Cricket draft- Semi Final - Interval vs Aldo

Who will win over a 5 match test series?

  • Total voters
    16
  • Poll closed .

crappycraperson

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Hello and welcome to the first semi final of test cricket draft.

Please keep in mind that The voters are being asked to choose a team that will prevail over a five match series on these respective grounds.
  • Eden Gardens, Kolkatta ( Good for spin and batting)
  • Kingsmead, Durban (Good for pace bowling)
  • National Stadium, Karachi (Good for spin bowling)
  • Lords, London (Good for pace bowling and batting)
  • SCG, Sydney (Good for spin, pace and batting )
(The conditions these venues offer matter, not the exact place)

Team Interval---------------------------------------Team Aldo
Gooch ---------------------------------------------Gavaskar
Dilshan---------------------------------------------Jayasuriya
Viv Richards--------------------------------------- Pointing
Yousuf---------------------------------------------Tendulkar
Greig-----------------------------------------------Crowe
Malik-----------------------------------------------Lehmann (Wasim Raja in subcontinent)
Parore---------------------------------------------Boucher
Akram---------------------------------------------Warne
Kumble (Cairns at number 7 at Lords)-------------Merv Hughes
Lillee-----------------------------------------------Bishop
Donald---------------------------------------------Mcgrath

Aldo
Gavaskar
Jayasuriya
Poting
Tendulkar
Crowe
Lehmann (Wasim Raja in the subcontinent)
Boucher
Warne
Merv Hughes
Bishop
McGrath


Interval Level said:


Reasons why I'll win:
1. Lords test would be mine: 4 quality seamers. Greig providing the spin. Batting till number 9 (Akram can bat).
2. He has the batsman, but Lillee, Donald, Akram and Kumble will be too hot to handle. All the three seamers provide something different ranging from pace, bounce, swing, wits and yorkers. Akram and Kumble know the subcontinent conditions well.
3. Whilst my batting is strong and deep, it just has to see off Warne and McGrath. Merv Hughes was an average bowler with loads of aggression. Ian Bishop's career was ruined with injuries so we'll never know how good he was.

4. His batting, whilst good, is not deep. If I can get 3 of his top 4, he is vulnerable.
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I Anal Doer 18 said:
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After the successful run in the group stages, the team is glad to announce the arrival of two greats of the game - arguably the best opener in this timeframe Sunil Gavaskar and none other than God a.k.a Sachin Tendulkar. The skipper Ponting is chuffed to add these two stalwarts to his side.

I doubt much introduction is needed but anyway, Gavaskar played in a time where all time great fast bowlers reigned supreme, and few men stood tall, one of them was Sunny. Against great attacks like the Windies, Aussies, English, Pakis, etc, Gavaskar not only prized his wicket like very few other but also went on to be an absolute run machine, making records that stood till Sachin came and broke them. 34 centuries and over 10k runs is a testimony to him, but more than anything it is his impeccable technique, resilience, mental toughness that proved to be impossible to break down for the very best of them. At this stage in the draft we have some top bowling attacks, so he is exactly the type of man you need to deal with the new ball.

Partnering him would be Sanath Jayasuriya, who can be the more aggressive one in this pair, take the attack to the opposition and specially use his expertise of the subcontinent conditions to milk the bowlers. Also capable of staying on the pitch for long periods he can be vital in the Kolkata test. Following them is Ponting, one of the best number 3s of all time and the innings would be built around him. As always he will play his natural game while staying on the crease for ages and driving the team to a good score. With the platform set by Sunny and Sanath, he will have the license to play his natural game.

At 4, the master blaster Sachin Tendulkar. What needs to be said about him? If I start writing his records and achievements we would be here all day. From the age of 16 to 40, 24 years of pleasure, entertainment, emotions, worship, you name it. Undivided admiration from his peers. Bradman himself considers him as good as he was, Lara wants his son to be like Sachin, Viv Richards calls him God. Technically, mentally a superhuman. From his century as a teenager at Perth standing tall over to that tragic game against Pakistan in 99 to the destruction of Shane Warne. Across generations and eras there is one man who continued to defy age, defy the pressure of a billion cricket fanatics. The whole batting will revolve around him and Ponting, both capable of staying on the pitch for ages and keep scoring.

