Draft: Best to Never Play ODIs

[VC the slogger]

With over 50000 runs, 2000 wickets and 1000 catches as an outfielder from nearly 1000 first-class matches, Frank Woolley was cricket's ultimate all-rounder prior to the arrival of a certain Garry Sobers. And like the latter, he could also change his bowling style as per his team's requirement from either spin or medium pace, but it was in the former where he truly excelled in addition to being a world class batter who generally entertained crowds with his clean hitting. His philosophy towards batting was to attack at pretty much all times though he also possessed a solid defensive technique, else he might have finished second only to Jack Hobbs on the all-time first-class centuries list seeing as he was out for scores between 90-99 no fewer than 35 times during his career - he still finished 7th overall with a whopping 145 centuries over the course of a 32-year career in the professional game. Most of his knocks at Test level came at a strike rate of above 60, making him one of the fastest scoring batters of his day second perhaps only to Gilbert Jessop and level with the likes of Bradman and Trumper - including 123 off just 139 balls against Australia in losing cause in 1924/25, a Test best 154 aged 42 in quick time against a fairly potent South African bowling attack in 1929, and an equally belligerent game-changing 133* off 215 against Australia in his younger days in 1911/12. It was also on that 1911/12 tour that he smashed the then fastest 300 in first-class history (in terms of minutes) by clubbing 305* in just 205 minutes against Tasmania, a record that was later overtaken by Denis Compton in 1948/49. With a Test record reading 3283 runs at 36.07 with 5 centuries, and 83 wickets at 33.91 with 5 five-wicket hauls he fell only marginally short of the great all-rounder's double of more than 2000 runs and 100 wickets in Test cricket, although that had a lot to do with him playing as a mostly specialist middle-order bat in his latter years. To this day he remains one of cricket's best ever all-rounders, but also perhaps one of its most under-rated ones.


VC's XI

1. Barry Richards
2. Herbert Sutcliffe
3.
4. Graeme Pollock
5. Clyde Walcott
6. Frank Woolley
7.
8. Bart King
9. Ray Lindwall
10. Vince van der Bijl
11. Frank Tyson


@ddrap14

 

[ddrap14]

Time to complete my bowling attack as I have plans for the last two spots that other people are highly unlikely to consider. And while it may make my tail a bit long, I have faith in Jim Laker as a offspinning option. This now means I have five different bowlers, of five different styles, who are all legendary in either stats or reputation (or both in most cases). A true five headed monster.

1. Len Hutton
3. Don Bradman
4. George Headley
6. Monty Noble
7. Billy Barnes
8. Jim Laker
9. JJ Ferris
10. George Lohmann
11. Clarrie Grimmett

@Aislabie

 

[Aislabie]

Frank Woolley

Yep, he was my ultimate wish list playrr to bat five. Not to worry though as I have a really obscure player to go there later.



Learie Constantine

Fast bowler. Gun fielder. Explosive batter. Inspirational leader.

The original trailblazing black cricketer, Learie Constantine was a T20 megastar born a century ahead of his time. It is a pleasure to still be able to select him so late in the draft, and given that my last two players are pleasingly obscure I am now confident that I know exactly how my team is going to shape up.

1. Charlie Macartney
2. Wally Hammond
3. Clem Hill
4. Denis Compton
5.
6. Gilbert Jessop
7. Aubrey Faulkner
8. Alan Davidson
9. Learie Constantine
10.
11. SF Barnes

@ahmedleo414

 

[ahmedleo414]

My next pick Vijay Hazare

1. Sid Barnes
2. W.G. Grace
3. Hanif Mohammad
4. Vijay Hazare
5. ?
6. Denis Lindsay
7. Richie Benaud
8. ?
9. Bill O'Reilly
10. Fred Trueman
11. Wes Hall

@ddrap14 is next

 

[ddrap14]

I have two players lined up, and I'm going to take my wicketkeeper before my other opener because, to be frank, I don't have a backup for him.

Les Ames will be the keeper, as he was a great batsman as well as a keeper of the highest quality. I had a different idea (I can say that at a later time) but his batting wasn't up to the standard I need given the four man tail.

