H_T

Understand the frustration TD & Macca, but I think they're being prudent with Pattinson. I'll take on board any criticism that comes my way in my support on CA for this, he's a quality player. I acknowledge my support for Starc to be named in the Boxing Day Test, I believe that is a different scenario. Starc hadn't had the interruptions as Pattinson has and was in form and raring to go with several days rest before the 'G' test. The slightest bit of doubt in PAttinson and back-to-back Tests (3 day break) - not to mention in India - would have accumulated to this decision. It's hard to win in India, let alone with a squad that many are in India for the first time in a Test series. Our "Final" I believe is the Ashes and I think CA and the team also maintain this is the focus in terms of preparation. By the way I heard (containing my excitement here) from one of my work colleagues here, that Fawad's application is in the process of being fast tracked for Australian citizenship and should have it very soon. There's a little mail for the D'Land cricket fans. Hot. off. the. press. Source: A close friend of Ahmed.

You should have seen Moises bat Rogue. Impressive given the conditions and position. Yes, Tendulkar was his usually damaging self. Apparently scored some runs in the lead up too.

Henriques and Lyon got through to stumps with a lead of 40. Henriques 75*. Good concentration by the two with a last wicket stand of 57. India well and truly home unless there's a miracle on day 5.

Hopefully Nasher is watching

75 overs gone in the innings and Ishant Sharma takes the ball for the first time this innings.... Edit: Henriques brings up his 50 with a six over long on.

Agree. Must say though, there's a few in the dressing room that can take a leaf out of Henriques approach at the crease. Great debut. India will have to bat again now.

Oh yeah, no doubt. With 8 participants and 8 countries to choose from, there were never going to be 11 top liners. The last few rounds were always as it's been referred to as - a bit of... "scraping the bottom of the barrel."

What about the Vic spin bowler? How soon can he get his Australian citizenship?

I was really disappointed with his bowling late to Dhoni, when Dhoni was closing in on the double century. Giving him that much room outside off and a little too short. Money for jam for Dhoni to play it backward of point or down to 3rd man. Leaking runs.

Macca, Biffen, Django - you all have done well selecting your sides. Django, despite your hiccups in the draft you've come through quite well IMO. I had no idea du Plessis was averaging close to 70 and from memory he went middraft, so good pick-up. And hasn't Dhoni put an asterisk or exclamation mark for Nasher to consider in this current Test! haha. Macca you've got good support in Watson with your bowling line-up. Your spinners are very good and they may have to bowl decent spells to give Bresnan and Khan a chance to put the feet up. Biffen, I'm a big Pattinson fan and no doubt he'd rip through most top orders with Broad. I'm not so big on Sharma - maybe it's that massive Adam's apple!

