Test Cricket Draft

[courtjester]

Anyone interested in participating in a cricket draft? Probably need around 10-12 players.

Rules-

- Randomised order for round 1. Reversed for round 2. Randomised for R3, reversed for 4. And so on.
- Select any test player from any era (except Bradman), with the goal of creating the strongest balanced test side.
- Must select at least one player from each of Australia, England, WIs, NZ, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. Your other four players can be from any of the above nations or the minnows.
- 12 hours to make your pick. If you miss the window, you can select when you log on, missing any players selected by those after you.

On completion we will vote for the strongest combo. Register your intent to play with a post!

 

[DrVanNostrand]

Sure, why not.

 

[Torz]

Thorne89
Herbert Sutcliffe
Hanif Mohammad (+)
Graeme Pollock
Steve Waugh (c)
Aravinda De Silva
Martin Crowe
Garfield Sobers
Kapil Dev
Courtney Walsh
Bishen Bedi
Sydney Barnes

Glinn MGraw
Len Hutton
Kumar Sangakkara (+)
Bill Ponsford
Inzamam-Ul-Haq
Clyde Walcott
Wally Hammond
Keith Miller
Shaun Pollock
Richard Hadlee
Bhagwath Chandrasekhar
Bill O'Reilly
Alan Davidson (12th)

Noobz0r
Sunil Gavaskar
Stephen Fleming
George Headley
Mohammad Yousuf
Jacques Kallis
Sanath Jayasuriya
Adam Gilchrist (+)
Ray Lindwall
Joel Garner
Frank Tyson
Jim Laker
Andy Bichel (12th)

Ignorant Armies
Imran Khan

Gak Attack
Jack Hobbs
Eddie Paynter
Viv Richards
Javed Miandad
Shivnarine Chanderpaul
MS Dhoni (+)
John R Reid
Chaminda Vaas
Dale Steyn
Richie Benaud
Malcolm Marshall
Michael Clarke (12th)

DrVanNostrand
Bill Lawry
Greg Chappell
Andy Flower (+)
Mohammad Azharuddin
Thilan Samaraweera
Ken Barrington
Chris Cairns
Wasim Akram
Shane Warne
Allan Donald
Curtly Ambrose
Gordon Greenidge (12th)

Torz
Virender Sehwag
Saeed Anwar
Ricky Ponting (c)
Sachin Tendulkar
Brian Lara
Tillakaratne Dilshan
AB De Villiers (+)
Anil Kumble
Fred Trueman
Shane Bond
Dennis Lillee
Jeff Thomson (12th)

MG MG
Matthew Hayden
Allan Border
Brendan McCullum
VVS Laxman
Andrew Flintoff
Ian Botham
Jeffrey Dujon (+)
Brett Lee
Makhaya Ntini
Muttiah Muralitharan
Shoaib Akhtar
David Gower (12th)

Stevemac
Barry Richards
Geoff Boycott
Rahul Dravid
Mahela Jayawardene
Everton Weekes
Douglas Jardine (c)
Mark Boucher (+)
Daniel Vettori
Michael Holding
Waqar Younis
Glenn McGrath
Hugh Trumble (12th)

 

[The Speaker]

Yes.

 

[Gak Attack]

Count me in. Did the ODI one ever finish?

 

[IgnorantArmies]

Yep.

 

[stevemac]

I'm in

 

[MG MG]

Yep, I'm in

 

[The Speaker]

Count me in. Did the ODI one ever finish?

We never got around to deciding the best team...

 

[Noobz0r]

Count me in

 

[Carbine Chaos]

We never got around to deciding the best team...

It was clearly mine.

Might as well win another one of these. I'm in.

 

[courtjester]

List Randomizer

There were 10 items in your list. Here they are in random order:

1. thorne89
2. Glinn Mgraw
3. NoobzOr
4. IgnorantArmies
5. Gak Attack
6. DrVanNostrand
7. courtjester
8. MG MG
9. Torz
10. stevemac

Timestamp: 2012-10-10 18:37:58 UTC

Here's Rd1, it'll reverse for Rd2. Good luck!

 

[Carbine Chaos]

I seem to have a knack for being first picker in these things seeing as Bradman isn't allowed, I'll go...

SIR GARFIELD SOBERS

Nailing down my all-rounder will offer great flexibility with my next choices. And as far as all-rounders come, none match up to the great West Indian.

I was surprised at how good his batting stats were - 8032 runs at an average of 57.8 and 26 hundreds.

