ODI Auction Draft QF #3 - anant vs 12 Oz

[crappycraperson]

Please adjudicate as to which team will win over a 3 match series with a match each on following pitches -

#1 Flat pitch - Batting paradise, nothing for bowlers.
#2 Good batting pitch with assistance for seamers/pacers - Reasonably good surface for batsmen; fast bowlers can exploit some movement off the pitch with new ball along with reasonable bounce; no particular assistance for slow bowlers or spinners.
#5 Good bowling pitch for spinners/slow bowlers: spinners will be get assistance throughout the match; pacers will not get any assistance; batsmen will have to dig deep to make runs against spinners.

Team anant

Pitch 1-	Pitch 2- good batting with seamer assistance	Pitch 5 - spin friendly
Hayden	Hayden	Hayden
Watson	Watson	Watson
Ponting (capt)	Ponting (capt)	Kallis
Sangakkara	Sangakkara	Sangakkara
Matthews	Kallis	Matthews
Miller	Matthews	Miller
Jadeja	Miller	Jadeja
Kapil Dev	Kapil Dev	Kapil Dev (capt)
Akram	Akram	Akram
Narine	Narine	Narine
Boult	Boult	Boult

Team 12OunceEpilogue

1- Adam Gilchrist wk
2- Sourav Ganguly c
3- Shakib Al Hasan
4- Mahela Jayawardene
5- Mohammad Yousuf
6- Ben Stokes
7- Yuvraj Singh
8- Mohammad Amir
9- Brett Lee
10- Dennis Lillee
11- Lasith Malinga

 

[crappycraperson]

Team anant

Player	Batting Average	S/R	Bowling Average	Bowling S/R	Economy	Comments
Hayden	43.8	78.96				ICC ODI Player of the year 2007
Watson	40.54	90.44	31.79	38.4	4.95	Batting average 45.14 as opener at S/R of 91.69
Ponting (capt)	42.04	80.39				Part of the ODI Team of the year 5 times from 2004 to retirement
Sangakkara	41.99	78.86				Among the only 3 players to have scored 1000+ runs in 4 consecutive years
Kallis	44.36	72.89	31.79	31.79	4.84	Highest difference in batting and bowling average for any player who has bowled in atleast 60 innings
Matthews	41.94	83.32	33.35	43.2	4.62	5th highest difference in batting-bowling average among players who have scored 1000+ runs and taken 100+ wickets
Miller	40.38	100.62				Among the 5 players who have a S/R of >100 and average >40
Jadeja	31.88	85.96	36.57	44.7	4.89	Got Sachin run out in that Hyderabad Innings, so won't write anything positive about him
Kapil Dev	23.79	95.07	27.45	44.2	3.71	Among handful of players who averaged 20+ with bat and less than 30 with the ball
Akram	16.52	88.33	23.52	36.2	3.89	The most successful pace bowler in ODI history, MOTM in 1992 WC final
Narine	11	82.31	26.46	38.4	4.12	Among 7 spinners who have a S/R<40, Average<30 and Economy <4.5
Boult	9.35	74.64	25.29	30.1	5.03	Part of ODI Team of the year on 3 occassions

Batting

Openers

Opening the batting for me would be a left hand right hand opening combination in Watson and Hayden. Both average close to 45 as openers and can pace their innings to perfection. Watson would assume the role of attacking in the powerplay overs while Hayden will just give him support from the other end.

Middle Order and Lower Middle Order

In Ponting, Kallis and Sanga, we have close to 40k ODI runs, 72 centuries, 261 half centuries and each of them has an incredible record of scoring a 50+ score once every 3-3.25 games.

Depending on pitch, the lineup would vary. On flat pitch, Kallis would sit out (as Ponting is more lethal here) whereas Ponting would sit out on a spinning track (Kallis averages 47 in India, Ponting 39.45 in India). On the faster track both shall play at the expense of Jadeja.