Martin Crowe comes in next. a superstar batsman of his generation and a beautiful stroke maker, he will use his world class technique and temperament to continue the work done by the top order. At 5 is the talented Darren Lehmann, didn't play much due to stiff competition but he was a brilliant player of pace and great against short pitched bowling. Also technically good enough to survive on tough conditions.In bowling, the attack is led by one of the best fast bowlers of all time, Glenn McGrath. Holding the record of most test wickets for a fast bowler, McGrath as we all know showed control and accuracy of line and length like no other, could land the ball on the same spot 6 times in a row and still move it both ways. More often than not he will take early wickets. Partnering him will be the Aussie workhorse, Merv Hughes. Glorious moustache aside, Hughes was a tireless bowler who was the mainstay of the Aussie bowling at his peak. With McGrath controlling one end, Hughes has the license to attack the batsmen and force errors with his variety of bowling. First change would be Ian Bishop, if not for injuries he would have been in the same bracket as the other WI greats, certainly cut from the same cloth, Bishop generated electric pace and struck fear in the batsmen's eyes. Last, but not the least, is IMO the greatest spinner of all time : Shane Warne. Nothing much needs to be said, could turn the ball on any surface and had the intelligence and tact to get any batsman out. All in all the bowling has balance to it with McGrath being the accurate one who can move it both ways, Hughes using his variety and attack mindedness while Bishop providing sheer pace and bounce. Jayasuriya and Lehmann can provide spells to give a rest to these bowlers.

Boucher is the wicket keeper in the team who holds the record for most test dismissals, and as a pure wicketkeeper, one of the best in the game.


To win a test match you need to take 20 wickets and I believe my attack is capable of it, being suited to all surfaces and against most type of batsmen. The batting his enough class to make totals good enough for these bowlers to defend. And the captain is a cunning **** who will go to any lengths to get his team the win.

The sub is Wasim Raja, a majestic stroke player and a useful bowler, Raja played the game in great spirit and entertained the crowds. He will come in for Darren Lehmann if the game is being played on a subcontinent track.
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I like that they're both excited about this and used images...but I can't see the teams.
 
IL​
Gooch​
Dilshan​
Viv Richards​
Yousuf​
Greig​
Malik​
Parore​
Akram​
Kumble (Cairns at number 7 at Lords and Durban)​
Lillee​
Donald​

Aldo
Gavaskar
Jayasuriya
Poting
Tendulkar
Crowe
Lehmann (Wasim Raja in the subcontinent)
Boucher
Warne
Merv Hughes
Bishop
McGrath

PS: Donaldo is a smartass
 
There's a gulf of class between Aldo and IL's pacers IMO.

Attack of Akram, Lillee and Donald is amazing. Akram could reverse swing too.
 
This is straight up IL's bowling vs Aldo's batting for me.

Akram, Donald, Lillie, Kumble up against Gavaskar, Pointing and Sachin.

Importance of Gavaskar can not be understated here. Take away him from Aldo's team and both Pointing and Sachin will be exposed against the new ball. As it is, it will come down to Gavaskar and Pointing first. (Bar one match in 5, I don't think Jayasuriya is going to last against the front 3 of IL)

PS: IL, Pointing was way way better than Yosuf. No real comparison there.
 
Aye Aldo's batsmen are better. Out of the top4 of both the teams, I'd only take Viv over Ponting. The beautiful thing about Ponting and Tendulkar in the middle order is that they could dominate any bowler in the world on any pitch.
 
crappycraperson said:
This is straight up IL's bowling vs Aldo's batting for me.

Akram, Donald, Lillie, Kumble up against Gavaskar, Pointing and Sachin.

Importance of Gavaskar can not be understated here. Take away him from Aldo's team and both Pointing and Sachin will be exposed against the new ball. As it is, it will come down to Gavaskar and Pointing first. (Bar one match in 5, I don't think Jayasuriya is going to last against the front 3 of IL)

PS: IL, Pointing was way way better than Yosuf. No real comparison there.
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Well. I certainly don't think so.

I can give you that based on longevity and captaincy. But apart from that - similar era. Similar stats. Both had their frailties.
 
