ICC Test team of the Year

[Howe_zat]

...is bloody weird.

Cook
Amla
Trott
Tendulkar
Kallis
De Villiers
Sangakkara+
Broad
Swann
Steyn
Anderson

Zaheer

To clarify, the period selected in August 11th - August 3rd.

1) Amla isn't an opener, and while his 2010 was epic he hasn't quite delivered at the same level over the last 8 months. Bringing in Watson at least shows someone who opened in that period. And might keep the Aussies happy.

2) Sangakkara is not a keeper anymore. You're picking a team of the year, so pick a keeper who kept in the year. Not hard, eh? Prior.

3) Broad's clearly been included under the basis of the most recent series, which doesn't really seem like enough, especially considering the chosen dates include only the first half. After all, why is Dravid not selected over Tendulkar? Meanwhile, Zaheer is 12th man despite not being able to field. Swap these two.

4) Where's Ian Bell? Up against AB, sure, but what more has the bloke got to do?

I'd have:

Cook, Watson, Trott, Tendulkar, Kallis, Bell, Prior, Swann, Zaheer, Steyn, Anderson

 

[Spark]

Prior omission and ABdV over Bell kind of odd.

Broad lucky but I don't think Zaheer's played enough tbh.

 

[Howe_zat]

On reflection, you could also make an argument for Ajmal over Swann for this year.

 

[pskov]

You can actually make the case for Broad being worthy of a slot in the team. For the period covered (11th August 2010 -> 3rd August 2011) Broad scored 462 runs at 46.20 and took 30 wickets at 28.73.

I still would have Anderson, Steyn, Zaheer and probably Tremlett ahead of him though.

For that same period Swann has 45 wickets at 28.51, Ajmal 27 wickets at 24.88.

 

[flibbertyjibber]

What do Prior and Bell have to do to get in?

 

[Spark]

You can actually make the case for Broad being worthy of a slot in the team. For the period covered (11th August 2010 -> 3rd August 2011) Broad scored 462 runs at 46.20 and took 30 wickets at 28.73.

I still would have Anderson, Steyn, Zaheer and probably Tremlett ahead of him though.

For that same period Swann has 45 wickets at 28.51, Ajmal 27 wickets at 24.88.

Tremlett hasn't played enough. Broad's batting a big bonus once you look at that number.

 

[Howe_zat]

Broad's batting a big bonus once you look at that number.

Yeah, fair enough. I'd forgotten that it includes his 169 against Pakistan.

 

[Neil Pickup]

A closer look at the names on the voting panel may help to explain Broad junior's presence.

Here's the stats for the qualifying period.

The best phrase I can come up with to describe that selection is "steaming pile of bollocks", closely followed by "ICC in screaming ignorance shocker".

FWIW, my XI: Watson, Cook, Trott, Kallis, Bell, de Villiers, +Prior, Swann, Anderson, Zaheer, Steyn.

The hardest thing about this from a selectorial perspective is that several of the batsmen with the best records have a very similar style: you wouldn't want a 3-4-5 of Dravid, Trott and Kallis unless the ICC do decide that Timeless Tests are in order (imagine how many we would have made this summer if they had done...), so de Villiers just gets the nod at six to shake it up a bit. Sangakkara's record is not even remotely good enough to merit consideration. Tremlett is also worth considering as his record is very similar to the other seamers over the period, and a bit of height might be useful in the side, and the fact that Bresnan makes teams win whatever happens is also worth keeping in mind.

Regardless, I think we can all agree that the ICC's XI is not the right one.

 

[Spikey]

did they let the indian fans vote on it again or something

 

[pskov]

Tremlett hasn't played enough. Broad's batting a big bonus once you look at that number.

Well Tremlett played 2 more matches and took 9 more wickets than Steyn in the period specified....

 

[Neil Pickup]

Tremlett hasn't played enough. Broad's batting a big bonus once you look at that number.

Tremlett played 7 games, which is as many as Zaheer and more than any of the South African or Pakistani players.

 

[Spark]

Tremlett played 7 games, which is as many as Zaheer and more than any of the South African or Pakistani players.

See earlier post - I don't think Zaheer's played enough either.

Test team of the year in my book = the cricketers who performed the best throughout the relevant period (weighted to make sensible team). Not the same as the World XI currently.

 

[pskov]

See earlier post - I don't think Zaheer's played enough either.

Test team of the year in my book = the cricketers who performed the best throughout the relevant period (weighted to make sensible team). Not the same as the World XI currently.

So your attack would basically have to be four from Broad, Anderson, Sharma, Swann and Harbhajan? Those are the only bowlers who played 9 or more tests in the period specified.

 

[Spark]

So your attack would basically have to be four from Broad, Anderson, Sharma, Swann and Harbhajan? Those are the only bowlers who played 9 or more tests in the period specified.

Hmm I see your point. I guess I was looking more at the number of Tests missed than anything else.

 

[four_or_six]

Tendulkar over Bell is ridiculous, Bell averaged 30 more and scored one more hundred.

 

[centurymaker]

Members of the voting academy

Former players: Andy Bichel, Naimur Rahman, Aamir Sohail, Pat Symcox, Nasser Hussein, Russel Arnold, Robin Singh, Shane Bond, Grant Flower, Desmond Haynes, and John Davison (Associate Representative Cricketer)

Media: Greg Buckle (Australia), Abdul Majid Bhatti (Pakistan), Azad Majumdar (Bangladesh), Kevin McCallum (South Africa), Stephen Brenkley (England), Chris Dhambarage (Sri Lanka), Ayaz Memon (India), Tony Becca (West Indies), Bryan Waddle (New Zealand), John Ward (Zimbabwe) and KR Nayer (Associate Representative)

Elite panel of ICC referees representative: Chris Broad

Elite panel of ICC umpires representative: Aleem Dar

Chairman of ICC cricket committee: Clive Lloyd

 

[MW1304]

ICC news: England dominate ICC Test team of the year | Cricket News | Cricinfo ICC Site | ESPN Cricinfo

Cook and Trott were also short-listed for the Test Player of the Year award, alongside respective team-mates Anderson and Kallis

Is it just me or is there a snide joke snuck in here about Trott's origins?

 

[Spark]

Haha I lol'd I must admit

 

[centurymaker]

ICC news: England dominate ICC Test team of the year | Cricket News | Cricinfo ICC Site | ESPN Cricinfo



Is it just me or is there a snide joke snuck in here about Trott's origins?

GOLD

Tendulkar over Bell is ridiculous, Bell averaged 30 more and scored one more hundred.

No it isn't considering that the last two tests of eng v ind series don't count.

"While selecting the squad, the selectors didn't rely only on statistics only, but took into account all other factors like the opposition, pitch conditions, match situation etc," Clive Lloyd

Tendulkar averged 131 against australia. He was given Man of the series award.
He then backed it up by averging 81 against the lethal bowling pair of steyn and morkel in the best country for bowling.

bell avg'd 65 in Aus with 1 100
averaged 300+ against Sri Lanka (pop gun) and then scored a 100 in the first 2 tests against india (pop gun).
Yes Bell was more prolific but thats not the only thing that counts.

 

[four_or_six]

ICC news: England dominate ICC Test team of the year | Cricket News | Cricinfo ICC Site | ESPN Cricinfo



Is it just me or is there a snide joke snuck in here about Trott's origins?

That is either a mistake or someone completely taking the piss.