Sorry about the slightly poor quality of the write-up and the missing stats. Knocked up in 15 minutes or so while the wife glowers at me for being on the laptop on a Sunday evening.
1. Mark Taylor (c)
2. Marvan Atapattu
3. Nasser Hussain
4. Brian Lara
5. Steve Waugha
6. Ravi Shastri
7. Ian Healy
8. Chaminda Vaas
9. Malcolm Marshall
10. Colin Croft
11. Patrick Patterson
Perhaps by sheer co-incidence, I feel like I’ve landed up with the best batsman and bowler in the draft. As a consequence, I think I’ve put together a superb team. Perfectly balanced between batting and bowling. The one weakness is the lack of a top class spinner but I’ve made up for that with probably the best sub-continent quick after Kapil plus Ravi Shastri who has 150 wickets and was probably the torch bearer for Indian spin through the dark days of the eighties. What’s interesting is that each of the top 6 has been captain of their country for a while…all used to the responsibility of standing up for their team.
Batting
35 centuries between my openers. Both captains of their county - solid and tested in all conditions. They’ll provide a clean base for the superstars coming in after them. At 3 is another man who doesn’t sell his wicket cheap - Nasser Hussain. Then comes the deluge…the ultimate matchwinner in Brian Lara – the man who always stands up when the chips are down. Steve Waugh – the one man who most people would trust to bat for their life. If by some chance there’s a collapse, I have the very sticky Shastri and Healy to stop the rot. It doesn’t stop there – both Vaas and Marshall are no mugs with the bat. Vaas has a century and 13 fifties. Marshall’s got 10 fifties and an average of 19 in a difficult era.
Bowling
"Crofty," a West Indian team-mate once said, "would bounce his grandmother if he thought there was a wicket in it. He’ll rattle them and then they’ll come up against who I regard as the greatest bowler of all time – Malcolm fecking Marshall – Average of 20, strike rate of bloody 47 and that over 81 tests. The second line of bowling is high quality – Vaas has 355 wickets and understands the subcontinent like few others. Patrick Patterson (Average of 31, strike rate of 52) whether you remember him or not was aggression personified for a relatively brief career. They’re backed up by Steve Waugh and Shastri – 250 wickets between them.
Tactics
Akash has a quality batting line-up but it’s heavily dependant on his opening partnership. Once Marshall makes that breakthrough, I’ve exposed the soft center of his batting and I don’t think he’ll be making big totals.
If he does, I have the batting to chase it down. No total is beyond a batting line-up that contains Lara and Steve Waugh. The bowling is solid but I have quality players of pace and Mushtaq isn’t top quality spinner enough to trouble a line-up that knows how to handle spin.
All in all, I think it’ll be close but I think my batting quality and the sheer characters in the team will tell.
vs
Gordon Greenidge and Desmond Haynes - Mentioned together because they are synonymous with each other. The pair opened together for more than 13 years and to date there hasn't been a better opening partnership in test matches. They hold the record for the most runs scored as opening partners at an average nearly touching 47 which includes four 200 run stands.
Richie Richardson (C) - A fantastic number that perfectly compliments the his two West Indian teammates. Richardson will also captain the side. His record of losing only 1 series as captain is a good indicator of his leadership skills.
Graham Yallop - An average of 41 in the 70's and being appointed captain of Australia after just 8 matches should be enough to know that Yallop was very highly rated. Also in his list of achievements is his good performance against the fearsome quicks of the West Indies attack in his debut series.
Carl Hooper - Hooper averages more than 40 batting at his preferred number 5 position and add more West Indian flavour to the side. In addition to his batting he's a very steady bowler with more than 100 wickets at test level. The first player to score 5000 runs, take 100 wickets and 100 catches. Has achieved the feat in both forms of the game.
Arjuna Ranatunga - Averages 38 at number 6 and a very dogged batsman. You can always count on him to dig in and battle on no matter what the conditions. Also provides good leadership and motivational skills. Can also provide some useful seam up bowling given the right conditions.
Ian Botham - At his peak the best all rounder in world cricket. One of the very few people who could turn a game on it's head with either bat or ball and that's something he did with with great frequency especially against Australia. 14 hundreds and 27 5-wicket hauls is a testament to how good he was. Also holds the record for most catches by an England player (non-WK). An all rounder in every sense of the word.
Syed Kirmani (WK) - Top class wicket keeper who was at ease keeping wickets either against the spinners or the fast bowlers. As a batsmen he averaged a very respectable 28 for a keeper and was someone the team could count on to pitch in when in trouble.
Darren Gough - Englands's strike bowler and lead the attack with great success. An exponent of both the conventional swing and reverse swing. Averages 29 and has a very commendable strike rate of 51. Although he never played test cricket in India , his combined average of 25 in Pakistan and Srilanka shows that he was equally effective on the subcontinent.
Waqar Younis - Fast, accurate, swing and aggressive. All the ingredients you need for a world class bowler and Waqar was just that. His pace and reverse swing combined made him one of the most feared bowlers in world cricket. His bowling average of 23 is impressive but not as impressive as his strike rate of 41 which is the best in this draft.
Mushtaq Ahmed - His greatest strength as a bowler was that he was never afraid to get hit and was always prepared to flight the ball up. Has lots of variations in his locker but none better than his googly which has fooled many a player. His performances away from the spin friendly pitches in the subcontinent are excellent. Named as one of the Wisden Cricketer of the year in 1997.
Terry Alderman (Sub) - Injury and a tour to South Africa restricted Alderman's test career but when he did play he was one of Australia's best bowlers. His haul of 42 wickets in the 1981 ashes is the fourth highest of all time. Has an average of 27 with a strike rate just under 60.
Donaldo has a good bowling lineup but in Haynes and Greenidge I have the best opening combination in the entire draft who are followed by an excellent number 3 in Richardson. All three have faced quality bowling lineups in the 70's and 80's and average well over 40. My team is pretty much guaranteed a good start. Once that is achieved the middle and lower middle order can cash in. At an average bowling average of nearly 40 in Australia/England/India Vettori will not be much of a threat to my middle order.
My bowling lineup is very well suited to take advantage of both the new ball and the old ball unlike Donaldo's. Waqar, Botham and Gough are all very effective with both the new ball and the old ball. In Mushtaq Ahmed I have a quality spin bowler who's very effecive even on pitches that might not traditionally favour spin bowlers. In Carl Hooper I have an excellent foil of Mushtaq Ahmed when he needs a rest or if the wicket is spin friendly.
Another strength of my team is leadership. Of the 11 starters, 7 have previously captained their side to various degrees of success. The team has character and resiliance in abundance and will never be short of ideas to try and nail the batsmen.