Think of it this way - In the Lords and Durban tests, my batting depth will cover for the supposed/ proposed lack of quality. And yet my attack will be inifnitely better than his. I can grind out a draw in the other tests based on the fact that I have bowlers to restrict him and the batsman who can plod their bat.
 
Interval Level said:
Well. I certainly don't think so.

I can give you that based on longevity and captaincy. But apart from that - similar era. Similar stats. Both had their frailties.
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That's ridiculous IMO. Stats mean feck all. Pointing has a claim to be in top tier of batsmen. I would only rate Vivs, Sachin and Lara as definitely better than him. After that it is him, Dravid, Gavaskar and Kallis in the next bracket.

I don't really like Pointing and he did play in one of the best team of all time (So did Vivs). But he played many critical innings for them and on multiple occasions shifted the momentum of the play with his attacking approach. He along with Dravid is one of the best players to stand against any pace bowler in the world. Dravid edges him for me because he could plan spin equally well but then Pointing's pull/hook against short bowling is one of the best of all time.
 
How was Gooch against spin? Can any oldies throw any light on that? Did he by any chance face the spin quarter of India? Vivs must have faced them.
 
crappycraperson said:
That's ridiculous IMO. Stats mean feck all. Pointing has a claim to be in top tier of batsmen. I would only rate Vivs, Sachin and Lara as definitely better than him. After that it is him, Dravid, Gavaskar and Kallis in the next bracket.

I don't really like Pointing and he did play in one of the best team of all time (So did Vivs). But he played many critical innings for them and on multiple occasions shifted the momentum of the play with his attacking approach. He along with Dravid is one of the best players to stand against any pace bowler in the world. Dravid edges him for me because he could plan spin equally well but then Pointing's pull/hook against short bowling is one of the best of all time.
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I would agree with most of that since I rate Ponting equally high. I just think at his peak, Yousuf was as good as the best in the world. His ability to play long innings and grid out runs in a disaster of a Pakistan team was amazing. Its a shame he had mental issues and the Pakistani team was a drama fueled teenage van.

You don't have to rate him that high. But you can't pretend like its a Tendulkar, Sidhu comparison because it quite clearly isn't,
 
Gooch
You cannot even say that Gooch was the most successful batsman of his generation, simply because his First-Class career transcended generations. From what began in 1973 playing for Essex, the immortal Gooch carried his bat right until the turn of the millennium, till 2000, when he was 47-years old.

"I literally thought Graham Gooch was going to play cricket for England forever," wrote Sir Ian Botham in My Sporting Heroes, a few years ago. "When I started my career he was playing cricket for England, when I finished my career he was playing cricket for England and each time I pick up a microphone to commentate these days, I half expect to see Andrew Strauss walking out to bat with “Goochie” and not his Essex protégé Alastair Cook. I reckon Alastair has to beat “Goochie” off with his bat to stop him from getting out before him."In his near three-decade cricketing career, Gooch amassed an astronomical figure of 67,057 runs across First-Class (44,846) and List A (22,211) matches. Compare it to the princely figure (61,237) of Sir Jack Hobbs, considered the most prolific batsmen of all time, and perhaps you can get an idea of what Gooch was. Also, Gooch remains the only player to record 2,000 or more runs in a season five times since 1969 (1984, 1985, 1988, 1990 and 1993).

http://www.cricketcountry.com/crick...and-prolific-against-both-pace-and-spin/29240
 
crappycraperson said:
His county record means zilch.
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As Gooch set into his captaincy, his greatest advantage was that he was able to manage the dual roles of leadership and batsmanship superbly. This was evident from his record as captain: Of the 8,900 runs he scored in his Test career, 3,582 of them came as captain at an average of 58.72. As only a player, he scored 5,318 runs at only 35.93. "It drove me forward in terms of the way I prepared for batting and the way I approached my cricket," said Gooch. "I inherited the England captaincy having already come through this bad patch. I was playing well and I think the extra responsibility helped. I didn’t give my wicket away as easily and I avoided making silly errors. I was suddenly capitalising on every opportunity and going on to score big runs, match-winning runs.” Gooch was influenced greatly by Keith Fletcher, his skipper at Essex, and Mike Brearley, both former England captains. “Keith Fletcher was brilliant tactically so I had a good grounding there, while Brears [Brearley] was an excellent man-manager, very popular with his players and got the best out of them. You learnt part of the art of captaincy through playing under those guys.”
 
