Alphabetic Draft Voting Thread

[stephen]

Please vote for your three top teams:

AndrewB

Jack Hobbs
Arthur Morris
Brian Lara
Everton Weekes
Eddie Paynter
Garry Sobers
Richie Benaud*
Alan Davidson
Bert Oldfield+
Jeff Thomson
Curtly Ambrose

AndyZaltzHair

1 Herbie Taylor
2 Zaheer Abbas
3 Don Bradman
4 Polly Umrigar
5 Dudley Nourse
6 Mahmudullah
7 Matt Prior
8 Chaminda Vaas
9 Dale Steyn
10 Courtney Walsh
11 Sonny Ramadhin

HonestBharani

Herbert Sutcliffe
Eddie Barlow (5)
Jacques Kallis (4)
Stan McCabe (8)
Graeme Pollock
Frank Worrell © (3)
AB De Villiers +
Hedley Verity (7)
Jim Laker (6)
Joel Garner (1)
Neil Adcock (2)

Michaelf7777777

WG Grace
Graeme Smith (*)
George Headley
Greg Chappell
Charles Macartney
Aubrey Faulkner
Les Ames (+)
Wasim Akram
Vernon Philander
Dennis Lillee
Bill O'Reilly

Ataraxia (Milenko47)

1. SM Gavaskar /
2. BA Richards /
3. WR Hammond / o
4. PBH May* /
5. MJ Clarke / pt
6. AR Border / pt
7. APE Knott + /
8. RR Lindwall o /
9. Abdul Qadir o
10. FS Trueman o
11. Waqar Younis o

Pothas

Len Hutton
Michael Vaughan
Viv Richards
Steve Smith
Inzamam-ul-Haq
Kevin Pietersen
BJ Watling
Frank Tyson
Muttiah Muralitharan
Allan Donald
SF Barnes

Red Hill

Bill Ponsford /
Michael Slater /
Younis Khan
Ross Taylor /
Clyde Walcott /
Monty Noble /o *
Adam Gilchrist / +
Ian Botham /o
Wilfred Rhodes /o
Wes Hall o
Glenn McGrath o

Stephen

Bill Lawry
Bob Simpson (5)
Ken Barrington
Rahul Dravid
Virat Kohli
Steve Waugh (c) (6)
Brendon McCullum +
Shaun Pollock (2)
Maurice Tate (3)
Michael Holding (1)
Clarrie Grimmett (4)

Teuton

Victor Trumper
David Warner
Kumar Sangakkara
Javed Miandad
Denis Compton
Keith Miller
MS Dhoni
Richard Hadlee
Mike Procter
Bishan Bedi
Jimmy Anderson

Trundler

Saeed Anwar
Geoffrey Boycott
Ricky Ponting
Sachin Tendulkar
Andy Flower
Warwick Armstrong 5
Jock Cameron+
Imran Khan 3
Shane Warne 4
Malcolm Marshall 1
Andy Roberts 2

 

[stephen]

For those who didn't participate, players had to draft in alphabetical order and the order that the player drafted was based on the last player that they drafted. This meant that there was a tactical non-cricket related decision that had to be made with each and every draft. Sure, drafting Arthur Morris is great, but you were then pretty much last in line for your next pick.

I think this was some of the most fun I've had drafting.

 

[BoyBrumby]

Some seriously quality XIs there.

Bandy's XI looks platinum. The Master opening, dreamy middle order (Lara, Weekes, wee Eddie and Sir Garfield), Sir Richie and Davo to add ballast to the lower middle order and then all the fun of Curtly and Thommo to rough up the oppo. Vote for him then.

Think Milenko's pace battery of Waqar, FS Trueman and Lindwall is something to increase the bloodflow to the loins of any fan of the quick stuff, so had to chuck him another nod.

Finally Pothas's middle order is pretty dreamy and Tyson, Donald, SF Barnes and Murali is an attack for the ages, so he picks up a Garland too, even if his tail has rat-like qualities.

 

[SillyCowCorner1]

AndrewB
HB
Michael

 

[Pothas]

Just messed that up and forgot to vote for Trundler.

 

[stephen]

AndrewB

Jack Hobbs
Arthur Morris
Brian Lara
Everton Weekes
Eddie Paynter
Garry Sobers
Richie Benaud*
Alan Davidson
Bert Oldfield+
Jeff Thomson
Curtly Ambrose

What a gun side. Top class batting with Hobbs and Morris opening followed by a middle order that contains three of the best batsmen in history. Paynter was the Voges of his era but is hardly a weakness. It's a pretty decent tail with the bat and has a lot of variety with the ball. I feel like this attack would work better than the sum off its parts. A+ drafting.

