RedCafe Cricket Draft SF- Stretch vs RI

[KM]

RI's writeup

RI's Bastards (now featuring Tendlya)

Well I call them Bastards but a couple of nice guys have crept in because I won too much and they’re too good. Even so the core of the team is still there – Smith, McGrath, Kumble, Streak are all hard men and sore losers. As I’ve said before, Dujon’s never played in a losing series.

Bowling at Stretch’s team, I’ll expect a quick breakthrough from. Dilshan’s a bit of a chancer in tests at his best and after keeping for ages, he’s not going to last too long. The middle-order’s good but nothing to really fear. Both Younis Khan and Tillekaratne are suspect against quality pace. Amla’s the main man but i’ve got the bowling to deal with it. High quality seam (McGrath and Nash), swing(Streak), bounce (McMillan) and spin (Kumble) coupled with partnership breakers in Clarke, Sehwag, Tendulkar and Aravinda.

I acknowledge I’m up against a quality bowling attack. I do however have a batting line-up packed with superstars. An awesome opening partnership in Sehwag and Smith and probably the best middle order now in the draft with quality players of spin to deal with Murali. On top of that, I’m going to get a few lives with Dilshan behind the stumps and a few extra runs as he struggles to keep to the likes of Steyn, Bishop and Lee.

Overall I think my batting line-up is clearly better while he shades the bowling. However he’s handicapped his bowling with a keeper who’s barely ever kept in tests while I’ve supported mine with one of greatest of all time. Plus I have that X-factor - my team just hates losing.

Spoiler

The XI

1. Graeme Smith (c)
2. Virender Sehwag
3. Brian McMillan
4. Sachin Tendulkar
5. Michael Clarke
6. Aravinda de Silva
7. Jeff Dujon (wk)
8. Heath Streak
9. Dion Nash
10. Anil Kumble (vc)
11. Glenn McGrath

Batting

Opening – Smith and Sehwag are easily the best opening partnership in the draft. Smith (8000 runs at 50) is probably the best opener of the last decade while Sehwag (8100 at 51) is the most explosive batsman in world cricket. Nice left and right combination as well.

Middle Order - At 3 I’ve got Brian McMillan who didn’t bat there too often but was a technically perfect middle order batsman accumulating 2000 runs with an average of 40. Then comes the deluge. Sachin Tendulkar has 15,000 runs at an unbelievable 55 followed by stroke players Clarke(6000 at 49) and deSilva (6300 at 43). They’re both quality players of spin and importantly for me in the middle get their runs quickly.

Lower Order Okay its 350 for 5 and you’ve made it past my devastating opening partnership and my awesome middle order. Can you breathe a sigh of relief? No...because Dujon at 7 is a strokeplayer averaging 32 with 5 centuries, Streak and Nash are almost allrounders with averages of 22 and 23. Anil Kumble at 10 has a fecking test century and 5 fifties and was the usual nightwatchman for India. You’ll get McGrath quickly enough I suppose if you make it that far.

Bowling

Glenn McGrath…I’m not even going to talk about except to say 563 wickets at 21 point fecking 6. Heath Streak was a one-man attack for Zimbabwe and a superb swing bowler with 216 wickets at 28. Dion Nash when not injured or smoking pot was a lively bowler who got 93 wickets at 28. Big Mac was a very underrated allrounder…international cricket came a little late for him in his career but he still managed 74 wickets at 34 always hitting the deck hard and making batsmen uncomfortable with his bounce. Now my spin option - Kumble has 619 wickets and every legspinner’s trick in the book plus some he's invented. An interesting thing about my team – I have 4 part-timers all decent quality – Clarke, Sehwag, Tendulkar and Aravinda. feck’s sake, even Smith has a few wickets.

One thing you’ll note about the bowlers is that they won’t shirk long spells. There’s not one among them that needs to be mothered and bowled in short spells.

Dujon’s one of the all-time great keepers and an incredible athlete. Personally, I think McMillan’s the best slip fielder I have ever seen.

Smith’s captain and I have a bunch to choose from for Vice-Captain. Streak, Clarke and deSilva were all possibilities. I went with Kumble in the end because I think he’ll be a perfect complement for Smith’s aggression and impulsiveness.

