Team @Skills / @anant
The batting
Opening the batting we have according to many one of the greatest openers of all time - Jack Hobbs. Named as one of the XI Wisden Crickets of the 20th century & has racked up runs in a long-ass career that was disrupted by WWI. Partnering him is one of the modern greats & one the very best openers post Gavaskar. Graeme Smith is tough bastard & was the leader of the SA team that eventually became the best team team in the world. A 4th innings average of 51 tells you everything you need to know about Smithy.
Following them you have Ken Barrington who has the 3rd highest career batting average of anyone with more than 6000 runs. His lowest average in any country he played in was 44. You'd think his overall career batting of 58 is freakish but the man averages 74 at no. 3 along 13 of his 20 centuries coming at 1 down. Following that you have Steve Smith at 4 - the sandpaper man. A modern great and a statistical outlier in current cricket with his average of 62. Smith can and has carried limp middle orders for the last decade for Australia, now imagine what he can do with the support he has in my team. Then we have following them another freakish outlier statistical outlier in cricket - Graeme Pollock. Another 60+ averaging batsman in this team.
Then if that's not enough we have Clyde Walcott coming in at 6. Now some of you might get offended seeing Walcott at 6 - but that's before you remember Walcott's greatest ever inning was played coming in at 6 at Lords to score 168* in WI historic first win in England.
What I've assembled here is a team of statistical outliers. Go to cricinfo, sort all time batsman by averages and my lads feature among them.
The lower middle order is a madness. Walcott, Imran Khan, R Ashwin & Shane Warne come in at 6,7, 8 & 9 with excellent batting records- considering they've batted their careers in positions where you could be required to see off the new ball, shepherd the tale or do a full on recovery mission. Shane Warne is arguably the best batsman without a test century.
Andy Roberts also knew his way around at a bat too, with 3 test half centuries. We're DEEP.
The bowling
Do I really need to say much here? I have Glenn McGrath & Imran Khan opening the bowling for me, followed up by another legend in Andy Roberts. Then I have Shane Warne & Ravichandran Ashwin ripping it up on a dustbowl.
The elephant in the room
- Now some of you may look at our team and say it is a bit incestuous to play both McGrath & Warne. But we are paying a 2-vote penalty for it.
- This draft for me and @anant has been a work of passion and it would've been disingenuous in the end to not give the people the best team we could've possibly drafted.
- Raees tried to take us out in the first round also using 2-players who also played together, and we took on the chin like the top guys we are.
- Ultimately, we've drafted a team which we'd genuinely be excited to watch and this is what we've delivered.
Why we win?
- Top 6 are all studs. Nothing else to be said.
- Deep as feck lower order just got deeper, means the top order can bat without any worries.It's going to be a huge job for anyone to bowl us out.
- 2 genuinely great spin bowlers on a dustbowl is devastating & gives us the maximum opportunity to get the wickets we need to win. The off-spin/leg spin option also involves a lot of variation and challenge.
- 3 pace bowlers with excellent records in Asian type pitches.
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Team @crappycraperson
Batting
All time great openers, rock solid middler order. Even the lower order is exceptionally strong with respectable averages for those positions.
- Gavaskar is IMO definitely the best test opener of all time. Some will root out some other names with better averages etc but when you bring in the context of him facing the best pace attack of all time (Windies one) in his prime as an opener and having this record against them - 13 hundreds, 7 fifties at an average of 65.45, in Windies itself he averages 70 with 7 hundreds and 4 fifties. GOAT Opener NQAT.
Leonard Hutton is his partner up top and only other contender for the best opener of all time. His number speaks all you need to know.
- GOAT batsman
Sachin Tendulkar anchors the middle order. Especially in spinning conditions he will be the invaluable.
. Zaheer Abbas dubbed as "Asian bradman" remains one of the finest Pakistani batsmen of all time. His average in Asia at number 5 position is 70+. Then there is
Sir Gary Sobers - an all time great who instantly makes any side he graces jump up a level,
he is simply peerless in this draft McCabe is someone who made Bradman envious with his batting ability. McCabe was a rare name to come out of the bodyline series with 385 runs @ 43, McCabe's greatest innings came when the team needed him the most, often on surfaces where no one else was able to get going and made his presence invaluable as a batsman against the toughest attacks. He did all that with incredible style and grace, making him one of the greatest Australian batsmen of all time.
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Doug Walters' record speaks for itself and as an attacking batsmen he suits the position of number 7 to a tee. As wiki puts it -
"He famously hit a century in a session at the WACA against England in 1974, where he hit Bob Willis for six from the last ball of the day to bring up his ton. His 250 against New Zealand in 1977 is the highest by any batsman in the number six position." Following him is
Gilchrist, the greatest keeper of all time, a true match winner in any time under any conditions. He is perfect number 8 here since he can play his usual attacking game. For the tail,
Holding proved himself as a useful batsman on many occasions too.
Overall batting line up is as good as it can be. GOATs in Gavaskar, Hutton, Sachin and Sobers. Solid batsmen in Gilly, Abbas, Walters and McCabe. The front 8 in that regard are scary.
Bowling
Bowling is spearheaded by best spinner of all time in
Murali and two of the best Windies pace of all time in
Ambrose and
Holding.
Holding nicknamed "whispering death" was only bettered by his partner in crime Marshall in her era.
Ambrose was one of the best pace bowlers of his time and the fear he inspired in batsman is replicated by few very bowlers in history.
Sobers was very effectual as a spinner,
his bowling record in India where he largely functioned as a slow bowler is 24 wickets in 8 matches at average of 26.75. Then finally
Sachin as a part time spinner would be very handy on this wicket while
Jones provides the 6th bowling option which should not be required.
Pitch factor - Spinning wicket
Skills has a solid side but I believe balance in my team is better along with sheer overflow of match winners in
Sobers, Sachin, Gavaskar, Hutton, Gilchrist, Murali, Holding and Ambrose.
That's 8 match winners in a lineup.
Bowling wise, there is no sense in having 3rd seamer for this pitch so Lindwall was dropped to further strengthen the batting. Bowling wise
Holding and
Ambrose will still make a different on any pitch.
Murali will hold one end after that with
Sobers being the second spinner.
Sachin too will play the role of part time spinner.
Batting wise, the line up is just too strong. Sobers is at 6 since he will play a much more active role as a bowler here but his record at 6 is great as well (53+ avg).
Gilchrist's record in Asia is respectable 37+ average and SCG is 50+.
If he plays Warne then ofcourse Sachin has an amazing record him.(only 3 dismissals in 12 test matches and 20+ innings) and he averages 60+ against teams with Warne in them. I just don't see