 

[stephen]

AndyZaltzHair

1 Herbie Taylor
2 Zaheer Abbas
3 Don Bradman
4 Polly Umrigar
5 Dudley Nourse
6 Mahmudullah
7 Matt Prior
8 Chaminda Vaas
9 Dale Steyn
10 Courtney Walsh
11 Sonny Ramadhin

Given a huge disadvantage due to his Bradman pick, this side is still quite good. Taylor and Zaheer make a very respectable opening pair. Bradman is worth 2 players alone. Umrigar and Mahmadullah are quite outclassed but Nourse is a genuine ATG who strengthens this team substantially. The bowling attack is really quite good given the limitations imposed by the Bradman pick. Two ATG quicks and one ATVG quick. I have to admit I know little about Ramadhin, but that probably speaks to a slight weakness in the spin department.

Still, a side that I feel would win more than they lose.

 

[stephen]

HonestBharani

Herbert Sutcliffe
Eddie Barlow (5)
Jacques Kallis (4)
Stan McCabe (8)
Graeme Pollock
Frank Worrell © (3)
AB De Villiers +
Hedley Verity (7)
Jim Laker (6)
Joel Garner (1)
Neil Adcock (2)

A strong attack, particularly in spinning conditions. Adcock is a little unproven to be picked as one of only two pace options though. Having Kallis as a backup ameliorates this issue a bit though. Batting wise this is very strong without being the best in the contest. All round a pretty solid side. Less bowling- heavy than I'm used to seeing from hb.

 

[honestbharani]

AndrewB

Amazingly well balanced and solid. Still think best in draft.


AndyZaltzHair

Some unfortunate misses due to picking Bradman, and not a fan of batting people out of position in AT XIs but a very solid side inspite of the disadvantage he got for picking Bradman.


HonestBharani

Pretty good and well-balanced side, I was able to pick but I think its strictly middle of the road for this draft, given the other sides.


Michaelf7777777

Another very good side. Again no obvious weaknesses to spot. Will be tough to not vote for this one.


Ataraxia (Milenko47)

A very solid side but perhaps the 4-6 brings it down a notch compared to the other sides in the competition. Also, I would rather bat Border at 5 than Clarke.


Pothas

Excellent side with the right mix of ATGs and the next level players. Can't see much wrong with it at all. Perhaps second best to AndrewB in this draft.


Red Hill

Again, another very well drafted side but perhaps a little middle of the road given the competition in this draft.


Stephen

Another well balanced side but again, compared to few others, a bit middling.


Teuton

Another very good side, but for this voting, still think its not quite top 3, very close though.


Trundler

Amazing side but perhaps misses top 3 for its 6 and 7 not quite being the same tier as the rest of the sides.



So gonna vote for AndrewB, Pothas and Michaelf7777

 

[stephen]

Michaelf7777777

WG Grace
Graeme Smith (*)
George Headley
Greg Chappell
Charles Macartney
Aubrey Faulkner
Les Ames (+)
Wasim Akram
Vernon Philander
Dennis Lillee
Bill O'Reilly

A great side. Akram, Lillee, O'Reilly make up three of the greatest bowlers of all time and Philander is vastly underrated. With Faulkner as backup this side has close to the best attack you'll likely see in a draft. An excellent top 4 is probably fractionally let down by the 5-7, but only by comparison to a couple of sides in this draft. Still, a really strong contender.

 

[ataraxia]

Ataraxia (Milenko47)

A very solid side but perhaps the 4-6 brings it down a notch compared to the other sides in the competition. Also, I would rather bat Border at 5 than Clarke.

IMO there's minimal difference between the likes of Tendulkar and Clarke with MOBs. Just a thought.

 

[stephen]

Ataraxia (Milenko47)

1. SM Gavaskar /
2. BA Richards /
3. WR Hammond / o
4. PBH May* /
5. MJ Clarke / pt
6. AR Border / pt
7. APE Knott + /
8. RR Lindwall o /
9. Abdul Qadir o
10. FS Trueman o
11. Waqar Younis o

When your team's weakness is Clarke and Qadir you know you've had a really strong draft. Spectacular side really. Qadir the only genuine weakness in what should be close to the favourite for the competition.

