Draft: The Panesar Draft

[Bevab]

I’m mostly finding this draft a series of frustrations as one player after another gets crossed off my list!!!

I believe that is what has made this draft so good. Normally, we have a wider player selection pool that allows for our natural biases to act upon and allow us to form teams where each one has different targets. But in this draft, most of our selections are bound to be from a very specific player list which is why my personal shortlist has already been cut by half in a position.

 

[Yash.]

So my lineup till now goes like...

1. Jimmy Cook
2. ?
3. ?
4. Brad Hodge
   
5. ?
6. Franklyn Stephenson
   
7. Barney Gibson
   
8. Francis Otieno
   
9. Maharaj of Vizianagram
   
10. Michael Beer
    
11. Anurag Thakur

In Need of some all rounders now.

 

[Aislabie]

My pick is... Bill Alley

First-class stats: 19,612 runs @ 31.88 (31 centuries, best 221*) and 768 wickets @ 22.68 (30 5WI, best 8/65) in 400 matches

Given the tendency of this draft to favour some more obscure players, I am genuinely shocked that one of the most interesting men in cricket history has gone unpicked. I'm speaking about Bill Alley, one of the greatest all-rounders in cricket history. Wait what? I sense people thinking, averages of 32 and 22 aren't GOAT material. And it's true, they're not - but Bill Alley played almost his entire first-class career in his 40s. He started his career as a middleweight boxer, putting together a professional record of 28 and 0; the only thing that stood between him and boxing stardom was a severe head injury sustained while playing Grade cricket in his spare time.

His second career was that of a cricketer, which he started as a 26-year-old. He was an immediate key player in the New South Wales side; he averaged in the 40s for them, making three centuries in his first dozen games. He was being tipped by Bradman as the next big Australian Test player, but Alley knew better than most that a professional sporting career can disappear at any moment. So instead of pursuing international honours, he took up the best-paid job in cricket at the time: professional at Colne Cricket Club, Blackpool in the Lancashire League, and spent ten years there. This was in the era when the Lancashire League was just as good as the County Championship. He averaged 72.79 with the bat (19 centuries, best 158*) and 15.68 with the ball (35 five-fors, best 8/43). His records would be unmatched by the likes of Hunte, Sobers and Hanif Mohammad.

At 38, Blackpool were starting to look for some fresh blood so Alley again accepted the more secure offer of employment: a five-year deal with Somerset. A five-year deal for a 38-year-old seam bowling all-rounder who'd not played first-class cricket in a decade. And he was brilliant. In 1961, at the age of 42, he scored 3,019 first-class runs at an average of 56.96 with eleven centuries and a best of 221 not out. In 1962, at the age of 43, he took 112 wickets at an average of 20.74 with six five-fors and a best of 8/64. He eventually retired gracefully at the end of the 1968 season, aged 49.

@Aislabie 's XI so far:
1.
2. Frank Tarrant (0 caps)
3. George Headley (22 caps)
4.
5. Sabbir Rahman (L)
6. Bill Alley (0 caps)
7. George Codrington (L)
8.
9. Susantha Karunaratne (L)
10. Alamgir Kabir (L)
11. Seymour Clark (L)

Cap count: 22/50

Next pick: @deleted member

 

[Neo 7]

I'll go with the same guy i picked in the One-Test Wonder draft, Stuart Law, who made 54* in his only Test innings, but scored over 27000 runs at an average of 50 in the two best domestic leagues in Australia and England.

One player I have in mind . Let's see if he gets picked or not !

This ! Got it ! 17 picks it took to get him ...

 

[Samarth27.09]

My next pick will be:

Ryan Ten Doeschate​

"Born in South Africa and of Dutch descent, he is undoubtedly the finest cricketer ever produced by an associate side. In ODI’s he averages 67 with the bat and 24 with the ball and was the first associate player to play in the IPL. A belligerent batsman and canny medium-pace bowler, he has earned lucrative contracts not only in the IPL but also in Australia, Bangladesh, New Zealand, South Africa and Zimbabwe. In England he has represented Essex for over 15 seasons and scored over 10,000 runs with 29 centuries. Had Ten Doeschete been able to play Test cricket we can assume, and probably correctly, that he would have been one of the great allrounders."

Spoiler: Ten Doeschate's Stats

Spoiler: Test Caps Count

Test Caps: 0/50

[DOUBLEPOST=1587550012][/DOUBLEPOST]@CerealKiller is up next.