My Best XI line up. 1. TM Dilshan (SL) - 85 Tests, Batting 5255 Runs @ 40.42; 15 x 100's, 21 x 50's, HS 193; Bowling 36 Wickets @ 42.88 - pick no.42 2. MJ Guptill (NZ) - 30 Tests, Batting 1714 Runs @ 30.60; 2 x 100's, 12 x 50's, HS 189; Bowling 5 Wickets @ 43.40 - pick no.55 3. IJ Trott (Eng) - 38 Tests Batting 2970 Runs @ 49.50; 8 x 100's, 13 x 50's, HS 226; Bowling 3 Wickets @ 113.00 - pick no.26 4. SR Tendulkar (Ind) - 195 Tests Batting 15,739 Runs @ 54.46; 51 x 100's, 67 x 50's, HS 248*; Bowling 45 Wickets @ 54.64 - pick no.23 5. AB De Villiers (RSA) wk - 85 Tests Batting 6,364 Runs @ 50.50; 16 x 100's, 32 x 50's, HS 278*; Bowling 2 Wickets @ 45.00; 142 Catches, 2 st. - pick no.10 6. MN Samuels (WI) - 44 Tests Batting 2690 Runs @ 37.36; 5 x 100's, 17 x 50's, HS 260; Bowling 24 Wickets @ 69.00. - pick no.71 7. MC Henriques (Aust) - 1 Test Batting 149 Runs @ 149.00; 0 x 100's, 2 x 50's, HS 81*; Bowling 1 Wicket @ 48.00 - pick no.87 8. MA Starc (Aust) - 8 Tests Batting 193 Runs @ 24.12; 0 x 100;s, 1 x 50's, HS 68*; Bowling 28 Wickets @ 32.00 - 4w - 0, 5w - 2, 10w - 0. - pick no.39 9. DW Steyn (RSA) - 65 Tests Batting 866 Runs @ 13.96; 0 X 100'S, 1 X 50's, HS 76; Bowling 332 Wickets @ 22.65 - 4w - 20, 5w - 21, 10w - 5 - pick no.7 10. MS Panesar (Eng) - 45 Tests Batting 213 Runs @5.32; HS 26; Bowling 159 Wickets @ 32.64 - 4w - 4, 5w - 12, 10w - 2. - pick no.58 11. MJ Khan (Pak) - 9 Tests Batting 36 Runs @6.00; HS 9; Bowling 29 Wickets @ 28.17 - 4w - 0, 5w - 3, 10w - 0. - pick no.74 Reference: espncricinfo * Test is in progress, information will be updated at Tests conclusion. Enjoyed the Best XI draft and thankyou guys for your interest and partcipation. It's been something to keep our minds off other things (ie.Investigation) even if it was just for short spurts. Hopefully we can do it all again next summer. I basically tried to get star quality in early through the draft with the runs on the board so-to-speak and get in-form players. NZ may have proved a stumbling block, but given what was on offer, I elected for Guptill, because most of my middle order was already complete and I knew I could get Samuels from the WI in the next two rounds or so; who had the runs on the board with a last start 260. As well as nailing Khan late due to the fact that nearly all participants had already selected one from Pakistan. And given the lack of quality openers on offer at the time it was a no brainer. I consider my pace attack first class, headed by Steyn and Khan, with great averages, an in-form Starc providing left arm variation and Panesar to compliment with turn. Snagging De Villiers early 2nd round secured a very good keeper/batsman and together with the in form middle order batsmen in Tendulkar, Samuels and Trott, ensures a pile of runs. Henriques is a relatively new all round cricketer on the scene and adds to the batting depth, whilst supporting the bowling with his right arm medium-fast. A very handy acquisition at pick 87 and has already shown how well he can bat on the dustbowl in trying conditions in India against word class spinners in an intimidating environment. He's no slouch with the ball either highlighted by his bag of wickets prior to the Test which helped him earn selection. The side contains four double centurions, plus high scores of 193 and 189 from Dilshan and Guptill respectively. My spinner Monty Panesar is 12/2 with 5w/10w hauls - only slightly bettered by his teammate Swann @ 14 and 2. I was pleasantly surprised I was able to draft him so late. Overall I'm pleased with the strength and balance of the team, having starting and finishing with the second last pick. The bowling contains very good bowling averages, with three of the four recognised bowlers all averaging in the 20's highlighted by Steyn's terrific average at 22. Plus a world class spinner. The batting is generally well experienced and each of them occupy the crease making them very good Test picks. Henriques has played an enormous amount of First Class cricket, captained at State level, and his perserverance and quality has earned him selection at Test level as a mid-lower order.

Well done guys, drafting is complete! You're welcome put all your players listed as a team if you want (it will make it easier for Nasher), with perhaps a summary of your players averages and/or why you put them in your BestXI. There's some great sides chosen. As you can see it becomes interesting through the later rounds seeing what has gone and what others have left to pick.

