RedCafe Cricket Draft- MightbeRight vs KM

Who will win based on players in their prime, team tactics and balance?

  • Total voters
    16
  • Poll closed .

KM

I’m afraid I just blue myself
Joined
Sep 18, 2008
Messages
49,917
Here we go lads
 
Interval Level said:
Okay, people. Before you'll start voting here, please vote here since this poll is already open.

https://www.redcafe.net/f12/redcafe-cricket-draft-unitedfan101-vs-interval-level-357139/

Welcome to matchday 3. Its mightberight v/s KM

MCG is buzzing. Toss is done, match about to start. Lets join Richie Benaud up in the commentary box

mightberight XI
A.Cook - The boy wonder. Perhaps already the best batsman England has ever produced, perhaps he more than anybody has been the spearhead of England's recent golden era.

C.Gayle - Gayle force's impact on the West Indies test side should not be underestimated. Averaging well over 50 in the last three years before his exile, the man has blossomed into an aggressive and effective test opening batsman who can produce big scores on a whim. Just recently he returned to the Windies test side with a 200+ runs performance. Also a very useful spinner.

S.Fleming (C) - Averaging over 40, it is hard to express enough how galvanizing an effect Fleming was over the years for a faltering New Zealand. According to Shane Warne, "the best greatest captain he has ever seen." Not just a scorer of big runs, Fleming uses his superior cricketing brain to his advantage to eek out more wickets and less runs as a marshall on the field. With my bowling line-up already, opposing batsmen have nowhere to hide.

A.Prince - One of the best middle-order batsman of the mid 2000s, Prince has smashed centuries against the heavyweights of India, Australia and England. An average of 41.64 somewhat made to look worse due to an experiment as an opening batsman, his sturdiness and penchant for runs should not be underestimated. South Africa's first black captain for a reason.

M.Prior (WK) - Matty Prior, finally the wicketkeeper to replace Alec Stewart. A batting average of 43, Prior has turned England's quality batting order into a deep one. There's never any fear when Prior comes to the crease, as his 6 centuries and 19 50s in 55 matches attest to. He does not have a single weak spot against any test side, with notable innings scores for each one. His wicket keeping has also improved immeasurably; quite simply the best wicketkeeper today.

C.McMillan - Big old Craig McMillan, a destructive batsman who was very deft dealing with the spinners of India, as his 58.8 average against them attests to. An overall batting average just shy of 40, he also took 28 wickets at test level as a medium pacer with a bowling average of 45. On song, he really could crush the ball and was far more than just a niggle for bowlers attempting to plough through New Zealand's middle order.

J. Rhodes - Good old Jonty, one of the most famous sporting South Africans. Gritty with the bat an average of over 35, Rhodes' real shining asset was his unbelievable fielding. The image of Jonty seared onto the brains of all cricket lovers was his superman dive to run out Inzy Ul-Haq. Quite simply the greatest fielder of all time who is bound to save me. After a technical overhaul of his batting, the last 3 years of his test career he averaged over 50.

S.Pollock - What can you say about this man? A zipping seamer who could bat with ******, taking the DNA of both his Father and Uncle to become one of the best all-rounders to ever grace the game. A bowling average of 23, he would have made any side in the world in his prime if even he were just pure bowler. Deadly accurate, affording no breathing space to the most refined of batsmen. An average of 32 with the bat, he's another player for your bowlers to huff and puff with against my deep batting order.

G.Swann - Burst onto the scene in late 2008 by taking two test wickets in one over in India, giving them a taste of their own medicine. Has gone on to take 188 wickets since then, and he hasn't even been in the game for four years. Averaging 29 with the ball, his economy rate is just as much a boon as his destructive innings, compiling an extraordinary hitlist in Sri Lanka earlier this year. Best in the game and an average of 22 with the bat as my number 9!

S.Akhtar - To face Shoaib, the fastest bowler alive, must be a frightening experience. Only a career marred in controversy and lack of fitness has us reluctant to elevate him to the pantheon of all greats. But the speed demon took 170 odd wickets in just 46 tests, culminating in an ever thrilling but ever too short career. Striiiiiiiiiike.

