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Test Draft #4: Initials

Sutcliffe
Hutton
Nourse
Smith
Tendulkar
Compton
Gilchrist
Philander
Rabada
Gough
Murali

What a batting lineup!
 
Forward Defensive Push said:
It is so obvious it is funny. I name my replacement. I welcome Sir Alexander Vivian Richards into my team ahead of Eoin Morgan :viv

My final XI -

Hanif Mohammad
Nathan Astle
Sir Viv Richards (c)
Brian Lara
Jacques Kallis
Chris Read (wk)
Ravindra Jadeja
Pat Cummins
Harbhajan Singh
Umar Gul
Alec Bedser
Click to expand...

All eyes on batsmen 3-5 :salute However underlooked, Hanif Mohammad is a dazzling opening prospect.

A little is left wanting in the bowling department. I think Umar Gul especially should have been replaced, but he is by all means still a solid pick.

I enjoy the batting depth, will be very difficult to bowl this team out.
 
therealAB said:
Sutcliffe
Hutton
Nourse
Smith
Tendulkar
Compton
Gilchrist
Philander
Rabada
Gough
Murali

What a batting lineup!
Click to expand...

Great picks. Smith-Tendulkar will be the most difficult partnership to break in this entire draft. Bowling lineup fantastic for SENA conditions as well. :broad
 
Ab Fan said:
I was expecting this. Brilliant team really.
Click to expand...

I was initially expecting to replace my keeper, before I got an A for my last pick. All thanks to [MENTION=140824]Last Monetarist[/MENTION] on this one :)))
 
Thunderbolt14 said:
Great picks. Smith-Tendulkar will be the most difficult partnership to break in this entire draft. Bowling lineup fantastic for SENA conditions as well. :broad
Click to expand...

Thanks

For the bowling I was a bit worried about bowling outside of SENA, but Murali should be able to carry in unfavourable conditions to the seamers
 
Thunderbolt14 said:
Thunderstorm XI

1. Barry Richards
2. Eddie Barlow
3. Rohan Kanhai
4. Ken Barrington
5. Sir Everton Weekes
6. Alan Knott (WK)
7. Imran Khan (C)
8. Ryan Harris
9. Wasim Akram (VC)
10. Nathan Lyon
11. Fred Trueman
Click to expand...

Great team.

Was worried you were going to replace Lyon with Murali, that is what I would have done. Potentially leaves a long tail though
 
This next selection is arguably not optimal, and would certainly displease quite a few people who lose sight of the present while glorifying the past, however I can't but replace Neil Johnson with my favourite cricketer playing at present:

Benjamin Stokes
 
Gavaskar
Jayasuriya
Harvey
Hussain
Gower
Stokes
Marsh
Pollock
Warne
Marshall
Lillee

Can't say I have any regrets in choosing that side.
 
Last Monetarist said:
The batting depends heavily on Gavaskar dropping anchor, while allowing the rest to bat around him. I debated for a brief few seconds on substituting in a great batsman in the middle order, but my love for Stokes won out.
Click to expand...

On its day could be a strong lineup. Jayasuriya, Gower and Stokes all relatively inconsistent, but could be brilliant. Hussein a clear weakness though for me, having him would have made me go for an ATG bat. Great team however
 
therealAB said:
On its day could be a strong lineup. Jayasuriya, Gower and Stokes all relatively inconsistent, but could be brilliant. Hussein a clear weakness though for me, having him would have made me go for an ATG bat. Great team however
Click to expand...

I had to substitute my weakest player, which was Johnson, Hussain was retained by default.

Moreover, I think you only need one of those players to come off with that bowling line-up. There's no real tail to speak of either, so that's another bonus.

The biggest thing for me is that most of those players are tough characters that thrive under pressure and difficult circumstances, so a batting collapse shouldn't faze anyone.
 
Thunderbolt14 said:
All eyes on batsmen 3-5 :salute However underlooked, Hanif Mohammad is a dazzling opening prospect.

A little is left wanting in the bowling department. I think Umar Gul especially should have been replaced, but he is by all means still a solid pick.

