Draft: The RNG Draft: The Modern Era!

[ddrap14]

@Till Valhalla can you please get your pick in by midday tomorrow?

If so, I'll be sending out Round 11 during Day 3 of the Australia test - and I might put sign-ups out for a new draft too...

 

[ddrap14]

The final batch is being put out now. I'll then open the new draft...

@Till Valhalla unless I'm mistaken, you still have R10 to pick

 

[ddrap14]

Ddrap's Final Pool

Darryl Cullinan would have been VERY useful for a number of teams. I needed a bowler though, so I'll take Cameron Cuffy, who is most famous for being the last out in WI's loss to Kenya. Missed Pat by one!

 

[Till Valhalla]

@Till Valhalla can you please get your pick in by midday tomorrow?

If so, I'll be sending out Round 11 during Day 3 of the Australia test - and I might put sign-ups out for a new draft too...

Sorry will try to do as soon as possible got a bit busy

 

[ddrap14]

TV's Pool: Pool 10

A number of options here - Ashwell Prince was a good bat in his day - but the pick was Matt Prior.
Pool 11

Altogether less kind this; Ahmed Faiz was the pick.


Mohsin's Pool

Mohsin, understandably given the pool, selected Kemar Roach. But where will he bat?

 

[ddrap14]

CerealKiller's Pool

CK selected Johnson Charles over fellow Caribbean representative Roston Chase - although I won't put him on the results yet, pending confirmation of his batting order.


Disharies' Pool

 

[CerealKiller]

I'll put Charles at 4, Siddique will have to do with 6.

 

[ddrap14]

Manish's Pool

A pretty decent pool to finish off with given it contains bats and bowlers. Manish selected Ravi Bopara which, given his team balance, is understandable over Shane Bond.

 

[ddrap14]

Ahmed's Pool

Ahmed got a player he's already taken here. So he added Manoj Tiwary instead.


@Parth D and @Ed Smith to finish

 

[ddrap14]

Ed's Pool

Steve Smith was once again taken. So Jeremy Snape for memes.



Parth to finish us off

 

[ddrap14]

Parth's Pool

This draft finishes predictably - as Parth adds another pace bowler to his team.



@Ed Smith @Manish. @Disharies @mohsin7827 @Till Valhalla @Parth D if you want to reorder your lineup, please do it in the next 24h - I'll post a wrap up of the draft with some analysis tomorrow
(Ahmed and CK have already set their lineup)

 

[ddrap14]

Screw it, I'm bored. First four analyses coming out tonight - for the four teams that have confirmed their lineup. No criticisms here are criticisms of any participant of the draft unless explicitly stated - most weak links in teams are thanks to awful RNG.

@ddrap14
1. Brendon Taylor
2. Cam Bancroft
3. Najmul Hossain Shanto
4. Steve Smith
5. Paul Collingwood
6. Mitchell Marsh
7. Tim David
8. Jhye Richardson
9. Yuzvendra Chahal
10. Saqlain Mushtaq
11. Cameron Cuffy

Two legit legspinners is a major threat on almost any spinning pitch.
Four through seven is an elite lineup - and Marsh can be promoted if needed!
Both the pace attack (Jhye Richardson and some guys) and the top order (Brendon Taylor and some guys) may be suspect.

@ahmedleo414

1. Chris Rogers
2. Zak Crawley
3. Babar Azam
4. Manoj Tiwary
5. Jos Buttler
6. Hashan Tillakaratne
7. Glen Sulzberger
8. Vernon Philander
9. Rana Naved Ul Hasan
10. Yusuf Abdulla
11. Junaid Khan

While there's a couple of anchors up top, Babar and Buttler can absolutely get the job done.
The pace attack - particularly death bowling - is insane.
Ahmed identified this one on his own. He doesn't have a good spin option.

@CerealKiller
1. Abid Ali
2. KL Rahul
3. Neil Johnson
4. Johnson Charles
5. Jacques Kallis
6. Junaid Siddique
7. Roelof van der Merwe
8. Graeme Cremer
9. Kyle Jamieson
10. Blessing Muzarabani
11. Muhammad Musa

Applying a competent coach would probably make the top five strong (in that KL Rahul would actually play okay).
There's a varied and good pace attack in this team - Jamieson, Muzarabani and Musa are augmented well by all-rounders Kallis and Johnson.
A relative lack of spinner - Cremer is fine but definitely the fourth best bowler in the team, while RVDM is basically a specialist fielder in anything but the spinnest pitch.