C.Ambrose - "Curtly talk to no man." He lets the ball do the talking. There isn't a better fast bowler in the draft, truly. A mammoth of a man with his penchant for bounce. And when some of the pace left him later in his career, his intelligent seaming allowed no decline to his bowling. His average? Under 21. But it hardly needs to be said, given his legend and even his ghost as the last great pacer that haunts the current West Indies side.

Strategy
KM is a tough opponent, of that there is no doubt. But I’m spotting glaring weaknesses in his line-up that give me confidence of the win.

First, let’s start with my batting order. It’s not crammed with superstars, but as I went for some awesome bowling power early on, I think I’ve done well not just to add quality batsmen, but a deep, deep order. My batting average doesn’t go below 20 until No. 10. Now, I know the point can be made that we’re facing the very best of the last 30 years, but even though KM’s bowling is good – Morkel and Anderson in particular – I don’t feel like they would necessarily overwhelm me (Bond I rate lower considering his 18 tests are far too little), even if Kallis can chip in here and there. If one batsman fails, another can step in. Cook is very likely to stick around. Gayle is a very underestimated batsman and has hit big scores against any test side with his compatriots offering very little help at times (average of 43 not to be sniffed at). Fleming is the ultimate captain and glued a lot of innings together in a sub-par NZ side, Prince and Prior average over 40, the former having faced Anderson and not coming out red-faced, Prior being one of the (few) standout batsmen in the recent test against SA. McMillan is hardly a pansy at the crease and Rhodes, at his peak in the last three years of his test career, averaged over 50. Pollock is my No.8 and he can hit bowlers around. Swann adds vital runs. So multiple batsman are bound to get good scores.
Now I come to my bowling vs KM’s batsmen. The opening batsmen are weak, and they should be dispatched pretty damn quickly, so the pressure immediately falls to, admittedly, KM’s extremely solid middle order. How will it match up to my bowlers? Just look at my variety. The eagle-eye seam of Pollock, the bounce of Ambrose, the pure strike bowling of Akhtar. Are you telling me that Inzy and Kallis are both going to hit good scores against such a line-up? Especially when my bowlers should be fresh after a quick dispatch of the opening pair. Not to mention Swann who is very rarely gives away cheap runs and often finds a breakthrough. I doubt the former three are going to have to bowl non-stop for a couple of days in an innings and get tired, either. Boon and Shastri are the only other batters that may cause a hold-up but they’ll be hardly profligate run scorers against my bowlers, especially Shastri. Al-Hasan and Haddin aren’t going to stick around for long and after that, well … KM simply doesn’t have the depth that I do, or the firepower in his bowling to make sure my depth isn’t a sizable advantage.

And just in case my bowlers do get stuck on a sturdy pairing of Kallis and Inzy …



I have the best fielder of all time in Jonty Rhodes to take care of run out King Ul Haq!

V/s

KM XI

Iqbal
Butt
Boon
Kallis
Inzy
Shastri
Haddin
Al-Hasan
Morkel
Anderson
Bond

12th Man- Warner.

Strategy
First of all the openers are decent. Iqbal doesn't have a great record but he's from Bangladesh plus he's an extremely dangerous opener who scored two centuries against England at England.

Salman Butt whilst being a cheat was a decentish opener.

Next is my middle order which is probably my strength in the game. Boon, Inzy and Kallis all were or are world class performers. It gives my middle order exceptional strength, stability and class.

My lower top order of Ravi Shastri, Haddin and Al-Hasan is brilliant. All of them have got a batting average of nearly 35.

Bowling wise I've got two current world class fast bowlers in Morkel and Anderson. One is primarily a swing bowler and other primarily old school west Indian bowler who relies on Bounce. Both different but both highly effective.

In Shane Bond I've got a pacer who can at ease regularly bowl more than 150kp/h. Plus again you've got the likes of Jacques Kallis who is a world class bowler in his own pomp.

In Spinner I've got Ravi Shastri and Al-Hasan. Shastri has more than 150 test wickets where is Al Hasan has 96 wickets at an excellent average of 91.

