Test Cricket draft: VanGaalEra vs Akshay @ MCG, Melbourne

Who will win test match?

  • Total voters
    24
  • Poll closed .
Akshay said:
Gibbs and Dilshan could both be back in the pavilion by the time we switch to spin.


Sutcliffe did well against Harold Larwood in his time, who is estimated to have bowled at speeds between 140kph-160kph. Akhtar's fastest ball ever was 161kph.
Click to expand...

Maybe. They are also very innovative batsman and Gibbs in particular relished quick bowling. Dilshan's loose defence outside off stump will probably do for him tbf but then you've got subtle players in Amla and Root coming in.

That's a fair point but by accounts Larwood was a fair bit quicker than the rest of his contemporaries. Are you going to operate bodyline tactics btw? :D

I still think you've got this match in your hands as your attack is balanced and has quality to take 20 wickets. Just I will wait for VGE to offer an argument.
 
VanGaalEra carrying two sheeps compared to 1 of Akshay going against him. Also, Akshay's sheep had better career than Shillingford or Jadeja. So, that is where luck played a bit of part as not every criterion's sheep can be equal. Even without that, Akshay's bowling has more firepower which to me will tilt test in his favour. Amla, Root and Rahane is a very good middle order to have but given Root and Rahane are in early stages of career, doesn't help VGE as much as it could. I believe Root and Rahane could have been v.good in the era of Inzamam, Tillkeratne, Chanderpaul as well though.
Overall Tillekratne over Jadeja and Tufnell vs Shillingford plays major part. Opening pair too, Akshay's better.

Will wait to read VanGaalEra's argument first before voting.
 
Boycott said:
Maybe. They are also very innovative batsman and Gibbs in particular relished quick bowling. Dilshan's loose defence outside off stump will probably do for him tbf but then you've got subtle players in Amla and Root coming in.

That's a fair point but by accounts Larwood was a fair bit quicker than the rest of his contemporaries. Are you going to operate bodyline tactics btw? :D

I still think you've got this match in your hands as your attack is balanced and has quality to take 20 wickets. Just I will wait for VGE to offer an argument.
Click to expand...
Yeah plenty of good batsmen there with Amla and Gilchrist in particular being the danger men I think.

No bodyline :p I'm sure Sutcliffe will be whispering different ideas into Smith's ear in the middle though.
 
Aldo said:
I don't see it, it all balances out pretty much. Messi is a prime example. You underestimate the people on here, they try to be objective and have overcome the romanticism and nostalgia. And what balances it out more is that people are likely to trust someone they;ve seen play do a particular job asked of him than someone they've read an article about at most. Plenty of cricketers who played in the 90s and early 00s are rated as much as anyone else in the history of the game, both bowlers and batsmen. I made a thread on another cricket forum last year that Starc's performance in the WC ranks as high as anyone else in the history of WCs. At least for me, it doesn't matter how old or young the name is.
Click to expand...

I agree.

But I've seen far too many modern day players get dismissed on here to be honest and hence my post. Agree with Starc as well.
 
Quick pop in, I think Akshay's team is unbalanced, 6 batsman and was Tillakaratne even a regular keeper? The tail starts at 7, the tail gets blown away.

Also, having 5 bowlers means Ambrose and Barnes most likely won't get enough overs.

Has anyone seen Younis, Inzi and Tillakaratne's averages and performances in Australia? Do they even have a test ton between them in Aus?
 
VanGaalEra said:
Quick pop in, I think Akshay's team is unbalanced, 6 batsman and was Tillakaratne even a regular keeper? The tail starts at 7, the tail gets blown away.

Also, having 5 bowlers means Ambrose and Barnes most likely won't get enough overs.

Has anyone seen Younis, Inzi and Tillakaratne's averages and performances in Australia? Do they even have a test ton between them in Aus?
Click to expand...

5 bowlers is just a figure. Tufnell won't be doing much bowling or even be required to do much bowling once Ambrose and Barnes are through with the batting.
 
