'GROUP A' - The Best of Each Decade Birthday Draft. VOTING THREAD

[watson]

ATG Test Match Championship: ‘GROUP A’

The Scenario

Each contestent has rented a Time Machine, gone back in time, and assembled their own ATG team as listed below. Each player in the team is in the peak form of their career, and is injury free.

Since the Test Match Championship will be played in modern conditions using modern equipment, the respective teams have been assembled in advance, and have played a full season in local competitions. ‘Old Timers’ have remarked that they, “thoroughly enjoyed the experience”, and that playing in 21st century conditions with excellent equipment was a “revelation”.

The Test Match Championship is comprised of Home and Away fixtures between each of the seven teams. The strongest team with the most wins in ‘GROUP A’ will advance to the Grand Final against the winner of ‘GROUP B’.

Please note that AldoRaine18 and Saint Kopite have arranged to have the pitches at Kotla and Barabati Stadiums relaid. The curators have both remarked that, “the added grass will give the pitch some more life on Days 1 and 2, but the traditional Indian red soil will ensure that the bounce is even”.


Voting Rules

Please vote for the 3 strongest teams. That is, the 3 teams that you think are the most likely to win the most matches in the ATG Test Match Championship, Group Stage. As usual for Test Match cricket, Wins = 1 point, and Draws/Losses = 0

Voting will be stopped and counted at 8:00 pm Sydney Time, THURSDAY. Votes after that time will be discounted. If there is a tie then voting will continue for a further 24 hours to break the deadlock.

Please remember to vote for 3 ‘GROUP B’ teams when you have finished voting for your 3 ‘GROUP A’ teams.

As stated before, the winner of ‘GROUP A’ will advance to the Grand Final against the winner of ‘GROUP B’.


MONKs XI
Home Venue: Melbourne Cricket Ground
01. Len Hutton*
02. Arthur Morris
03. Ricky Ponting
04. Graeme Pollock
05. Coilin Cowdrey
06. Maurice Leyland
07. Kapil Dev
08. Hugh Trumble
09. Mitchell Johnson
10. Herbert Strudwick+
11. Curtly Ambrose
12th Alan Kippax


HOWE_ZATs XI
Home Venue: Headingley Grounds
01. Herbie Taylor
02. Mark Taylor
03. Rohan Kanhai
04. Jacques Kallis
05. Denis Compton
06. Douglas Jardine*
07. Clyde Walcott+
08. Malcolm Marshall
09. Maurice Tate
10. Derek Underwood
11. Fred Spoffoth
12th. Corey Anderson


ALDORAINE18s XI
Home Venue: Kotla Stadium
01. Barry Richards
02. Alastair Cook
03. Everton Weekes
04. Vijay Hazare*
05. Eddie Paynter
06. Kumar Sangakkara+
07. Frank Woolley
08. Michael Holding
09. Sydney Barnes
10. Courtney Walsh
11. Lance Gibbs
12th John W. Hearne


OHNOITSYOUs XI
Home Venue: Seddon Park
01. Archie Jackson
02. Sid Barnes
03. Rahul Dravid
04. Charlie Macartney
05. Mark Waugh
06. Garry Sobers*
07. Matt Prior+
08. Mike Procter
09. Wilfred Rhodes
10. Ray Lindwall
11. Andy Roberts
12th. Jack White


POTHAS' XI
Home Venue: The Oval
01. Roy Fredericks
02. Warren Bardsley
03. Hashim Amla
04. Kumar Ranjitsinjhi
05. Frank Worrell*
06. Keith Miller
07. Ian Botham
08. Jock Cameron+
09. Shane Warne
10. Frank Tyson
11. Muttiah Muralitharan


ANKITJs XI
Home Venue: Rajiv Gandhi Stadium
01. Geoff Boycott
02. Vinoo Mankad
03. Ken Barrington
04. Sachin Tendulkar
05. Steve Waugh
06. Patsy Hendren
07. Les Ames+
08. Imran Khan*
09. Vernon Philander
10, Charles Turner
11. Clarrie Grimmett
12th John R. Reid


SAINT KOPITEs IX
Home Venue: Barabati Stadium
01. Herbert Sutcliffe
02. Desmond Haynes
03. George Headley*
04. Stan McCabe
05. Michael Clarke
06. Doug Walters
07. Andy Flower+
08. Fred Trueman
09. Hugh Tayfield
10. George Lohmann
11. Waqar Younis
12th Jack Ryder


As a reminder, the OP was;

The Best of Each Decade Birthday Draft

The idea is to select 12 players, one from each decade. To stop arguments about whether Hobbs was a pre-War batsman, or a batsman from the 1920s, we'll be going by each player's Birthday. The cut-off Birthday dates for each decade are as follows;