Out of his 9 five wicket hauls, 4 has came outside Bangladesh which includes 2 against SA, 1 against England and 1 against WI. Otherwise he has taken 5 wicket hauls against India, Pakistan, SriLanka. Basically all excellent spin playing nations.

My Captain will be Jacques Kallis.

Good luck to both managers.
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Thanks to IL
 
Bastards...I wrote a long post in the other thread and it said invalid thread when I pressed submit.

Anyway, i'll try again. This for me is the closest matchup this round and it's a real pity that one of these teams and the stars in them will leave so early.

As he acknowledges, mightberight's main weakness is his middle order. Prior doesn't bat as high as 5 even for England and there's no real innings builder in there. He's made up for it to a fair extent though by batting so low. And that bowling...mamma mia...that bowling is truly intimidating.

KM's team is more balanced. However, that opening partnership might as well not exist. Against the likes of Ambrose and Akhtar steaming in, they'll be like deer in the headlights. Boon, Kallis and Inzy is a class midfield however and they'll make the runs. The bowling decent enough without a superstar. The lack of a quality spin option is a bit of a weakness.

Its very very close and I can't decide yet. I am leaning towards mightberight at this point.
 
Head on Head

Top Order: mbr wins this. Comfortably. Cook, Gayle and Fleming is a combination of safety and explosiveness. Gayle is highly underrated and has been great in the last few years.

KM's on the other hand leaves alot to be desired. As much as I'd like to give Iqbal credit, he just isn't the same level of Cook or Gayle. Boon however is a great option at 3 since he can park himself at the crease.

Middle order: KM all the way. Kallis, Haq and Shastri is much better than Prince, Prior and McMillan. MBR's middle is quite flakey too giving all chances of a collapse.

Lower Order: Haddin, Al Hasan and Rest v/s Rhodes, Pollock, Swann and Rest. Close one, but Pollock manages to win it for mbr.

Bowling quality: mbr for me. I think he has a great bowling line up. Ambrose, Pollock and Akhtar + Swann backing them up is good quality. Maybe Swann is a bit iffy. But enough to beat what KM has as far as quality.

Bowling Depth: KM. mbr has 4 top notch bowlers and then Gayle and McMillan as part timers. KM has 5 bowlers + Shastri

Balance: KM bats till 8, mbr 9. KM has better bowling balance.

Ummm... Tough one.
 
Going with mighberight on this one. His openers are very good, and better than KM's. His middle order is decent, althought obviously KM's middle order is better here. He bats deep, which is in his favour here. KM's also bats deep, still for me mighberight's team seem's a bit more balance, with better players. KM's main spinner is Al-Hasan, whereas mightberight has Swann. His bowling is good, but so is mightberights bowling.

Also, Kallis as captain? Not sure how many games he has captained. I had a look and i found out only two games.

Mightberight for me will be winning the game
 
Hmm..this is a tricky one. I seriously feel mightberight's lacking a solid middle order, and thats been my key takeaway when you go past the obvious things. His bowling's making my eyes well over, though, and then it's difficult to see objectively.

I'm going to flip a coin for this one. :P
 
KM, i'm not sure if changes are allowed to be made once the match starts but if I were you, i'd promote Boon to opening. He's opened in tests with a fine average plus his entire one-day career was at the top. With Salman Butt at the other end, he'll add a bit of solidity. Drop Tamim Iqbal down the order and sandwich him between Kallis and Inzy.

That will make your opening look less fragile. Right now it just amuses me to think of them pissing themselves in fear as they face Ambrose and Akhtar.
 
Wow, I've no idea who I'm going to vote for. KM's middle order vs MB's bowling attack, that's the key here for me.
 
Really tough one. KM's middle order is his strength and he has very good bowling options but MBR's bowling is slightly better with Swann as the spin option and he has a the better openers.

Very difficult to choose a winner but since I have to, KM just about wins it for me.
 
Still unsure who to vote for. Leaninng for mightberight though.
 
Tough call but MBR just about edges it for me. I love the look of his bowling line up.
 
I've come back to this after a couple of hours in the hope I would be able to make my mind up and I still cannot.

