Test XI of the year?

Morning all

Not sure if we have done this one yet, but something I just saw on Twitter made me think who I'd pick in mine.

1. Alastair Cook
2.
3. Rahul Dravid (c)
4. Kevin Pietersen
5. Dwayne Bravo
6. Ian Bell
7. Matt Prior (wk)
8. Tim Bresnan
9. Dale Steyn
10. Saeed Ajmal
11. James Anderson

So, I need some help with my other opener. Watson would be nice to give a bowling option, but he just hasn't scored enough runs this year. Considered Taufeeq Umar but the opposition has been poor despite a couple of good scores. Gambhir hasn't done a great deal either, has he? Difficult one.

Fairly England dominated, but that makes sense given their collective domination of world cricket in 2011, I guess.

Let me know your thoughts, your suggestions for another opener, and your own sides.

Cheers

Taufeeq Umar has been quite consistent this year, I would give him the opening berth.

Steyn, this year has only played three Tests, maybe still a yes though.

1.Alistair Cook
2.Mohammed Hafeez
3.Darren Bravo
4.Kevin Piertsen
5.Rahul Dravid
6.Mike Hussey
7.Matt Prior (wk)
8.Graeme Swann
9.Dale Steyn
10.Umar Gul
11.Saeed Ajmal

Good list CF, just a quibble about Swann, I think this has been his weakest year thus far.

my team is playing on a spinning pitch, and thus i have the 2 best spinners

No place for Jimmy A, cf?

Only played 3 Test matches but with the lack of other outstanding candidates, could Brendan Taylor open the batting? Averaging 71 in 6 innings is pretty good.

Likewise, I think Bell has to make it over Hussey.

JD, that is quite a good shout, mate.

This year has been a poor one for openers in Test cricket, with the exception of the superb Alastair Cook, and as such Taylor is certainly a candidate.

As an aside, actually, on my point with openers having a poor year - is this due to spicier pitches around the world, or is it due to the quality of new ball bowling, would you say?

Just think it is down to a lack of real quality openers at the moment. Cook, Smith, Watson, Gambhir, Sehwag and possibly Strauss are the only openers I would say are "world class" for want of a better term. And out of them Sehwag has been injured, and India have had a torrid time in England, Strauss has been a little underwhelming and Watson and Smith have been average by their standards. Just a disappointing year for openers, I think we will see some of those names bounce back with huge numbers next year.

Good job Cooky has kept them going, eh!

You make some good points, and I'd suggest it is probably a combination of reasons. Two Test series played in England always contribute to low opening batsmen scores historically, given the tendency of the ball to swing first up, and the pitches. Dale Steyn and James Anderson don't help the opening batsmen out, either, as you can bet your bottom dollar those two will remove someone early-ish in most innings.

1) Cook
2) Taylor/Hafeez
3) Dravid
4) Trott
5) Bell
6) M. Hussey
7) Prior (wk)
8) D. Sammy (c)
9) Steyn
10) S. Ajmal
11) J. Anderson

Kevin O' Brien, if only for his innings against England in the world cup.

Fists of Fury wrote:No place for Jimmy A, cf?

i tried but my bowling attack is class without him as well.

Hussey had a sensational tour of SL but was poor beforehand (Melbourne and Sydney in the ashes) and since. I'm not sure he'd make my team. How about:

Cook
Hafeez
Dravid
KP
Bell
Watson (all-rounder, there is plenty of batting and his bowling has been fantastic this year)
Prior
Bresnan
Steyn
Ajmal
Anderson

Angelo Mathews might be an outside chance, averaging just under 70 this year in seven Tests.

westisbest wrote:Kevin O' Brien, if only for his innings against England in the world cup.

That isn't a Test, though

Mathews has performed well, but the batting orders we have thus far are almost set in stone, despite his efforts. An unlucky 12th man, maybe.

Doug Bracewell has to be on the list. Only way we´ll get a Kiwi on there in any event!

Haha, he did well but nice try kia

Surely Trott over KP is a given? Trott has been constantly excellent this year in tests

KP has been the better, for me.