Why swap out Lehmann for Wasim Raja in the sub-continent? Wasn't Lehmann a top player of spin?
 
Interval Level said:
As Gooch set into his captaincy, his greatest advantage was that he was able to manage the dual roles of leadership and batsmanship superbly. This was evident from his record as captain: Of the 8,900 runs he scored in his Test career, 3,582 of them came as captain at an average of 58.72. As only a player, he scored 5,318 runs at only 35.93. "It drove me forward in terms of the way I prepared for batting and the way I approached my cricket," said Gooch. "I inherited the England captaincy having already come through this bad patch. I was playing well and I think the extra responsibility helped. I didn’t give my wicket away as easily and I avoided making silly errors. I was suddenly capitalising on every opportunity and going on to score big runs, match-winning runs.” Gooch was influenced greatly by Keith Fletcher, his skipper at Essex, and Mike Brearley, both former England captains. “Keith Fletcher was brilliant tactically so I had a good grounding there, while Brears [Brearley] was an excellent man-manager, very popular with his players and got the best out of them. You learnt part of the art of captaincy through playing under those guys.”
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Is he captaining your team?
 
Sorry IL, you have a great bowling attack but Aldo's batting is as good as it can be to counter that. I think combo of Mcgrath + Warne is enough against your batting. I did give some extra points for having Vivs but I also fancy Warne to clean up your lower middle order fairly quickly.

Mcgrath also is someone who gets very underrated because he was not a ferocious fast bowler clocking 90mph. He is possibly the most consistent pace bowler ever though and someone who was not dominated by any batsmen in his era. I think someone like Akram is better than him but I will have Mcgrath over Lillie and Donald. More effective bowler for me.
 
Aldo's batting looks better. New venues, so will study both teams in detail after I go home. I however don't understand IL's fascination with Gooch. Sure he was best England batsman when he played. Hardly a big deal as it was no way strongest England team or anything. Also, it doesn't matter what he did in County. Not saying he was average batsman. A very good batsman indeed but if compared with Gavaskar, definitely a level or two below. I gave stats of Gooch in away conditions during my match with IL. He only has 5 centuries away from home and hardly a great average.

At the moment, Aldo's team is looking a bit better to me. Openers Aldo has better. Viv, one can say is individually better than Ponting but Sachin+Ponting > Viv+Yousuf. Crowe, a better batsman than Greig, Malik=Lehman, Parore <Bouncher (comfortably). IL has advantage in bowling though.
 
The Man Himself said:
Aldo's batting looks better. New venues, so will study both teams in detail after I go home. I however don't understand IL's fascination with Gooch. Sure he was best England batsman when he played. Hardly a big deal as it was no way strongest England team or anything. Also, it doesn't matter what he did in County. Not saying he was average batsman. A very good batsman indeed but if compared with Gavaskar, definitely a level or two below. I gave stats of Gooch in away conditions during my match with IL. He only has 5 centuries away from home and hardly a great average.

At the moment, Aldo's team is looking a bit better to me. Openers Aldo has better. Viv, one can say is individually better than Ponting but Sachin+Ponting > Viv+Yousuf. Crowe, a better batsman than Greig, Malik=Lehman, Parore <Bouncher (comfortably). IL has advantage in bowling though.
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Its not a fascination but more of bringing out the facts because he didn't exactly get hyped up the same way Gavaskar or someone did.

In a nutshell, Id say that my batting is slightly weaker (you aren't considering that in 2 of these five matches I'll have Cairns in my lower order who is better than anyone in his lower order) and Malik who is better than Lehmann (who had 27 tests only incidentally). But my bowling quite outshines his by a larger margin. My batting has to really face out McGrath and Warne. His has to look at Kumble, Lillee, Donald and Akram. with Tony Greig thrown in for equal measureI can see that happening here. I'm essentially gearing towards a win in pace bowling conditions and aiming draws or wins in the others.
 
