Draft: The Ashes | COMPLETE

[VC the slogger]

Well, with the Ashes currently going on and my non-Test draft just one pick away from being completed, I reckoned now would be a good time to start this. There have been one or two Ashes drafts on this site a few years back IIRC, but I doubt they've covered some of the more recent series in 2013/14, 2015, 2017/18 where we've seen some truly incredible performances from the likes of Mitchell Johnson, Brad Haddin, Stuart Broad, Jimmy Anderson, Steve Smith etc which would undoubtedly affect any all-time Ashes XIs.

Player selection rules

The rules are quite simple for this one. Only players that have appeared in Ashes contests i.e Test matches between England and Australia starting from the year 1882 are eligible for selection. The first few Tests played between the two countries between 1877 and 1880 have been excluded because that famous obituary that started the legend had yet to be written during this period. And just FYI, the Tests played between England and Australia in the 1912 Triangular Tournament do for all intents and purposes count as Ashes contests.

Also, beware that only Ashes statistics are taken into account for players that are picked in this draft, not their overall Test career records. So I would suggest you think twice before picking someone like Brett Lee (62 wickets at 40.61) who had a woeful Ashes record despite picking over 300 wickets in Test cricket.

Draft guidelines

I will post the ordered draft once I get the sufficient amount of signups. The same rules apply as in other drafts i.e the next person may pick if it's been more than 24 hrs and the person before hasn't picked their player, the player picked is invalid, and that you have to tag the person coming after you. It would also be appreciated if you can post a sentence or two about why you're picking a certain player.

Draft order:

1. @Survivor - Shane Warne
2. @CerealKiller - Don Bradman
3. @VC the slogger - Sydney Barnes
4. @Sinister One - Herbert Sutcliffe
5. @Aislabie - Steve Waugh
6. @blockerdave - Allan Border
7. @blockerdave - Ian Botham
8. @Aislabie - Steve Smith
9. @Sinister One - George Lohmann
10. @VC the slogger - Jack Hobbs
11. @CerealKiller - Glenn McGrath
12. @Survivor - Ken Barrington
13. @blockerdave - Wally Hammond
14. @CerealKiller - Dennis Lillee
15. @Sinister One - Billy Barnes
16. @Survivor - Arthur Morris
17. @VC the slogger - Keith Miller
18. @Aislabie - Jim Laker
19. @Aislabie - Ben Stokes
20. @VC the slogger - Adam Gilchrist
21. @Survivor - Justin Langer
22. @Sinister One - Maurice Leyland
23. @CerealKiller - Len Hutton
24. @blockerdave - Hedley Verity
25. @Aislabie - Brad Haddin
26. @CerealKiller - Mark Waugh
27. @blockerdave - Kevin Pietersen
28. @Sinister One - Charlie Turner
29. @Survivor - Michael Hussey
30. @VC the slogger - Bill O'Reilly
31. @VC the slogger - Ray Lindwall
32. @Survivor - Alec Bedser
33. @Sinister One - Bob Simpson
34. @blockerdave - Bob Willis
35. @CerealKiller - Andrew Flintoff
36. @Aislabie - Charles Macartney
37. @VC the slogger - Ricky Ponting
38. @Survivor - Michael Vaughan
39. @Sinister One - Monty Noble
40. @Aislabie - Jack Iverson
41. @blockerdave - Mitchell Johnson
42. @CerealKiller - Hugh Trumble
43. @CerealKiller - Alan Knott
44. @blockerdave - Simon Jones
45. @Aislabie - Frank Tyson
46. @Sinister One - Jim Parks
47. @Survivor - Terry Alderman
48. @VC the slogger - Stan McCabe
49. @Sinister One - Bobby Peel
50. @blockerdave - John Edrich
51. @Survivor - Jack Russell
52. @CerealKiller - Bill Lawry
53. @Aislabie - Bill Lockwood
54. @VC the slogger - Sid Barnes
55. @VC the slogger - Wilfred Rhodes
56. @Aislabie - Bill Woodfull
57. @CerealKiller - David Gower
58. @Survivor - Jeff Thomson
59. @blockerdave - Michael Slater
60. @Sinister One - Dean Jones
61. @Survivor - Warwick Armstrong
62. @CerealKiller - Stuart Broad
63. @Aislabie - Geoff Boycott
64. @Sinister One - Peter May
65. @VC the slogger - Denis Compton
66. @blockerdave - Ian Healy