 

[CerealKiller]

I think it’s better to get Raja Maharaj Singh out of the way sooner rather than later, so he’ll open. This opens up a bowling spot, so i'll pick my only spinner, the great Australian leggie Bill O'Reilly. He picked 144 wickets at an average of 22, in just 27 Tests, all of which came in the 1930s, when bowlers were dominated by the great batsmen of the time, but no one dominated O'Reilly's quick legbreaks, googlies and topspinners.

CerealKiller’s XI
1. Raja Maharaj Singh UD
2.
3.
4.
5. Stuart Law (1)
6. Wasim Haider UD
7. Garth le Roux (0)
8. Sanaullah Khan UD
9. Jack Blaterwick UD
10. Bill O'Reilly (27)
11. Pommie Mbangwa UD

Caps : 28/50
@Na Maloom Afraad

 

[Aislabie]

1. Raja Maharaj Singh UD

I see what you've done here

 

[Na Maloom Afraad]

NMA's PANESAR XI

Jim Parks Sr. ( 1)
Graeme Pollock ( 23)
Robert Whyte (UD)
Bart King ( 0)
Kyle Mills (UD)
Rony Stanyforth (UD)
Sridharan Jeganathan (UD)
Mark Lawrence (UD)

TEST CAPS USED (24/50)

Going for a more reliable, than deadly approach. Jim Parks Sr. is my next pick, and he will open for me. 21,369 runs at an average of 30.74 is not exceptionally impressive, but he does provide stability to the batting as well as give the team a bowling option, for the cheap price of just one Test cap. A proper bowling option which is more than needed given I only have two good bowlers and my tail is already too long.

|Matches|Innings|Not outs|

RUNS

|

HS

|Average|100s|50s

Tests |1|2|0| 29 |22|14.50|0|0

- First-Class - |468|758|63| - 21,369 - | - 197 - |30.74|41|94

|Matches|Innings|Wickets|BBI|Average|5Ws|10Ws

Tests |1|2| 3 |2/26|12.00|0|0

- First-Class - |468| | 852 | - 7/17 - |26.74|24|1

"James Horace Parks, who died on November 21, 1980, aged 77, will be remembered for his feat of scoring 3,003 runs and taking 101 wickets in 1937, a record which, unless the whole pattern of country cricket is radically changed, cannot possibly be equalled."

"First appearing for Sussex in 1924, he created a sensation by taking seven for 17 in his third match, in the second innings against Leicestershire at Horsham."

"Until the Second World War he was an indispensable member of the side. In 1928 he made the first of his 41 hundreds and in 1929 helped Bowley to put up 368 in three hours, at that time a Sussex record, for the first wicket against Gloucestershire; his share was 110."

"His one Test appearance was against New Zealand at Lord's in 1937, when he opened the batting with Hutton, also making his Test debut, but, though he scored 22 in the first innings and bowled well, he can never have been a strong candidate for a place against Australia."

"As a batsman he was sound and a particularly good cutter, not very attractive to watch, but capable of scoring fast if wanted. Stockily built, he was for years a formidable opening partner for John Langridge, and had the considerable merit that no fast bowler was likely to intimidate him. He bowled slow-medium in-swingers, which, if there was any bite in the wicket, often moved away after pitching; but again he was normally reliable rather than deadly."

- - -

@El Loco, you're up

 

[Aislabie]

my tail is already too long

You've got batting down to nine, and Jeganathan was no mug at ten. There are some guys here with tails starting at six or seven and @CerealKiller has had to open with a 73-year-old to make ends meet...

An excellent pick though, very impressed. Imagine he'll go quickly in another draft that's going on at present.

 

[El Loco]

Vinod Kambli up next for us. Sorry for the terse replies a bit tied up atm.

@Nilay_60

 

[Yash.]

Vinod Kambli up next for us. Sorry for the terse replies a bit tied up atm.

@Nilay_60

You stole my pick!

 

[NILAYSHAH60]

Shreyas Iyer
​

A talented right hand middle order Mumbai batsman who have been consistently being amongst the top run scorers for his team in last 3-4 seasons. Shreyas Iyer made his debut against Jammu & Kashmir in 2014-15 season of Ranji trophy. Although his performance was average in the first few matches but in his 4th first class match against West Bengal at the Eden Gardens he scored his maiden first class ton by scoring 153 runs. He averaged more than 50 in that season scoring 809 runs. The next season he scored 1,321 runs at an average of 73.39. Although in 2016-17 season he had a sudden dip in the form as he just managed 725 runs at an average of 42.64 but yet he did manage to score a 202 not out in a tour match against Australia. He is yet very young and a little inexperienced and hence hasn't made it to the International team. He certainly has in him to challenge the Indian Captain with his Captaincy skills as he is known to manage his players well in the Indian Premier League keeping them motivated to perform better every time they step on to the field. His record stands at