I enjoy the batting depth, will be very difficult to bowl this team out.
Click to expand...

Indeed, the only solace is that I have bowlers for all conditions and all types of bowlers. Sir Alex Bedser is a legend and an all time great. Pat Cummins is bound to be one. Gul, Bhajji are no joke by any means and are decent. Jaddu ensures the team runs through orders in spin conditions. Of course we have Kallis with his knack for those vital breakthroughs. All in all, I preferred balance in bowing and prowess in batting!
 
therealAB said:
Sutcliffe
Hutton
Nourse
Smith
Tendulkar
Compton
Gilchrist
Philander
Rabada
Gough
Murali

What a batting lineup!
Click to expand...

I had a feeling that you might go for a legendary Australian spinner over Bishoo but think you went with Murali because of recency factor. Great team. That batting lineup is insane!
 
Last Monetarist said:
Gavaskar
Jayasuriya
Harvey
Hussain
Gower
Stokes
Marsh
Pollock
Warne
Marshall
Lillee

Can't say I have any regrets in choosing that side.
Click to expand...

Great team. You have fantastic match winners and game changers in your batting lineup.
 
Well, i have 2 wicketkeepers, and i am not in a position to substitute anyone of them so one of them will be a specialist batsman.
Dekock will be specialist batsman and les ames the keeper bat, the fact that they are both good batsman helps a lot.

I have a particular player in mind for this round lets see if he gets pick before my turn.
 
jeeteshssaxena said:
Well, i have 2 wicketkeepers, and i am not in a position to substitute anyone of them so one of them will be a specialist batsman.
Dekock will be specialist batsman and les ames the keeper bat, the fact that they are both good batsman helps a lot.

I have a particular player in mind for this round lets see if he gets pick before my turn.
Click to expand...

Quinton de Kock is the best U-29 batsmen in the world alongside Babar Azam.As a specialist batsmen, he is much better than his stats and a game changer.

Generally, he is my Go-to-man if I have to rile up Babar fans :yk
 
So confused with this pick... Should I bolster my shaky looking batting, or enhance the bowling :13:
 
OK, I will opt for both, in a way, though I really think I should have gotten an ATG in the top six instead. However, this replacement means that I now have a pretty strong lower order, so hopefully that should serve the purpose...

I will replace Naseem Shah with Mike Procter.

Saeed Anwar
Dennis Amiss
Younis Khan
Norm O'Neill
AB de Villiers
Lindsay Hassett
Keith Miller
Mike Procter
Fazal Mahmood
Allan Donald
Lance Gibbs
 
Abdullah719 said:
OK, I will opt for both, in a way, though I really think I should have gotten an ATG in the top six instead. However, this replacement means that I now have a pretty strong lower order, so hopefully that should serve the purpose...

I will replace Naseem Shah with Mike Procter.

Saeed Anwar
Dennis Amiss
Younis Khan
Norm O'Neill
AB de Villiers
Lindsay Hassett
Keith Miller
Mike Procter
Fazal Mahmood
Allan Donald
Lance Gibbs
Click to expand...

Batting doesn’t look shaky at all. Swapping Naseem for Procter was the correct pick! Love the lineup, lots of masala.
 
Thunderbolt14 said:
Batting doesn’t look shaky at all. Swapping Naseem for Procter was the correct pick! Love the lineup, lots of masala.
Click to expand...

It's not shaky, there are some really good cricketers there, but it's just not as great as some of the others. ;-)

However, I am pretty satisfied with this lineup.
 
Abdullah719 said:
OK, I will opt for both, in a way, though I really think I should have gotten an ATG in the top six instead. However, this replacement means that I now have a pretty strong lower order, so hopefully that should serve the purpose...

I will replace Naseem Shah with Mike Procter.