Final Update Round One pick 1 - Jacques Kallis (RSA) - Rogue pick 2 - Michael Clarke (Aust) - thepassenger pick 3 - Kumar Sangakkara (SL) - 45HG16 pick 4 - David Warner (Aust) - Biffen pick 5 - Hashim Amla (RSA) - Macca pick 6 - Alistair Cook (England) - Tall Defence pick 7 - Dale Steyn (RSA) - H_T pick 8 - Rangana Herath (SL) - titan_uranus Round Two pick 9 - Shivnarine Chanderpaul (WI) - titan_uranus pick 10 - AB de Villiers (RSA) - H_T pick 11 - Morne Morkel (RSA) - Tall Defence pick 12 - Saeed Ajmal (Pak) - Macca pick 13 - Mahela Jayawardene - (SL) - Biffen pick 14 - Vernon Philander (RSA) - 45HG16 pick 15 - Jimmy Anderson (Eng) - thepassenger pick 16 - Graeme Swann (Eng) - Rogue Round Three pick 17 - Peter Siddle (Aust) - Rogue pick 18 - MS Dhoni (Ind) - thepassenger pick 19 - Kevin Pietersen (Eng) - 45HG16 pick 20 - James Pattinson (Aust) - Biffen pick 21 - Matt Prior (Eng) - Macca pick 22 - Ravichandran Ashwin (Ind) - Tall Defence pick 23 - Sachin Tendulkar (Ind) - H_T pick 24 - Steven Finn (Eng) - titan_uranus Round Four pick 25 - Mohammed Hafeez (Pak) - titan_uranus pick 26 - Jonathan Trott (Eng) - H_T pick 27 - Virender Sehwag (India) - Tall Defence pick 28 - Graeme Smith (RSA) - Macca pick 29 - Stuart Broad (Eng) - Biffen pick 30 - Pragyan Ojha (Ind) - 45HG16 pick 31 - Ross Taylor (NZ) - thepassenger pick 32 - Kemar Roach (WI) - Rogue Round Five pick 33 - Chris Gayle (WI) - Rogue pick 34 - Darren Bravo (WI) - thepassenger pick 35 - Azhar Ali (Pak) - 45HG16 pick 36 - Ishant Sharma (Ind) - Biffen pick 37 - Daniel Vettori (NZ) - Macca pick 38 - Younis Khan (Pak) - Tall Defence pick 39 - Mitchell Starc (Aust) - H_T pick 40 - Cheteshwar Pujara (Ind) - titan_uranus Round Six pick 41 - Alviro Petersen (RSA) - titan_uranus pick 42 - Tillerkaratne Dilshan (SL) - H_T pick 43 - Abdur Rehman (Pakistan) - Tall Defence pick 44 - Shane Watson (Aus) - Macca pick 45 - Brendan McCullum (NZ) - Biffen pick 46 - Tim Southee (NZ) - 45HG16 pick 47 - Mitchell Johnson (Aust) - the passenger pick 48 - Misbah-ul-Haq (Pak) - Rogue Round Seven pick 49 - Chandimal (SL) - Rogue pick 50 - Gautam Gambhir (Ind) - the passenger pick 51 - Ben Hilfenhaus (Aust) - 45HG16 pick 52 - Asad Shafiq (Pak) - Biffen pick 53 - Tim Bresnan (Eng) - Macca pick 54 - Matthew Wade (Aust) - Tall Defence pick 55 - Martin Guptill (NZ) - H_T pick 56 - Ian Bell (Eng) - titan_uranus Round Eight pick 57 - Jackson Bird (Aust) - titan_uranus pick 58 - Monty Panesar (Eng) - H_T pick 59 - DJ Bravo (WI) - Tall Defence pick 60 - T.Samaraweera (SL) - Macca pick 61 - R.Sarwan (WI) - Biffen pick 62 - T.Best (WI) - 45HG pick 63 - A.Mendis (SL) - Django pick 64 - V.Kohli (Ind) - Rogue Round Nine pick 65 - P.Hughes (Aust) - Rogue pick 66 - F.du Plessis (RSA) - Django pick 67 - K.Williamson (NZ) - 45HG pick 68 - J.P. Duminy (RSA) - Biffen pick 69 - Z.Khan (Ind) - Macca pick 70 - A.Matthews (SL) - Tall Defence pick 71 - M.Samuels (WI) - H_T pick 72 - B.Haddin (Aust) - titan_uranus Round Ten pick 73 - T.Boult (NZ) - titan_uranus pick 74 - J.Khan (Pak) - H_T pick 75 - R.Harris (Aust) - Tall Defence pick 76 - Y.Singh (Ind) - Macca pick 77 - J.Root (Eng) - Biffen pick 78 - E.Cowan (Aust) - 45HG pick 79 - D.Bracewell (NZ) - Django pick 80 - T.Umar (Pak) - Rogue Round Eleven - Final Round pick 81 - M.Gillespie (NZ) - Rogue pick 82 - U.Akmal (Pak) - Django pick 83 - K. Powell (WI) - 45HG pick 84 - A.Barath (WI) - Biffen pick 85 - K.Pollard (WI) - Macca pick 86 - C.Munro (NZ) - Tall Defence pick 87 - M.Henriques (Aust) - H_T pick 88 - D.Brownlie (NZ) - titan_uranus