The guy replacing them would be Angelo Mathews. A player who averages 51.08 when batting at #5, and he averages a whopping 121.6 in India after playing 11 games. I’m not expecting Mathews to come in before the 35-40th over, like I said in the previous game, as he has Sanga and atleast one of Ponting and Kallis coming in before him.

Next in would be David Miller, who has an incredible S/R of 100.62 and averages 40+ despite scoring at such a rate.

Considering my MO will last till 40-42nd over irrespective of the bowling attack thanks to them being technically solid players, Miller can pair up with Mathews/Jadeja and go Boom Boom in the last few overs. Even if we do lose a wicket here, at #8 will come a very capable batsman in Kapil Dev. Captained the Indian side to the unlikeliest of WC wins in 1983, Dev is the only player who had a S/R of 90+ among all players who scored 1500+ runs and played their entire career before the turn of the century.

We have Wasim Akram coming in next, who might not have fulfilled his batting potential in ODIs, but still has 6 half centuries to his name.

Narine, while not having a great ODI record, has ability to hit the boundaries required as well in the worst case scenario.

Bowling

It would be an insult to introduce the greatest fast bowler in ODI history- Wasim Akram. The player who won Man of the match in the 1992 WC final and the only pacer to reach the 500 wicket mark.

In Trent Boult we have one of the most feared ODI bowlers of this generation. A brilliant disciplined bowler who can swing the ball both ways even on the most unresponsive pitches (This bit is by cricinfo and I seriously don’t know a lot about him as I just watch WC matches here and there). He’s played a significant role in taking New Zealand to two consecutive WC finals and could have won NZ the WC as well had the English feckers not had all the luck in the world.

On the pace bowling department front, we also have Kapil Dev who was one of the most disciplined bowlers of his generation and had lethal out-swingers

If that’s not enough, we can always call Kallis – arguably the greatest allrounder in ODI history (refer comments in the table) and Watson along with Mathews as well

On the spin department front, we have Narine – a bowler whose economy rate is just 4.12 in times when even an economy rate of 5 is considered pretty good! He can stop the flow of runs against the finest of batsmen and force the batsmen to make mistakes under such pressure.

Lastly, we have Sir Jadeja – a player who is handy with both bat and bowl. Can score runs at a great pace and can take wickets of both opponents as well as teammates!

Why I win

Bowling Variations- We have all sorts of bowlers – left arm, right arm, guys who can swing, guys who possess raw pace, spinner against whom batsmen still struggle and 4 of the finest all rounders in the game to help the team out. Considering Akram’s 46% of total wickets are top order batsmen, Boult’s 45% of total wickets are top order batsmen, Dev’s 40% wickets are top order batsmen, I’d expect his middle order exposed fairly soon. Compare this to 12Oz’s bowlers – 41% for Lillee, 46% Lee, 41% Malinga, and we have a clear advantage.

Openers – I get that Ganguly and Gilchrist were great openers, but they aren’t as good as mine. Statistically, its not even a competition, and even if we do the eye test, Gilchrist just wasn’t that consistent all things considered and Ganguly had a fair few weaknesses. With 2 short balls allowed in an over, I believe he can be dismissed early.

Batting Discipline – Even if I take into account the fact that 12Oz has Lillee, Malinga and Lee, we have some of the best batsmen of all time in our ranks to tackle them. Our scoring rate wouldn’t be high, but even if we can score at 4.5-5 RPO against them and not lose wickets, we can accelerate against the likes of Yuvraj, Shakib, Srinath/Amir/Holder as they aren’t exactly tough to handle.

With his 2 openers gone, he has to rely on just Yousuf to take the side to a decent total – Jaya, as much as I like him- averaged 33 in ODIs. Stokes, Yuvraj, Shakib aren’t exactly the guys you want on the pitch before the 30-35th over.

Spinners – Before into the stats I was quite certain that the spinners in this competition would rank like Shakib>Narine>Jadeja>>Yuvraj.