Saeed Anwar
Dennis Amiss
Younis Khan
Norm O'Neill
AB de Villiers
Lindsay Hassett
Keith Miller
Mike Procter
Fazal Mahmood
Allan Donald
Lance Gibbs
Click to expand...

this will be a great line up, just as long as norm 'o'neill doesnt give younis khan any batting tips :srt

also extra points for fitting in two pakistani players in there :salute
 
Abdullah719 said:
OK, I will opt for both, in a way, though I really think I should have gotten an ATG in the top six instead. However, this replacement means that I now have a pretty strong lower order, so hopefully that should serve the purpose...

I will replace Naseem Shah with Mike Procter.

Saeed Anwar
Dennis Amiss
Younis Khan
Norm O'Neill
AB de Villiers
Lindsay Hassett
Keith Miller
Mike Procter
Fazal Mahmood
Allan Donald
Lance Gibbs
Click to expand...

Oh dear! This has made my life a bit tougher and indecisive now. But what a great pick it is. You have got the quartet of the pace attack now.

Now for me the question is should I go for another all time great all-rounder or given that I need a third fast bowler and there are some legendary ones left should I go for that? :13:
 
Ab Fan said:
Oh dear! This has made my life a bit tougher and indecisive now. But what a great pick it is. You have got the quartet of the pace attack now.

Now for me the question is should I go for another all time great all-rounder or given that I need a third fast bowler and there are some legendary ones left should I go for that? :13:
Click to expand...

Had a feeling that I might be upsetting your plans there :genius
 
I simply can't afford to miss out on a second chance of leaving <B>Glenn McGrath</B>. So, I will pick him over Yasir Arafat. Admittedly, I feel this may weaken my tail a bit but he is simply one of the most iconic fast bowlers to play the game.

David Warner
Rohit Sharma
Ricky Ponting
Greg Chappell
Allan Border (c)
Andy Flower (wkt)
Richard Hadlee
Hedley Verity
Saqlain Mushtaq
Neil Adcock
Glenn McGrath

The tail is a bit weak but Verity averages about 20 with bat and Saqlain has a test century so it is affordable for me if I get to pick a bowler of McGrath's calibre.
 
would have loved to have had imran in this line up, but once the replacement order was decided knew that wasnt gonna happen, so pretty simple decision for me in the end, swap one carribean seamer for another, i replace ottis gibson with curtly ambrose.

so my final xi

Alistair Cook 12,500 runs @ 45
Navjot Sidhu 3,200 runs @ 42
Rahul Dravid 13,300 runs @52
Eric Rowan (vc) 2,000 runs @ 44
Steve Waugh (c) 10,900 runs @ 51, 92 wickets @ 37
Hashan Tillekeratne (wk) 4,500 runs @ 43
Kapil Dev 5,300 runs @ 31, 434 wickets @ 29
Trent Boult 267 wickets @ 27
Curtley Ambrose b2 405 wickets @ 21
Shane Bond b1 87 wickets @ 22
Derek Underwood 297 wickets @ 26

More than a 1000 tests of experience in this line up. a gritty batting line up that is not giving up in any situation with late order fireworks provided by kapil dev, two world class slip fielders to boot in cook and dravid, a relentless seam attack of ambrose and bond supported by boult and dev, and a miserly derek underwood to hold up one end when discipline is the name of the game, all topped off by steve waugh, with a proven pedigree of leading world class cricketer ably supported by the most "ballsy" of the line up, eric rowan as vice captain.
 
Last edited:
ElRaja said:
would have loved to have had imran in this line up, but once the replacement order was decided knew that wasnt gonna happen, so pretty simple decision for me in the end, swap one carribean seamer for another, i replace ottis gibson with curtly ambrose.

so my final xi

Alistair Cook 12,500 runs @ 45
Navjot Sidhu 3,200 runs @ 42
Rahul Dravid 13,300 runs @52
Eric Rowan (vc) 2,000 runs @ 44
Steve Waugh (c) 10,900 runs @ 51, 92 wickets @ 37
Hashan Tillekeratne (wk) 4,500 runs @ 43
Kapil Dev 5,300 runs @ 31, 434 wickets @ 29
Trent Boult 267 wickets @ 27
Curtley Ambrose b2 405 wickets @ 21
Shane Bond b1 87 wickets @ 22
Derek Underwood 297 wickets @ 26

More than a 1000 tests of experience in this line up. a gritty batting line up that is not giving up in any situation with late order fireworks provided by kapil dev, two world class slip fielders to boot in cook and dravid, a relentless seam attack of ambrose and bond supported by boult and dev, and a miserly derek underwood to hold up one end when discipline is the name of the game, all topped off by steve waugh, with a proven pedigree of leading world class cricketer ably supported by the most "ballsy" of the line up, eric rowan as vice captain.
Click to expand...