 

[stephen]

Pothas

Len Hutton
Michael Vaughan
Viv Richards
Steve Smith
Inzamam-ul-Haq
Kevin Pietersen
BJ Watling
Frank Tyson
Muttiah Muralitharan
Allan Donald
SF Barnes

Another strong side with a crazy bowling attack. Barnes, Donald, Tyson and Murali pretty much cover everything you want in an attack. Vaughan stands out like dogs balls but the rest of the batting is top notch. Watling a very nice choice for keeper.

 

[stephen]

Red Hill

Bill Ponsford /
Michael Slater /
Younis Khan
Ross Taylor /
Clyde Walcott /
Monty Noble /o *
Adam Gilchrist / +
Ian Botham /o
Wilfred Rhodes /o
Wes Hall o
Glenn McGrath o

This is a good side but I do feel the balance is a little out with three genuine all rounders making up most of the attack. Gilchrist certainly helps balance that out though. The batting is good but not exactly special. I can't say its a bad side by any means, but I feel like it would be a very hot and cold side with all of those all rounders in there.

 

[stephen]

Stephen

Bill Lawry
Bob Simpson (5)
Ken Barrington
Rahul Dravid
Virat Kohli
Steve Waugh (c) (6)
Brendon McCullum +
Shaun Pollock (2)
Maurice Tate (3)
Michael Holding (1)
Clarrie Grimmett (4)

Best side in the competition by far. Everyone should be standing in awe at how good it is.

With the Simpson/Lawry opening pair, followed by Barrington and Dravid, by the time Virat and Waugh get a bat the opposition bowlers would have already been bowling for a day. The tail is super strong too, giving Waugh more of a challenge when hunting the red ink. The bowling attack is quite classy, though Tate stands out as the weakness. Not that he was bad by any means but I think opposition batsmen would breathe a sigh of relief when Tate got given the ball to give Holding a breather. Grimmett is a top spinner to complement the three quicks.

 

[stephen]

Teuton

Victor Trumper
David Warner
Kumar Sangakkara
Javed Miandad
Denis Compton
Keith Miller
MS Dhoni
Richard Hadlee
Mike Procter
Bishan Bedi
Jimmy Anderson

This is quite a strong side all things considered. 3 ATG quicks and Anderson means the pace attack of this side is really strong. Bedi isn't quite as good as some of the other spinners out there though. The batting is solid without betting exceptional. Good team.

 

[honestbharani]

IMO there's minimal difference between the likes of Tendulkar and Clarke with MOBs. Just a thought.

Well, I don't agree with that but its not like some outlandish claim. Most of the middle order batsmen in the rung below Bradman can be justifiably considered to have been better than anyone else in that rung. To me, Clarke was closer to KP than Sachin, as in his being a player of great innings than a great player overall.

 

[stephen]

Trundler

Saeed Anwar
Geoffrey Boycott
Ricky Ponting
Sachin Tendulkar
Andy Flower
Warwick Armstrong 5
Jock Cameron+
Imran Khan 3
Shane Warne 4
Malcolm Marshall 1
Andy Roberts 2

This bowling attack is bull****. Great new ball pair in Roberts and Marshall, followed by the reverse of Imran and the leg spin mastery of Warne. Simply nuts. And it's not like the batting is weak either (though I'm sure Boycott could be adequately replaced by his nan). Very strong side overall. Should be a contender.

 

[stephen]

Well, I don't agree with that but its not like some outlandish claim. Most of the middle order batsmen in the rung below Bradman can be justifiably considered to have been better than anyone else in that rung. To me, Clarke was closer to KP than Sachin, as in his being a player of great innings than a great player overall.

Clarke was closer to Mohammed Yousef than any other batsman. Very good most of the time with an absurd year or so.

 

[ataraxia]

Well, I don't agree with that but its not like some outlandish claim. Most of the middle order batsmen in the rung below Bradman can be justifiably considered to have been better than anyone else in that rung. To me, Clarke was closer to KP than Sachin, as in his being a player of great innings than a great player overall.

Yeah, fair enough.

I still think that the MOB area is a fair bit tighter than others; say Hobbs-Morris, Warne-Kumble, McGrath-Lillee, or Gilchrist-Ames are bigger gaps than Viv-Border; with all the combos being a similar number of placements apart in their respective categories.