>=1980s - After 31/12/1979
1970s - 01/01/1970 to 31/12/1979
1960s - 01/01/1960 to 31/12/1969
1950s - 01/01/1950 to 31/12/1959
1940s - 01/01/1940 to 31/12/1949
1930s - 01/01/1930 to 31/12/1939
1920s - 01/01/1920 to 31/12/1929
1910s - 01/01/1910 to 31/12/1919
1900s - 01/01/1900 to 31/12/1909
1890s - 01/01/1890 to 31/12/1899
1880s - 01/01/1880 to 31/12/1889
<=1870s - Before 01/01/1880

An example of a team, should you be so lucky, would be;

01. Jack Hobbs (1882) - 1880s
02. Herbert Sutcliffe (1894) - 1890s
03. Walter Hammond (1903) - 1900s
04. Greg Chappell (1948) - 1940s
05. Stan McCabe (1910) - 1910s
06. Garry Sobers (1936) - 1930s
07. Adam Gilchrist (1971) - 1970s
08. Malcolm Marshall (1958) - 1950s
09. Hugh Trumble (1867) <=1870s
10. Allan Donald (1966) - 1960s
11. Dale Steyn (1983) - >=1980s
12th. Arthur Morris (1922) -1920s

Each participant has 12 hours to pick their player for the Round. The odd numbered Rounds will be randomised, and the corresponding even Rounds will be in reverse order.

If a participant misses 2 consecutive Rounds then the next participant in the order can make their pick straight away without waiting the 12 hours. If a participant misses 3 consecutive Rounds then they will be assumed to be unavailable and cannot return to the game.

As usual, NO Bradman.

Feel free to join in. Anyone one play, but it's first come first served, so be quick. It would be nice to get 10 to 14 participants.

(If you don't think that the cut-offs for each decade are quite right then please let me know before we start)

Cheers - Watson

 

[watson]

(I hope to God that everything is correct. So much can go wrong when setting up a poll)

PLEASE ENJOY!

 

[Red]

Each player in the team is in the peak form of their career…..
03. Ricky Ponting
04. Graeme Pollock

Good luck suckers!

 

[morgieb]

Tough one. Went Kopite, Pothas and AldoRaine, the first one is the only one I have strong convictions about.

 

[ohnoitsyou]

This is one of the tightest drafts i've ever seen. Couldn't really distinguish the batting at all, but the three i voted for have the (slightly) better bowling attacks.

 

[OverratedSanity]

Good luck suckers!

Not to mention MJ

Pothas' XI my personal favorute though. Such a boss team

 

[ankitj]

Charles Turner in my team is the well known Charlie Turner. Just in case anyone doesn't recognise him.

 

[Magrat Garlick]

This group stronger than group B imo.

 

[AldoRaine18]

Saint Kopite has a brilliant team. I think it will win this group easily.

 

[watson]

A fast bowling attack of Lindwall, Roberts, Procter is extremely strong, especially when it is backed up by 3 left left-armers - Rhodes, Sobers, and Macartney. Then there is Dravid followed by is the genius of Marcartney, Waugh, and Sobers in the middle order - a very nice combination. Add the skills of a specialist keeper and two talented openers, and I think that OHNOs team is the one to beat.

Pothas' team also has a dream bowling attack with three aggressive pace bowlers and two great spinners, if not the greatest. I actually like the openers, despite Pothas' reservations, as they are both dependable and attacking at the same time. The middle order is probably not the strongest on show, but it does bat right down to Cameron, and Warne wasn't bad either. A most excellent team.

The third choice was extremely difficult to make, but in the end I couldn't go past a team with Marshall, Kanhai, and Kallis in the lineup. I prefer an attack with two express bowlers, but there is no doubting the medium-fast skills of Tate and Spofforth. Especially a mid-1920s Tate. Add Underwood and Kallis into the mix and the attack is potent enough. The batting is very strong overall and has a nice blend of defensive and aggessive players. Both Marshall and Tate are handy batsman, so the team effectively bats down to 9. Add the captaincy skills of Jardine and the team would be extremely hard to beat. In the end I chose this side because it is probably the most balanced, with no obvious reliance on either the batting or bowling. It's an impressively blended team from top to bottom.

 

[ohnoitsyou]

A fast bowling attack of Lindwall, Roberts, Procter is extremely strong, especially when it is backed up by 3 left left-armers - Rhodes, Sobers, and Macartney. Then there is Dravid followed by is the genius of Marcartney, Waugh, and Sobers in the middle order - a very nice combination. Add the skills of a specialist keeper and two talented openers, and I think that OHNOs team is the one to beat.