We both did the same thing. Obviously, when you are getting McGrath and Ambrose, tail don't really matter.
 
Ab Fan said:
We both did the same thing. Obviously, when you are getting McGrath and Ambrose, tail don't really matter.
Click to expand...

yep, i had a short list of three pacers, ambrose, mcgrath and garner and would have been happy with either.
 
01. Roy Fredericks
02. Trevor Goddard
03. Larry Gomes
04. Hashim Amla
05. Kumara Sangakkara
06. Shakib Al Hasan
07. Tony Greig
08. Andrew Flintoff
09. Neil Wagner
10. Ray Lindwall
11. Rangana Herath

Quite decent and deep batting, and seven genuine bowling options - 4 pacers and three spinners. A competent team for all conditions.
 
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[MENTION=146232]jeeteshssaxena[/MENTION] to wrap up with the last pick.

If everyone could post their final lineups with their preferred batting lineups and captains, then I can collate for the poll. Some teams already posted above.
 
I replace narain swamy :yk with
ALAN DAVIDSON
The second greatest left arm fast bowler and a good lower order batsman.

My team lineup:
1.Eddie Paynter
2.Usman khawaja
3.Ted Dexter
4.Yousuf Youhana
5.Sir Garfield Sobers(cap)
6.Quinton De Kock
7.Les Ames(wk)
8.Richie Benaud(vc)
9. Alan Davidson
10.Dale Steyn
11.Nantie Hayward.
 
Abdullah719 said:
[MENTION=146232]jeeteshssaxena[/MENTION] to wrap up with the last pick.

If everyone could post their final lineups with their preferred batting lineups and captains, then I can collate for the poll. Some teams already posted above.
Click to expand...

i know the usual way to do it is a poll, but is it possible to stage some mock games with a simulator, and do the results in a knock out kinda way?

i remember there used to be a cricket simulator used in the leagues, that could maybe work for something like this?

think it would make it a lot more fun if we could simulate mock games between the line ups, also people voting on the xi's are unlikely to appreciate the context in which these teams were drafted, i.e. some teams are obviously stronger, but some teams were picked with more difficult criteria.
 
Think we should go with the three picks rule and proceed to next draft :yk

Team created, draft completed :salute
 
ElRaja said:
i know the usual way to do it is a poll, but is it possible to stage some mock games with a simulator, and do the results in a knock out kinda way?

i remember there used to be a cricket simulator used in the leagues, that could maybe work for something like this?

think it would make it a lot more fun if we could simulate mock games between the line ups, also people voting on the xi's are unlikely to appreciate the context in which these teams were drafted, i.e. some teams are obviously stronger, but some teams were picked with more difficult criteria.
Click to expand...

It's an interesting idea, but I don't know much about simulators. I'd also guess that it will take quite some time... We could probably do another draft by then.
 
Unfortunately I don’t think any sim could take into account this qualitative factors that went into account with choosing a team. Even if a sim could handle all the stats from different eras, there are many nuances to a test team such as balance, consistency, flair, specific roles allocated to players, etc.

Then adding in the fact that some posters had difficult letters to start with, the best thing to do is open it up to a poll in groups of 3 like we’ve done previously. In all likelihood, the main people polling will be ourselves based on the last poll where many PP members didn’t participate in rankings. So everyone will be aware of context!

Most importantly, on to the next draft and some more fun!
 
fair enough, i just thought it have been fun to see how each of the teams would have done. on to the next draft then i guess.
 
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