1. Kepler Wessels (c) – Scoring 2788 runs at an ave of 41.00; dogged opener capable of seeing of the most potent seam attacks as he showed on debut for Aus scoring 162 against an England attack with Botham and Bob Willis. He also averaged 56 vs a Windies side with Marshall, Garner and Walsh. Wessels was an innings builder but even if he failed to score much at times, he'd see of the shine on the new nut to allow others to flourish.
2. Tillakaratne Dilshan (wk) – Scoring 5028 runs at an ave of 41.21; he’s got 80 tests under his belt and the exact opposite to Wessels in batting style. Aggressive and loves playing his shots, Dilshan is well travelled boasting an average of almost 50 in England.
3. Hashim Amla – Scoring 4775 runs at an ave of 50.26; Hash is a genius in the making, if not already. He’s been in immense form since 2009 for SA scoring 3733 runs at an ave of 59.25 and 12 hundreds since then.
4. Younis Khan (vc) – Scoring over 6500 runs at an ave of 51.69 with 20 centuries; Younis is a modern Pakistan great. He’s known for being a fighter when the chips are down and is known for his rearguard specialties. A master of the 4th innings, could be vital against a potent bowling attack.
5. Thilan Samaraweera – Having scored over 5000 runs at an ave of 51.29; Samaraweera is mister dependable and a mainstay in the Sri Lanka line up. His main strength is his patience which wears bowlers down. His 2 recent centuries in South Africa is testament to his determination.
6. Andrew Symonds – Scoring 1462 runs at an ave of 40.61; Symonds provides an attacking option with gusto after a line-up featuring sturdy batsmen. A brilliant fielder and decent enough part time bowler, capable of the all-important ‘partnership breaking’ ball.
7. Tim Bresnan – The one risky pick in the line-up with only 15 tests, Bresnan does provide a much needed balance to the side having scored 3 50s and taken 56 wickets at 28s; between Tim and Strang (12th man), they provide good options to balance the side depending on opposition.
8. Brett Lee – Having taken 312 wickets at 30s, Brett was just short being a great due to his injury concerns. At his best though, Lee took 58 scalps (shortly after McGrath’s retirement, 07/08) at 21s allowing Australia to still dominate. Capable of bowling at 150clicks with outswing with the new ball and reverse swing (to right hander) with the older ball, he’s a dependable wicket taker at his best. Having scored 5 50s and averaging 20.15 with the bat, he’s a great lower order batsman to have.
9. Dale Steyn - My frontline opening strike bowler. With 272 wickets at 23s and taking a wicket every 41 balls, Dale is devastating, and bar any serious injuries will certainly surpass other SA fast bowling greats to become the best from SA. He can swing the ball both ways, and lift his pace to 150clicks when needed. His accuracy is his strongest feat.
10. Muttiah Muralitharan – errr...800 wickets at 22s, 67 5w hauls, 22 10w hauls on all kinds of pitches against all kinds of batting lineups.
11. Ian Bishop – The teams other main opening strike bowler, Bishop took 161 wickets at 24s and strike rate of 52. With a high side on action, he had pace and could move the ball of the seam. He got steep bounce from just back of a length and could really upset batsmen. Unfortunately for him, his career was cut short with injuries, else we’d be talking of the great trio of Walsh, Ambrose and Bishop today.
12th man: Paul Strang over since he's an agile fielder
Strengths:
Arguably the best pace attack in the draft with Steyn, Bishop and Lee supplemented with Bresnan. Murali needs no introduction and he gives me my main strike option alongside Steyn and Bishop. Murali can bowl for ages and with Bresnan as 5th bowler, I can use my quicks very effectively in burst of blistering pace. Symonds can assist if need be but I don't foresee the need. My opening batting pair is solid and proven openers at test level, especially Wessels who's record shows that he could face the fiercest pace attacks in the world. Whilst Dilshan's average goes down when he's kept, we should not lose sight of the fact that over a 5 match series there will be times that I bat first, and if that's the case then keeping will have absolutely NO effect on his batting. Dilshan can take the game away from RI in one session if he gets going. The middle order oozes class with Amla, Khan and Samaraweera. Amla has been scoring runs for fun against all kinds of attacks since 2009 at averages of 60. Khan is a fighter, an accumulator and provides valuable leadership to assist Wessels with captaincy issues. Thilan can occupy the crease for long periods and shows sheer grit when bats. Let's dispel one myth very very quickly, Thilan Samaraweera has sorted his main issues against fast bowling on bouncy pitches. I've witnessed it first hand when in the most recent tour in SA where he had to face a great pace attack on bouncy wickets, he scored 2 centuries as Steyn and co toiled in the sun to remove him. He along with Khan have been shown to be masters of batting with the tail. With Symonds and Bresnan at 6 and 7 I have 2 aggressive batters that will accelerate the scoring if needed. They will mostly be batting with the likes of Thilan and Younis anchoring on the other end allowing them to wield their blades when the ball's there to hit.
I have the middle order capable of dealing with his spin and the top order to deal with his pace. Even if Dilshan doesn't come off, I'd bet on Wessels and Amla to bat looooooooong and make McGrath and co toil hard.
RI's main strength is his top 3 batsmen, Smith, Sehwag and Sachin. However, I'd wager I could get Sehwag out pretty quickly with the pace attack I have. In fact, the fact that I have Steyn, Bishop and Lee can get me into the middle order pretty quickly. Tendulkar vs Murali is huge in the context of the match and both have had success vs the other, but I'll note, Murali has dismissed Tendulkar 8 times out of 19 innings.
And to stop the blatant lying that's been going in some matches (
) I will post what I perceive my weaknesses to be.
Weaknesses:
I concede, Dilshan as WK is a liability. I admit I thought he played more as wk in tests. However, he's a very agile fielder and I have great slip fielders in the likes of Wessels, Khan and co to make up for any mishaps. Also, I do know Bresnan is a risk as he's not played that much, but I do believe he can add to the team. Bresnan will be employed as a batsman at 7 who can bowl.
