3rd test dragging the Kiwi’s to a victory, Doug Bracewell - New Zealand
Average of 14 with the stick and 38 with the ball
1. Raja
2.
3. Bashar
4.
5. Bairstow (+)
6.
7. Symcock
8. Sammy
9. Bracewell
10. Lakmal
11. Price
Art Vandelay_
 

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No expert on the period, but I don't think every pitch was a minefield. The main thing was they didn't use pitch covers at all so rains would make any pitch deadly no matter who the groundskeeper was, but you still had people scoring 200's and stuff back in the era so they can't have all been sticky.
I am just quoting from Wisden haha
 

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FWIW I'm happy for WG to be in. Plenty of guys with outstanding FC or ODI records who will be in these teams because they just qualify on the basis of test records.
 
Jan 13, 2015
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The ten run rule was disregarded if he took under 10 wickets, so no rule was broken. Like I said, happy if he needs to be ruled out. Probably need to rule out my other opener too because he was far from ordinary, just couldn’t play international cricket until he was almost hanging up the boots

nah no issues here man.

W.G Grace is your man.
 
FWIW I'm happy for WG to be in. Plenty of guys with outstanding FC or ODI records who will be in these teams because they just qualify on the basis of test records.

Yep, and as I said earlier it's a way for us to show a bit of love to guys who stats aren't that impressive on a surface level.
 
Funny stuff Van_Dyke had Bracewell in mind, John that is, so let's make this a family affair.

John Bracewell - New Zealand

Bat ave: 20.4
H/S: 110

Bowl ave: 35.8
Wickets: 101

Bowling all-rounder. Also will double as coach of my side.

Imran Farhat - Pakistan

bat ave: 32
H/S: 128
Wickets 3 @ 94

Fell victim to this peach too.



1. Mark Butcher - England
2. Imran Farhat - Pakistan
3. Russel Arnold - Sri Lanka
4. Pataudi - India (C)
5.
6. Taibu- Zimbabwe
7. Wade - Australia (WK)
8. J.Bracewell - New Zealand
9.
10. Edwards - West Indies
11. Harris - South Africa
12.

You're up Van_Dyke
 
Yuvraj Singh - India (34/60)
11kgm
ill take Gordon White

1. Marsh (Aus)
2. Braithwaite (WI)
3. Ajit Wadekar (Ind)
4. D Randall (Eng)
5. G White (RSA)
6. Williams (Zim)
7. Ramdan (WI)
8. Perrera (Sri)
9.
10.
11. Rahman (Ban
12.

reggie
 

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