Given that Cribb's stopped his draft review, will try and do this until I get bored. Cribb already did Round 1, don't really disagree with many of his statements so won't bother doing that again. Code: ROUND 2 2 1 27 Ritchie Trent Boult 2 2 28 Jabba Ravichandran Ashwin 2 3 29 Callum Rangana Herath 2 4 30 Downes James Anderson 2 5 31 Boobidy Brad Haddin 2 6 32 Phlegm Kemar Roach 2 7 33 Julian Ravindra Jadeja 2 8 34 Goat Pragyan Ojha 2 9 35 Rusty Chris Tremlett 2 10 36 Morgie David Warner 2 11 37 Eds Misbah-ul-Haq 2 12 38 Farhat Zaheer Khan 2 13 39 Captain Dinesh Chandimal 2 14 40 Baxter Junaid Khan 2 15 41 Hunter Jackson Bird 2 16 42 Benny Mitchell Starc 2 17 43 Heath Ben Stokes 2 18 44 Incey Shakib Al Hasan 2 19 45 Chewie Angelo Mathews 2 20 46 Nino Steven Finn 2 21 47 Howe Mohammad Hafeez 2 22 48 Athlai Darren Bravo 2 23 49 Speirz Nathan Lyon 2 24 50 Prez Jonathan Trott 2 25 51 Skippos Mahela Jayawardene 2 26 52 Mariner Matt Prior 1. Trent Boult (99*) Has been one of the best bowlers in recent times, and is only getting better. Good pick. 2. Ravichandran Aswhin (Jabba/Starris) As a bowler it seems early, as his record is very ordinary outside India, but adding in his batting changes things, he can probably bat 7 here and at 8 would be ridiculously h4x. Another pretty solid pick. 3. Rangana Herath (Callum) Second best spinner in world cricket. Probably should've been a late Round 1 pick, so Callum did extremely well to pick him up. 4. James Anderson (Number 11) Although he seems overloved by many people, Downes was very lucky he lasted this long. A very good pick. 5. Brad Haddin (Boobidy) Not a bad pick on paper, however it probably depends on whether you see value in picking a good keeper early on. For Boobidy though it was an absolute shocker given he picked up Dhoni beforehand. 6. Kemar Roach (Phlegm) May be a tad inconsistent at times, but probably has a case of being in the Top 10 bowlers in the world at full flight, so a very good pick. 7. Ravindra Jadeja (Julian) His test record is still unproven, and his batting has been very ordinary there, but his FC stats are insane - even in Indian cricket averages of 50 with the bat and 25 with the ball are very hard to ignore. On paper it's a very good pick. 8. Pragyan Ojha (Verigoat) Tough to decide. I thought it was a bit of a shocker at the time, but his Test record is actually much better than I imagined. It's still arguably inflated by him rarely playing in overseas Tests though, and there were better bowlers still available. Not a great pick for mine. 9. Chris Tremlett (Rusty) Has basically turned into a trundler post-injury, and struggled at County level this season. He doesn't have age on his side either. Two years ago he would've been a good pick, but now he's a pretty bad one at this point. Definitely could've held off until the 3rd round, possibly even 4th. 10. David Warner (morgieb/hen da man) Dunno if I can objectively judge my picks, but IMO he was the best opener available so a pretty good pick. 11. Misbah-ul-Haq (Eds/Cabinet96) IMO, in raw terms Misbah was the best batsman still available. A very good pick here. 12. Zaheer Khan (Farhat) A pretty brave call from Farhat here. Two, three years ago? You'd be laughing if you got Zaheer halfway through the second round. But over the last two years his bowling has been very ordinary, and his fitness is a huge worry. His record is also a lot worse than many people would expect, though in his defence he does have to bowl on roads at home. Not a good pick though IMO. 13. Dinesh Chandimal (Captain/KickATinAlong) Although his Test record is pretty small, he has done well in his opportunities and his FC record is outstanding given the wickets he bats on. He can also keep wicket. Very good pick this. 14. Junaid Khan (Baxter) His Test record is hard to judge given he's mainly bowled well against only one side, but it's hard to blame him entirely for Pakistan not scheduling many Test series. You can only really bowl what's in front of you, and he's passed that test well. Good pick. 15. Jackson Bird (Hunter) It's hard to say. He doesn't have much of a Test record behind him, and his FC average while impressive is inflated by bowling on some pretty ordinary wickets/against average batting lineups. Despite this he does look class. Probably a little early, but there aren't too many bowlers you can say are clearly better so a pretty decent pick. 16. Mitchell Starc (Benny) Criticised in the main thread, while I think the pick was early it does have some things going for it. Starc does have a lot of potential, and his batting is a pretty nice bonus here - he should bat 8 and can bat 7 at a stretch. Not a great pick but I can see where it came from. 17. Ben Stokes (HeathDavisSpeed/Fungus) An interesting call. He hasn't done a lot at this stage, but the kid clearly has potential. Not the sort of call I would've gone for at this stage, but it's one I can understand. 