However, Shakib’s stats seem to be heavily padded due to the games that these guys play vs Zimbabwe, Ireland and other associate nations, along with the fact that most of the games he’s played were at home. If we exclude the associate countries, Shakib’s average goes from a very convincing 30.21 to 37.74 (which is what Jadeja averages vs test playing nations btw). Narine, meanwhile averages 26.56 vs test playing nations.

Captain – having 2 of the greatest ODI captains of all time and 4 players who have won multiple WCs should definitely help with the mentality. The winning mentality in my side and the experience of big games would help my side get over the line in crunch situations – having cnuts in Ponting and Hayden will also help.

Team 12 OunceEpilogue

Batting


Adam Gilchrist wk L-
Innings: 287 Runs: 9619 Avg: 35.89 S/R: 96.94 50s- 55 100s- 16

Sourav Ganguly c L-
Innings- 311 Runs- 11363 Avg- 41.02 S/R- 73.71 50s- 72 100s-22

Shakib Al Hasan L-
Innings: 194 Runs: 6323 Avg: 37.86 S/R: 82.75 50s- 47 100s- 9

Mahela Jayawardene R-
Innings: 448 Runs: 12650 Avg: 33.37 S/R: 78.96 50s- 77 100s- 19

Mohammad Yousuf R-
Innings: 273 Runs: 9720 Avg: 41.71 S/R: 52.39 50s- 64 100s- 15

Ben Stokes L-
Innings: 81 Runs: 2682 Avg: 40.63 S/R: 93.94 50s- 20 100s- 3

Yuvraj Singh L-
Innings: 278 Runs: 8701 Avg: 36.55 S/R: 87.67 50s- 52 100s- 14

Mohammad Amir L-
Innings: 30 Runs: 363 Avg: 18.15 S/R: 81.75 50s- 2

Brett Lee R-
Innings: 110 Runs: 1176 Avg: 17.81 S/R: 83.58 50s- 3

Dennis Lillee R-
Innings: 34 Runs: 240 Avg: 9.23 S/R: 75 50s- 1

Lasith Malinga R-
Innings: 119 Runs: 567 Avg: 6.83 S/R: 74.5 50s- 1


Bowling


Brett Lee R-
Matches-221 Wkts-380 Avg-23.36 SR-29.4 4w-14 5w-9

Lasith Malinga R-
Matches-226 Wkts-388 Avg-28.8 SR-32.3 4w-11 5w-8

Dennis Lillee R-
Matches-63 Wkts-103 Avg-20.82 SR-34.8 4w-5 5w-1

Mohammad Amir L-
Matches-61 Wkts-81 Avg-29.62 SR-37.1 4w-1 5w-1

Shakib Al Hasan LO-
Matches-206 Wkts-260 Avg-30.21 SR-40.4 4w-8 5w-2

Yuvraj Singh LO-
Matches-161 Wkts-111 Avg-38.68 SR-45.4 4w-2 5w-1

Sourav Ganguly R-
Matches- 311 Wickets- 100 Avg- 38.49 S/R- 45.61 4w-1 5w-2

Ben Stokes R-
Matches-95 Wkts-70 Avg-41.71 SR-41.6 4w-1 5w-1

• Superb openers who get us going
• Solid middle order to keep us ticking
• Shakib is promoted to 3 where he starred recently for his country
• Game-changer in Stokes at 6, ahead of a Yuvraj able to take the shackles completely off in a finishing role
• Long batting with Amir and Lee

• Fantastic opening pair in Lee and Lillee
• Great change in Malinga and a fine modern day left hand quick in Amir. Great death bowling from Malinga
• Top class modern offie in Shakib
• Some fine bowling options outside of the core bowlers in Yuvraj, Dada and Stokes

 

[crappycraperson]

@anant @12OunceEpilogue

 

[12OunceEpilogue]

That's a great team @anant , you've done a fine job reenforcing and have addressed your weaknesses from Round 1 well. However...