 

[KM]

Spoiler

1. Kepler Wessels (c) – Scoring 2788 runs at an ave of 41.00; dogged opener capable of seeing of the most potent seam attacks as he showed on debut for Aus scoring 162 against an England attack with Botham and Bob Willis. He also averaged 56 vs a Windies side with Marshall, Garner and Walsh. Wessels was an innings builder but even if he failed to score much at times, he'd see of the shine on the new nut to allow others to flourish.
2. Tillakaratne Dilshan (wk) – Scoring 5028 runs at an ave of 41.21; he’s got 80 tests under his belt and the exact opposite to Wessels in batting style. Aggressive and loves playing his shots, Dilshan is well travelled boasting an average of almost 50 in England.
3. Hashim Amla – Scoring 4775 runs at an ave of 50.26; Hash is a genius in the making, if not already. He’s been in immense form since 2009 for SA scoring 3733 runs at an ave of 59.25 and 12 hundreds since then.
4. Younis Khan (vc) – Scoring over 6500 runs at an ave of 51.69 with 20 centuries; Younis is a modern Pakistan great. He’s known for being a fighter when the chips are down and is known for his rearguard specialties. A master of the 4th innings, could be vital against a potent bowling attack.
5. Thilan Samaraweera – Having scored over 5000 runs at an ave of 51.29; Samaraweera is mister dependable and a mainstay in the Sri Lanka line up. His main strength is his patience which wears bowlers down. His 2 recent centuries in South Africa is testament to his determination.
6. Andrew Symonds – Scoring 1462 runs at an ave of 40.61; Symonds provides an attacking option with gusto after a line-up featuring sturdy batsmen. A brilliant fielder and decent enough part time bowler, capable of the all-important ‘partnership breaking’ ball.
7. Tim Bresnan – The one risky pick in the line-up with only 15 tests, Bresnan does provide a much needed balance to the side having scored 3 50s and taken 56 wickets at 28s; between Tim and Strang (12th man), they provide good options to balance the side depending on opposition.
8. Brett Lee – Having taken 312 wickets at 30s, Brett was just short being a great due to his injury concerns. At his best though, Lee took 58 scalps (shortly after McGrath’s retirement, 07/08) at 21s allowing Australia to still dominate. Capable of bowling at 150clicks with outswing with the new ball and reverse swing (to right hander) with the older ball, he’s a dependable wicket taker at his best. Having scored 5 50s and averaging 20.15 with the bat, he’s a great lower order batsman to have.
9. Dale Steyn - My frontline opening strike bowler. With 272 wickets at 23s and taking a wicket every 41 balls, Dale is devastating, and bar any serious injuries will certainly surpass other SA fast bowling greats to become the best from SA. He can swing the ball both ways, and lift his pace to 150clicks when needed. His accuracy is his strongest feat.
10. Muttiah Muralitharan – errr...800 wickets at 22s, 67 5w hauls, 22 10w hauls on all kinds of pitches against all kinds of batting lineups.
11. Ian Bishop – The teams other main opening strike bowler, Bishop took 161 wickets at 24s and strike rate of 52. With a high side on action, he had pace and could move the ball of the seam. He got steep bounce from just back of a length and could really upset batsmen. Unfortunately for him, his career was cut short with injuries, else we’d be talking of the great trio of Walsh, Ambrose and Bishop today.

12th man: Paul Strang over since he's an agile fielder

Strengths:

Arguably the best pace attack in the draft with Steyn, Bishop and Lee supplemented with Bresnan. Murali needs no introduction and he gives me my main strike option alongside Steyn and Bishop. Murali can bowl for ages and with Bresnan as 5th bowler, I can use my quicks very effectively in burst of blistering pace. Symonds can assist if need be but I don't foresee the need. My opening batting pair is solid and proven openers at test level, especially Wessels who's record shows that he could face the fiercest pace attacks in the world. Whilst Dilshan's average goes down when he's kept, we should not lose sight of the fact that over a 5 match series there will be times that I bat first, and if that's the case then keeping will have absolutely NO effect on his batting. Dilshan can take the game away from RI in one session if he gets going. The middle order oozes class with Amla, Khan and Samaraweera. Amla has been scoring runs for fun against all kinds of attacks since 2009 at averages of 60. Khan is a fighter, an accumulator and provides valuable leadership to assist Wessels with captaincy issues. Thilan can occupy the crease for long periods and shows sheer grit when bats. Let's dispel one myth very very quickly, Thilan Samaraweera has sorted his main issues against fast bowling on bouncy pitches. I've witnessed it first hand when in the most recent tour in SA where he had to face a great pace attack on bouncy wickets, he scored 2 centuries as Steyn and co toiled in the sun to remove him. He along with Khan have been shown to be masters of batting with the tail. With Symonds and Bresnan at 6 and 7 I have 2 aggressive batters that will accelerate the scoring if needed. They will mostly be batting with the likes of Thilan and Younis anchoring on the other end allowing them to wield their blades when the ball's there to hit.

I have the middle order capable of dealing with his spin and the top order to deal with his pace. Even if Dilshan doesn't come off, I'd bet on Wessels and Amla to bat looooooooong and make McGrath and co toil hard.

RI's main strength is his top 3 batsmen, Smith, Sehwag and Sachin. However, I'd wager I could get Sehwag out pretty quickly with the pace attack I have. In fact, the fact that I have Steyn, Bishop and Lee can get me into the middle order pretty quickly. Tendulkar vs Murali is huge in the context of the match and both have had success vs the other, but I'll note, Murali has dismissed Tendulkar 8 times out of 19 innings.

And to stop the blatant lying that's been going in some matches () I will post what I perceive my weaknesses to be.

Weaknesses:

I concede, Dilshan as WK is a liability. I admit I thought he played more as wk in tests. However, he's a very agile fielder and I have great slip fielders in the likes of Wessels, Khan and co to make up for any mishaps. Also, I do know Bresnan is a risk as he's not played that much, but I do believe he can add to the team. Bresnan will be employed as a batsman at 7 who can bowl.

....

Stretch's write up

 

[KM]

Btw by mistake I unticked the makes the vote public option. hopefully the contestants won't have any problems with that.

 

[Red-Indian]

Thanks KM. No worries about the public votes. People declare who they're voting for usually.

 

[crappycraperson]

mmmmmmm

 

[Stretch]

Just something I want to reiterate regarding Sehwag, he'll be back in the box pretty quickly. Steyn's dismissed him 7 times in 10 matches. Dismissals were in India and SA, so not venue or pitch dependent. Steyn's got him out on average every 10 runs scored vs Steyn. Oh and 6 of those dismissals were in the slips so Dilshan as a wk has no effect on that stat. Make of that what you must.

 

[Stretch]

Thanks KM. No worries about the public votes. People declare who they're voting for usually.

Same here, no issues. Folks, just say who you voted for in the thread. I see someone voted for me without posting so just let us know. Cheers

 

[Red-Indian]

Right now for some critical analysis

I'll start with the easy target - Stretch's batting order

Wessels - Solid enough but average of 41? Low for a semi final opener. He'll hang aroudn but not for long
Dilshan - Average of 41 to start with which is low in the context. Dips to 28 when keeper.
Amla - He's the star in there so basically I have to get him out. It's one man though with an average of 50.
Younis Khan - Basically McGrath's bunny. 5 dismissals in 6 tests played. Average of (I couldn't believe it myself) 6.2 against him
Samaraweera - You can talk about his improvement in one tour but his average in Australia is 22, in England is 27, in India is 24. He basically bats at home and managed one decent series in South Africa and Pakistan each. These are NOT a top class batsman's figures

 

[crappycraperson]

Just something I want to reiterate regarding Sehwag, he'll be back in the box pretty quickly. Steyn's dismissed him 7 times in 10 matches. Dismissals were in India and SA, so not venue or pitch dependent. Steyn's got him out on average every 10 runs scored vs Steyn. Oh and 6 of those dismissals were in the slips so Dilshan as a wk has no effect on that stat. Make of that what you must.