KM certainly has the ability in his bowlers to take 10 wickets. On a good day they could run through mightberight's line-up.

mightberight on the other hand has the bowlers to trouble even the likes of Boon, Kallis and Inzy. One of them will stick though. Its inevitable...they're just so high quality.
 
AldoRaine18 said:
Hi, if you are there, could you please pass my vote for the ongoing game? I vote for mightberight. Thanks.
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Well Aldo adds his vote to mightberight. The consensus seems to be building.

KM needs to get back in here and sell his team.
 
oops have voted wrong, wanted to vote for mightberight, voted for km by mistake
 
For all the talk about my weak opening. MBR's middle order is very weak. Rhodes and McMillan wasn't a test match player. Prince is currently dropped.

Also I think my bowling attack is under-rated. The second and third best bowler currently is in my team. I find the fact that my bowling attack will be unable to twenty wickets a little bit strange.
 
Also anybody voting against me will be infracted.
 
Going for MBR. KM has the stronger middle order but MBR's openers and bowlers are stronger for me. Fleming beats Kallis as captain as well.
 
Captaincy changes very very less in test cricket. Can't believe that's one of the reason people aren't voting for me.
 
KM said:
Captaincy changes very very less in test cricket. Can't believe that's one of the reason people aren't voting for me.
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Really? The right decision can end a partnership. As much as the bowler tries to outwit the batsman, the captain can also play games out on the field. I don't think the likes of Warne and Strauss would be giving quotes about his leadership qualities if that wasn't the case, test cricket or not.
 
I've gone with KM here, better balance. His bowling is not as bad as some would make you believe. I also believe that his batting is stronger than MBR's with that middle order of his, one of Boon, Kallis or Inzy will stick and make a big score. Prince and Prior at 4 and 5 for MBR stick out like a sore thumb. Prince is not a top order (1-4) batsman, trust me, I know this.

Also, I don't see why people are criticizing Kallis as cpt. He's got a bucket full of experience and he's been vc for SA on plenty occasions. He's always part of 'tactical' discussion before Smith would make a call in the Proteas. He certainly knows the game well enough to lead the side.
 
Voting for mb. Will post detailed reason later, was very close. If bond had maintained those stats even for 30 tests, would have voted for km
 
Thanks bud, it'd be quite crazy not to go with Kallis in all honesty. Got that 5th bowler and one of the best batsmen of the modern era to prop up my batting order ... attending to two of arguably my only glaringly weak points.
 
Yeah Kallis is a no-brainer. Congrats MBR, I'm regretting I recommended you for promotion.
 
Bah could never elaborate on this due to being busy with family. Unlucky KM, I would say your team is better than couple of those that have won already. MBR with Kallis pick has gotta be fav. for the competition now.
 
Also wanted to point out that Prince is no where near being one of the best middler order batsmen of mid 2000s. People need to lay off over-statements like that one otherwise from now on I will just start voting against them for that reason alone.
 
Yeah, people are clearly lying in their descriptions. I'm just posting opinions of what people's roles will be in my team as I really wanted to vote for NONE of these teams due to the descriptions.
 
Yea i don't rate players according to the descriptions, as for obvious reasons, they just make their players the best.
 
Yeah some have been cringe worthy sales pitches. I don't think I'm going to bother with descriptions. Everyone voting would be familiar with the players and should have their own opinion on them anyway.
 
kps88 said:
Yeah some have been cringe worthy sales pitches. I don't think I'm going to bother with descriptions. Everyone voting would be familiar with the players and should have their own opinion on them anyway.
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That could be a problem with some of the earlier players though. I'm unfamiliar with some of the 80s players. I think wikipedia/cricinfo may be more informative then the pitches some people have though, which is saying something!
 
crappycraperson said:
Also wanted to point out that Prince is no where near being one of the best middler order batsmen of mid 2000s. People need to lay off over-statements like that one otherwise from now on I will just start voting against them for that reason alone.
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Sorry crappy but remember him having a great period between 2005-2008. My intention wasn't to hoodwink anybody, and I think I was generally fair. If it's hyperbole then so be it, I'll change it up. Perhaps I'll do away with "sales pitches" as hopefully those voting are knowledgeable enough themselves.
 
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