Draft suggestion: "Never met" XI

[ankitj]

So whats's the best possible XI one could make under the rules of the draft? My attempt.

WG Grace
Jack Hobbs
Steve Smith
Greame Pollock
Garry Sobers
-
Adam Gilchrist
Richard Hadlee
Curtly Ambrose
-
Bill O'Reilly


Need to fill 2 spots with quality players.

 

[Himannv]

Frank Tyson did not play with Sobers or Pollock so he can fill in the bowling slot.

 

[AndrewB]

Vijay Hazare for the 6th batsman?

 

[ankitj]

WG Grace
Jack Hobbs
Steve Smith
Greame Pollock
Garry Sobers
Vijay Hazare
Adam Gilchrist
Richard Hadlee
Curtly Ambrose
Frank Tyson
Bill O'Reilly

OK, so we have an XI. Can anyone better it?

 

[randycricfreak]

How about Steyn over Tyson.
And drop Steve Smith for Barrington?

 

[Himannv]

How about Steyn over Tyson.
And drop Steve Smith for Barrington?

I think Barrington probably played against Sobers.

 

[ankitj]

Yeah, it's not easy to stuff the team with ATGs! Steve Smith and Dale Steyn are best players to add from post Gilchrist era. One of them would have to make it to this team.

 

[Himannv]

I found it was challenging to pick 6 top batsmen because many of them seem to have played alongside each other. Picking Sobers means you can't pick any of the top post war players who played around the same time. The 80's is full of top fast bowlers, which means you can only have one of them. Looking back, I felt I was taking a big risk by picking both Sobers and Imran, but on hindsight, it was probably better to pick them and have the best of their eras that picking the second or third best of those generations to gain a few years of respite. The South Africans were key picks for everyone I think because they were the ones who gave us the loopholes needed to fill in the XI.

 

[ankitj]

Yes, I had 4 South Africans in the team! Picking Lillee instead of Hadlee or Imran at that stage allowed me to pick Dean Jones. Useful but not a game changer.

 

[Slifer]

This draft wasn't hard at all. Just pick a few south Africans and that opens you up to pick west Indians, Indians and Pakistanis. Pick Holding and you're free to pick any Pakistani from his time. There's more but this was a cool draft idea.

 

[ankitj]

This draft wasn't hard at all. Just pick a few south Africans and that opens you up to pick west Indians, Indians and Pakistanis. Pick Holding and you're free to pick any Pakistani from his time. There's more but this was a cool draft idea.

I like the Ambrose + Gilchrist combo better. Allows you to pick the greatest wicketkeeper batsman and a tier-1 bowler from overlapping era.

 

[Himannv]

This draft wasn't hard at all. Just pick a few south Africans and that opens you up to pick west Indians, Indians and Pakistanis. Pick Holding and you're free to pick any Pakistani from his time. There's more but this was a cool draft idea.

But there are no South Africans in your side and you didn't pick Holding?

 

[randycricfreak]

I like the Ambrose + Gilchrist combo better. Allows you to pick the greatest wicketkeeper batsman and a tier-1 bowler from overlapping era.

I mean Gilchrist is good,decent pick, but I don't think Gilly is a top pick in a test draft.
Its a bit exaggerated imo, to say Gilly is a top tier pick.

I mean its not like he's the best WK ever, plus there are enough and more keepers who are decent with the bat.
If you can get two top tier fast bowlers, that's a big plus imo.
Holding+Wasim/Waqar+Steyn is a really good combo to have.

 

[Himannv]

I mean Gilchrist is good,decent pick, but I don't think Gilly is a top pick in a test draft.
Its a bit exaggerated imo, to say Gilly is a top tier pick.

I mean its not like he's the best WK ever, plus there are enough and more keepers who are decent with the bat.

He's probably the best wicketkeeper batsman of all time. Picking him is basically like picking an allrounder IMO. He's a first round pick or at least a second round pick just like all the best allrounders.

 

[randycricfreak]

You need to pick two great fast bowlers within first 3-4 picks imo.
Gilly is fine,but definitely not a top tier pick.Not like he's the best keeper ever.There are better keepers than him,so I'd pick Healy,Dujon or Bari in round 7/8 and pick a genuine bat/bowlers till then happily

 

[ankitj]

I discovered Lillee and Marshall never met. One can pick a good team around that. Any other takers for creating a best XI within the rules of this draft?

PS. Seems like we all loved this idea given we are still discussing well after the draft is over

 

[ankitj]

You need to pick two great fast bowlers within first 3-4 picks imo.
Gilly is fine,but definitely not a top tier pick.Not like he's the best keeper ever.There are better keepers than him,so I'd pick Healy,Dujon or Bari in round 7/8 and pick a genuine bat/bowlers till then happily

Ambrose is top tier. Hope you are not suggesting he isn't.

 

[bagapath]

As someone born in the 70s I always wondered what we've missed out by not having a Holding vs Miandad or a Holding vs Zaheer Abbas battle at the test level. This excellent draft idea gave us an opportunity to think through such near misses. Thanks

 

[AndrewB]

I discovered Lillee and Marshall never met. One can pick a good team around that.

Sobers, Warne, Marshall, Lillee, Steyn would be a decent bowling attack.

 

[ankitj]

Without checking, I think Lillee and Sobers have faced off in tests.

EDIT: They didn't