@mohsin7827
1. Lahiru Thirimanne
2. Jehan Mubarak
3. Kumar Sangakkara
4. Mahela Jayawardene
5. Faf du Plesiss
6. Shane Getkate
7. Johan Botha
8. R.P. Singh
9. Kemar Roach
10. Ronnie Hira
11. Jimmy Kamande

Well, that 3-5 is the best in the tournament without any argument.
While the attack may not be the strongest in some areas, it's likely to be economical and varied.
Batting's weak past #5, and of the bowlers, only Kemar Roach is known for taking wickets.

 

[ddrap14]

@Parth D
1. Hamilton Masakadza
2. Matthew Wade
3. Marnus Labuschagne
4. Kane Williamson
5. Kamran Akmal
6. ?? Abul Hasan
7. Mashrafe Mortaza
8. Shaheen Shah Afridi
9. Amir Hamza
10. Trent Boult
11. Pommie Mbangwa

A lack of batting depth is somewhat countered by having three guys who are very tricky to dismiss in the top four.
The pace attack is lethal - ignoring Pommie, the other three are top internationals.
Spin stocks are below average, but more importantly, the batting order basically ends at five.

@Till Valhalla
1. Anshuman Rath
2. Ankur Vasishta
3. Ahmed Faiz
4. Saman Jayantha
5. Matt Prior
6. Shadab Khan
7. Mitch Santner
8. Krishnappa Gowtham
9. Ajantha Mendis
10. Mohammad Shami
11. Haris Rauf

Simply put, the best spin stocks in the draft. Shadab and Santner are top options for wrist and finger spin, Mendis is a wildcard, and Gowtham a very solid bowler too.
While that only leaves room for two quicks, Shami and Rauf are a solid pairing.
The batting. Matt Prior's the best player.

@Disharies
1. Shane Watson
2. Keaton Jennings
3. Virat Kohli
4. Angelo Mathews
5. Gary Wilson
6. Andre Russell
7. Omari Banks
8. Daniel Vettori
9. Riley Meredith
10. Dale Steyn
11. Glenn McGrath

Virat at three, and while there's no other truly elite batsman (Andre Russell is an elite hitter), everyone else in the top six is capable.
Elite bowling lineup, particularly in terms of pace.
Only slight knocks, but there's only one decent spinner (Vettori) and Omari Banks feels like a waste of a spot. But this was by far the best team.

@Ed Smith
1. Hamid Shah
2. Adnan Mufti
3. Glenn Maxwell
4. Ryan ten Doeschate
5. Jeremy Snape
6. Irfan Pathan
7. Graeme Swann
8. Brydon Carse
9. Naveen-ul-Haq
10. Makhaya Ntini
11. Ishtiaq Ahmad

Glenn Maxwell
Makhaya Ntini
The rest of the team
Okay, maybe that's a bit harsh, but still, there's one world class batsman and one world class bowler. Ed kept getting screwed - he got Sachin and Steve Smith, but was beat to both of them.

@Manish.
1. Tharanga Paranavitana
2. Finn Allen
3. Sachin Tendulkar
4. Younis Khan
5. Stiaan van Zyl
6. Ravi Bopara
7. Balaji Pai
8. Chris Morris
9. Mitchell Johnson
10. Yasir Arafat
11. Kevon Bazil

Formidable pace trio of Chris Morris, Mitch Johnson and Yasir Arafat. Death hitters in particular will hate facing Manish.
Finn Allen can get off to electric starts, and if he doesn't, you still have Sachin and Younis to just rack up the runs.
The fourth and fifth bowler slots look like they're going to leak a lot of runs.

Personally, I think I've seen enough to declare @Disharies the winner of this draft - 10/11 great draws will do that. And a special commiseration to @Ed Smith for his awful luck. But a big thank you to everyone who played - you're all great in my eyes, because I can't run this without you.

Signups for my next draft (here) will be open until tomorrow morning.

 

[Disharies]

Thanks @ddrap14 for choosing my team as winner.Will love to take part in more drafts

 

[Ed Smith]

My team is hilarious