Akram 46%, Boult 45% and Kapil 40% of wickets v TO against Lee 46%, Malinga 41% and Lillee 41% leaves you with a clear advantage in frontline bowling? Can't see it myself, plus you don't have a fourth quick of the quality of Amir, though I like Kallis and Mathews just fine as support bowlers. Amir is down in your write-up as a 'not exactly tough to handle' also-ran, which I find hugely unfair for one hell of a threatening left arm quick who has come back from a stupid self-inflicted layoff and an illness more recently to carry his country's fast bowling more or less single-handed. In terms of variations overall I'm happy to concede you perhaps have more variety of possible deliveries but I'm satisfied with the threat I carry across 50 overs. I have plenty of pace and skill myself, plus Malinga who is a variation in himself with his action and brutal late swinging yorkers.

Meanwhile you're spinning it that your openers will be batting as long as they like while mine may as well not bother putting their pads on before they go out to the middle. You have a superb pair but I'm not having for a second Gilly and Dada will be bounced out cheaply, they're both big game players who ironed out their weaknesses as they went along (Ganguly opened his stance much more later in his career after getting some horrendous treatment from opposition quicks). I could just as easily say we'll exploit Watson's front foot going across his stumps and get him leg before in the first over, and he'll probably waste your review while he's at it!

If you'll be accelerating against Yuvraj, Shakib and Amir I'll be doing the same vs Narine, Jadeja, Mathews, Kallis and Watson, plus the implication Shakib, Yuvraj and Stokes couldn't handle quality bowling early in an innings is absurd. The former two are used to coming in earlier than I have them, Yuvraj many times at number 4, while Shakib shone in the WC one down, making scores in every single game he played at a fine lick. Mo Yousuf is a great no 5, averaging 50-odd in that position, while Mahela is the ideal glue between TO and MO, equally adept at partnering my lefties from the top and Mo (sorry @Himannv).

In terms of spin you have a fine pair, but for me Shakib is the better ODI spinner of he and Narine, regardless of the numbers you've found. Also if we want to talk about padding we should mention the fact you don't particularly rate Mathews as a bowler (he was one of Fiskey's also-rans in your previous write-up) nor as a batsman, but you have him coming in at 5 in two of our games:

Bowling Variations- We have all sorts of bowlers – left arm, right arm, guys who can swing, guys who possess raw pace, spinner against whom batsmen still struggle and 2 of the finest all rounders in the game to help the team out. Add to that, Fiskey’s batting depth is basically till 3 down and that is if I include Matthews in there, whose stats are padded because of number of Not outs (basically comes on for last 4-6 overs thanks to Sanga and Jaya doing the majority of the work). Considering Boult’s 45% of total wickets are top order batsmen, Dev’s 40% wickets are top order batsmen, Ntini’s 50.4% wickets are top order batsmen, I’d expect his tail starting at #5/6 exposed pretty early in the game.

 

[anant]

That's a great team @anant , you've done a fine job reenforcing and have addressed your weaknesses from Round 1 well. However...

Akram 46%, Boult 45% and Kapil 40% of wickets v TO against Lee 46%, Malinga 41% and Lillee 41% leaves you with a clear advantage in frontline bowling? Can't see it myself, plus you don't have a fourth quick of the quality of Amir, though I like Kallis and Mathews just fine as support bowlers. Amir is down in your write-up as a 'not exactly tough to handle' also-ran, which I find hugely unfair for one hell of a threatening left arm quick who has come back from a stupid self-inflicted layoff and an illness more recently to carry his country's fast bowling more or less single-handed. In terms of variations overall I'm happy to concede you perhaps have more variety of possible deliveries but I'm satisfied with the threat I carry across 50 overs. I have plenty of pace and skill myself, plus Malinga who is a variation in himself with his action and brutal late swinging yorkers.