His bowling wasn't quite as strong but he adds both a pace and spinning option, and his fielding prowess is nearly unmatched throughout history. Welcome to my as yet unnamed XI.

Glinn Mgraw is next

 

[Torz]

9th spot, typical! Looks like I'll be getting Steve Smith.

 

[Carbine Chaos]

9th spot, typical! Looks like I'll be getting Steve Smith.

Marcus North might be available.

 

[Noobz0r]

I seem to have a knack for being first picker in these things seeing as Bradman isn't allowed, I'll go...

SIR GARFIELD SOBERS

Nailing down my all-rounder will offer great flexibility with my next choices. And as far as all-rounders come, none match up to the great West Indian.

I was surprised at how good his batting stats were - 8032 runs at an average of 57.8 and 26 hundreds.

His bowling wasn't quite as strong but he adds both a pace and spinning option, and his fielding prowess is nearly unmatched throughout history. Welcome to my as yet unnamed XI.

Glinn Mgraw is next

NO! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

Was hoping he would slide

 

[Carbine Chaos]

NO! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

Was hoping he would slide

Sounds like a Sobering realisation.

 

[Torz]

Marcus North might be available.

Captain material. My middle order will have a good backbone.

 

[The Speaker]

Sir Richard Hadlee​

​

​

This was the easiest selection this side of something that is easy. In his own right one of the finest fast bowlers ever to have played the game, Hadlee was of use with the willow as well. Far and away the greatest cricketer New Zealand has ever produced, Hadlee is an excellent starting point for building a team around.​

​

Noobz0r​

 

[Noobz0r]

Jacques Kallis​

​

In a trend that seems to be continuing, my first selection is Jacques Kallis. I was tossing up between he and Hadlee, so Glinn made my job easier. In a career that has become less underrated in recent times, Kallis has amassed a batting average of 56.94, as well as a bowling average of 32.63. He became only the second player behind #1 draft pick Sir Garfield Sobers to make 10,000 test runs as well as taking 200 test wickets.

The perfect foil in my middle order for more attacking players, as well as being able to recover the innings after an early order collapse, Kallis will also provide a valuable 3rd seaming option.

IgnorantArmies

 

[Gak Attack]

Damn you I was hoping Kallis might slide to me!

 

[IgnorantArmies]

IMRAN KHAN​

PICK FOUR​

Yes, it's another all-rounder! Best to snap up the good ones while they're still...er...hot. Anyhoo...the Pakistani sex-beast Imran Khan: 88 Tests, batting average of 37.69, 362 wickets at 22.81. But do statistics tell the whole story of his greatness? Able to hold down anywhere from 5 to 8 in the batting order, depending on the talent above (and below) him. One of the game's great seamers – perhaps a perfect first change bowler. His flowing mane...his flowing...um...chest hair......TO CRICINFO!:

Few would dispute that Imran was the finest cricketer Pakistan has produced, or the biggest heartthrob. Suave, erudite and monstrously talented, he gave cricket in the subcontinent real sex appeal in the 1970s and 1980s. As such he and TV completed the popularisation of the game in his country which Hanif Mohammad and the radio had begun. Thousands, if not millions, who had never dreamt of bowling fast on heartless baked mud suddenly wanted to emulate Imran and his lithe bounding run, his leap and his reverse-swinging yorker. He also made himself into an all-rounder worth a place for his batting alone, and captained Pakistan as well as anyone, rounding off his career with the 1992 World Cup.​

​

Gak Attack​

 

[Gak Attack]

On phone so just quickly.

Viv Richards

 

[DrVanNostrand]

Shane Warne.

The greatest spinner of the modern era (besides Vettori, of course). Bats kept getting bigger, boundaries kept getting smaller and pitches kept getting flatter, but Warnie kept bringing the noise with the ball with a beautiful (and legitimate) leg spinner's bowling action. A leggie taking 700 wickets @ 25 is just a phenomenal record that I can't see being matched by an traditional bowler. The mind games around the 1000 variants of a 'mystery' straighter ball were always fun.

The Gatting ball gets talked about a lot, but don't forget the Richie Richardson flipper has always stood out for me. Then there's the 2005 Ashes right at the back-end of his career and produces 40 wickets @ 19 in a losing cause. Some of the best cricket's viewing ever was to be had on those late winter nights in '05. Could go on for hours, but I'll leave you with this.

Couldn't live with myself if he wasn't my spinner.

courtjester

 

[Torz]

Great... now I have to rethink my first pick.