Aislabie
Test Cricket is Best Cricket
Okay so I've looked through everyone's teams so far in an effort to rank them, and things seem to be pretty even for the most part, with a nice mixture of competence and incompetence across everyone's teams.
So, with the twelfth-best team out of twelve, and therefore with the first pick of the Recovery Draft will be @Yash. - He ended up with a team that didn't have any real top-six batsmen, although it does have a decent spin option in Beer, and a keeper in Gibson. It's a well-earned first pick.
With the eleventh-best team out of twelve and the second pick of the Recovery Draft is @Master Bates - Ebrahim, Sajedul and Panesar will each perform batting and bowling roles in the side, but Giffen and McIntyre are dead weight really.
With the tenth-best team and third pick is @blockerdave - Usually someone blessed by the gods of Random.org, this time he has ended up without a proper batsman in his team; Khalil and Sreesanth offer something with the ball, but Gladstone and Rose just about make a spinner if you add them together. And then there's Pope.
With the ninth-best team and fourth pick is @DalePlaysCricket - Mehrab was a decent enough batsman, while Rubel and Crane have both shown enough in other formats to suggest they're not completely terrible. Hutchinson and Aijaz aren't going to set the world alight though.
With the eighth-best team and fifth pick is @ahmedleo414 - Ajit de Silva was a properly gifted spinner when he was sober, while Wally Edwards and Brian Vitori can both do decent jobs in your team. There are still a couple of passengers in Sharif and Slabber, but we all have someone like that.
With the seventh-best team and sixth pick is @Aislabie - I feel like it's a pretty objective assessment of things to rank myself here. Sabbir Rahman is probably my best player, but Codrington and Kabir will both sort of do a job, and Clark means I don't have to look for a wicket-keeper.
With the sixth-best team and seventh pick is @deleted member - The most generous of all of us didn't come out of things too badly. Findlay can be a non-embarrassing batting option, while Dalrymple and Devapriya both offer batting competence as well as both contributing to the fielding effort. Shame about Fray and Zorinliana.
With the fifth-best team and eighth pick is @CerealKiller - Wasim Haider is a vital player to pick up; a strong domestic record suggests that he can bat in the top seven and be one of the three main seamers, while Ppmmie Mbangwa can be another. Sanaullah Khan is probably a decent keeper, so even if Blatherwick is unremarkable and Raja Maharaj Singh exists, you've done okay.
With the fourth-best team and ninth pick is @Na Maloom Afraad - Kyle Mills is going to be an important player in your team, while Stanyforth is a good keeper and strong captaincy candidate. Whyte was an unremarkable domestic player, while Jeganathan and Lawrence added together probably make a spinner.
With the third-best team and tenth pick is @El Loco - Here is where the teams start to actually get alright. In Pankaj and Martin you have two solid seam options, but the star so far is Ajay Sharma: a near-70 first-class batting average and some bowling ability really does balance out the fact that you also got Alfred Luseno and Brijal Patel (sorry again).
With the second-best team and eleventh pick is @Nilay_60 - The first person not to be carrying any real garbage players. Hornby and Chopra are both decent openers, Bell and Das can both bowl non-terribly, and Douglas-Home is a bits-and-pieces all-rounder. There might not be a star player here (well, Chopra ish) but the lack of complete incompetence is enough to bag second.
Which means that the best team and twelfth pick is @Bevab - Yeah, you got Kohli. The rest of your team isn't that flash - Krishna Kumar will probably get the Omer Hussain treatment of batting eleven and fine leg both ends, but then Beaumont, Monir and in particular Pattinson are enough that having Virat Kohli in your team still makes it the best anyone has so far.
- - -
When I go through the teams like this, I realise that there really was a wonderful balance of decent players and utterly awful ones. This wouldn't have worked so well if we'd all just picked between us the 60 worst first-class cricketers we could find. Honestly I'm really happy with how this has turned out so far.
So, with the twelfth-best team out of twelve, and therefore with the first pick of the Recovery Draft will be @Yash. - He ended up with a team that didn't have any real top-six batsmen, although it does have a decent spin option in Beer, and a keeper in Gibson. It's a well-earned first pick.
With the eleventh-best team out of twelve and the second pick of the Recovery Draft is @Master Bates - Ebrahim, Sajedul and Panesar will each perform batting and bowling roles in the side, but Giffen and McIntyre are dead weight really.
With the tenth-best team and third pick is @blockerdave - Usually someone blessed by the gods of Random.org, this time he has ended up without a proper batsman in his team; Khalil and Sreesanth offer something with the ball, but Gladstone and Rose just about make a spinner if you add them together. And then there's Pope.
With the ninth-best team and fourth pick is @DalePlaysCricket - Mehrab was a decent enough batsman, while Rubel and Crane have both shown enough in other formats to suggest they're not completely terrible. Hutchinson and Aijaz aren't going to set the world alight though.
With the eighth-best team and fifth pick is @ahmedleo414 - Ajit de Silva was a properly gifted spinner when he was sober, while Wally Edwards and Brian Vitori can both do decent jobs in your team. There are still a couple of passengers in Sharif and Slabber, but we all have someone like that.
With the seventh-best team and sixth pick is @Aislabie - I feel like it's a pretty objective assessment of things to rank myself here. Sabbir Rahman is probably my best player, but Codrington and Kabir will both sort of do a job, and Clark means I don't have to look for a wicket-keeper.
With the sixth-best team and seventh pick is @deleted member - The most generous of all of us didn't come out of things too badly. Findlay can be a non-embarrassing batting option, while Dalrymple and Devapriya both offer batting competence as well as both contributing to the fielding effort. Shame about Fray and Zorinliana.
With the fifth-best team and eighth pick is @CerealKiller - Wasim Haider is a vital player to pick up; a strong domestic record suggests that he can bat in the top seven and be one of the three main seamers, while Ppmmie Mbangwa can be another. Sanaullah Khan is probably a decent keeper, so even if Blatherwick is unremarkable and Raja Maharaj Singh exists, you've done okay.
With the fourth-best team and ninth pick is @Na Maloom Afraad - Kyle Mills is going to be an important player in your team, while Stanyforth is a good keeper and strong captaincy candidate. Whyte was an unremarkable domestic player, while Jeganathan and Lawrence added together probably make a spinner.
With the third-best team and tenth pick is @El Loco - Here is where the teams start to actually get alright. In Pankaj and Martin you have two solid seam options, but the star so far is Ajay Sharma: a near-70 first-class batting average and some bowling ability really does balance out the fact that you also got Alfred Luseno and Brijal Patel (sorry again).
With the second-best team and eleventh pick is @Nilay_60 - The first person not to be carrying any real garbage players. Hornby and Chopra are both decent openers, Bell and Das can both bowl non-terribly, and Douglas-Home is a bits-and-pieces all-rounder. There might not be a star player here (well, Chopra ish) but the lack of complete incompetence is enough to bag second.
Which means that the best team and twelfth pick is @Bevab - Yeah, you got Kohli. The rest of your team isn't that flash - Krishna Kumar will probably get the Omer Hussain treatment of batting eleven and fine leg both ends, but then Beaumont, Monir and in particular Pattinson are enough that having Virat Kohli in your team still makes it the best anyone has so far.
- - -
When I go through the teams like this, I realise that there really was a wonderful balance of decent players and utterly awful ones. This wouldn't have worked so well if we'd all just picked between us the 60 worst first-class cricketers we could find. Honestly I'm really happy with how this has turned out so far.
), we need someone who is quick and I think he is (his espn profile says right-arm fast).
Euan McIntyre
