Draft: Selection: Impossible

[Bevab]

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Every mission requires someone capable of adapting to the situation. Someone who can go ham if the situation demands it or can lay down the most stout of defenses if that is the need of the hour. With that in mind it's time to finally utilize the other mission requirement of mine and opt for....

Abraham Benjamin de Villiers will be the first cricketer without a knighthood to be picked by me but more importantly his astounding versatility is what gets him in here. Whether it was playing one of the more exhilarating knocks of the series in Bengaluru or one of the most famous attempts to try and secure the draw two tests later in Delhi, whether it was excelling in cricket or being a decent at rugby, tennis, golf, whether it was being outstanding in the field or behind the stumps... AB could do it all. Hell, he could even sing!

After a steady start that was followed by a slump, AB's career really took off when he was finally entrusted with a middle order role instead of being shoehorned in as the opener against Pakistan. Since then till the end of his career he managed to average fifty five and this includes a stint where he acted as the keeper for his side. In contrast to established wisdom, AB's average when he was the keeper was a remarkable fifty seven showing that it would have no significant impact on his batting capabilities if he were to be the keeper. His test captaincy stint may have been quite short due to his infamous sabbatical but he isn't here to be the team's captain when we have much better options. His role is to bat in the middle order and play as the game situation asks him to.



Viv Richards
Garry Sobers
AB de Villiers
Keith Miller
Ian Botham

To be honest, I haven't quite decided if AbD should bat ahead of or behind Sobers as I'd like to see where the draft is before making that decision base on how many of my other targets are still available. This is still a big luxury to have so I'm not complaining!

I believe @Paranoid Kendroid has the next pick. Looks it'll be another extended period of having my fingers crossed with my next pick being so far away.


EDIT: Can't bring myself to erase the write-up after having spent time on it so this one stays up as a sign of my folly.

 

[Verified Enigma]

Every mission requires someone capable of adapting to the situation. Someone who can go ham if the situation demands it or can lay down the most stout of defenses if that is the need of the hour. With that in mind it's time to finally utilize the other mission requirement of mine and opt for....

Abraham Benjamin de Villiers will be the first cricketer without a knighthood to be picked by me but more importantly his astounding versatility is what gets him in here. Whether it was playing one of the more exhilarating knocks of the series in Bengaluru or one of the most famous attempts to try and secure the draw two tests later in Delhi, whether it was excelling in cricket or being a decent at rugby, tennis, golf, whether it was being outstanding in the field or behind the stumps... AB could do it all. Hell, he could even sing!

After a steady start that was followed by a slump, AB's career really took off when he was finally entrusted with a middle order role instead of being shoehorned in as the opener against Pakistan. Since then till the end of his career he managed to average fifty five and this includes a stint where he acted as the keeper for his side. In contrast to established wisdom, AB's average when he was the keeper was a remarkable fifty seven showing that it would have no significant impact on his batting capabilities if he were to be the keeper. His test captaincy stint may have been quite short due to his infamous sabbatical but he isn't here to be the team's captain when we have much better options. His role is to bat in the middle order and play as the game situation asks him to.



Viv Richards
Garry Sobers
AB de Villiers
Keith Miller
Ian Botham

To be honest, I haven't quite decided if AbD should bat ahead of or behind Sobers as I'd like to see where the draft is before making that decision base on how many of my other targets are still available. This is still a big luxury to have so I'm not complaining!

I believe @Paranoid Kendroid has the next pick. Looks it'll be another extended period of having my fingers crossed with my next pick being so far away.

Excellent pick, and sublime write-up. But I think it's an invalid pick

 

[Bevab]

Excellent pick, and sublime write-up. But I think it's an invalid pick

I did verify it with @Aislabie . But I’m curious as to why you think it is invalid.

 

[Aislabie]

I did verify it with @Aislabie . But I’m curious as to why you think it is invalid.

The bit I missed was AB going at pick 50; I'm very sorry

 

[Bevab]

The bit I missed was AB going at pick 50; I'm very sorry

Ah my bad, that’s on me too.

Will pick someone else then.

 

[Verified Enigma]

I did verify it with @Aislabie . But I’m curious as to why you think it is invalid.

You even reacted on this post bruhh

Abraham Benjamin de Villiers

My next potential pick is in my opinion the most versatile middle order batsman in Test Cricket. He will easily go straight up in most people's bucket list as one of the most complete batsman of this generation. On top of that he can also keep wickets as and when required. He will be slotted at 5 in my team as a specialist batter as of now, where he is at his best and has a staggering average of 60+

de Villiers is a prime example of adjusting the game as per the situation.

Here is a quick contrast between these knocks of his,
View attachment 291082

Vs such knocks,
View attachment 291081

Barakadi 11:

1. 
   
2. 
   
3. 
   
4. 
   
5. AB de Villiers
6. 
   
7. 
   
8. Ravichandran Ashwin
9. 
   
10. Sydney Barnes

@Supreme General for a double pick

 

[Bevab]

In the spirit of having picked someone like AbD wrongly it is only fair that I try to stick to the same principle and pick someone who happened to have played as both a keeper and a batter. In retrospect, it's undeniable that I may have actually gotten the better deal here now that I think about it.

