Test Draft- Pick your three best teams

[zen]

Just now, sandeep said:

 

 

You are way ahead, just like this guy: 

 

 

Yep, no real competition 

[zen]

Talking more about my team, my 11th pick was for the #4 slot. In the initial picking order, I was at 8, the last spot. So before I got going 7 players would already be gone. Once I pick 2, as the last one goes first in round 2, another 14 players would be gone before I had a chance to pick 2 more, so I left #4 for the last few rounds. My shortlisted candidates were Crowe (who is more of a #4-5 batsman), Arvinda and Martyn. At my turn, both  Arvinda and Martyn were available. It was a situation where you can't go wrong with either. Martyn got the nod: 

 

• Arvinda. A popular player with lots of fans, also known as Mad Max. Plays with the style and attitude that I want in my team. Can bowl too. 
• Martyn. One of the most elegant batsmen and again has the style and attitude to be on my team. A good fielder as well. Also can work relatively better in both the subcon and outside of it.

 

As the #4 was most likely to be involved in a big partnership with Gower and/or KP.  Felt that Martyn esp. in a partnership with Gower, who is also known for hitting superbly through the covers, would be a great partnership to watch: 

 

 

 

 

Gower:

 

 

 

 

[Lord]

22 hours ago, zen said:

 

Yup, "amazing to watch" was one of the main criteria  … Overall, a mouth watering prospect to imagine watching Gower and Martyn hit through the covers, Bond-Akhtar steam in to bowl, Murali display his wizardry, and so on!! 

 

good thing you didnt pick the Count then

[Majestic]

@zen

 

Latest update:-

 

Just in, the news is that the two umpires who will be officiating all the matches are Darrell Hair and Ross Emerson. Also, the venues are expected to be mostly in Australia. 

 

Henceforth, I look forward to the wizardry that will be displayed on field when Muralitharan comes to bowl. Hopefully, you have the backup spinner ready to go in case Hair or Emerson are in some serious mood.

 

Edited December 21, 2021 by Majestic

[zen]

1 hour ago, Lord said:

 

good thing you didnt pick the Count then

 

 ... in hypothetical teams (unless for team India or a specific period), I usually avoid players like the Count, Dravid, Kallis, etc. ... Give me a David Gower at #3 anyday!! 

 

 

[zen]

36 minutes ago, Majestic said:

@zen

 

Latest update:-

 

Just in, the news is that the two umpires who will be officiating all the matches are Darrell Hair and Ross Emerson. Also, the venues are expected to be mostly in Australia. 

 

Henceforth, I look forward to the wizardry that will be displayed on field when Muralitharan comes to bowl. Hopefully, you have the backup spinner ready to go in case Hair or Emerson are in some serious mood.

 

 

 

 

Wolves make every country their home. The captain himself is from Australia. 

 

As for the umpires, who cares. As for Murali, poor guy would be lucky to even get to face a challenge as the pace pack is expected to have the other team reeling at 50/5 or 6 (and psychologically bruised). Poor Murali would be bowling mostly to the tail and that too if he gets an opportunity. I am afraid that he might actually leave the Wolves to join some weaker team as he may get to take on more challenges when bowling 

[zen]

Only "steady" or "relatively steady "player that I tend to conder is Gavaskar as I have actually seen him bat in 1987 v Pak and in the WC. After his retirement, I have felt the difference in quality among batsmen for e.g. in 1992 in SA, India was bowled out for 100 and 66. For the other spots, we do not see such a drop in quality relatively speaking - Tendulkar goes, Kohli comes in. Dravid goes, the Count comes in, Dhoni goes, Pant comes in, and so on. Gavaskar goes, nothing remotely equivalent comes in, apart from Sehwag who made his mark for different reasons. Both Gavaskar and Sehwag, the true gems of Indian cricket, are in my line up

[Vijy]

11 minutes ago, zen said:

Only "steady" or "relatively steady "player that I tend to conder is Gavaskar as I have actually seen him bat in 1987 v Pak and in the WC. After his retirement, I have felt the difference in quality among batsmen for e.g. in 1992 in SA, India was bowled out for 100 and 66. For the other spots, we do not see such a drop in quality relatively speaking - Tendulkar goes, Kohli comes in. Dravid goes, the Count comes in, Dhoni goes, Pant comes in, and so on. Gavaskar goes, nothing remotely equivalent comes in, apart from Sehwag who made his mark for different reasons. Both Gavaskar and Sehwag, the true gems of Indian cricket, are in my line up

yes, Sunny and Kapil (as AR, not as pacer) have never been replaced since their retirement. We have had very good middle order batters, good pacers, good batter-keepers, and good spinners, but no genuine long-term opener (apart from Viru) and no genuine pace-bowling AR.

[zen]

Most of the teams were picking up all bowlers, batsmen, or all-rounders, depending up their focus in their first 3-4 picks, I stuck to the plan of Batsman-Bowler-Batsman-Bowler order, knowing that by the 8th pick, my team would be looking good: 

 

1st pick (#8) - Gilchrist, a rare commodity ... If he did not keep, may have averaged over 55 much like Sanga, who should not keep for any 11 btw, whose avg went up too 

2nd pick (#9) - Murali ... There are only two spinners in the league of their own - Warne & Murali, and you have to go for one of them 

3rd pick (#24) - Gavaskar ... Again a rare opener who is good in most conditions, and against both pace and spin 

4th pick (#25) - Pat Cummins ... Fast bowler. As good as a Lillee or a McGrath in an Aus 11 set up but can bat too and also the quickest (Lillee lost some of his pace after his injury)

5th pick (#40) - Virender Sehwag ... For Bradmanesque record in Asia and taking the high strike batting to the next level ... Can bowl off spin too so a bonus utility 

6th pick (#41) - Shane Bond ... Express pace. Swing, reverse swing, yorkers, bouncers, ... 

7th pick (#56) - Kevin Pietersen ... Can bat at both #4-5, but considered him for #5 as I had options for #4

8th pick (#57) - Shoaib Akhtar ... Again a rare commodity and like Bond possess skills to bowl various types of deliveries ... One express pace bowler can give a team an edge. This team will have 2 

9th pick (#72) - David Gower ... Brilliant #3 

10th pick (#73) - Flintoff ... A key ingredient for a pace focused attack to sustain pressure as he is among the rare all-rounders who can bowl at pace and also reverse swing. Can be destructive with the bat as well

11th pick (#88) - Martyn as discussed

12th pick (#89) - Basically was looking for a leg spinner to compliment Murali's off-spin. Rashid as discussed (Associates representation as well) 

 

Edited December 21, 2021 by zen

[Lord]

no one picked Thala :o

[Sooda]

2 hours ago, zen said:

Only "steady" or "relatively steady "player that I tend to conder is Gavaskar as I have actually seen him bat in 1987 v Pak and in the WC. After his retirement, I have felt the difference in quality among batsmen for e.g. in 1992 in SA, India was bowled out for 100 and 66. For the other spots, we do not see such a drop in quality relatively speaking - Tendulkar goes, Kohli comes in. Dravid goes, the Count comes in, Dhoni goes, Pant comes in, and so on. Gavaskar goes, nothing remotely equivalent comes in, apart from Sehwag who made his mark for different reasons. Both Gavaskar and Sehwag, the true gems of Indian cricket, are in my line up

 

In 96 , remember watching that harrowing series lol; only straw to clutch on was that amazing stand between Azhar and SRT in Cape Town

Edited December 21, 2021 by Sooda

[Sooda]

@R!TTER, @Majestic @zen , in that order would be my top 3 , not much between them tbh so could be in any order an any given day

 

Ritters strength in depth on the batting front edges it, add in that awesome pace attack....even if the spin attack is a bit weak. A wrist spinner especially would have been useful addition instead a middle order bat.

