Alphabetic draft

[Pothas]

BJ Watling

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

Horrible tail so not entirely happy. Having said that there are plenty of the best players of all time in there and absolutely no need for a proper 5th bowler with that attack. I really enjoy the batting as well, Vaughan the obvious weak link but he was really good as an opener, was worth it to get Richards and Smith.

Two drafts in a row I have taken Smith when there didn't seem much interest in him. I know some people don't like to take contemporary players but I think he has done enough now to be a priority pick when it comes to batsmen.

 

[honestbharani]

Well I guess I can keep Worrell? Thanks for playing nice Pothas.

And sorry about the out of turn pick guys. Just looked at AZH making his pick and my name was next in the order, so picked. Forgot that the rules were a bit different with this one.

 

[Pothas]

I needed a keeper so you were always safe!

 

[honestbharani]

McCabe can bowl useful dibbly dobblers too

So you are saying he was a ​trundler?


EDIT: A sure sign that I am spending way too much time on the laptop with this lockdown. The L is not sitting right on the keyboard.

 

[AndyZaltzHair]

So you are saying he was a ​trunder?

That settles where he was inspired from

 

[stephen]

BJ Watling

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

Horrible tail so not entirely happy. Having said that there are plenty of the best players of all time in there and absolutely no need for a proper 5th bowler with that attack. I really enjoy the batting as well, Vaughan the obvious weak link but he was really good as an opener, was worth it to get Richards and Smith.

Two drafts in a row I have taken Smith when there didn't seem much interest in him. I know some people don't like to take contemporary players but I think he has done enough now to be a priority pick when it comes to batsmen.

I took Simpson for my S pick because I needed an opener and Trumper was the only ATG opener left after the Ss. So I guess it's as much to do with team balance strategy as anything else. If Sobers was available I'd have taken him, but only because he was the complete package.

Smith to me is a top 5 batsman of all time now. He's absolutely a priority pick. I didn't take him in the classic draft because we were only allowed two Australians and so I knew I could leave my Aussie picks to the end and still manage to get a couple of amazing players. So in both cases I avoided Smith because the rules of the draft pushed me to other players instead.

 

[stephen]

So that leaves Red Hill and AZH in that order. Both have one pick remaining.

 

[trundler]

I wanted Smith + Trumper ideally but that was a super long shot so I thought Tendulkar being in the same class as a batsman along with a decent opener would do. I loved how much strategizing this draft involved. Had to keep a tab on everyone's spinners when I decided to leave Warne for my last pick.

 

[stephen]

I wanted Smith + Trumper ideally but that was a super long shot so I thought Tendulkar being in the same class as a batsman along with a decent opener would do. I loved how much strategizing this draft involved. Had to keep a tab on everyone's spinners when I decided to leave Warne for my last pick.

Yeah. The Qadir pick early on really loosened up the market for spinners. What's more, Underwood didn't even get picked and he was on a letter without much competition.

Warne, Murali, O'Reilly, Grimmett, Verity, Laker, Underwood, Benaud, Faulkner make 9 quality spinners with only the top 3 really standing out. And all of them have different initials. What's more, the two best ones are competing with a bunch of other ATG players.

I think the key to this particular draft was finding a way to get tempo on everyone else. Grab an early pick on a letter everyone was going to stop at and use that to springboard into another great pick.

I thoroughly enjoyed this draft too. I found myself planning things out and trying to figure out how to keep my options opened in case I couldn't get who I had planned to get.

I made one mistake early on though, I had planned to draft Davidson but was rushed for my pick and ended up drafting Dravid, which killed my tempo going into the F and G picks and gave me less flexibility later on as well.

 

[Pothas]

I took Simpson for my S pick because I needed an opener and Trumper was the only ATG opener left after the Ss. So I guess it's as much to do with team balance strategy as anything else. If Sobers was available I'd have taken him, but only because he was the complete package.

Smith to me is a top 5 batsman of all time now. He's absolutely a priority pick. I didn't take him in the classic draft because we were only allowed two Australians and so I knew I could leave my Aussie picks to the end and still manage to get a couple of amazing players. So in both cases I avoided Smith because the rules of the draft pushed me to other players instead.

Makes sense. I guess I just never wanted to pass up on the best possible players just to fit the particular rules, guess it shows in the teams we have picked in both drafts. I had no plans to take Smith this time but he was just there, meant I ended up with Vaughan but as I said I think it was worth it.

Big mistake was not having a bowler who can bat, is something I usually always make sure I have.

 

[stephen]

For me, the tightest thing in this draft felt like openers. After S there are no more ATG openers (Warner is closest), while there's tons for other positions. You do have a hail Mary with a couple of good openers in the Ts (Taylor, Trescothick and one or two more) but you don't really want to be stuck with Taylor when someone else had Sutcliffe do you?

Anyway I liked that this involved current levels of strategy and planning and made you pay attention to others. O hope everyone got as much fun out of this draft as I did.

