Draft League Season 4: Voting Thread

[Jager]

Don't vote for yourself!
Vote for three teams please

AndyZaltzHair’s XI

1. Gordon Greenidge
2. Hanif Mohammad
3. Frank Worrell*
4. Garfield Sobers
5. Andrew Flower
6. Doug Walters
7. Farokh Engineer †
8. Harold Larwood
9. Hugh Tayfield
10. Michael Holding
11. Allan Donald

12. Ted Dexter

Blakus’ XI

1. Bill Ponsford
2. Virender Sehwag
3. Walter Hammond
4. Everton Weekes
5. Javed Miandad
6. Mahela Jayawardene*
7. John Waite †
8. Shaun Pollock
9. Fred Trueman
10. Muttiah Muralitharan
11. Courtney Walsh

12. Bobby Peel

Ed’s XI

1. Jack Hobbs
2. Geoffrey Boycott
3. Vivian Richards
4. Kumar Ranjitsinhji
5. Charles Macartney
6. Douglas Jardine*
7. Les Ames †
8. Maurice Tate
9. Clarrie Grimmett
10. Joel Garner
11. Waqar Younis

12. Kevin Pietersen

Himannv’s XI

1. Len Hutton
2. Bill Lawry
3. Rahul Dravid
4. Ken Barrington
5. Allan Border
6. Warwick Armstrong
7. Imran Khan*
8. Wilfred Rhodes
9. Don Tallon †
10. Alec Bedser
11. Sydney Barnes

12. Eddie Paynter

Jager’s XI

1. Victor Trumper
2. Graeme Smith*
3. Hashim Amla
4. Jacques Kallis
5. Denis Compton
6. Archie Jackson
7. Adam Gilchrist †
8. Kapil Dev
9. Alan Davidson
10. Saqlain Mushtaq
11. Frank Tyson

12. Johnny Wardle

kingkallis’ XI

1. Herbert Sutcliffe
2. Matthew Hayden
3. Ian Chappell*
4. Graeme Pollock
5. Aubrey Faulkner
6. Mike Hussey
7. Denis Lindsay †
8. Ian Botham
9. Anil Kumble
10. Malcolm Marshall
11. Dennis Lillee

12. John Snow

kyear2’s XI

1. Sunil Gavaskar
2. Graham Gooch
3. George Headley
4. Ricky Ponting
5. Clive Lloyd*
6. Mushtaq Mohammad
7. Jock Cameron †
8. Hedley Verity
9. Ian Bishop
10. Colin Croft
11. Glenn McGrath

12. Tony Greig

Michaelf7777777’s XI

1. WG Grace
2. Herbie Taylor
3. Kumar Sangakarra
4. Martin Crowe
5. Steve Waugh*
6. Keith Miller
7. Ian Healy †
8. Ray Lindwall
9. Hugh Trumble
10. Frederick Spofforth
11. Jim Laker

12. Chris Cairns

Monk’s XI

1. Arthur Morris
2. Sid Barnes
3. Brian Lara
4. Stan McCabe
5. Neil Harvey
6. Michael Clarke*
7. Alan Knott †
8. Wasim Akram
9. Shane Warne
10. Brian Statham
11. Andy Roberts

12. Jack Gregory

Prince EWS’ XI

1. Bob Simpson*
2. Trevor Goddard
3. Clem Hill
4. Sachin Tendulkar
5. Dudley Nourse
6. VVS Laxman
7. Clyde Walcott †
8. Richard Hadlee
9. Dale Steyn
10. Jack Cowie
11. Bill O’Reilly

12. Bishan Bedi

watson’s XI

1. Barry Richards
2. Bruce Mitchell
3. Rohan Kanhai
4. Greg Chappell
5. Peter May
6. Frank Woolley
7. Mike Procter
8. Richie Benaud*
9. Godfrey Evans †
10. Wesley Hall
11. Curtly Ambrose

12. Fred Flintoff

 

[Howe_zat]

Here comes the nitpick express

AZH: Struggling to find fault, but if I had to I'd say there are better orders from 5-8. Sobers is the only name that really stands out in the side. There are no weak links in the bowling attack, but none would have a shot at the World XI.

Blakus: Genuinely superb. I suppose one could question Hammond's role as 5th bowler.

Eds: An obvious attempt to court the zaremba vote. Will go for it if I'm feeling whimsical, but there are a fair few players here who you rate higher than I do.

Himannv: It's hard to know where to rate this as both Imran and Rhodes moved from being bowlers to batsmen over the course of their careers. I feel a bit bad for persuading him to include the extra allrounder in Armstrong when I couldn't actually think of anyone he should've picked, so I'll put this one in the maybe pile.

