Pick five players.....

[Protea]

Ah thats cool, yeah I've seen Divan van Wyk play but he seems to have faded off the map, I havent heard much more about him.. SA cricket were lucky to have Allan Donald, another guy from Bloem' I guess then who could have easily chosen rugby..

Slightly off topic, but do you know anything about Old Grey Cricket club opposite the Police Station in Mount Croix? I might be playing for them a bit but havent checked the place out before..

Yeah they put out a pretty decent side. Towards the end of the season, around late May, they host a six-a-side club tournament as well. I don't know much about the actual club...I did play cricket there for a junior girls side from ages seven to nine but it wasn't connected to them. A lot of the schools around that area play their matches there as well.

 

[steds]

*waits for someone to say Jack McNamara*

 

[Adamc]

*waits for someone to say Jack McNamara*

Post #51.

 

[steds]

Post #51.

I thought I must have missed it with all this "Vicmania" going on

 

[Arjun]

1. Yalaka Venugopal Rao - He should really be the prime contender for a test XI spot if one of the test batsmen gets replaced. He is a classic-mould test batsman and a throwback from the earlier days - excellent technique, good solid strokes and takes his time settling in. Not suited for ODI batsman ( a bit of Rahul Dravid earlier in his career ) but looks ready for Test cricket - has demolished almost any attack in domestic cricket and had one virtuoso performance where he scored an ubeaten 228 in the 4th innings to defeat ENG-A team, comprising of Mahmood-Francis-Simon Jones-Tredwell.


2. Shikhar Dhiwan - a solid and extremely talented opener who lit up the stage at U-19 world cup and has peformed pretty well in domestic cricket - he is one for the future and i can see him playing Tests for IND in 2-3 years time if Gambhir and Jadhav (who i think should be the next in line) fails

3. Dheeraj Jadhav- a opener in the mould of Matty Hayden - a thumper of the ball and extremely strong off his pads. He should get a chance to display his wares if Gambhir doesnt perform well

4. Shib Shankar Paul - A up-n-comming pacer in Indian domestic scene - his forte is that he bowls it medium fast, has an excellent outswinger to the right-handers ( for a change he isnt yet another left arm pacer from India) has a good command of line and length and gets it to bounce more than most indians due to his height. If Indian selectors clean up their acts and drop perinneal mediocres like Zaheer Khan, Ajit Agarkar etc. from the test squad on a permanent basis, he would be next in line after Pathan,Balaji and a much-improved Nehra.

5. Suresh Raina - a hard-hitting talented batsman who is very young and perhaps his only failing is that he gets carried away (due to inexperience) and plays too many shots. Needs a few more seasons in domestic cricket and A-tours but he is definately one for the future.

1. Venugopal Rao- One specialist batsman too many. Will find it tough to make the lineup, since he's just one of so many.
2. Dhawan- He's not seasoned. Let him play more matches for Delhi and North first. If Sehwag and Gambhir were picked for these teams, he'd be on the bench.
3. Jadhav- Fair point, but what if Sehwag fails? Still, he's a slow scorer and may be used best on dodgy pitches.
4. Steamship- We've seen all-rounder prospects like Sodhi, Joginder, JP Yadav and Sanjay Bangar left out of the Indian team for years because they lacked pace. SS Paul is no different. Except that he's no batsman. He's got good control over the ball and can hold a good line and length for a long time, but there's one Ashish Nehra who can do the same, and faster too. Good pick for Tests, but it will be a concern how he will handle a new ball, while his fielding leaves a little to be desired.
5. Raina- Tough call. Good ODI pick, may also be a more-than-useful bowler like Sanath or Symonds, as long as he's put to use, but that remains to be seen- we still see the likes of Sehwag and Yuvraj bowl a few overs too many when he should have got the ball then.