 

Majestic ATG bowling line up but batting maybe a teeny shade weaker

 

Zen awesome team to watch on paper, and that pace attack is wow... I do wonder about the consistency of the middle order though

 

Then I would say in order @Adamant @Rantzz @chak de phatte @QuarantineTormentino @JaFanatic

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Sooda]

I was trying to make a Best of the rest 11 , there must be better options than the below..,

 

Micheal Vaughan

Herschelle Gibbs

Richie Richardson

Babar Azam

M Azharuddin

Brendon McCullum

Ravi Shastri

Brett Lee

Trent Boult

Morne Morkel

Abdul Qadir

 

[R!TTER]

26 minutes ago, Sooda said:

@R!TTER, @Majestic @zen , in that order would be my top 3 , not much between them tbh so could be in any order an any given day

 

Ritters strength in depth on the batting front edges it, add in that awesome pace attack....even if the spin attack is a bit weak. A wrist spinner especially would have been useful addition instead a middle order bat.

 

Majestic ATG bowling line up but batting maybe a teeny shade weaker

 

Zen awesome team to watch on paper, and that pace attack is wow... I do wonder about the consistency of the middle order though

 

Then I would say in order @Adamant @Rantzz @chak de phatte @QuarantineTormentino @JaFanatic

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Strategy was to get the best bowling attack to win games, if I could choose one set of pacers, from the 8 teams, these 3 would cover most nations & conditions - except SA where they didn't play due to Apartheid. Jadeja is an ATG in Asia & serviceable spinner outside Asia, especially with 3 ATG pacers - heck these 3 are IMO among the top 5 pacers ever in test cricket! If it's a really, really green top then Thorpe could come in for Jadeja & Tony Greig could also run through sides on such pitches. I would've preferred one among the top 10-12 MO batters but the massive batting depth covers that deficiency a lot.

[Majestic]

3 hours ago, Sooda said:

I was trying to make a Best of the rest 11 , there must be better options than the below..,

 

Micheal Vaughan

Herschelle Gibbs

Richie Richardson

Babar Azam

M Azharuddin

Brendon McCullum

Ravi Shastri

Brett Lee

Trent Boult

Morne Morkel

Abdul Qadir

 

Or,

Sanath Jayasurya

Desmond Haynes

Dean Jones

Aravinda de Silva

Inzamam ul haq

BJ Watling (wkt)

Jason Holder

Harbhajan Singh

Jeff Thomson

Darren Gough

Trent Boult

 

12th man - Stuart Macgill

 

 

 

 

 

Edited December 22, 2021 by Majestic

[zen]

23 hours ago, Sooda said:

Zen awesome team to watch on paper, and that pace attack is wow

 

Talking about pace attacks, everytime the pace quotient has increased, it has changed equations. In the 1930s, a Larwood stopped a Bradman. In the late 70s and 80s, the WI with its pace attack (in conjunction with its free flowing batsmen) became a dominant force. The term "pace" is also in relation to the period. It can have a different meaning for a different generation.  For e.g. In the 70s, the 130-140 range was "pacy", today we need to see someone bowl in the 140-150 range on a relatively consistent basis to register him as "pacy".

 

Edited December 22, 2021 by zen

[Sandeep99]

Majestic has the most balanced  batting order as well as the best bowling line up. Wasim - McGrath - Donald - Ashwin. Good luck to the other teams.

 

However, I'd pay to watch Zen's team. Sehwag - KP - Martyn - Gower - Flintoff - Bond - Gilchrist. Wow so tempting.

 

All teams are good but the above two just catch the eye! Special mentions to Adamant for picking the great Barry Richards and Ritter fielded a great line up as well.

[zen]

My team is a bit unusual as it takes a different approach so can be a little difficult to grasp its vision if looking at it fleetingly but it is nice to see test cricket lovers identify the vision behind it … Kudos

 

Edited December 23, 2021 by zen