Sheesh Watson, cheers for that, now hopefully everyone else follows your vote :P

 

[harsh.ag]

This is too difficult. Voted for Monk, Pothas and OhNoItsYou.

AldoRaine - In hindsight, I feel stupid for not voting for this side. So I guess that says it all.

AnkitJ - Nothing much wrong here. Lacks chutzpah though, for me. Slightly weak bowling compared to others.

Saint Kopite - Has a very well balanced side. Wonderful side, in fact. Just the lack of a 5th bowler, and again keeping skills in question.

HoweZat's XI - My biggest problem with this side was the wicket-keeper. Can't expect Walcott to handle the mad skills of Underwood and Spofforth. Plus not a big fan of bowlers like Tate. Tough batting line up. Ideal 4th innings line up.

 

[Coronis]

Went with Monk, Aldoraine and Ohno. Aldoraine's has just a few question marks for me over the batting order, but Richards/Weekes/Sanga says it all.

 

[kyear2]

This is too difficult. Voted for Monk, Pothas and OhNoItsYou.

AldoRaine - In hindsight, I feel stupid for not voting for this side. So I guess that says it all.

AnkitJ - Nothing much wrong here. Lacks chutzpah though, for me. Slightly weak bowling compared to others.

Saint Kopite - Has a very well balanced side. Wonderful side, in fact. Just the lack of a 5th bowler, and again keeping skills in question.

HoweZat's XI - My biggest problem with this side was the wicket-keeper. Can't expect Walcott to handle the mad skills of Underwood and Spofforth. Plus not a big fan of bowlers like Tate. Tough batting line up. Ideal 4th innings line up.

Walcott kept to Ramadin and Valentine, think he would do just fine.

 

[ankitj]

AnkitJ - Nothing much wrong here. Lacks chutzpah though, for me. Slightly weak bowling compared to others.

Not getting enough credit for having Grimmett IMO, one of the best few spin bowlers ever. Imran being an all rounder gets underrated as a bowler. He is as good as any leader of any pace attack in this draft.

 

[watson]

Not getting enough credit for having Grimmett IMO, one of the best few spin bowlers ever. Imran being an all rounder gets underrated as a bowler. He is as good as any leader of any pace attack in this draft.

The leading teams - Monk, Ohno, Pothas, St Kopte - have a couple of key factors in common;

1. A pair of genuinely fast bowlers to open the bowling;

Monk = Ambrose + Johnson
Ohni = LIndwall + Roberts (or Procter)
Pothas = Tyson + Miller
St Kopite = Trueman + Waqar

2. A line-up of attacking batsman;

Monk = Morris(?) + Ponting + Pollock + Kapil Dev
Ohni = Barnes + Macartney + M. Waugh + Sobers
Pothas = Fredericks + Bardsley + Miller + Botham
St Kopite = Haynes(?) + Headley (?) + McCabe + Clarke + Walters

IMO these two factors combined win more votes than any other considerations, although things like a good keeper and a good spinner etc are obviously also important. But at the end of the day, I don't think that you get away with not having a bevy of fast bowlers and fast batsman.

It's just an observation of mine Ankitj, so I could be wrong.

 

[Saint Kopite]

Had a really tough time choosing between Monk, Howe, Aldo, Pothas and OhNoItsYou. But ultimately voted for Monk, Howe and Aldo.

Monk's batting line-up is scary. Think he could have picked someone better than Mitch but its a great team otherwise. Love Aldo's bowling line-up of Holding, Barnes, Walsh and Gibbs and his top order. Had a tough time choosing between Howe and Pothas for the final spot but as of now I am edging towards Howe. Pothas has the best bowling line-up in the draft. Murali and Warney bowling together would be some sight. But, I feel his top order ain't as good as the others and considering the quality of fast bowlers at display, it goes slightly against him. Someone like a Hobbs or Hutton or Sutcliffe alongside Fredericks or a number three like Sir Viv or Lara or Ponting or Dravid instead of Amla, I think he would have been best side in this group. On another day, I might have chosen three other teams as there ain't much difference between any of the sides in terms of quality.

 

[ankitj]

It's just an observation of mine Ankitj, so I could be wrong.

No that's fine. I did not do a great job in this draft I am aware.

 

[watson]

This Group is beautifully poised with about 12 hours of voting time left. Gripping stuff!

 

[watson]

After 4 days of voting as planned, it seems fair to award the ATG Test Championship to POTHAS' team. Congratulations!

Commiserations to Monk whose awesome batting lineup allowed him to run very close second. To the others, well Drafted, and better luck next time!

(I'll post the Grand Final voting thread later this evening so we'll all be done and dusted in under a week)