Yeah. I agree with that. I will be discounting Sehwag. I warned RI about this as well, should have picked Hayden

 

[Red-Indian]

Just something I want to reiterate regarding Sehwag, he'll be back in the box pretty quickly. Steyn's dismissed him 7 times in 10 matches. Dismissals were in India and SA, so not venue or pitch dependent. Steyn's got him out on average every 10 runs scored vs Steyn. Oh and 6 of those dismissals were in the slips so Dilshan as a wk has no effect on that stat. Make of that what you must.

His overall average though vs. South Africa is 50.23 with 3 centuries and highest of 191. That's the thing with Sehwag. You'll get him out early 40% of the time - 7 times in 20 innings but when you don't, you'll play...you'll fecking pay like no other batsman in world cricket can make you pay.

 

[crappycraperson]

My problem of course if the keeper thing. Imagine if Stretch ends up winning this draft with Dilshan as the keeper.. that would be diabolical IMO.

But seems like the peeps here don't care about all that. So I won't disqualify Stretch straight away but I will essentially count him out as a batsmen as well. Will deduct somem points from bowling as well and then see where it lands us

 

[Red-Indian]

Yeah. I agree with that. I will be discounting Sehwag. I warned RI about this as well, should have picked Hayden

You have some wierd issues with Sehwag. Over 15 tests and 26 innings (just so it's no flash in the pan), he has an average of 50 Vs. South Africa. You'll discount a batsman with a 50 average?

 

[Red-Indian]

Stretch i'll be voting by the way...so that it's easy to keep a tab on the votes.

 

[crappycraperson]

You have some wierd issues with Sehwag. Over 15 tests and 26 innings (just so it's no flash in the pan), he has an average of 50 Vs. South Africa. You'll discount a batsman with a 50 average?

Would I bank on Sehwag at his best to survive against Steyn at his best? No

 

[zing]

On a pitch offering something for the bowlers, against good bowlers, Sehwag has 10 runs in the tank max.

 

[NM]

Going RI. His batting is way better IMO, and Stretch's bowling advantage is reduced heavily by the dodgy keeper.

RI pretty easily wins this.

Here was my analysis:

Openners : RI > Stretch
Middle Order:RI > Stretch
Keeper: RI >> Stretch
Bowlers: Stretch >> RI

 

[NM]

People should give reasons for voting due to public voting being disabled...

 

[Red-Indian]

On a pitch offering something for the bowlers, against good bowlers, Sehwag has 10 runs in the tank max.

It's a pity you believe that. In 11 tests and 22 innings in Australia (so again no flash in the pan), Sehwag has an average of 47. He's struggled in England and SA but even there he has centuries.

Too many people mix his one-day performances up with his test match performances. You don't get to an average of fecking 51 by not being able to get past 10 on a good track.

I won't argue it any further since it would be just repeating the same point.

 

[Donaldo]

On a pitch offering something for the bowlers, against good bowlers, Sehwag has 10 runs in the tank max.

Idiotic...he might not be the most reliable of players lately but that's the laziest thing you can say about Sehwag.

 

[Donaldo]

I don't rate Brian McMillian quite as much as RI seems to. Streak's iffy at best (good stats for a lowly team, then again he was pretty much their only strike bowler), and Nash , while a decent bowler, hardly compares to the Stretch's options.m McGrath and Jumbo.. Hmmm.

 

[zing]

Idiotic...he might not be the most reliable of players lately but that's the laziest thing you can say about Sehwag.

Averages 46 in Australia, 28 in England, 20 in NZ, 25 in South Africa

2 of his 4 notable centuries in the above countries came in matches drawn with astronomically high first innings scores by both teams.. 1 came in Australia against an Australian team without McGrath and Warne, with a bowling lineup of Lee, Bracken and Brad Williams

One of the biggest flat track bullies to play the game. Has no sense of application. I have become tired of watching him throw away his wicket in overseas conditions

edit: this is not just overseas.. when the pressure is on even in sub-continental tracks, he folds regularly. Ridiculously rubbish 4th innings player. In the time India was #1, he would regularly throw his wicket away in the 3rd or 4th innings when India needed it. I will check his average after this England match ends, for the 3rd and 4th innings. Absolute bottler, except for that one innings when he made 84 against England in Chennai

 

[Stretch]

Stretch i'll be voting by the way...so that it's easy to keep a tab on the votes.

