H_T

He's an opener and I needed a kiwi. The other spots I have left didn't quite suit given what I have to still pick up (or what I have in mind...). Btw, want to be judge at the conclusion?

Perhaps someone who has frequented the cricket thread. I'll have to put my feelers out and see if we can entice someone...tbc

I actually laughed out loud at that reply. Edit: Perhaps I should have included a silly emoticon or a tongue-in -cheek sign, reading back I'm not sure how you guys have taken me ... I thought the line about "not much left now in NZ" was pretty good..

It's called talking it up 45HG. Come in spinner.

Round 7, pick 55 - Martin Guptill (NZ) Completes my opening batsmen combo with Dilshan. A regular opening bat for NZ who will compliment my strong middle order.. There's not much left now at NZ. Over to titan_uranus for the next 2 picks.

Biff?

Ouch. Harsh on Sachin. He's one good innings away from his 52nd Test hundred.

Yeah perhaps you're probably right with Trott. However, my next pick was at 39 and I thought ST would definitely be gone by then. Matchwinners don't grow on trees and the next best to the Don is hard to come by.

Fwiw, had I had pick one I think Kallis would have been a short priced favourite to be in my team, too. What a record. I couldn't pass Sachin up in the third round either. Although he's averaged around 30 with the bat in the ODI's of late, his Test record and form has been relatively good - although just a 76 against England recently in their series was about as productive as he could be. But his record is just, wow. Interestingly the likes of India and Pakistan have played very few Test Matches of late compared to other Test playing nations. - I don't have the breakdown on numbers at hand but this was mentioned on 774ABC recently. Thought I'd mention that. I can understand Pakistan's predicament of late, but when India was mentioned I was surprised.

Why would you select Haddin, when he's reportedly recovering from a serious hamstring injury? Last I heard it was a 6-7 weeker... There's no chance I'd select Haddin based on that. And besides, they leave for India on the 9th of Feb - he's no where near ready.

NEW 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 - Biffen pick 53 - Macca pick 54 - Tall Defence pick 55 - H_T pick 56 - titan_uranus Nice to see my man Dale Steyn rip the Paki's apart with 6/8 off 8.1 overs. Not to mention M.Starc's continuation of his hot streak summer yesterday at the WACA in the ODI....

Yes mate. He retired from ODI on the 23rd Dec 2012 to focus on Tests. http://sports.ndtv.com/cricket/sachin/news/item/201087-sachin-tendulkar-announces-retirement-from-odis PS. Good pick up in McCullum. Like what the passenger has picked to date, now for his next pick...

Round 6 pick 42 Tillerkaratne Dilshan (SL)

Hey Biff, if you join twitter you can receive tweets from the mighty Black Caviar. You'll drool over it. Quite frankly, I don't know how she does it so quickly having just completed her run ...? And they thought Mr.Ed was all class talking and all. BC tweets!

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 - thepassenger pick 48 - Rogue Yes, and Titan 'on the snake' had an interesting strategy from the beginning. It will be interesting to see how it pans out 'at the death.' He's probably sweating already ...

Round 5, pick 39 - Mitchell Starc (Aust) Fancy resting him from the Boxing Day Test; every kids dream Test. Thanks Rogue for updating above update post.

NEW 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 - titan_uranus Round Six pick 41 - titan_uranus pick 42 - H_T pick 43 - Tall Defence pick 44 - Macca pick 45 - Biffen pick 46 - 45HG16 pick 47 - thepassenger pick 48 - Rogue

Correct. It will soon be getting difficult in another couple of rounds.

NEW 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 - Rogue Round Five pick 33 - Rogue pick 34 - thepassenger pick 35 - 45HG16 pick 36 - Biffen pick 37 - Macca pick 38 - Tall Defence pick 39 - H_T pick 40 - titan_uranus Round Six pick 41 - titan_uranus pick 42 - H_T pick 43 - Tall Defence pick 44 - Macca pick 45 - Biffen pick 46 - 45HG16 pick 47 - thepassenger pick 48 - Rogue

Accepted. Your turn Rogue.

I'd accept Taylor guys. Heard a interview on the radio the other day from a guy from radio sports NZ on SEN. There has been a bit of political fighting among the cricket officials in NZ and the Taylor saga. My understanding is it's being sorted out and it wont be long before he returns to the NZ line up. Had something to do with his personal IPL committments or something. 45HG - good pick mate. Beat me to it. You've been researching well.

My god. This thread has gone full circle. Those banana prices near the start of this thread went sky high....due to the 2011 floods and cyclone Yasi. We here have seen those prices fall as new crops prospered and the demand for bananas decrease. Now Redleg having been the creator of this thread has dashed out of Brisbane / Gold Coast on a risky flight in very tricky winds as parts of Brisbane, greater Queensland and New South Wales re-visit record floods from early 2011. Whilst we send our best wishes and support to those in need in difficult times, let us also hope that there is no increase in prices of bananas and the demand for banana smoothies, fritters etc is not affected!

Murray is well and truly spent, and Djokovic is as solid as ever. After the first two sets I thought we are in for a five hour game easily here (first two sets went for over 2hrs 15mins). At the moment it looks as though Djokovic will have it sewn up in four sets.

Pick 26 - Jonathan Trott (Eng)

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) Round Four pick 25 - Mohammed Hafeez (Pak) - titan 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 - (Rogue) Round Five pick 33 - Rogue pick 34 - thepassenger pick 35 - 45HG16 pick 36 - Biffen pick 37 - Macca pick 38 - Tall Defence pick 39 - H_T pick 40 - titan_uranus My Pick: Round Three pick 23 - Sachin Tendulkar (India) Next pick TD.