 

[stephen]

Makes sense. I guess I just never wanted to pass up on the best possible players just to fit the particular rules, guess it shows in the teams we have picked in both drafts. I had no plans to take Smith this time but he was just there, meant I ended up with Vaughan but as I said I think it was worth it.

Big mistake was not having a bowler who can bat, is something I usually always make sure I have.

Yeah I was scrambling for pace bowlers late in the draft, and the ones I got just happened to be good batsmen (Pollock and Tate). I do really like drafting Pollock, but I prefer him as my third seamer. I was really hoping I could get Trueman instead of Tate.

 

[honestbharani]

It was a fun draft. stephen. The idea was inspired and certainly made us think very differently to an usual draft. I did let a few good ones slip given how my work has been the past couple of weeks but the idea is a fun one. And I bet when you do the reverse alphabet one, many will already have thought through their Plans Z to A, as it would be. Great stuff with these drafts.


EDIT: While I am very ashamed I let Warne go when I was literally looking for an ATG non-offie spinner who could also bat 8, it did help me get Sir Worrell whom I think has taken my side up a notch than it would have been otherwise, say with a Younis Khan which is what I was gonna go with had I gotten my original W pick (that was Wasim Akram, btw).

 

[trundler]

Yeah. The Qadir pick early on really loosened up the market for spinners. What's more, Underwood didn't even get picked and he was on a letter without much competition.

Warne, Murali, O'Reilly, Grimmett, Verity, Laker, Underwood, Benaud, Faulkner make 9 quality spinners with only the top 3 really standing out. And all of them have different initials. What's more, the two best ones are competing with a bunch of other ATG players.

I think the key to this particular draft was finding a way to get tempo on everyone else. Grab an early pick on a letter everyone was going to stop at and use that to springboard into another great pick.

I thoroughly enjoyed this draft too. I found myself planning things out and trying to figure out how to keep my options opened in case I couldn't get who I had planned to get.

I made one mistake early on though, I had planned to draft Davidson but was rushed for my pick and ended up drafting Dravid, which killed my tempo going into the F and G picks and gave me less flexibility later on as well.

I'm not sure if Cameron was worth it, especially considering I used him to snatch Flower who whilst being a bonafide ATG doesn't uniquely add that much to a side. Still, I got 2 favourites for one and I'm happy with that.

 

[Pothas]

Yeah I was scrambling for pace bowlers late in the draft, and the ones I got just happened to be good batsmen (Pollock and Tate). I do really like drafting Pollock, but I prefer him as my third seamer. I was really hoping I could get Trueman instead of Tate.

I was thinking of Pollock at one stage but knew I had no chance when going for Murali. Could have taken Philander though (did in the classic draft) if he was a 1950s player with those stats people would be scrambling to draft him, we are just very aware of his faults because he just retired.

 

[Pothas]

I'm not sure if Cameron was worth it, especially considering I used him to snatch Flower who whilst being a bonafide ATG doesn't uniquely add that much to a side. Still, I got 2 favourites for one and I'm happy with that.

Chanderpaul the ultimate example of this. Could have had him last pick in the classic draft but what is the point of him at 6 when you have loads of great batsmen before him.

 

[stephen]

I was thinking of Pollock at one stage but knew I had no chance when going for Murali. Could have taken Philander though (did in the classic draft) if he was a 1950s player with those stats people would be scrambling to draft him, we are just very aware of his faults because he just retired.

Philander is quite underrated despite basically doing everything ever asked of him and then some. He was on my list of possibilities but Pollock was just as good with the ball and better with the bat.

 

[trundler]

Tate and Philander are pretty analogous. Decent with the bat, deadly medium pacers in helpful conditions who were stock bowlers away.

 

[stephen]

I'm not sure if Cameron was worth it, especially considering I used him to snatch Flower who whilst being a bonafide ATG doesn't uniquely add that much to a side. Still, I got 2 favourites for one and I'm happy with that.

I'd have shot for Faulkner if if taken Cameron, or at least Davidson. I feel you want to make your weakest picks give you a big leg up on a top player.

Probably my mistake in both this and the classic draft has been to have a side that has been filled with great players but not really with any marquee players who make people go "holy crap that's amazing". Sure, I have Barrington but he's not as ***y as Hobbs. Yes I have Dravid but he's not as revered as Tendulkar. And Kohli is second fiddle to Smith. Simpson and Lawry aren't as widely revered as G Smith and Gavaskar. Pollock, Tate, Holding and Grimmett are definitely not as impressive as Marshall, Imran, Roberts and Warne (seriously wtf, how did you get that Trundler?).

 

[stephen]

Chanderpaul the ultimate example of this. Could have had him last pick in the classic draft but what is the point of him at 6 when you have loads of great batsmen before him.

Surprised he didn't get picked up in this one tbh. Early ATG players help later in this draft.