1. Len Hutton
3. Don Bradman
4. George Headley
5. Les Ames
6. Monty Noble
7. Billy Barnes
8. Jim Laker
9. JJ Ferris
10. George Lohmann
11. Clarrie Grimmett

@Aislabie

 

[VC the slogger]

My next pick Vijay Hazare

1. Sid Barnes
2. W.G. Grace
3. Hanif Mohammad
4. Vijay Hazare
5. ?
6. Denis Lindsay
7. Richie Benaud
8. ?
9. Bill O'Reilly
10. Fred Trueman
11. Wes Hall

@ddrap14 is next

Already picked by Nilay..

 

[VC the slogger]

@Aislabie

@NILAYSHAH60's turn next actually

 

[ddrap14]

@NILAYSHAH60's turn next actually

oop

 

[NILAYSHAH60]

Brian Statham
​

Name: Brian Statham
Nationality: England
Job: Hitting the stumps and getting the batsman out bowled

Statham was one such bowler in the 1950's & 60's who got most batsman out bowled in his era and still is 5th in the list of bowlers taking most bowled dismissals. He was someone who always looked a bowling fuller lengths making the batsman play at almost everything. He was quick and didn't really gave enough time for the batters to play their shots. He was someone who made the Cricketing term, "You miss, I hit!!" popular. He could be equally effective when he tries to use the seam of the ball and his jag-backers were the most dangerous deliveries. Brian Statham was a decent man and he seldom bowled the bouncers. He was perhaps the best man to support someone like Fred Trueman. He played around 70 Tests to pick 275 wickets. He played for the Lancashire in the County Championship. He took around 2260 First-Class wickets. Now, that's a massive number!! He also played 15 List-A games and picked up 22 wickets averaging just 21 with an economy of just 2!!! This right arm pacer actually batted left-handed and always contributed useful runs for his team batting in the tail.
​

Nilay's XI

1. Vijay Merchant ​
2. Michael Klinger ​
3. Vijay Hazare ​
4. James Hildreth ​
5. Mithun Manhas (bowls part-time off-break)​
6. Aditya Tare ​
7. Franklyn Stephenson ​
8. Garth le Roux ​
9. Brian Statham ​
10. ​
11. Erapalli Prasanna ​

@Parth D

 

[ahmedleo414]

Already picked by Nilay..

Could've sworn I did a Ctrl+F...

Polly Umrigar instead

1. Sid Barnes
2. W.G. Grace
3. Hanif Mohammad
4. ?
5. Polly Umrigar
6. Denis Lindsay
7. Richie Benaud
8. ?
9. Bill O'Reilly
10. Fred Trueman
11. Wes Hall

 

[VC the slogger]

@Aislabie is up next.. Skippin over @Parth D coz he ain't picking for quite a few rounds now

 

[Aislabie]

Jackie Hendriks

Jackie Hendriks is possibly the first ever victim of inferior keepers being picked over him for their batting.

He was first noticed when, while helping out as a local keeper at a West Indies training session in his local Jamaica, he was the only person who could pick every variation bowled by Sonny Ramadhin. From there, his silken gloves would do the rest.

At the national level he played only 20 Tests, as he had to wait for Walcott and Alexander to get out of the way, then compete with Deryck Murray. All three were better batters - something the West Indies have valued in their keepers ever since Karl Nunes - but Hendriks was by far the best gloveman, arguably West Indies' best ever.

1. Charlie Macartney
2. Wally Hammond
3. Clem Hill
4. Denis Compton
5.
6. Gilbert Jessop
7. Aubrey Faulkner
8. Alan Davidson
9. Learie Constantine
10. Jackie Hendriks
11. SF Barnes

@ahmedleo414

 

[ahmedleo414]

​

A bit of his bio from cricinfo:

"Goddard was a fine allround cricketer: left-hand bat, right-arm medium in-swing bowler or offspinner, and an excellent fielder, especially close to the bat. He first played for Barbados in 1936-37 when he was seventeen, and in 1943-44 he scored a career-best 218 not out when he and Worrell shared an unbroken stand of 502 for the fourth wicket against Trinidad at Bridgetown. He played in all four Tests against England in 1947-48 and as captain at Georgetown and Kingston led West Indies to their two victories in the series. At Georgetown, where England in the first innings were dismissed for 111 on a drying pitch, he took 5 for 31 -his best Test figures - bowling medium-pace off-breaks to a leg-trap. Its both these Tests he opened the batting, but really his place was further down the order."