Jager: Fails the Graeme Smith clause. It's a shame, because the rest of the side has a nice old-timey Jager flavour to it and I'd like it better if he'd stuck to his guns.

kingkallis: Fails the Mathew Hayden clause.

kyear2: Interesting one. Mainly, I'm not sold on Cameron and Bishop.

Michaelf7777777: It's hard to describe but the balance of this side seems kind of off. Perhaps using six bowlers along with Healey at 7 was overkill. I generally don't go for two orthodox spinners either.

Monk: It's probably poor form that the only reason I won't vote for this is because it's too Australian. Well ner nerny ner ner, I can do what I like

PEWS: Did you know that Cribb like Trevor Goddard? And O'Reilly? And giving Walcott the gloves? I'd never heard this before. there's nothing wrong with this side.

Watson: Looks like the crux of this is whether you let Richards' and Procter's lack of Tests ruin their appeal for you. Today I'm of the mind where I'm cool with that. I suppose there are better spinners than Benaud, but only 4 or 5 sides have them so this gets a vote from me.

Went for Blakus, Watson and Prince EWS

 

[kyear2]

Cameron was arguably S.A.'s greatest wkbatsman. In comparrison with Ames, Cameron is seen as the better gloveman while Ames wad the better bat.

Ian Bishop is an interesting case. Before his injury he was seen to be as good or better than anyone.of his era or even before. He was express and could swing the ball away from rh batsmen at pace. After his injury he was merely very good. Strange Tyson gets more respect despite mainly playing weaker opposition and playing less matches.

 

[Eds]

I'll vote when not so tired. Do like the look of kyear, Monk, Blakus, watson, KK.

 

[zaremba]

Can't help feeling that, while the teams are playing, the banter in the bar between the various 12th men selected here would be every bit as entertaining.

Oh and Eds gets my vote (with 2 points, to 1 point for Himanv, 0.5 points for AndyZH, Kingkallis and Kyear, and 0 points for the rest).

 

[Red]

Monk: It's probably poor form that the only reason I won't vote for this is because it's too Australian. Well ner nerny ner ner, I can do what I like

Outrageous. I demand my money back.

 

[watson]

Some general notes before I do some number crunching;

Andy
POS: Potent bowling attack with three aggressive fast bowlers. Gary Sobers!
NEG: Doug Walter's technique suspect in English conditions.

Blakus
POS: Very well balanced team with good batting depth and two proven strike bowlers in Trueman and Murali.
NEG: The attack lacks an aggressive fast bowler to partner Trueman.

Eds
POS: Potent bowling attack with excellent variety. Great captain.
NEG: Potential middle-order weakness because of Ranjitsinhji and Jardine. Ranjitsinhji just as likely to flop as he is to score a century against 20th century fast bowlers. Jardine scored only one century against the West Indies, and none against Australia.

Himannv
POS: Very solid top-order. Bowling attack has excellent skill and variety. Imran Khan!
NEG: The attack lacks a fast bowler to partner Imran with the new ball.

Jager
POS: Excellent batting depth with Gilchrist at No.7 and two allrounders at No.8 and 9.
NEG: Attack depends on the class of Davidson to succeed.

kingkallis
POS: Best new ball partnership on display - Marshall and Lillee. Excellent depth in both batting and bowling. Very good captain. Graeme Pollock!
NEG: Hayden unlikely to post a big score against a team with a quality swing bowler. Possibly the weakest No.3 on display.

kyear2
POS: Solid fast bowling line-up well supported by a quality spinner and wicket-keeper. George Headley!
NEG: Mushtaq, Cameron, and Verity possibly the weakest lower-middle-order on display.

Michaelf7777777
POS: Proven new ball attack backed-up by an excellent variety of support bowlers. Solid upper-middle-order.
NEG: It is difficult to estimate the competency of both Grace and Taylor against modern fast bowling. One of the weaker lower-orders on display.

Monk
POS: The batting line-up is solid, attacking, and has good depth. Superb spinner-keeper combination. Brian Lara!
NEG: The weakest 5th bowler option on display.

Prince Marcuss
POS: Very solid middle-order. Two excellent strike bowlers - Hadlee and O'Reilly. Great depth in both batting and bowling line-ups.
NEG: Goddard solid but unlikely to post a century. It is difficult to estimate the competency of Hill against modern fast bowling.

 

[watson]

I had little problem selecting the teams of kingkallis and Andy ('pace like fire' + solid batting line-ups), but the third choice was problematic in the extreme.

In the end Blakus because of Hammond-Weekes-Miandad and then Trueman-Murali.

Special mention to Michael for his bowling combination of Lindwall-Miller-Spoffoth-Laker-Trumble. Awesome.

