Topic: The Ashes Challenge (Read 3337 times)

kenbriooo · « **on:** May 08, 2020, 01:23:18 PM »

So if you fancy an excuse to procrastinate and while away a few hours, here is a challenge for you...

Going back over the previous 11 Ashes series cannot make a combined 11 or an all England or all Australian 11 using only 1 player from each series.

Teams must be balanced and contain 2 openers (at least) a keeper and a full compliment of bowlers.

Who would you pick and why?

Sounds simple... it isn't.

Here is my 11 -

1 Cook 2010-11 (706)
2 Vaughan 2002/3 (633)
3 Ponting* 2006/7 (576)
4 Smith 2017/18 (687)
5 Bell 2013 (562)
6 Stokes (441 8w)
7 Prior+ 2009 (261)
8 Warne 2005 (40w)
9 Johnson 2013 (37w)
10 Broad 2015 (21w)
11 McGraph 2001 (32w)

Show me yours...

Manormanic · « **Reply #1 on:** May 08, 2020, 07:02:04 PM »

So, on the basis that I won't select cheats, I would be thinking:

Rogers (2015)
Vaughan* (2002/3)
Ponting (2009)
Pietersen (2013)
Hussey (2010/11)
Flintoff (2005)
Stokes (2019)
Bairstow (w) (2017/18)
Warne (2001)
Johnson (2013/14)
McGrath (2006/7)

kenbriooo · « **Reply #2 on:** May 08, 2020, 07:46:09 PM »

You could select cheats before they cheated? 🤣

cricketbadger · « **Reply #3 on:** May 08, 2020, 07:46:23 PM »

Gonna have to do some research and post tmro, great idea

Manormaniac KP 2013?? What were the other options out of interest? Isnt that the aussie tour where he top scored with 250+ runs in the series

Edit, just realised 13 was over here, 13/14 was over there. Apologies. What about Bell??

LEACHY48 · « **Reply #4 on:** May 08, 2020, 08:05:21 PM »

Reckon mine would be:

Rogers 2015
Cook 2010-2011
Vaughan 02-03
Ponting 09
Pietersen 05
Stokes 2019
Gilchrist 06/7
Johnson 13/14
Warne 2001
Anderson 2013
Cummins 2017

Manormanic · « **Reply #5 on:** May 08, 2020, 08:11:56 PM »

Quote from: cricketbadger on May 08, 2020, 07:46:23 PM

Gonna have to do some research and post tmro, great idea

Manormaniac KP 2013?? What were the other options out of interest? Isnt that the aussie tour where he top scored with 250+ runs in the series

Edit, just realised 13 was over here, 13/14 was over there. Apologies. What about Bell??

I worked on the basis of the player as a whole as well as their series performance - hence Virgil is my skipper even though he wasn't captain in the series I selected him on the back of. Otherwise, in my opinion - and this is a very subjective challenge - you get to the daft place where you are picking between Warne and McGrath for 2001 and losing out on the other.

Manormanic · « **Reply #6 on:** May 08, 2020, 08:12:51 PM »

Interestingly over half of my side played on the losing side. 🙄

Buzz · « **Reply #7 on:** May 08, 2020, 08:27:08 PM »

Hayden
Langer
Ponting
Smith
KP
Stokes
Gilchrist
Warne
Johnson
Cummins
Mcgrath

A-Swing-And-A-Miss · « **Reply #8 on:** May 09, 2020, 07:14:08 AM »

Cook 2010/11 766 runs
Rogers 2015 480 runs
Ponting 2006/7 576 runs
Smith 2017/18 687 runs
Bell 2013 562 runs
Stokes 2019 441 runs and 8 wickets
Flintoff 2005 402 runs and 24 wickets
Haddin 2009 278 runs (WK)
Johnson 2013/14 37 wickets and 165 runs
Warne 2001 31 wickets
McGrath 2002/3 19 wickets

Did slightly have to shoehorn McGrath in the 02/03 slot but other than that I think a very good team. A few certainties such as Flintoff 05, Johnson 13/14, Bell 2013, Cook 10/11 and then several top players who had lots of very good series like Smith, Ponting, Warne and McGrath who you can then fit around them.