A Cook (c)
B Taylor
R Dravid
K Pietersen
I Bell
D Bravo
M Prior (wk)
T Bresnan
R Harris
S Ajmal
J Anderson

Five England players in my team, which really show how good we've been this year

Anyone can beat Australia in Australia though. NZ proved that.

Ha, taking plenty of potshots today Kia

Jbd, solid side, England deserve all the plaudits they've gotten this year, fantastic performances from one and all.

However, very tough few months we have coming up, yet another acid test you could say, and if we come through these away series and then beat the Saffers at home we truly will be one of the finest sides ever.

Mate 26 years doesn´t come round every year. Make hay when the sun shines!

Can´t argue with the English bias. If South Africa have a good series though against Sri Lanka, they´re having a good year too.

Haven't deposed of the world number ones like us, though

Also, didn't they just draw at home with Aus?

I stand corrected. I bow to England.

That said, England haven´t played NZ this year though. We´re on fire at the moment.

To be fair, England have been absolutely dominant this year in tests. 9 tests in all, 7 wins and 2 draws, that is Australia-esque. South Africa drew with India and then Australia, they actually haven't had a great year. Australia's troubles have been well-documented, Sri Lanka have been poor.

Pakistan have done decently to be fair, maybe more of their players should be in there (e.g. Younus Khan has had a brilliant year with the bat)?

EDIT: England have actually won 6 of 8 this year, for some reason I was counting the BDT as this year...

So it´s a flip of the coin between NZ and England then Mike after that good summary.

Cook
Dravid (He either opened or as good as during the summer)
Bell
Pietersen
Misbah (c)
Shakib
Prior
Bresnan
Steyn
Rampaul
Ajmal


Top 4 get in by weight of runs. Prior and Ajmal are stand out performers.
Misbah has not performed quite as well as Younis but deserves a lot of credit for his captaincy and teh way Pakistan have come together.
Shakib - I wanted a batsmen who can bowl. Shakib is averaging over 40 this year with the bat and under 35 with the ball.
Steyn and Bresnan only played 4 tests each - but took over 5 wickets per test at averages in the teens. TimToms batting is a bonus.
Rampaul just edges Anderson as I wanted a bigger spread of nationalities.

Excellent cases could be made for Cook, Pietersen, Bell, Prior and Anderson.

In addition, Dravid could open with Cook, Steyn to share the new ball and Ajmal has been the leading spinner this year.

After that, I'm struggling. Picking South African players is tricky because they have played so few Test matches. Kallis has been excellent when he has played.

Other players that stand out for me include Darren Bravo who has made quite a lot of runs, as had Edwards albeit over less games. For Pakistan, Misbah's had a good year as has Younis. I also originally put Trott in, but his year hasn't been that great - just 1 ton (a double) at 40.

For Australia, I instantly though of Watson but he's had an awful year with the bat, whilst Hussey's ended poorly. For India, Tendulkar and Laxman have been good in parts, same for Sri Lanka and Sangakkara.

Not sure about the third quick... Philander's had a great opening three Tests, but is three Tests enough? Likewise Bracewell and Bresnan (and Ashwin). Broad's been at extremes.

In the end, I went for Bresnan. If Steyn can get in on 7 innings (plus a couple more to come) and averaging 17, Bressie can get in on 8 innings averaging 19.

01 Cook
02 Dravid
03 Bell
04 Pietersen
05 Mishbah
06 Bravo
07 Prior
08 Bresnan
09 Steyn
10 Anderson
11 Ajmal

6 England players... not sure how much is bias and how much is evident of the incredible year they've had.

i wouldnt say its bias mate, i think its purely cos of the year that england have had

Honestly think Cook, KP, Bell, Prior and Anderson are fairly obvious picks. Whether you then also include Bresnan and maybe Trott (although other players have had better years) is upto you. So 5-7 Englishmen surely?