VanGaalEra said:
Has anyone seen Younis, Inzi and Tillakaratne's averages and performances in Australia? Do they even have a test ton between them in Aus?
Click to expand...
It's true they have indeed struggled in Australia. But so have Gibbs, Dilshan and Root.
 
Ijazz17 said:
It's true they have indeed struggled in Australia. But so have Gibbs, Dilshan and Root.
Click to expand...
It should also be noted that Younis and Inzy's relative under-performances in Australia were against a bowling attack of McGrath, Gillespie, Kasprowicz and Warne, which is a sight more threatening than Willis and Akhtar (both mediocre in Australia) backed up by Vettori/Shillingford.
 
VanGaalEra said:
Quick pop in, I think Akshay's team is unbalanced, 6 batsman and was Tillakaratne even a regular keeper? The tail starts at 7, the tail gets blown away.

Also, having 5 bowlers means Ambrose and Barnes most likely won't get enough overs.

Has anyone seen Younis, Inzi and Tillakaratne's averages and performances in Australia? Do they even have a test ton between them in Aus?
Click to expand...
Ambrose and Branes not getting enough over? Its test match and not the ODI they can bowl as many overs as they can.Its like 10 overs x2 max.
 
Akshay said:
It should also be noted that Younis and Inzy's relative under-performances in Australia were against a bowling attack of McGrath, Gillespie, Kasprowicz and Warne, which is a sight more threatening than Willis and Akhtar (both mediocre in Australia) backed up by Vettori/Shillingford.
Click to expand...
I wouldn't necessarily call McGrath et al. as threatening in terms of sheer pace. They were just Dead pan accurate. Willis was fast, bloody fast and we all know how good Akhthar can be on his day and they both can be pretty intimidating to face against.
Cric Info:
No athlete in the accepted sense, his only aptitude was bowling, and that mainly through aggression and determination. But Frank Tyson was England's only postwar bowler who was clearly faster; and none, not even Fred Trueman, was a more intimidating sight than Willis as he charged dead straight down his 30-yard approach.
Click to expand...
But yeah overall, those two bowlers on their own (even with Vettori's help) won't get you 20 wickets.
 
VGE's attack is best suited to contain and tbf I wouldn't say any of the batsmen they're against can take the game to the bowlers like Gilchrist or Dilshan (maybe Inzamam but he'll probably be run out early on).

That said Akshay's batsmen have sturdy technique and if they're set in the middle I think the bowlers will struggle to dislodge them. While they're not as free-flowing, they'll tick the scoreboard over. Akhtar's radar is not so consistent and with him being one of two quick bowlers, over-bowling won't help that.

Ambrose is the game changer: he's delivered a devastating spell time and time again to get his team back in the game after looking buried. I can't see VGE's attack turning 250-2 into 300-8 but Akshay's got the clutch bowler to do exactly that.

While Gilchrist is a legend and the top 3 are great, I think the middle order of Root, Rahane and Jadeja is not a good enough supporting act.
 
Leaning towards Akshay because of his bowlers.. VGE's batting line up for me seems stronger than Akshay's but his bowling will be the reason Akshay can tick his score over.. I am a huge fan of Ambrose and feel he ll do a lot of damage to VGE batting..

How many hours left to vote??
 
Akshay will probably win this, but his side isn't balanced at all.
 
Its for the first time in here we see so many involved in voting for cricket draft.
 
325 is good on this pitch. Of course depends on how many people get run out by Inzy :p
 
Ijazz17 said:
It's true they have indeed struggled in Australia. But so have Gibbs, Dilshan and Root.
Click to expand...

Dilshan and Root at least have significant innings in the country. Have the three I mentioned even got a test ton in Australia between them?
 
This really shouldn't be as wide as it is with 5 rabbits starting from number 7.
 
VanGaalEra said:
Dilshan and Root at least have significant innings in the country. Have the three I mentioned even got a test ton in Australia between them?
Click to expand...
technically speaking, I think one of them got a few tons.
 
Congratulations Akshay and Akash. The first team into the quarters. Commiserations VGE.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.