 

[Red]

Great summary Watson. Just to be slightly pedantic though, I don't see Ian Chappell as a weak #3. In 54 innings at #3, Chappell averaged over 50 in an era containing the best quicks of all time.

 

[AndyZaltzHair]

It was very very tough choice, the toughest I think. Had a long long thought and went for watson, Blakus and Himannv. The last spot was incredibly hard to make a decision; great captain, great w.keeper, strong middle-order worked as tie breaker for Himannv

 

[Red]

Hard decision. Decided on...

kingkallis-
Beast of a bowling attack. I consider Marshall and Lillee the two greatest quicks ever, so to get both was brilliant. Snow able to be drafted in on quick wickets as well. Botham a great first change and provides tremendous batting depth coming in at 8. Kumble will provide great support, and come in to his own on day 4 and 5, along with Faulkner. Two high quality spinners there.

I'm not Hayden's biggest fan, but he does the job, and my admiration for Sutcliffe is immense. L/R opening combo of high quality there. Chappell a combative and skilled #3 (and great captain), and Pollock probably the best #4 there is. Hussey at 6 has proven time and again the value of the counterattack lately.

Quality slip cordon with Chappell, Pollock and Botham to take the edges from Lillee and Marshall. Hussey a great ground fielder as well.

Blakus
Trueman, Pollock and Walsh are a great pace attack who would refuse to tire. I'm not Murali's biggest fan, but he gets the job done as effectively as any spinner in history. Hammond a capable 5th option.

Hammond, Weekes and Miandad in the middle order sold this to me. Brilliant stuff. Jayawardene at six is a big partnership player. I'd love to see him and Ponsford make a total together. Ponsford and Sehwag good openers who would compliment each other well. Batting solid right down to Pollock at 8.

Hammond and Weekes both good slippers. Only change I'd make would be to have Hammond captain.

MichaelF7777
Think I was the first to vote for him, which surprised me. Lindwall, Miller, Spofforth, Laker and Trumble are an a-class attack. Waugh and Grace capable of providing medium pace support.

Grace is heavily romanticised, but there is no doubting his ability. Taylor was regarded as one of the finest of his day, with a textbook technique. Sangakkara, despite home track bully allegations, is a fine LH #3. Crowe is well regarded here by CW people. If he was English/Aust he'd be in many more ATG teams (maybe). Waugh, Miller, Healy and Lindwall a great mid/lower order, and Trumble is very capable at 9.



Hard decisions, some great teams drafted here.

Thanks to Jager for running it!

 

[fredfertang]

Like Eds team a lot - plenty of good ones amongst the others but kingkallis and monk just shaded it for my other two votes

 

[kingkallis]

Jeez this was tough!

 

[watson]

Great summary Watson. Just to be slightly pedantic though, I don't see Ian Chappell as a weak #3. In 54 innings at #3, Chappell averaged over 50 in an era containing the best quicks of all time.

'Possibly the weakest No.3 on display' - in absolute terms Ian Chappell is not a weak No.3. But in this Draft he is relative to guys like Headley, Richards, Kanhai etc

 

[Red]

'Possibly the weakest No.3 on display' - in absolute terms Ian Chappell is not a weak No.3. But in this Draft he is relative to guys like Headley, Richards, Kanhai etc

Fair enough. Actually just looked up the stats of #3s and it's amazing how big some guys averages are at #3 (relative to other positions).

http://stats.espncricinfo.com/ci/en...ed;orderby=runs;template=results;type=batting

A lot of guys average much higher at #3 than they do elsewhere. Surprised, I'd have expected the reverse.

 

[kingkallis]

Yeah I myself was surprised ( to know that he was that good @ No.3 ) when Chappell's claim as No.3 was discussed in previous draft. He has 50+ average at that position.

 

[kingkallis]

Like Eds team a lot - plenty of good ones amongst the others but kingkallis and monk just shaded it for my other two votes

I too loved Eds team but it seems he is a bowler short there. Decided to go with Jager for Kallis love

 

[kingkallis]

And yeah Monk, Mussey was all delighted to play @ No.6 in my team as you can see his happiness in my Display pic as well

 

[watson]

Fair enough. Actually just looked up the stats of #3s and it's amazing how big some guys averages are at #3 (relative to other positions).

http://stats.espncricinfo.com/ci/en...ed;orderby=runs;template=results;type=batting

A lot of guys average much higher at #3 than they do elsewhere. Surprised, I'd have expected the reverse.

Barrington is a case in point. He is commonly selected as a No.4, but at No.3 he averages 77.23 over 27 innings.

 

[Himannv]

Voted for watson, Blakus and Eds after quite a bit of thought.