Some very odd teams here like how has Buzz got Hayden, Langer, Ponting, Gilchrist, Warne and McGrath? And then Cummins, Stokes and Smith? I can't see which series they all would have come from? And picking KP ahead of Bell for 2013 is a shocker! Surprised nobody had Haddin, the man who lived for a big Ashes occasion. Far better Ashes average than Prior and certainly outscored him in '09. Far better record than Bairstow and if he'd played in better Aussie teams, his Ashes average might have been similar to Gilchrist.

Manormanic · « **Reply #9 on:** May 09, 2020, 10:59:57 AM »

Quote from: A-Swing-And-A-Miss on May 09, 2020, 07:14:08 AM

And picking KP ahead of Bell for 2013 is a shocker! Surprised nobody had Haddin, the man who lived for a big Ashes occasion. Far better Ashes average than Prior and certainly outscored him in '09. Far better record than Bairstow and if he'd played in better Aussie teams, his Ashes average might have been similar to Gilchrist.

KP ahead of Bell? C'mon - one is a world class player who even the greatest bowlers hated to bowl at. The other had a nice cover drive and scored lots of runs when other people had done it first

Or, to make the argument more seriously - I want the best players in my balanced side, not the people who happened to score slightly more runs/take more wickets in each individual series. In my mind, Bell was always someone who the best bowlers thought they had more than a chance with because he was mentally fragile. Pietersen did some silly things but retained the ability to absolutely destroy anyone at any time.

Haddin is a different issue. If you were picking the strongest team from players who played on either side over the period, he'd be second pick behind Gilchrist - but in getting to a balanced side, I couldn't see a way to use the slot from any of the series either played in to get them in (had I been prepared to pick Smith or Warner then this would have changed, of course).

Interesting to think what that strongest XI regardless of series might look like. Loose stab in the two minutes I have left before my conference call suggests it would appear a lot more Australian:

Hayden
Vaughan *
Ponting
Pietersen
S Waugh
Stokes (or Swann/Harmison/Cummins depending how you wanted to balance your attack)
Flintoff
Gilchrist
Warne
Johnson
McGrath

Buzz · « **Reply #10 on:** May 09, 2020, 11:35:23 AM »

Quote from: A-Swing-And-A-Miss on May 09, 2020, 07:14:08 AM

Some very odd teams here like how has Buzz got Hayden, Langer, Ponting, Gilchrist, Warne and McGrath? And then Cummins, Stokes and Smith? I can't see which series they all would have come from? And picking KP ahead of Bell for 2013 is a shocker!

I just picked the best 11 players I have seen in that time. I suspect that isn't answering the exam question.

Given there have been two Ashes whitewashed in the period in question, it suggests that the Aussies have been decent.

kenbriooo · « **Reply #11 on:** May 09, 2020, 01:14:43 PM »

The challenge is to pick a player from each series, I was torn between Bell and KP but in that series Bell batted better imo.

Manormanic · « **Reply #12 on:** May 09, 2020, 04:39:21 PM »

Quote from: kenbriooo on May 09, 2020, 01:14:43 PM

The challenge is to pick a player from each series, I was torn between Bell and KP but in that series Bell batted better imo.

But KP played in the series too, therefore if you rate KP, on the whole, higher than Bell, surely you'd pick KP?

Author Topic: The Ashes Challenge (Read 3337 times)

kenbriooo

The Ashes Challenge

Manormanic

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kenbriooo

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cricketbadger

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LEACHY48

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Manormanic

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Buzz

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A-Swing-And-A-Miss

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Manormanic

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Buzz

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kenbriooo

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