Final Update Round One pick 1 - Jacques Kallis (RSA) - Rogue pick 2 - Michael Clarke (Aust) - thepassenger pick 3 - Kumar Sangakkara (SL) - 45HG16 pick 4 - David Warner (Aust) - Biffen pick 5 - Hashim Amla (RSA) - Macca pick 6 - Alistair Cook (England) - Tall Defence pick 7 - Dale Steyn (RSA) - H_T pick 8 - Rangana Herath (SL) - titan_uranus Round Two pick 9 - Shivnarine Chanderpaul (WI) - titan_uranus pick 10 - AB de Villiers (RSA) - H_T pick 11 - Morne Morkel (RSA) - Tall Defence pick 12 - Saeed Ajmal (Pak) - Macca pick 13 - Mahela Jayawardene - (SL) - Biffen pick 14 - Vernon Philander (RSA) - 45HG16 pick 15 - Jimmy Anderson (Eng) - thepassenger pick 16 - Graeme Swann (Eng) - Rogue Round Three pick 17 - Peter Siddle (Aust) - Rogue pick 18 - MS Dhoni (Ind) - thepassenger pick 19 - Kevin Pietersen (Eng) - 45HG16 pick 20 - James Pattinson (Aust) - Biffen pick 21 - Matt Prior (Eng) - Macca pick 22 - Ravichandran Ashwin (Ind) - Tall Defence pick 23 - Sachin Tendulkar (Ind) - H_T pick 24 - Steven Finn (Eng) - titan_uranus Round Four pick 25 - Mohammed Hafeez (Pak) - titan_uranus pick 26 - Jonathan Trott (Eng) - H_T pick 27 - Virender Sehwag (India) - Tall Defence pick 28 - Graeme Smith (RSA) - Macca pick 29 - Stuart Broad (Eng) - Biffen pick 30 - Pragyan Ojha (Ind) - 45HG16 pick 31 - Ross Taylor (NZ) - thepassenger pick 32 - Kemar Roach (WI) - Rogue Round Five pick 33 - Chris Gayle (WI) - Rogue pick 34 - Darren Bravo (WI) - thepassenger pick 35 - Azhar Ali (Pak) - 45HG16 pick 36 - Ishant Sharma (Ind) - Biffen pick 37 - Daniel Vettori (NZ) - Macca pick 38 - Younis Khan (Pak) - Tall Defence pick 39 - Mitchell Starc (Aust) - H_T pick 40 - Cheteshwar Pujara (Ind) - titan_uranus Round Six pick 41 - Alviro Petersen (RSA) - titan_uranus pick 42 - Tillerkaratne Dilshan (SL) - H_T pick 43 - Abdur Rehman (Pakistan) - Tall Defence pick 44 - Shane Watson (Aus) - Macca pick 45 - Brendan McCullum (NZ) - Biffen pick 46 - Tim Southee (NZ) - 45HG16 pick 47 - Mitchell Johnson (Aust) - the passenger pick 48 - Misbah-ul-Haq (Pak) - Rogue Round Seven pick 49 - Chandimal (SL) - Rogue pick 50 - Gautam Gambhir (Ind) - the passenger pick 51 - Ben Hilfenhaus (Aust) - 45HG16 pick 52 - Asad Shafiq (Pak) - Biffen pick 53 - Tim Bresnan (Eng) - Macca pick 54 - Matthew Wade (Aust) - Tall Defence pick 55 - Martin Guptill (NZ) - H_T pick 56 - Ian Bell (Eng) - titan_uranus Round Eight pick 57 - Jackson Bird (Aust) - titan_uranus pick 58 - Monty Panesar (Eng) - H_T pick 59 - DJ Bravo (WI) - Tall Defence pick 60 - T.Samaraweera (SL) - Macca pick 61 - R.Sarwan (WI) - Biffen pick 62 - T.Best (WI) - 45HG pick 63 - A.Mendis (SL) - Django pick 64 - V.Kohli (Ind) - Rogue Round Nine pick 65 - P.Hughes (Aust) - Rogue pick 66 - F.du Plessis (RSA) - Django pick 67 - K.Williamson (NZ) - 45HG pick 68 - J.P. Duminy (RSA) - Biffen pick 69 - Z.Khan (Ind) - Macca pick 70 - A.Matthews (SL) - Tall Defence pick 71 - M.Samuels (WI) - H_T pick 72 - B.Haddin (Aust) - titan_uranus Round Ten pick 73 - T.Boult (NZ) - titan_uranus pick 74 - J.Khan (Pak) - H_T pick 75 - R.Harris (Aust) - Tall Defence pick 76 - Y.Singh (Ind) - Macca pick 77 - J.Root (Eng) - Biffen pick 78 - E.Cowan (Aust) - 45HG pick 79 - D.Bracewell (NZ) - Django pick 80 - T.Umar (Pak) - Rogue Round Eleven - Final Round pick 81 - M.Gillespie (NZ) - Rogue pick 82 - U.Akmal (Pak) - Django pick 83 - K. Powell (WI) - 45HG pick 84 - A.Barath (WI) - Biffen pick 85 - K.Pollard (WI) - Macca pick 86 - C.Munro (NZ) - Tall Defence pick 87 - M.Henriques (Aust) - H_T pick 88 - D.Brownlie (NZ) - titan_uranus