Meanwhile you're spinning it that your openers will be batting as long as they like while mine may as well not bother putting their pads on before they go out to the middle. You have a superb pair but I'm not having for a second Gilly and Dada will be bounced out cheaply, they're both big game players who ironed out their weaknesses as they went along (Ganguly opened his stance much more later in his career after getting some horrendous treatment from opposition quicks). I could just as easily say we'll exploit Watson's front foot going across his stumps and get him leg before in the first over, and he'll probably waste your review while he's at it!

If you'll be accelerating against Yuvraj, Shakib and Amir I'll be doing the same vs Narine, Jadeja, Mathews, Kallis and Watson, plus the implication Shakib, Yuvraj and Stokes couldn't handle quality bowling early in an innings is absurd. The former two are used to coming in earlier than I have them, Yuvraj many times at number 4, while Shakib shone in the WC one down, making scores in every single game he played at a fine lick. Mo Yousuf is a great no 5, averaging 50-odd in that position, while Mahela is the ideal glue between TO and MO, equally adept at partnering my lefties from the top and Mo (sorry @Himannv).

In terms of spin you have a fine pair, but for me Shakib is the better ODI spinner of he and Narine, regardless of the numbers you've found. Also if we want to talk about padding we should mention the fact you don't particularly rate Mathews as a bowler (he was one of Fiskey's also-rans in your previous write-up) nor as a batsman, but you have him coming in at 5 in two of our games:

First things first, you have a pretty likeable team and it was tough to write all that

1st is probably a fair point - however my concern with Amir is just that he's quite inconsistent and he doesn't offer you anything that Lee and Lillee don't (except obviously that he's a leftie which makes things a bit difficult for some batsmen). Pretty good bowler nonetheless.

Another fair point, and I cant say a lot about Dada because he's one of my favourite players. The concern here was Gilchrist, as great as he is, did get out cheaply quite often, and Dada's weakness was so evident that nearly every team bowled one short delivery to him every over.

Narine has a fantastic economy rate btw - 4.12. And the next is a point I was going to write anyways - why is Shakib coming at 1 down! Sure, he had a great WC but we aren't isolating a single tournament while judging the players. The issue there is if I get one of your openers out early, Shakib shouldn't be the man coming in next, as I wouldn't fancy him against Wasim/Boult in the 1st 10-12 overs.

Lastly regarding the Mathews point (which I addressed in this time's write up as well)- I agree that his stats are padded, like those of Shakib, but the context here is important. In the earlier game, I said that he may average 51 odd at #5, but he wasn't having a solid batting before him, which he is having here. Hell, I wouldn't have taken Mathews here if I didn't have these players in my MO.

 

[harshad]

Didn’t Narine get banned for chucking?

 

[Mani]

First things first, you have a pretty likeable team and it was tough to write all that

1st is probably a fair point - however my concern with Amir is just that he's quite inconsistent and he doesn't offer you anything that Lee and Lillee don't (except obviously that he's a leftie which makes things a bit difficult for some batsmen). Pretty good bowler nonetheless.

Another fair point, and I cant say a lot about Dada because he's one of my favourite players. The concern here was Gilchrist, as great as he is, did get out cheaply quite often, and Dada's weakness was so evident that nearly every team bowled one short delivery to him every over.

Narine has a fantastic economy rate btw - 4.12. And the next is a point I was going to write anyways - why is Shakib coming at 1 down! Sure, he had a great WC but we aren't isolating a single tournament while judging the players. The issue there is if I get one of your openers out early, Shakib shouldn't be the man coming in next, as I wouldn't fancy him against Wasim/Boult in the 1st 10-12 overs.

Lastly regarding the Mathews point (which I addressed in this time's write up as well)- I agree that his stats are padded, like those of Shakib, but the context here is important. In the earlier game, I said that he may average 51 odd at #5, but he wasn't having a solid batting before him, which he is having here. Hell, I wouldn't have taken Mathews here if I didn't have these players in my MO.