1. Sid Barnes
2. W.G. Grace
3. Hanif Mohammad
4. ?
5. Polly Umrigar
6. Denis Lindsay
7. Richie Benaud
8. John Goddard
9. Bill O'Reilly
10. Fred Trueman
11. Wes Hall

@VC the slogger for double picks

 

[ahmedleo414]

@VC the slogger missed his time, @VC the slogger has the next pick

 

[VC the slogger]

In traditional 1970s and '80s West Indies style, we're not going to go for a specialist spinner and instead will rely on our all-rounders to fill in the overs of spin when our fearsome pace attack is used up, which I doubt will happen most of the times anyway. So the first of my final two picks shall be Frank Worrell, the first properly appointed black captain of the West Indies who arguably laid the foundations on which they would later dominate from the latter half of his career to two decades on all the way to the early 90s. Other than his inspirational leadership, he was among the finest batsmen of his day rivalled perhaps only by his fellow countrymen Everton Weekes and Clyde Walcott, and a canny left-arm slow-medium bowler who could switch between medium pace or spin, often finding himself opening the bowling for the West Indies before they discovered the likes of Wes Hall and Charlie Griffith. He was the only of the famed Three Ws to finish with a batting average of below 50 in Test cricket, although that had a lot to do with the added burden of leadership which considerably weighed down his batting judging by his figures - 3011 runs at 52.82 with 9 centuries as a non-captain, and 849 runs at 40.42 without a single century as captain during the latter half of his career that he is now more famous for. His 261 at Trent Bridge followed by 138 at The Oval in 1950 led to West Indies' first major triumph as a Test nation, seeing them beat a very strong English side by a convincing 3-1 margin and songs were created in his honor by Calypso artists such as Lord Kitchener that are still sung in the Caribbean to this day. Overall, a total of 3860 runs at 49.48 with 9 centuries, accompanied by 69 wickets at 38.72 with 2 five-fers and a best of 7/70 is a none too shabby record for a batting all-rounder.

To finish things off, we'll go for yet another all-rounder in big-hitting Australian Jack Gregory, who was also among the most fearsome fast bowlers of his day and a key component in Australia whitewashing England 5-0 for the first time ever in the Ashes in 1920/21. His aggressive fast bowling along with that of Ted McDonald struck fear into the hearts of the opposing batsmen with their pace such as no pairing had done in Test cricket upto that time, with Gregory claiming 57 wickets at 24.42 apiece and scoring 997 runs at 39.88 between 1920 and 1924 when he was at his peak as a player. Subsequent injuries, loss of form thereafter along with being cruelly overbowled by his skipper on some absolute roads hindered his effectiveness a great deal seeing his bowling average fall above 30, and his career ended rather prematurely aged only 33 after being bowled into the ground in 1928/29 where he broke down physically and was never again fit to play a game of cricket. A perfect example of wasted potential as a result of poor management, for he had the talent to arguably evolve into an all-rounder mentioned in the same breath as the likes of Imran Khan, Ian Botham and Kapil Dev half a century later. As a batsman, he was no slogger either despite not lacking anything in terms of power and scored his runs quickly but elegantly, becoming the then fastest Test centurion of all-time when he bludgeoned his way to a century off just 69 balls against South Africa in 1921 - a record that would only be broken some 65 years later by the legendary Viv Richards in 1986.

VC's XI

1. Barry Richards
2. Herbert Sutcliffe
3. Frank Worrell
4. Graeme Pollock
5. Clyde Walcott
6. Frank Woolley
7. Jack Gregory
8. Bart King
9. Ray Lindwall
10. Vince van der Bijl
11. Frank Tyson

@ahmedleo414