Spoiler: Stats

Stats | Matches | Runs |Average| 50s/100s| Top Score | Balls Bowled | Runs | Wickets |BBI| Average | Economy | 5w |10w|
First-Class | 54 | 4,592 | 52.18 | 23/12 | 202* | 565 | 401 | 4 | 2/29 | 100.25 | 4.25| 0 | 0 |

Caps used 21/50

@Nilay_60 's XI

Aakash Chopra (U)
A.N. Hornby (U)
Shreyas Iyer (0)
Amol Muzumdar (0)


Alec Douglas-Home (U)
Harold Larwood (21)

Bill Bell (U)
Ranjan Das (U)

@Bevab

 

[Master Bates]

Shreyas Iyer

Interesting! But why as an opener?

 

[Aislabie]

Interesting! But why as an opener?

Because he's got the batting order all wrong. This makes more sense:

1. Aakash Chopra (U)
2. Monkey Hornby (U)
3. Shreyas Iyer (0 caps)
4. Amol Muzumdar (0 caps)
5. ?
6. ?
7. Alec Douglas-Home (U)
8. Harold Larwood (21 caps)
9. ?
10. Bill Bell (U)
11. Ranjan Das (U)

Was torn between Muzumdar and Iyer at three and four, but good lord just open with Hornby - he was an opener.

 

[Bevab]

I'm surprised yet again over the availability of two targets that I expected to be snapped up long by now.

My first pick will be Vijay Merchant who was the official founder of the Bombay School of Batsmanship. Merchant was one of the first world class batsmen who represented India and unusually for an Indian batsman of his time, he was very prolific versus pace. Merchant started out his career like another legendary Indian opener in Sehwag as a middle order batsman. While Viru was promoted to the opening spot for the aggressive starts he provided, Merchant was promoted due to his ability to weather the new ball attack and not lose his wicket. The move up the order unlocked Merchant's potential (he averages 56 as an opener in tests compared to 29 at six) and thus began a meteoric rise to the top of Indian run charts and a legendary rivalry with Vijay Hazare. Merchant was something of a trailblazer for proper training methods too, indulging in extensive filming of his sessions to work on his flaws and improve his game. Beyond all of that however, Merchant was a noted philanthropist and a notable larger than life figure off the field being a key figure in shaping the world views of one John Arlott who was instrumental in bringing Basil D'Oliveira to England besides his opinions on the freedom struggle of India which even prevented his inclusion on a 1932 tour of England.

Merchant's most incredible statistic is his Ranji Trophy batting average of a staggering 98.35 with another legend in Sachin having only an average of 85. Besides that, he has the most number of double centuries in Indian domestic cricket and his first-class average is the second highest in history behind only the Don himself. His inferior test average can be attributed to the weak side that he played in.

|Matches|Innings|Not outs|

Runs

|

HS

|Average|100s|50s

Tests |10|18|0|859|154| 47.72 |3|3

- First-Class - |150|234|46|13470|359*| 71.64 |45|52

My second pick will be Stewie Dempster, New Zealand's first legendary batsman and arguably the greatest to arise from the island nation. He was a self taught opener who played the majority of his career for Leicestershire and Sir Julian Cahn's (a patron of Leicestershire) private team which lost just 19 of the whopping 621 matches that they played between 1923 and 1941, all around the world. Dempster averaged 49 for his county side and struck 18 centuries. While his figures for Wellington are less impressive, it must be taken into context that his appearances for Wellington were mostly before 1930 after which he was whisked away by Cahn and his numbers are still one of the best on the 1920s NZ domestic scene. He was considered among the top batsmen and the best player of spin bowling in his time. Despite being a regular number four in county cricket, he played all but one of his innings' as an opener for New Zealand and that is where he shall play in my team.

|Matches|Innings|Not outs|

Runs

|

HS

|Average|100s|50s

Tests |10|15|4|723|136| 65.72 |2|5

- First-Class - |184|306|36|12145|212| 44.98 |35|55

1. Vijay Merchant
2. Stewie Dempster
3. ?
4. Virat Kohli
5. Lee Irvine
6. Rolland Beaumont
7. ?
8. Vintcent Van der Bijl
9. Darren Pattinson
10. Anwar Hossain Monir
11. Krishna Kumar
    (24/50 caps)

@Nilay_60 back to you.