 

[Master Bates]

Bob Simpson
Herbert Sutcliffe
Maurice Leyland
Dean Jones
Peter May
Monty Noble
Jim Parks
Billy Barnes
Bobby Peel
Charlie Turner
George Lohmann

 

[Aislabie]

In, naturally

 

[Deleted member 193590]

In

 

[CerealKiller]

In

 

[blockerdave]

In

 

[VC the slogger]

I was just waiting for a certain Barbadian to make his Ashes debut. Now onto business..

Draft order:

1. @Survivor
2. @CerealKiller
3. @VC the slogger
4. @Sinister One
5. @Aislabie
6. @blockerdave
7. @blockerdave
8. @Aislabie
9. @Sinister One
10. @VC the slogger
11. @CerealKiller
12. @Survivor
13. @blockerdave
14. @CerealKiller
15. @Sinister One
16. @Survivor
17. @VC the slogger
18. @Aislabie
19. @Aislabie
20. @VC the slogger
21. @Survivor
22. @Sinister One
23. @CerealKiller
24. @blockerdave
25. @Aislabie
26. @CerealKiller
27. @blockerdave
28. @Sinister One
29. @Survivor
30. @VC the slogger
31. @VC the slogger
32. @Survivor
33. @Sinister One
34. @blockerdave
35. @CerealKiller
36. @Aislabie
37. @VC the slogger
38. @Survivor
39. @Sinister One
40. @Aislabie
41. @blockerdave
42. @CerealKiller
43. @CerealKiller
44. @blockerdave
45. @Aislabie
46. @Sinister One
47. @Survivor
48. @VC the slogger
49. @Sinister One
50. @blockerdave
51. @Survivor
52. @CerealKiller
53. @Aislabie
54. @VC the slogger
55. @VC the slogger
56. @Aislabie
57. @CerealKiller
58. @Survivor
59. @blockerdave
60. @Sinister One
61. @Survivor
62. @CerealKiller
63. @Aislabie
64. @Sinister One
65. @VC the slogger
66. @blockerdave

Draft guidelines

I will post the ordered draft once I get the sufficient amount of signups. The same rules apply as in other drafts i.e the next person may pick if it's been more than 24 hrs and the person before hasn't picked their player, the player picked is invalid, and that you have to tag the person coming after you. It would also be appreciated if you can post a sentence or two about why you're picking a certain player.

Player selection rules

The rules are quite simple for this one. Only players that have appeared in Ashes contests i.e Test matches between England and Australia starting from the year 1882 are eligible for selection. The first few Tests played between the two countries between 1877 and 1880 have been excluded because that famous obituary that started the legend had yet to be written during this period. And just FYI, the Tests played between England and Australia in the 1912 Triangular Tournament do for all intents and purposes count as Ashes contests.

Also, beware that only Ashes statistics are taken into account for players that are picked in this draft, not their overall Test career records. So I would suggest you think twice before picking someone like Brett Lee (62 wickets at 40.61) who had a woeful Ashes record despite picking over 300 wickets in Test cricket.

 

[Deleted member 193590]

Really tough to go first so many great players to pick from,but my first pick will be.

SHANE WARNE


The ball of the century’ that flummoxed Mike Gatting at Old Trafford in 1993, the first delivery he sent down in Ashes cricket, set the tone for a magical career against England that gave him 195 (of his 708 Test) wickets. That included 11 five-wicket hauls and four 10-wicket matches. He even took 40 wickets in England’s summer of triumph . English crowds loved to hate him, but they always respected him. Mind games, endless bowling variations (some announced in the media but later shown to be only nominally different in matches) and the coaxing of umpires were all part of his showmanship and genius.


