Pick overseas players for your Test team

[Penguinissimo]

Imagine each Test team could sign two overseas players (who must be current players, ie not retired) as per county cricket.

1. Who would they be for each country (feel free to only answer for teams which you have a sufficient knowledge of)?

2. Who would they be if you couldn't pick Murali?

3. Who would they be if the following players were excluded (I'm doing this on the basis that certain players are too obvious and I want people to think a little bit):

Aus - Ponting
Eng - Flintoff, Pietersen
Ind - Sehwag
SA - Steyn, Smith
WI - Chanderpaul
SL - Murali, Mendis

I'm going to do England here and may do other countries in a bit:

1. Sehwag and Murali (see why we need the exclusions? Murali is an automatic pick for every Test side in the world). EDIT: having mused on the weakness of England's no 3 spot, I would actually pick Ponting over Sehwag.

2. Sehwag and Steyn. EDIT: see above.

3. Gayle and Sangakkara (as wk)

 

[four_or_six]

As an English fan, I would love to have Brad Haddin and Jaques Kallis. For all three questions.

Perhaps I would be persuaded to swap Kallis for Mendis.

 

[Langeveldt]

SA

Murali or Mendis and Dhoni

 

[Furball]

I know the question says Tests, but I'm going to do England's ODI team, as the picks are a bit more interesting.

I'd take Chris Gayle in a heartbeat for England's ODI side (assuming obvious answers like Tendulkar are a no-no). 7th in the all time list of ODI century makers, and Tendulkar aside has a better 100s/innings ratio than anyone else around him.

Would also have Bracken for the bowling. Flintoff and Broad aside, England's ODI quicks have been diabolical of late.

 

[Penguinissimo]

As an English fan, I would love to have Brad Haddin and Jaques Kallis. For all three questions.

Perhaps I would be persuaded to swap Kallis for Mendis.

Haddin? Really? Seriously? Granted, he has made a couple of decent scores in the last few games but is the difference between him and Prior great enough to turn down all other possible areas of improvement? Certainly not for me.

Kallis makes more sense. No 3 is a real trouble position for England, and whilst Kallis bats at 4 for SA I'm sure he could make it work. Also, his Test-class bowling would allow us to play 6 genuine batsmen (I don't count Prior or Flintoff) and still have five genuine bowling options.

The idea that of the two, if you had to swap one for Murali, you'd swap Kallis is as extraordinary as the idea that you wouldn't have Murali in the first place.

 

[Penguinissimo]

SA

Murali or Mendis and Dhoni

And if you can't have Murali or Mendis?

 

[GIMH]

England

1. Chanderpaul & Murali
2. Chanderpaul & Mendis
3. Clarke, Dhoni

 

[Penguinissimo]

I know the question says Tests, but I'm going to do England's ODI team, as the picks are a bit more interesting.

I'd take Chris Gayle in a heartbeat for England's ODI side (assuming obvious answers like Tendulkar are a no-no). 7th in the all time list of ODI century makers, and Tendulkar aside has a better 100s/innings ratio than anyone else around him.

Works for ODIs too. Tendulkar isn't on my list of banned players, for precisely the reason that he is (please don't lynch me) past his best and I think there are a number of other players who are reasonable alternatives to him. On the other hand, I think you'd have to add Dhoni to the ODI banned list.

 

[Furball]

Tendulkar simply has to be on the banned list for ODIs.

 

[Penguinissimo]

England

1. Chanderpaul & Murali
2. Chanderpaul & Mendis
3. Clarke, Dhoni

Interesting, mostly for its focus on the middle order. Do you really think that is one of the areas which England needs strengthening the most?

Or do you have Chanderpaul down to bat at 3? And how do you make room for Clarke?

 

[dezza1994]

Aus..

Chanderpaul and Muralidaran
Chanderpaul and Steyn
Gayle and Pietersen

 

[Penguinissimo]

Tendulkar simply has to be on the banned list for ODIs.

Well, I thought that you can't have more than 2 players from each country on the banned list. And for ODIs, they surely must be Sehwag and Dhoni. If we were banning potential world XI players, you'd have to ban half the Indian team.

 

[Furball]

Tendulkar pisses all over Sehwag as an ODI batsman.

 

[Penguinissimo]

Aus..

Chanderpaul and Muralidaran
Chanderpaul and Steyn
Gayle and Pietersen

Presumably Chanderpaul at 6?

And KP is on the banned list for Q3...

My answers for Australia:

1. Steyn and Murali
2. Steyn and Vettori
3. Vettori and Zaheer Khan

 

[Julian87]

Haddin? Really? Seriously? Granted, he has made a couple of decent scores in the last few games but is the difference between him and Prior great enough to turn down all other possible areas of improvement? Certainly not for me.
.

It is a pretty ****ing huge difference.

 

[GIMH]

Interesting, mostly for its focus on the middle order. Do you really think that is one of the areas which England needs strengthening the most?

Or do you have Chanderpaul down to bat at 3? And how do you make room for Clarke?

I'm not sure what needs strengthening the most, but what has struck me of late is a distinct lack of 400+ scores (can only think of one off the top of my head) and some failures to bowl teams out at the end of the match, so I thought Chanders will get us the runs and Murali (or Mendis in scenario 2) will take care of the fourth innings.

Clarke can come in for Ian Bell, would require a bit of an order shuffle which admittedly I haven't thought about in much depth. Dhoni seemed like a good idea.

I do tend to overrate our pace bowlers I guess, dunno, I like them all

 

[Penguinissimo]

It is a pretty ****ing huge difference.

But bigger than the difference of putting Murali in for Swann / Panesar?

 

[chaminda_00]

Oram and Johnson for question three for Sri Lanka

 

[Furball]

Clarke can come in for Ian Bell, would require a bit of an order shuffle which admittedly I haven't thought about in much depth. Dhoni seemed like a good idea.

3. Shah
4. Pietersen
5. Clarke

 

[Penguinissimo]

I'm not sure what needs strengthening the most, but what has struck me of late is a distinct lack of 400+ scores (can only think of one off the top of my head) and some failures to bowl teams out at the end of the match, so I thought Chanders will get us the runs and Murali (or Mendis in scenario 2) will take care of the fourth innings.

Clarke can come in for Ian Bell, would require a bit of an order shuffle which admittedly I haven't thought about in much depth. Dhoni seemed like a good idea.

I do tend to overrate our pace bowlers I guess, dunno, I like them all

Chanders at 3 I find hard to argue with, except that our order would really lack the ability to score runs quickly, with Strauss, Cook and Colly also being of the accumulator type.

If you're going for Chanders at 3 for 1 & 2, I'd have thought Kallis for Q3 is a given.