 

[Langeveldt]

[*]Steamship- We've seen all-rounder prospects like Sodhi, Joginder, JP Yadav and Sanjay Bangar left out of the Indian team for years because they lacked pace. SS Paul is no different. Except that he's no batsman. He's got good control over the ball and can hold a good line and length for a long time, but there's one Ashish Nehra who can do the same, and faster too. Good pick for Tests, but it will be a concern how he will handle a new ball, while his fielding leaves a little to be desired.

As well as having the best name since Arnoldus Mauritius Blignaut!

 

[thierry henry]

NZ- Todd Astle?

 

[amit__]

since u have to go with unheard players who will be playing within 5 years, i am going with some unheard players who have never played for india and even india"a" and r still young-

1. shahbaz nadeem - a 16 year old left-arm spinner from bihar. took 5/30 against eng"a"(or was it eng u-19) earlier this year. will be the man to look out for once kumble retires.

2. piyush chawla - another 16 year old spinner, but he is a leg-spinner and has bowled well in the recent challenger trophy and looked quite impressive.

3. abid nabi - a tearaway pacer and will be the 1st player ever from j&k to play for india. has looked impressive in his stint at the mrf pace academy and is known to bowl at over 140 kph. he is young and still less than 21 years old.

4. anirudh srikkanth - son of former indian cricketer kris srikkanth. an explosive opening batsman in his fathers mould. did well against eng"a" scoring some 37 runs. is still young and less than 19 years old.

5. ali murtaza - a 15 year old left-handed batsman and left-arm medium pacer. was the hero in the u-15 asia cup when ind u-15 beat pak u-15 scoring 109 and taking 2 wickets. also, has done well consistently at the age group levels.

 

[Tom Halsey]

May be completely wrong, but has anyone checked an ISP adress for amit_?

 

[aussie]

Not sure how unheard of these guys are, but I'm sticking to those who haven't played internationals yet.

Sean Marsh (WA) - Quite talented, hailed by Steve Waugh as a future Australian player. Has so far not quite lived up to his billing with a FC average of 30, but has a fair chance given his reputation of playing for Australia if he has a good season or two. 22 years old.

Mark Cosgrove (SA) - Despite being dropped a couple of times last year, really showed a bit on a couple of occasions, and is someone to watch next year. Only 21 and seems to be improving, FC average of 31.

Daniel Cullen (SA) - Had the best debut season for a spinner in Australia for a fair while. Got some attention with some good performances through the year, and earned himself an Australian contract with a big finish, putting in three big performances in a row, including 8 wickets at the WACA and 9 at Hobart on the two least spin-friendly surfaces in Australia to finish the season. Only 20, and may even possess a doosra.

Phil Jaques (NSW) - Obviously had some attention on this forum, but has really exploded on to the scene in the last year. Was dominant with the bat last season for NSW, and then had a very successful stint with Yorkshire in the CC, and has boosted his career FC average up to 55. Just a few days ago in his first Australia A appearance, carried his bat for a near-century in difficult batting conditions. 26 years old, and a clear candidate for an opening position in the test side soon.

Cameron White (VIC) - Was the "new Warne" at the start of his career, but quickly became the butt of many jokes when he didn't quite live up to his billing. Still, has proved quite adept as captain of Victoria, and while his flat, quick leg-spinners aren't as penetrative as they might be, his batting has improved noticably in recent times. This improvement in his batting and some good showings with Australia A might yet earn him a place in the Australian ODI team as an all-rounder, and at only 22 he has a lot more experience at first class level than most cricketers his age. Averages 27 with the bat and 34 with the ball in FC cricket.

another 5 to this could be:

Henriques
Johnson
Bird
Simpson
Ronchi

worthy mentions Crosthwaite, Hartley, Doherty, Phillipson

 

[Neil Pickup]

JP McNamara

 

[Deja moo]

*cough*kissass*cough*

 

[Neil Pickup]

I so should pay attention to the earlier posts in the thread...

 

[chris.hinton]

i am a hot prospect for the future

 

[Tim]

Well im not going to pick 16 year old prospects because alot can happen in 4 or 5 years until FC cricket.