Gilly is alright there and he would have done his job before goes out, also he's got some good scores against Akram specifically. I like 12Oz opening pair comparatively, I would rate these opening batsmen something like Hayden, Gilly, Dada, Watson in that order.

 

[crappycraperson]

Yuvi at 7 is crazy. I know he has batted at six at times so it is somewhat passable but I would still want peak Yuvi at 5, never at 7.

 

[anant]

Didn’t Narine get banned for chucking?

He had to correct his action. Was passed before just before IPL (<insert a conspiracy theory>) , but meant he had to miss some ICC event.

 

[12OunceEpilogue]

First things first, you have a pretty likeable team and it was tough to write all that

1st is probably a fair point - however my concern with Amir is just that he's quite inconsistent and he doesn't offer you anything that Lee and Lillee don't (except obviously that he's a leftie which makes things a bit difficult for some batsmen). Pretty good bowler nonetheless.

Another fair point, and I cant say a lot about Dada because he's one of my favourite players. The concern here was Gilchrist, as great as he is, did get out cheaply quite often, and Dada's weakness was so evident that nearly every team bowled one short delivery to him every over.

Narine has a fantastic economy rate btw - 4.12. And the next is a point I was going to write anyways - why is Shakib coming at 1 down! Sure, he had a great WC but we aren't isolating a single tournament while judging the players. The issue there is if I get one of your openers out early, Shakib shouldn't be the man coming in next, as I wouldn't fancy him against Wasim/Boult in the 1st 10-12 overs.

Lastly regarding the Mathews point (which I addressed in this time's write up as well)- I agree that his stats are padded, like those of Shakib, but the context here is important. In the earlier game, I said that he may average 51 odd at #5, but he wasn't having a solid batting before him, which he is having here. Hell, I wouldn't have taken Mathews here if I didn't have these players in my MO.

Your point on Mathews is well-taken, that you have a stronger TO to shield him than Fiskey did, but my point stands that you have a batsman you don't rate coming in at 5 on two occasions. Saying 'I’m not expecting Mathews to come in before the 35-40th over, like I said in the previous game, as he has Sanga and atleast one of Ponting and Kallis coming in before him' is well and good but there is not a batsman alive who hasn't gone early, particularly to quality bowling, so saying Mathews will not be in before the TO have racked up a brilliant score so that's ok doesn't wash with me. If you hit adversity Mathews is not the 5 you want coming in to scramble.

Fair's fair though, I have arguably a similar issue with Shakib potentially exposed early with only one, albeit great, tournament to show his worth in that key position. I must concede this isn't for everybody but I had to hold my hands up, admit I lacked a proven 3 and do something a bit out of the box. I was extremely impressed with Shakib's work one down last summer though, and I think he proved he can come in early to make a score against good bowling: he was in with 45 on the board vs New Zealand (Boult, Henry, Ferguson) and battled to 64, in with 23 on vs Starc and Cummins and put on a 79 run partnership with Tamim Iqbal, with 36 on scored 66 v India and with only 8 on the board scored 121 v England. Of course he didn't face Wasim this summer, and as I say I don't blame people for not going for it but I wanted to try it.

Yuvi at 7 is crazy. I know he has batted at six at times so it is somewhat passable but I would still want peak Yuvi at 5, never at 7.

He's in as a pure finisher alongside Stokes and it was important for me to get another spinner in (if you squint and chant '2011, 2011' over and over he almost makes it as a frontliner). In reenforcement I had two players to bring in and wanted a spinner, a quick, a finisher and a 3, so Lillee and Yuvraj out of position but doing a job I'm sure he could do with aplomb was what I came up with.