Am going with Aldo.

Gavaskar, Ponting and Tendulkar, in my opinion, is enough to counter his 3 great bowlers. Plus he's got Crowe.

McGrath + Warne was a lethal combination. Not enough high quality batsmen in IL's team to counter that and the other bowlers in Aldo's team can be effective, if not exceptional.
 
Interval Level said:
Its not a fascination but more of bringing out the facts because he didn't exactly get hyped up the same way Gavaskar or someone did.

In a nutshell, Id say that my batting is slightly weaker (you aren't considering that in 2 of these five matches I'll have Cairns in my lower order who is better than anyone in his lower order) and Malik who is better than Lehmann (who had 27 tests only incidentally). But my bowling quite outshines his by a larger margin. My batting has to really face out McGrath and Warne. His has to look at Kumble, Lillee, Donald and Akram. with Tony Greig thrown in for equal measureI can see that happening here. I'm essentially gearing towards a win in pace bowling conditions and aiming draws or wins in the others.
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You did this vs. me and doing again! Selectively talking about opposition and ignoring some obvious things. In my case, you totally left out Kallis from bowling, a guy who has close to 300 wickets along with some other factors you ignored. Here you are totally discrediting Bishop by saying your team has to just face out Mcgrath and Warne. Injuries held Bishop back, but he was a fantastic bowler without a doubt.

Anyway, not saying I am voting for Aldo atm, but his bowling is not as weak as you are making it sound. You do have an advantage in that area no doubt.
 
The trouble with Aldo's team is that if you take McGrath, then the other two quicks look remarkably out of league with IL's pacers. How effective McGrath would be India and Pakistan?
 
You could say the same about IL's batting.. Take Richards out and the rest against McGrath + Warne..

Not really seeing a lot of runs there.
 
The Man Himself said:
You did this vs. me and doing again! Selectively talking about opposition and ignoring some obvious things. In my case, you totally left out Kallis from bowling, a guy who has close to 300 wickets along with some other factors you ignored. Here you are totally discrediting Bishop by saying your team has to just face out Mcgrath and Warne. Injuries held Bishop back, but he was a fantastic bowler without a doubt.

Anyway, not saying I am voting for Aldo atm, but his bowling is not as weak as you are making it sound. You do have an advantage in that area no doubt.
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But that's not fair. You did the same with my bowling right now by just giving it one line.

His is weak vis-a-vis mine. That's all I'm saying. And my relative weakness in batting is more than made up by it. I still have quality batsmen, y'know. They're no mugs with the bat.
 
There is simply no comparison between Gavaskar and Gooch.

Gavsakar has 7 hundreds in West Indies against that bowling attack, averages 70 there. Overall has 13 hundreds against them from 1971 to 1983.

I doubt there would be another player in history with such an outstanding record against the best bowling attack of his time.
 
Did he? Ccan you give any examples of county bowling attacks then that were equivalent of international ones? I am not aware
 
Most of what I would have said has been said by others.

If there's someone you can rely on for keeping his wicket against the quality pace attack IL has, it is Sunny. He's done it against the might of WI, he can do that here.

Ponting, Sachin and Crowe at 3,4 and 5 is extremely tough to counter.

IL's bowling is class obviously, and definitely better than mine but I still have two monster wicket takers who have 1200 or so wickets between them, and they would get good support from Hughes and Bishop. Viv aside, I don't think his batting can keep up with my attack and once Warne gets into his rhythm he would be dangerous as anyone.
 
Aldo, your batting is top quality, although I feel the bowling, whilst not average by any means, just looks all the more bare against his. Pretty much like how his batting looks against yours.
 
Donaldo said:
Aldo, your batting is top quality, although I feel the bowling, whilst not average by any means, just looks all the more bare against his. Pretty much like how his batting looks against yours.
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It is not about batting vs batting or bowling vs bowling. That's a mistake everyone(including me) keep making.

It should just be IL's batting vs Aldo's bowling and vice versa.
 
Just a small reminder, the site goes offline tonight 8 PM UK time so those who prefer to vote late, please try to decide before that time.

Hoping for a good turnout for these last 3 games.
 
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