From NZ:

Peter Fulton
Richard Sherlock
Jesse Ryder
Bruce Martin
Jamie How

 

[Prince EWS]

Zimbabwe first, then England.

Tino Mawoyo- The U19 captain, a very talented and composed batsman who has had a good year with Mashonaland that would have been better were it not for his educational commitments.

Friday Kasteni- Scored 100* out of 251 on debut for Midlands, and although he didn't repeat that performance he would have to have had some talent to do it so hopefully he'll come again.

Craig Ervine- Sean's brother, a very talented pace bowler and hard-hitting batsman very similar to Sean, he had a good year for Midlands.

Gerry Penford- a pace bowler who was born in Dallas, and plays for Manicaland, and took 5-86 against the strong Matabeleland batting lineup on a flat pitch

Ian Nicolson- 18 year old Midlands pace bowler who has been quite destructive on his day.

You actually stole three of my five (Ervine, Penford and Nicolson) so Ill just add in my other two. I was also under the impression that Craig Ervine was mainly a spinner. He has bowled some medium pace in his time, but I think hes focussing on his off-spin bowling.

Colin De Grandhomme - Probably would have played for Zimbabwe now if he didnt have quiet aspirations of playing for England. Great young batsman (by Zim standards) with a good technique and is capable of opening the batting. He can also bowl some lively medium pace similar to that of the likes of Chigumbura and Chibhabba. Hes about 19 or 20 now, and is currently playing in the Zim invitational side to the RSA domestic comp, so watch out for him. If he does decide to play for Zimbabwe, he will be a great find.

Sean Williams - I know I broke the rules on this one, as he has played a few ODIs, but I really dont think many people would have noticed. Hes a middle order batsman and handy left arm spin bowler in the mould of Grant Flower, but with much more talent and potential. Handled correctly, Williams could have rivaled the likes of Andy Flower for the "greatest Zimbabwean batsman" title, but unfortunately he has been rushed into international cricket too early in a disrupted and disorganised side. He still has a lot of potential though, and deserves a mention.

 

[Deja moo]

i am a hot prospect for the future

link to stats/performances ?

 

[Chubb]

You actually stole three of my five (Ervine, Penford and Nicolson) so Ill just add in my other two. I was also under the impression that Craig Ervine was mainly a spinner. He has bowled some medium pace in his time, but I think hes focussing on his off-spin bowling.

Colin De Grandhomme - Probably would have played for Zimbabwe now if he didnt have quiet aspirations of playing for England. Great young batsman (by Zim standards) with a good technique and is capable of opening the batting. He can also bowl some lively medium pace similar to that of the likes of Chigumbura and Chibhabba. Hes about 19 or 20 now, and is currently playing in the Zim invitational side to the RSA domestic comp, so watch out for him. If he does decide to play for Zimbabwe, he will be a great find.

Sean Williams - I know I broke the rules on this one, as he has played a few ODIs, but I really dont think many people would have noticed. Hes a middle order batsman and handy left arm spin bowler in the mould of Grant Flower, but with much more talent and potential. Handled correctly, Williams could have rivaled the likes of Andy Flower for the "greatest Zimbabwean batsman" title, but unfortunately he has been rushed into international cricket too early in a disrupted and disorganised side. He still has a lot of potential though, and deserves a mention.

I realised my mistake about Ervine some time ago, but this thread had dropped off so I didn't bother correcting it. I forgot about de Grandhomme when I wrote that, but I was under the impression he was going to leave Zimbabwe.

 

[Prince EWS]

I realised my mistake about Ervine some time ago, but this thread had dropped off so I didn't bother correcting it. I forgot about de Grandhomme when I wrote that, but I was under the impression he was going to leave Zimbabwe.

You were also unlucky in the fact that I am probably the only person on the forum would have picked up that error, and I just happened to read your post.... You could have said that Nicolson was a hard-hitting left-handed opening batsman in the mould of Chris Gayle and no-one bar me would have argued it.

 

[howardj]

Callum Ferguson
Dan Cullen
Shaun Marsh
Mitchell Johnson
Chris Hartley