 

[anant]

Your point on Mathews is well-taken, that you have a stronger TO to shield him than Fiskey did, but my point stands that you have a batsman you don't rate coming in at 5 on two occasions. Saying 'I’m not expecting Mathews to come in before the 35-40th over, like I said in the previous game, as he has Sanga and atleast one of Ponting and Kallis coming in before him' is well and good but there is not a batsman alive who hasn't gone early, particularly to quality bowling, so saying Mathews will not be in before the TO have racked up a brilliant score so that's ok doesn't wash with me. If you hit adversity Mathews is not the 5 you want coming in to scramble.

Fair's fair though, I have arguably a similar issue with Shakib potentially exposed early with only one, albeit great, tournament to show his worth in that key position. I must concede this isn't for everybody but I had to hold my hands up, admit I lacked a proven 3 and do something a bit out of the box. I was extremely impressed with Shakib's work one down last summer though, and I think he proved he can come in early to make a score against good bowling: he was in with 45 on the board vs New Zealand (Boult, Henry, Ferguson) and battled to 64, in with 23 on vs Starc and Cummins and put on a 79 run partnership with Tamim Iqbal, with 36 on scored 66 v India and with only 8 on the board scored 121 v England. Of course he didn't face Wasim this summer, and as I say I don't blame people for not going for it but I wanted to try it.

Ofcourse I concede that there is a likelihood that Mathews may have to come out early, but it's much more likely that he's stay in till the 35th over or so in my case, than was in Fiskey's case. That's all I'm trying to say here.

For the 2nd para, that's the biggest issue I have with your side right now. If you want Gilchrist as opener (who is definitely among the best at what he did), you need a solid 1 down as well. Because, in case Gilchrist plays his standard innings, he'd be back in the pavillion by 10th-12th over. Don't have stats backing that up, but he was the aggressor and he scored runs pretty quick (at S/R of 96), but he averages 35-36. Which means he played 40 balls in an innings on an average. With him being the aggressor and hence more likely to have faced more deliveries, I'm coming to this conclusion.

BTW, in case you had a genuine #3, I wouldn't have been arguing about TO batting at all.

 

[Himannv]

Not a fan of Shakib, Mahela, MoYo, but I think12Oz already knows what I think here. I also think you need a better bowler than Amir at this stage of an all-time draft.

On the other hand, Kapil, Akram, and Boult is a fantastic pace attack and I think Narine will do well also although he hasn't played as many games. Plus Watson is a good bowler in this format as well so the bowling attack seems very well rounded, with Jadeja, Kallis, and Matthews as options on various pitches. Only thing I disagree with in @anant's lineup is dropping Ponting, who I think is the best ODI batsman on either team. And maybe Sanga at 4, although I understand you're better off having Ponting there.

 

[12OunceEpilogue]

Not a fan of Shakib, Mahela, MoYo, but I think12Oz already knows what I think here. I also think you need a better bowler than Amir at this stage of an all-time draft.

On the other hand, Kapil, Akram, and Boult is a fantastic pace attack and I think Narine will do well also although he hasn't played as many games. Plus Watson is a good bowler in this format as well so the bowling attack seems very well rounded, with Jadeja, Kallis, and Matthews as options on various pitches. Only thing I disagree with in @anant's lineup is dropping Ponting, who I think is the best ODI batsman on either team. And maybe Sanga at 4, although I understand you're better off having Ponting there.

I have three, Amir as the fourth fast bowler is not a problem as far as I'm concerned. What I would have liked is a more exalted left arm quick, which is why I hoped everyone would do the decent thing and let me have Wasim for 20-odd mil

 

[anant]

Good game @12OunceEpilogue ! You built a pretty good side - with some of my favourite players of all time in there

 

[12OunceEpilogue]

Good game @12OunceEpilogue ! You built a pretty good side - with some of my favourite players of all time in there

It was closer than I thought it would be in the end. I've learned a lot about auctions these past couple of games, jizzing all my money in the opening exchanges then having nothing to build the rest of my side and reenforce isn't the way to go. I always have fun though haha.

Best of luck in the semi mate, I'll definitely vote for you (unless your opponent is better).