Meet Sri Lanka's greatest batter, Kumar Chokshanada Sangakkara. Somehow he's still available after over seventy picks and I intend to take full advantage of that. Sri Lankan batters have always had grace in their batting technique but Sanga took that to new levels even by his country's lofty standards. Sanga's career can be firmly split into two phases; the phase where he had to be the team's keeper despite him being one of the team's best batters due to a lack of alternative options till 2nd June 2006 and then the phase where he was finally free of keeping duties with Prasanna Jayawardene superbly filling in that role. His career took off once he finally relinquished those gloves for good with an incredible average of sixty five compared to the still impressive forty six prior to it. There is no doubt that the demands of being the team's number three and the keeper is too much to bear for anyone and it's remarkable that Sangakkara managed to average over forty whilst juggling all of that. Not to worry though since he'll only play as a specialist batter in my side.

His detractors have always had some ammunition for poking holes in his record and I've been on that side until I had my eyes opened (I assure you that it has nothing to do with him now being a draft pick of mine ) so let us go over a few of them.

• His batting record benefited from playing in one of the most friendly eras for batting; while this is true... it's hard to hold it against him, you can only play in the conditions that you get and Sanga made full use of them to the extent that most others of his time didn't. He was the best test batter by averages from 2006-15 and averaged four more than the next best, that is genuine all-time great material right there.
  
  
  
• His record is lopsided and he filled his boots with mountains of runs against weaker opposition; the first point still holds true here, you can only play against those who are willing to compete against you and this isn't a bad thing IMO, scoring consistent runs against weaker opposition is a hallmark of a good test batter too. It's also something that is reflected in the careers of most test batters and Sanga does have strong performances against Australia (in Australia particularly), South Africa, Pakistan and India. If you were to consider his record since he started playing as a specialist batter exclusively all of that improves remarkably and he's even got a good record against England.
  
  
  
• He benefitted from giving up the gloves just as he was entering his prime as a batter which means his record isn't reflective of others who have their early, inexperienced career phases not excluded; this was one of the things I believed in and held against Sanga until I checked his record prior to 2006 when he didn't keep and he averages sixty eight in those thirteen games. That is a big enough sample size to be considered significant and it includes multiple fifties in South Africa, a double century against them in Sri Lanka, fifties in West Indies and a fifty in Pakistan to go with fifties in Australia. This dispels the theory and shows that maybe Sri Lanka should have picked anyone capable of keeping wicket because Sanga would on average compensate for playing a specialist keeper regardless even when he wasn't in his prime.
  
  
  
• He retired just before the late career slump affects a batter; it's a weird accusation to throw against someone with over 130 test games and played for close to fifteen years. As his county form showed after international retirement, he was still good enough to play test cricket and have a solid run output if not the insane output at his peak. Whilst a career average of fifty seven feels a tad too generous, it's hard to see it falling below 53-55 like some of his detractors claim.

Picking Sangakkara does mean dislodging Viv from his number three spot since the former is a classic number three through and through. Conventional wisdom would dictate Viv moving to four but he doesn't have the best of records there. Which opens up the possibility of more exciting and radical options that would have been the result had Viv been playing today....

Viv Richards
Kumar Sangakkara
Garry Sobers
Keith Miller
Ian Botham


@Paranoid Kendroid to continue (in case the previous tag didn't work).

 

[Bevab]

You even reacted on this post bruhh

I claim a Smudge-esque brain-fade moment.

 

[Aislabie]

Kumar Chokshanada Sangakkara

I'd also like to make clear that I'm approving this change to Bevab's previous pick, especially given that (a) it was partly my fault that it happened in the first place and (b) that nobody else had made their new pick based on the invalid one.

Kendroid to pick

 

[Verified Enigma]

Me: what is the maximum possible range between the two picks for a participant?

Aislabie: Yes

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Pick No. 19: @Verified Enigma
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Pick No. 50: @Verified Enigma
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Pick No. 70: @Verified Enigma
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Pick No. 101: @Verified Enigma
__________________________________

 

[Aislabie]

@Paranoid Kendroid has now had over 24 hours.

@Na Maloom Afraad is free to pick

 

[Paranoid Kendroid]

Gerald Bond
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From espncricinfo - "Gerald Bond was an attacking right-hand batsman whose one Test - against England at Johannesburg in 1938-39 - was a disappointment (he scored 0 and took 0 for 16). His moment of glory came when he scored 170 - his only first-class hundred - for Western Province when they amassed 664 for 6 against Natal at Durban in 1936-37."

Also looks like a decent part-time bowler!

​

No Career Runs XI:
01. Ken Meuleman
03. Gerald Bond
04. Shahidullah
08. Vijay Rajindernath
11. Arthur Mold


@Na Maloom Afraad is next

 

[Na Maloom Afraad]

My first non-English pick, and it's Fred le Roux - a man with 93 first-class wickets at 19.75, and not much of a description on Cricinfo, Wisden or Wiki.

Not quite Garth, but I'll settle ig.

NMA's XI

Wally Hardinge
Percy Fender
Derek Shackleton
Douglas Carr
Fred le Roux

@Till Valhalla

 

[Till Valhalla]

Why should I pick so quick when everyone is slow?


because I can miss out on players like these.
G.O.A.T is what you can use to describe him.
He is so good that Sachin feared him and doctored the pitches before he played.

Venugopal Rao

@ahmedleo414

Sorry for delay started the post and got real busy

 

[ahmedleo414]

The Honourable Freddie Calthorpe, once again another War Hero in my team served in the RAF during the great war



My Team so far:

Johnny Douglas
Dave Houghton
Frank Mann
Alan Melville
Freddie Calthorpe

@Yash. you're next