I've voted too mate.

 

[OB]

Even Sehwag is going to be at his best. At his best, he'd smash Steyn everywhere. So the argument is insn't correct at all

 

[zing]

Even Sehwag is going to be at his best. At his best, he'd smash Steyn everywhere. So the argument is insn't correct at all

But 'best' is not a one off match from their career. Sehwag, at his best, never had even a consistent run of a few months where he did the business against good bowlers on decent pitches.

 

[Stretch]

Right now for some critical analysis

I'll start with the easy target - Stretch's batting order

Wessels - Solid enough but average of 41? Low for a semi final opener. He'll hang aroudn but not for long
Dilshan - Average of 41 to start with which is low in the context. Dips to 28 when keeper.
Amla - He's the star in there so basically I have to get him out. It's one man though with an average of 50.
Younis Khan - Basically McGrath's bunny. 5 dismissals in 6 tests played. Average of (I couldn't believe it myself) 6.2 against him
Samaraweera - You can talk about his improvement in one tour but his average in Australia is 22, in England is 27, in India is 24. He basically bats at home and managed one decent series in South Africa and Pakistan each. These are NOT a top class batsman's figures

You grossly underestimate Wessels. Wessels faced all time greats of fast bowling and came out on top more than enough times. Just asked the Windies of the 80s...

As I've mentioned, over a 5 match series, I'd bet on batting 1st a few times nullifying Dilshan's ave as a wk. He'll come off in one of those matches.

You say Amla is one man with an ave of 50 yet comfortably then leave the other 2. Convenient.

Ok, if you pulling that card on McGrath, I've pointed out the Sehwag weakness. So that cancels each other out. I will leave it at that, I can go further and we can go on and on.

I pointed out Samaraweera's most RECENT exploits because it is called IMPROVEMENT and working on ones weakness, which he's done reaped the fruits of. Either way, he'd do just fine against your attack.

 

[crappycraperson]

Even Sehwag is going to be at his best. At his best, he'd smash Steyn everywhere. So the argument is insn't correct at all

 

[Stretch]

Oh and one glaring weakness is McMillan at 3, he was NEVER a top order batsman and I'm a big mac fan. He'd be gone quick.

 

[Red-Indian]

You grossly underestimate Wessels. Wessels faced all time greats of fast bowling and came out on top more than enough times. Just asked the Windies of the 80s...

As I've mentioned, over a 5 match series, I'd bet on batting 1st a few times nullifying Dilshan's ave as a wk. He'll come off in one of those matches.

You say Amla is one man with an ave of 50 yet comfortably then leave the other 2. Convenient.

Ok, if you pulling that card on McGrath, I've pointed out the Sehwag weakness. So that cancels each other out. I will leave it at that, I can go further and we can go on and on.

I pointed out Samaraweera's most RECENT exploits because it is called IMPROVEMENT and working on ones weakness, which he's done reaped the fruits of. Either way, he'd do just fine against your attack.

Let's do a comparison
Smith > Wessels
Sehwag > Dilshan
Tendulkar > Amla
Clarke = Khan (and that's being charitable given his weakness against McGrath)
De Silva = Samaraweera (and that's again debatable. I personally rate Aravinda higher but i'm presuming i'm biased)
McMillan > Symonds (much better test batsman)
Dujon > Bresnan

Tell me which of these you disagree with.

 

[crappycraperson]

Voted for RI.. will give full reasons later

 

[zing]

Averages 46 in Australia, 28 in England, 20 in NZ, 25 in South Africa

2 of his 4 notable centuries in the above countries came in matches drawn with astronomically high first innings scores by both teams.. 1 came in Australia against an Australian team without McGrath and Warne, with a bowling lineup of Lee, Bracken and Brad Williams

One of the biggest flat track bullies to play the game. Has no sense of application. I have become tired of watching him throw away his wicket in overseas conditions

edit: this is not just overseas.. when the pressure is on even in sub-continental tracks, he folds regularly. Ridiculously rubbish 4th innings player. In the time India was #1, he would regularly throw his wicket away in the 3rd or 4th innings when India needed it. I will check his average after this England match ends, for the 3rd and 4th innings. Absolute bottler, except for that one innings when he made 84 against England in Chennai

Here we go.. In Asia, first innings average 79, 2nd innings average 31.. overseas, 2nd innings average 28..