Next pick @CerealKiller

 

[CerealKiller]

Thanks for gifting me Don Bradman.
37 matches, 5028 runs, average of almost 90. Do i need to say more?
@VC the slogger

 

[Aislabie]

When the guy with second pick bags the Don...

 

[Deleted member 193590]

I have every confidence Warne would have got him

 

[VC the slogger]

Thanks for gifting me Don Bradman.
37 matches, 5028 runs, average of almost 90. Do i need to say more?
@VC the slogger

I would have picked him simply for this great song..

Will post my pick shortly.

 

[VC the slogger]

​

A bowler who could make the ball swing both ways at either medium or fast-medium pace, who could bowl both leg breaks and off breaks, cutters and not to mention a deadly yorker. In fact, Sydney Barnes could make the ball do so many things that it was hard to put a finger on what type of bowler he really was. But one thing was for certain, he was without a doubt the most complete bowler to play for England in any format. Though his Ashes record of 106 wickets at an average of 21.58 from 20 matches pales in comparison to his overall Test record of 189 wickets at an astonishing 16.43 apiece, he still sits quite comfortably at the top among bowlers to have taken 5 wickets or more in an innings in Ashes Tests with 12, ahead of several Ashes greats such as Shane Warne, Glenn McGrath, Clarrie Grimmett who took 11 from a higher number of matches compared to Barnes.

It is equally difficult to pinpoint his greatest performances as there are so many to list - the 5/65 he claimed to bamboozle an Australian lineup containing Victor Trumper, Clem Hill and Monty Noble among others on debut in the 1901/02 Ashes; or the 13/163 (6/42 & 7/121) in a losing effort in the very next Test of the series where he was cruelly bowled into the ground by his skipper Archie MacLaren to the point where he broke down after bowling just 7 overs in the next Test; or even the 7/60 he took against them in a few years later in 1907/08. But if one were to pick a series where he made the greatest impact, it would have to be the 1911/12 Ashes series in Australia where he claimed 34 wickets at an average of 22.88 - the best return by a bowler from either side, including a legendary spell of 5 for 44 at the MCG where he ripped the Australian lineup to shreds by claiming the wickets of Warren Bardsley, Charles Kelleway, Clem Hill and Warwick Armstrong among others to reduce them to a pathetic 38/6, after drinking a full bottle of whiskey the previous night. England would go on to win the series 4-1 and thus end the Test careers of Victor Trumper and Clem Hill, widely considered as the finest batsmen produced by Australia during Test cricket's "Golden Age".

And this was merely the beginning of what remains to date arguably the greatest wicket-taking spree by a bowler at Test level - Barnes would claim a further 88 wickets at an average of 10.68 from the last 10 Tests of his career between 1912 and 1914 before the advent of the First World War, which effectively ended his Test career at a time when he was on the verge of annihilating every bowling record in existence. He was invited to tour Australia again in 1920/21 at the age of 47, but declined after a dispute with the MCC and England consequently lost 5-0 in what became the first whitewash in Ashes history. He played first-class cricket until the age of 57 before finally hanging up his boots in 1930; two years previously he had claimed 7 for 51 and 5 for 67 playing for Wales against the West Indian Test team in a tour match, showing that he was still among the best bowlers in the country.

Playing Role

Barnes will obviously have to open the bowling for my team. The one time he was foolishly demoted to change bowler by England skipper Johnny Douglas in 1911/12, he was said to have deliberately underperformed out of disgust at the decision. And he will most likely bat at No 11, though he is no rabbit with the bat as shown by a gutsy 38* which helped England win by 1 wicket in what was their only victory in the 1907/08 Ashes. ​

VC's XI

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11. Sydney Barnes


@Sinister One

 

[Master Bates]

Herbert Sutcliffe

@Aislabie

 

[VC the slogger]

@blockerdave You're up (24+ hrs since last pick).