18. Shakib Al Hasan (Incey/Alex) Very nice pick. Arguably unnecessary with Kallis already on the list, but there aren't many pure bowlers left who are worse than Shakib, and he allows for a very long batting lineup. 19. Angelo Mathews (Chewie) One of the best batsmen left, and can chip with some useful seamers if necessary. Very good pick. 20. Steven Finn (El Nino/Gazza) A punt. Finn has stagnated recently, and I'm not sure whether his mix of pies and jaffas will mean that his bowling will be much more effective than in Tests in a comp like this. Nevertheless he does still have a pretty good Test average so he shouldn't be awful, though I probably wouldn't have gone him at that stage as there were still several better bowlers left. 21. Mohammad Hafeez (Howe/Himannv) Not really a fan of this pick. There are plenty of better batsman still left, and a WPM rate of less than 1 at Test level probably means he won't really be someone you'd want as one of your main bowlers. I guess there aren't a lot of better all-rounders still available, but a pretty weak pick for mine. 22. Darren Bravo (Athlai) Pretty good pick for mine. Although maybe Athlai should be worried that he hasn't kicked on as much as he probably should've (despite his recent double) in his career, but there aren't a lot of better bats left. 23. Nathan Lyon (Speirz) Not a particularly awful pick, but there were arguably a couple of better spinners still lying around so probably not the best pick ever either. The good news is that he has an age advantage over most of the top spinners and he's improving every day. 24. Jonathon Trott (MrPrez/Arheiner) Some people reckon he slid this far because of his recent health problems but I'm not convinced, he hasn't quite been the same batsman since Ashes 2010/11. Probably not too many better batsmen though so still a pretty good pick. 25. Mahela Jayawardene (Skippos) Lauded in the main thread and I'm not quite sure why. Yes he was once good, but his form has been pretty average for quite a while. However since the pick he scored a century so maybe it might not be such a bad pick after all. 26. Matt Prior (mightymariner/Weeman27bob) Would've gone first round a year ago, I'm sure of it. His recent form has been awful but for now I'm not quite sure whether it's him declining or just a rough patch. I think it's a good pick but it's still a pretty big punt.
Needed to be more scathing with the Haddin pick IMO. Otherwise a fairly decent summary. Fairly good picks all round. The question marks for the most part can be justified by the overall team balance the owners are making. Except for that Haddin pick.
Didn't realise that we were all on here to blow smoke up each other's asses. Fair play he took the time and effort to do it. I don't see anyone jumping on Athlai's back either.
You're just a fuckwit in general. Your post in here isn't the reason people have had a go, it's just more proof.
Code: ROUND 3 3 1 53 Speirz Ben Hilfenhaus 3 2 54 Mariner Tim Bresnan 3 3 55 Skippos Abdur Rehman 3 4 56 Chewie Gautam Gambhir 3 5 57 Athlai Daniel Vettori 3 6 58 Rusty Chris Rogers 3 7 59 Goat Graham Onions 3 8 60 Nino Chris Gayle 3 9 61 Phlegm Graeme Swann 3 10 62 Prez Faf du Plessis 3 11 63 Julian Chris Woakes 3 12 64 Heath Virender Sehwag 3 13 65 Hunter Ajinkya Rahane 3 14 66 Captain Rohit Sharma 3 15 67 Benny Steve Smith 3 16 68 Eds Steve Magoffin 3 17 69 Morgie Joe Root 3 18 70 Incey Mohammed Shami 3 19 71 Jabba Scott Borthwick 3 20 72 Ritchie James Faulkner 3 21 73 Downes Alviro Petersen 3 22 74 Boobidy Doug Bollinger 3 23 75 Baxter Kyle Abbott 3 24 76 Callum Simon Katich 3 25 77 Howe Marlon Samuels 3 26 78 Farhat Tamim Iqbal 1. Ben Hilfenhaus (Speirz) A fairly solid early R3 pick. However, his true value can vary. At his best he's clearly a R1 pick, but the worst of Hilfy can see him slide until R4 or something. I can't really think of many better bowlers to pick at this stage, though. 2. Tim Bresnan (mightymariner/Weeman27bob) His bowling has declined since his injury back in 2012, IMO before it he probably would've been considered for an earlier pick. However he can bat and still isn't awful with the ball so a decent pick. 3. Abdur Rehman (Skippos) Similar to the Ojha pick I suppose in that neither players are first-choice spinners for their nation but do well when picked. Good pick for mine. 4. Gautam Gambhir (Chewie) Although Gambhir's recent Test performances has been poor, he still is scoring runs at the lower level and he has had prior success at Test level so on paper it's a reasonable pick. IMO there are a few better openers than Gambhir left so it's probably not one I would've made. 5. Daniel Vettori (Athlai) I presume Vettori is a real favourite of Athlai so it's understandable why he went for him. That said his injury record is concerning and I'm not sure if he's the same player he once was - it's quite possible he ends up being a bit of a no-rounder here. 6. Chris Rogers (Rusty) Although Rogers is far from established at Test level, his FC record has been outstanding for the last 10 years. Can't think of many better bats left so it's a good pick AFAIC. 