 

[crappycraperson]

Let's do a comparison
Smith > Wessels
Sehwag > Dilshan
Tendulkar > Amla
Clarke = Khan (and that's being charitable given his weakness against McGrath)
De Silva = Samaraweera (and that's again debatable. I personally rate Aravinda higher but i'm presuming i'm biased)
McMillan > Symonds (much better test batsman)
Dujon > Bresnan

Tell me which of these you disagree with.

heh.. that's a very skewed comparison, Amla and Sachin don't even bat at the same position. I also agree with Stretch that Mcmillan at 3 is a blooper.

 

[Red-Indian]

heh.. that's a very skewed comparison, Amla and Sachin don't even bat at the same position. I also agree with Stretch that Mcmillan at 3 is a blooper.

Well it is what it is. His openers against mine. His best batsmen against mine.
By position then
Smith > Wessels
Sehwag > Dilshan
McMillan << Amla
Tendulkar > Khan
Clarke > Samaraweera
Aravinda > Symonds
Dujon > Bresnan

Any objections there?

McMillan's a bit of a sacrificial goat. He's good enough to bat there in my opinion and allows my real stars to bat where they want to.

 

[crappycraperson]

Agree with that mostly . Your batting is defo better, without Sachin it could have been close but not now.

 

[mightberight]

Going with RI. More of a balanced side imo, and the proper wicketkeeper definitely swings it.

 

[Red-Indian]

To be fair, I should also talk about bowling.

To start with, I acknowledge he has a better bowling attack than I do
McGrath > Steyn
Streak < Bishop
Nash < Lee
Kumble < Murali
McMillan = Bresnan

However
1. His bowling is severely handicapped with a keeper who's only kept in 3 matches whereas mine never drops one
2. I have a bunch of quality part-timers. Not just cannon fodder. Clarke and Sehwag have both had 5 wicket hauls. Aravinda and Tendulkar have also made a serious difference on occasion with their bowling.

 

[Red-Indian]

Going with RI. More of a balanced side imo, and the proper wicketkeeper definitely swings it.

It's gone for me but I was going to suggest you and Interval not vote in this. Just as Stretch and me shouldn't vote in your game.

I'm going to volunteer that your vote not be counted if it's down to a one vote margin.

Feel free to express an opinion though.

Edit: Unless Interval and you vote one each side obviously.

 

[mightberight]

It's gone for me but I was going to suggest you and Interval not vote in this. Just as Stretch and me shouldn't vote in your game.

I'm going to volunteer that your vote not be counted if it's down to a one vote margin.

Feel free to express an opinion though.

Edit: Unless Interval and you vote one each side obviously.

No offence but I don't really mind who I could possibly face, considering I believe that I justifiably have the best team in the draft. Still if you think that's the better option then I don't mind.

 

[Red-Indian]

No offence but I don't really mind who I could possibly face, considering I believe that I justifiably have the best team in the draft. Still if you think that's the better option then I don't mind.

No offence to you either. I'm not suggesting you're trying to influence the result (especially since you've voted for the the stronger team here) but it's just to avoid any controversies.

I'll leave it to Stretch though. If he's ok with it, I have no problems either.

 

[mightberight]

No offence to you either. I'm not suggesting you're trying to influence the result (especially since you've voted for the the stronger team here) but it's just to avoid any controversies.

I'll leave it to Stretch though. If he's ok with it, I have no problems either.

Well I could understand that if it gets down to between a couple of votes in either match, it could look controversial. What do others think?

 

[Red-Indian]

Thinking about it though, I wouldn't be able to resist vociferously arguing in your thread anyway. That's as bad as a vote I suppose. Up to Stretch as I said earlier.

fecks sake, I must have half the posts in all the cricket draft threads combined. I'll be glad when this is done.