Ok. Well if that is the case and there is no clash, go last pick, no big deal right? Thank [censored] for that.... Titan....pick away.

Fark.....maybe just have Ryder....lol.

Mate, good statement earlier. Fwiw I hadn't noted Rogue's take prior to my selection. We made the posts around the time. I wasn't aware of Ryder's situation either until reading his post. Whilst it is unfortunate for you, I think given Rogue's info he's certainly not on the Test radar anytime soon and it looks doubtful he will return given the comments. It's not a country breach, it's unfortunate circumstances, upon consultation with the ME commission and deliberation of your 'please explain'. Your pick will take place after titan_uranus' final pick given your acknowledgement. We're clearly participating for sheep stations here..... Apologise for the wait, been travelling.

Haha. Apologies mate. I'm out and about on phone today - I wasn't confident re his name spelling. TD, I'm inclined to agree with Rogue here, given what he has posted.

Looking for a lower order bat, who can compliment the side - good for several or more overs and rather than find one, one found me. Round 11 Pick 87 - Moises Henriques (Aust)

Again. What an innings to date by the skipper. The type of innings you would hope for in India in a bit if trouble at 5/150 odd. Great support by Moises in his debut.Was getting updates at the game tonight.

So do you think young Jesse should have had a taste of playing now, or not, od?

I'll make the amendment. Biff, your turn.

Sorry bud, they're the rules. Must have one from each country (as in OP) plus 3 (others - but no more than two from same country).

Update^^ As per previous post guys.... *45HG please confirm your pick regarding previous posts. *Django - you need to pick from Sri Lanka and Pakistan with your two remaining picks at the end. *Biffen please wait after 45HG has confirmed Powell / Rudolph.

That's correct TD. Good pick-up. * Powell back in to pool. * You have two picks remaining Django and they must be one from Pakistan and one from Sri Lanka. The two teams you are yet to pick from. You have already used up two selections from 3 countries...as per opening post and TD's post. * This pick will be at the end with your other pick. * 45HG you can pick again if you wish or keep Rudolph. That's up to you. *Biffen can you please wait until 45HG has confirmed his pick, before you commence your pick.