7. Graham Onions (Verigoat) Unlike say Tremlett his bowling has not declined since his injury not long after establishing himself in the English Test side, so Onions is a good pick at this stage. 8. Chris Gayle (El Nino/Gazza) One of the best bats still remaining, and a handy off-spinner to boot. Very good pick. 9. Graeme Swann (Phlegm) Likely would've gone first-round if he hadn't retired. I didn't rate Swann as highly as a lot of others did, but he was one of the best spinners in the game and he can bat too. Can't see his retirement effecting him too much so he is a brilliant pick-up at this point. 10. Faf du Plessis (Prez/Arheiner) Was up there with some of the Indian guys in terms of the best batsmen remaining. You can't argue with his current Test average so a good pick. 11. Chris Woakes (Julian) In recent times has been amazing at FC level with both bat and ball. You aren't really going to find a better all-rounder at this rate and it'll allow him a very long batting lineup. Good pick. 12. Virender Sehwag (HeathDavisSpeed/Fungus) Not the same batsman he was a few years ago, and is even struggling in the Ranji Trophy. Understandable pick as he was once gun, but it isn't a selection I would've made. 13. Ajinkya Rahane (Hunter) Although his FC average has faded in recent times, it is still extremely impressive, and he has showed signs of talent in his brief Test career. Nice pick. 14. Rohit Sharma (Captain/KickATinAlong) Like Rahane he has a very high FC average, and scored two big, important centuries in his first two Tests. Another good pick. 15. Steve Smith (Benny) There's a lot to like about Smith - his batting has taken a step up this year and is only getting better and he can throw down some pies if necessary. Probably not many better batsmen left it any so I rate the pick. 16. Steve Magoffin (Eds/Cabinet96) The first player to not play Tests to be picked. His bowling has generally been class where ever he has bowled though, and it's not that hard to imagine him playing a lot of Tests for a weaker side. Ought to be a pretty decent pick IMO. 17. Joe Root (morgieb/hen da man) No doubt Root is a classy young batsman. And although his Test record is somewhat unproven and lacking in depth, it is still pretty decent. Maybe there were a few better batsmen left, but his age and also the fact that he can throw down some pies means that this is a pretty solid pick. 18. Mohammed Shami (Incey) Although Shami is still a little raw, he has a lot of potential and a good series in India's upcoming Tests could see his value skyrocket. Of course the inverse could affect him as well, but there are worse bowlers leading attacks in CPL. 19. Scott Borthwick (Jabba/Starris) Given the presence of Ashwin, it was pretty strange of Jabba to pick Borthwick as well. Even on raw terms, at this stage I'm not convinced he should be picked this early - while he has a lot of potential at this stage he probably isn't good enough with bat or ball to make most CPL sides if he was a pure specialist. Definitely too early. 20. James Faulkner (99*) A good pick on paper, but it's worth noting that Australian wickets have become vastly more bowler-friendly in recent years and you wouldn't want him batting any higher than 7 so it could make the balance of Ritchie's side a concern. Still I can't really think of many better all-rounders left. 21. Alviro Petersen (Number 11) While a lot of people don't see to rate Petersen, he has been a reasonably effective opener for South Africa in recent years. He is a better opener than a couple picked before him so a good pick this. 22. Doug Bollinger (Boobidy) Bollinger hasn't played Tests in a long time, so he's probably a bit of a gamble, and his record since being dropped from the Test side hasn't been outstanding. That said, there aren't a lot of better bowlers still out there, so I think this was a good pick. 23. Kyle Abbott (Baxter/Teacups) Only played one Test, but he bowled excellently in his only Test, and his FC average is not particularly boosted by cheap wickets in second division South African domestic. Can't find much to fault about this pick. 24. Simon Katich (Callum) Again hasn't played Tests for a while, but is still clearly a very good batsman. Another good pick. 25. Marlon Samuels (Howe/Himmanv) Although he has struggled in his last couple of series, before that his form since his ban expired had been very good. As a late 3rd rounder there aren't that much better middle-order bankers left so a good pick. 26. Tamim Iqbal (Farhat) Although Tamin is still quite young, he hasn't quite kicked on since 2010. Even so there aren't really too many better batsmen still available so it's a good pick for mine.
