Athlai picks Best and Worst Squad Picks CPL 4 (Complete)

Cribb rates your team waaaay higher than me which should be a massive consolation

 

Worse than Tsotsobe or Borthwick?

 

Tsotsobe is the man, I won't hear anything else.

 

This is what the people have been waiting for

 

And I do

 

Boob
Team name: Granny Smashers
Name Rating: B+

It's crude but its kind of crude in a quaint way. Also the word smashers seems fairly synonymous with cricket actions so theres crossover merchandising appeal. Quality stuff. People should consider merchandising more.

Squad:
1. Renshaw
2. Khawaja
3. Pucovski
4. Stokes
5. Maddinson
6. Ferguson
7. Nevill
8. Neser
9. Archer
10. Amir
11. Swepson

12. Ahmed
13. Coulter-Nile
14. Short
15. Cosgrove
16. Lynn
17. Johnson
18. Peirson

Squad Depth: A-

I haven't been quiet in my praise for this team and I've said a few times I think it'll be a top 8 contender. I went back and forth on this one for a while on whether I should give it an A or an A-, but I eventually settled for A-. There aren't really any spuds here but theres maybe one too many Aussie blokes that while good, aren't amazing. Archer also went a touch too soon I think.

Best Pick: Nic Maddinson
Morgs on Nic Maddinson: Very nice pick. Has been amazing at Shield level recently and can bowl some handy spin and bats all around the order too.
Cribb's Best Pick: Swepson
Morgs on Swepson : On paper, it's a bad pick as his FC record is pretty ordinary. Weighted against that is that Australian domestics can be death for spin bowlers and he might improve given he's been blooded as Australia's second spinner. Still, I can't help but think you picked him because you hadn't heard of any other spinners ()


Worst Pick: Jofra Archer - Round 2
Morgs on Archer: Like Ngidi a bit of a gamble as he's not all that proven at Test level, but this one has more going for it as 1. he can bat and 2. his FC record has more depth to it. And unlike Ngidi it's quite easy to see him improve with a good tour of South Africa. A bad one could admittedly hurt his reputation, but a good pick at this point in the draft.


Stokes/Archer/Amir was a massive, massive punt imo but one that has more or less paid off. The batting while a little shakey is by no means the worst, and the bowling ended up being pretty gun. Morgie roasted a lot of your picks but I think blokes like Swepson, Coulter-Nile, Ahmed, Nev, Pucovski were genuinely good picks and will see this team go deep in the tournament and should see a top 8 berth in your future.

Cosgrove was a genuinely bad pick rather than bad picking strategy, but it was only a matter of time until you found one spud amongst the gems. It's also always great when Cribb directly contradicts Morgie's write up with his choice of best pick. It's the best thing about writing these.

 

Heath
Team name: B.L.E.R.T.A (Bruno Lawrence's Electric Revelation and Travelling Apparition Cricket Club)
Name Rating: A

Timeless Kiwiana reference and being reminded of BLERTA and Bruno is always nice.

Squad:
1. Abid Ali
2. Anshuman Rath (part time filth)
3. Brendan Taylor
4. Steve(n) Smith (part time filth)
5. Shai Hope
6. Ravi Bopara (as and when)
7. Daryl Mitchell (as and when)
8. Bhuvneshwar Kumar (2)
9. Jan Frylinck (4) / Nauman Ali
10. Peter Siddle (1)
11. Hasan Ali (3)

12. Dominic Bess
13. Faheem Ashraf
14. Nosaina Pokana
15. Priyam Garg
16. Nauman Ali/Jan Frylinck

In terms of depth, I have:
Back up batting all-rounders (Bopara/Mitchell)
Back up bowling all-rounders (Bhuvneshwar/Ashraf - though Ashraf will not bat 7, methinks)
Back up bowling is Pokana and Ashraf
Back up opener is Brendan Taylor, and then both Bopara and Mitchell play or Garg comes in.
Spinning is definitely looking a bit short, but fuck spinners.

Squad Depth: A-

While difficult, it was the right call to go Smith first. Realistically Smith/Cummins/Holder should have been the #1 frontrunners for first draft pick. And while Holder is stupidly good with bat and ball lately, and Cummins is a whizz with the ball, only Smith is a cricketing God right now.

Part of me rating your team is knowing that blokes like Bhuvi, Daryl Mitchell, Siddle are gun and part is that Cribb likes the minnow blokes you picked. Because FMD I have no idea who any of those guys are but I'm going to nod my head and pretend I do and everyone seems to think they'll do alright.

Best Pick: Daryll Mitchell - r11
Morgs on Mitchell: A lot probably depends on how his season holds, before this season I would think this was a pretty average pick but his 70-odd in the Test should help. Not many outstanding options left over though so should be good.
Cribb's Best Pick: Nauman Ali - r12
Morgs on Come on Now Man : His last two seasons have been silly. Should be a quality spinner given that.
Worst Pick: Ravi Bopara - r7
Morgs on Bopara: Can't say I think all that much of this selection either. Has been in pretty average form with the bat for quite a while and his bowling is increasingly part-timer. Would've looked elsewhere.



Bopara went early but your other early and more conventional picks were very solid. Mitchell was a fantastic R11 pickup and was certainly on a few peoples radars. A very competitive team here, and while an A- could be a touch generous considering the question marks around some of the associate blokes, they all genuinely seem pretty good. Should've picked Mujeeb though. Mujeeb had ODI stats WAG.

I don't think this is quite top 8 material, maybe top 9.

Heef is the spiritual opposite of Spark in drafting. Has all the tools and savvy to pick the h4x but completely uses his powers on making the most eclectic and pleasing (to Heef) squad possible.