The year isn't over as yet, there are a few more testt matches lined up. Already, Dale Steyn added 4 more wickets in his 4th test of the year, and Vernon Philander picked up 19 so far, only his 3rd test of the year. Graeme Smith is getting runs as an opener.
For me,
Alastair Cook.
Graeme Smith.
Rahul Dravid.
Kumar Sangakkara.
Michael Clarke.
Ian Bell.
Matt Prior.
Tim Bresnan.
Graeme Swann.
Dale Steyn.
James Anderson.

not sure about Michael Clarke. There are a lot others that have had a much better year than him.

Smith hasn't played enough, MSP, Steyn only gets in to mine because he is simply that good. Pietersen has to be in over Clarke too, I'd say, as this hasn't been a stellar year for Pup.

Cook - no discussion really, keeps on racking up the runs, easily the best opener around this year.
B. Taylor - may not have played that much, but was in cracking form when he did.
Dravid - the only Indian batsman who stood up on the England tour, quite magnificent throughout.
Pietersen - despite what Gregers said, much better year than Trott (remember 2011 starts with the Sydney test), it was his double-century at Lords which really shaped England's summer.
Bell - has finally found his mojo at Test level, got his first Ashes hundred, and has gone from strength to strength.
Misbah-Ul-Haq (capt.) - I like the way Pakistan looked a much more settled unit under his captaincy. Scored plenty of runs too.
Prior (wk) - outstanding candidate: started the year with a century in the Ashes, and consistently scored quickly and well when England needed him. Kept well too.
Bresnan - has proved all the doubters wrong, runs and wickets and a fantastic series against India.
Steyn - may not have played all that much, but what a player. Can turn a match around in one spell.
Anderson - continues to lead the England attack superbly, and has taken over Collingwood's fielding duties with barely a glitch.
Ajmal - the best spinner in the world this year (as Swann has been a bit quiet), and will probably be England's biggest threat in the up-coming series.

Gregers wrote:Surely Trott over KP is a given? Trott has been constantly excellent this year in tests

Trott: 365 runs at 40.55 over 9 innings. 1x200, 2x50.
KP: 731 runs at 73.10 over 11 innings. 1x200, 1x100, 4x50.

Thanks, Matt. I rest my case, as they say.

shhhhhhhh you'll upset Gregers

1. Alastair Cook
2. Rahul Dravid
3. Ian Bell
4. Kumar Sangakkara
5. Kevin Pietersen
6. Darren Bravo
7. Matt Prior
8. Stuart Broad
9. Dale Steyn
10. Saeed Ajmal
11. James Anderson

Reserves: Taufeeq Umar, Misbah-ul-Haq, Devendra Bishoo, Tim Bresnan, Praveen Kumar

Good idea moving Dravid up to open, where he is equally adept. That is quite a batting lineup...

ps FoF,

Did you really want Dwayne and not Darren ?

kiakahaaotearoa wrote:Mate 26 years doesn´t come round every year. Make hay when the sun shines!

Can´t argue with the English bias. If South Africa have a good series though against Sri Lanka, they´re having a good year too.

mate i think NZ are on the up..

They have their core players of McCullum,Taylor,Vettori,Martin...they also have players like Guptil,Ryder,Williamson and southee who are class players on the day, they also have a good blend of youth coming through

What they do when Vettori retires remains to be seen.

They´re on the up as there´s only one place to go!

Our batting remains the biggest weakness at test level. We have players who can do damage but they often lack the temperament and sell their wicket cheaply.

i agree kia

i think maybe Mccullum would be better off down the order

having mccullum, ryder and taylor all near the top is a bad move. I like guptill openeing, willamson is good near the top, but they need someone inbetween them 3 who can drop anchor.

We definitely need a player like Mark Richardson who can anchor the innings. McCullum should be with Vettori down the order in case we need to fight a rearguard action or when we need to fight a rearguard action!

At least the arrival of Bracewell has given us more bowling actions. I fear though Steyn will roast us for dinner. We don´t do well against genuine pace or good spin bowling. We produce medium pacers like sheep in NZ.