heavily dwta this isn't even an argument until finn and starc can land a ball where they want it to land. the only thing standing in shami's way is he's indian which means he'll be crocked in 2 months.
Heef Cheteshwar Pujara - among the best two batsmen left, and has age and ability to bat top-order which makes him more valuable than the other one. Probably would've still been looking a bowler at this point however myself, and given Heef is a big fan of the art of pace bowling I'm surprised he didn't. 0 Ben Stokes - an interesting call. He hasn't done a lot at this stage, but the kid clearly has potential. Probably not who I would've gone for at this stage, but it's one I can understand. 0 Virender Sehwag - 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. -1 Trent Copeland - hasn't been quite the same bowler of the 2009-2010 vintage (well in Australia, he did have an excellent county season), but he's still one of the better bowlers left. And he has batted 7 in the past, so he can easily bat 8 here. Good pick. +1 Samiullah Khan - interesting pick. His stats look outstanding, but Pakistani domestic cricket is an easy place to bowl in. Although there aren't many who average 18! Maybe could've waited as I doubt he was on many people's radars, but it's still a decent pick. +1 Imran Farhat - a surprise selection as his Test record isn't great and he plays for a low-profile country, but his form has been very good recently. Probably better options left, but the pick is far from a disaster and very defensible. 0 Zulfiqar Babar - has had a long and very successful career at the domestic level. Unlike a lot of bowlers he also has a very good WPM. Yes Pakistani domestic is pretty easy to bowl in, but still how many bowlers available are better than Babar? +1 Graham Napier - not really convinced about this move. Given he already had Stokes I'm not sold on the balance advantages, and given how Heef's side ended up I would've picked up a proper batsman here. With that said, he probably would've been a fine pick for anyone else, and I feel having too many all-rounders are better than having not enough if you pick the right ones. 0 Naman Ojha - much better batsman than his career figures suggest, but I still think there were better options here. -1 Mominul Haque - great pick. Best exploitation of statistical h4x. Whether Haque can keep his dominant start to his Test career up is a question that remains to be answered, but for now it's one of the best picks in the draft. +3 Bilawal Bhatti - tough one. Probably not a particularly awesome R11 pick right now but he does have a lot of potential and a possible future in the Pakistani side. Decent pick. +1 Shehan Jayasuriya - poor pick. Wouldn't bother bowling him much personally, and he's only had one good season with the bat. In fairness his performances has slumped significantly since picking him, but still this is a classic case of stats whoreing fail. -2 Kraigg Braithwaite - this however was a pretty decent pick. Decent domestic record in a competition which is very very hard to bat in and has some sort of Test record. Is still young too so has a lot of potential. +1 Graeme Aldridge - probably a better bowler than he was 10 years ago. Also gives you some good batting depth. New Zealand seamers were one of the most under-utilised picks in CPL, so congrats on picking one. +1 Hamish Marshall - not a bad pick on paper, but you're the last bloke I'd expect to pick him. Plus you don't intend to play him. 0/-3 Adam Wheater - pretty handy record thus far. Still fairly young so is only getting better. Quality pick. +1 Amit Yadav - very solid record so far in his career. Yes Indian cricket is iffy but his average is still quite a bit better than the mean. Decent pick. +1 Gerrie Snyman - tough to rate as his FC exposure is limited to South African 2nd division stuff and the IC. Still, his record with the bat lately is pretty good and for R18 you could do worse. +1 Overall: Probably will have a pretty strong batting line-up, however I do suspect he's a batsman short. His bowling is interesting. None of his bowlers have much Test experience and too many of them come from weaker competitions. Probably the hardest side to predict, but I do suspect Heef will manage his selections well and would've came into the competition with a plan in place.
Benny Shane Watson - very interesting pick. Definitely if you picked him in a smaller draft he'd be a very bad pick for #11, but given the lower standard the difference between him and the elite bats and the fact that his bowling should improve from 'decent 5th option' to a genuine first-change option it makes this pick a lot more valuable. Still somewhat early and is definitely a bolter, but it's not a terrible pick like it would appear on paper. 0 Mitchell Starc - this pick was criticised in the main thread, and 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. 0 Steve Smith - 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. +1 Gary Ballance - good pick. Probably not as good of a pick in practice than on paper as his FC average is boosted by cheap runs in Zimbabwean cricket, but he's a young promising batsman who'll only get better - his recent FC form is very good. +1 Tillakaratne Dilshan - although his recent form has been patchy, he still was in decent shape by the time he retired. He was probably picked early on batting alone, but the versatility he adds - can bat anywhere in the order, can keep, and even bowls some useful offies - makes him a good selection. +1 Michael Hogan - it's pretty rare that you find a bowler averaging mid-20's in a strong competition over a lengthy period of time at this point in the draft. Pretty nice pick. +1 Andrew Puttick - fairly long and solid record in a good domestic competition. Can also keep, and openers seemed to be in very short supply. Good pick. +1 Shane Shillingford - very good pick. Your only concern was his suspension from bowling, but he was given the all clear and has taken 2 5-fers and a 4-fer in returning to FC cricket. +1 Dane Vilas - pretty poor pick. Not among the best players in his competition and there were plenty better keepers still left. -1 Michael Klinger - better pick. Not the same batsman as he was from 2008/09, but is still a very capable batsman who should be fine for this level. +1 Josh Hazlewood - very lucky pick. When you picked him it was early, but he really gunned it in the second half of the season and it looks a pretty good pick now. +1 George Bailey - meh. Worse batsmen were picked earlier and I'm surprised he slid this far as he has played Tests and is Australian. 0 Wayne Parnell - pretty poor pick right now, but he does have a lot of promise and quite possibly has a future in the South African lineup. Also gives some good batting depth. 0 Liam Plunkett - interesting pick. He is coming off a good county season, but his 3 before that were pretty bad. Does add some good batting depth, but I feel this was somewhat early. -1 Chaturanga de Silva - not sure how I feel about this pick. Don't think he won't give you much of a bowling option, but the fact that his batting record is much better at the A-team level than the domestic level means that you shouldn't be domestic h4x owned here. 0 Mohammed Amir - risky. Has not played FC cricket in over 3 years, and won't for another 18 months so it's hard to know how he'll go. Still, he has a lot more upside than a standard R16 pick and he was looking like he was going to be an absolute freak pre-suspension. Good pick this late. +1 Jason Holder - very good FC record on paper, but it is achieved in West Indian domestic cricket and his WPM is subpar. The good news is that he probably has a future in the West Indian national team and he does look the goods. +1 Brad Hodge - very good R18 pick. The fact that he still plays T20's means that he shouldn't be nerfed too much for his lack of recent FC experience and when he was playing FC cricket he was a gun. +2 Overall: Very few bad picks here. Loads of depth and the squad looks pretty solid throughout despite some iffy early picks. If a lot of guys drafted this side I'd back them as a Top 8 certainty, but I suspect that Benny might wreck the side with poor selection and it'll hold them back.
Dilshan and Puttick are not +1s, Bailey and Parnell are not 0s. Brad Hodge hasn't played FC cricket in 5 years and gets a +2? SMH.
Puttick can't keep tbh. If he did, he'd be an utter liability. If he can keep then so can Gary Kirsten. And yeah Parnell is shit.
I'd quite like to replace Shehan Jayasuriya with some associate player or other. I picked him when he had a good day against England Lions, but then he failed for the rest of the series. Disappointing, as I'd much rather have selected an associate.
Pretty sure Devon was still available. #0wned by new WI season #back down to Earth #don't statswhore when players aren't actually that good
Ramprakash is better for one and that's before we even get into the blokes that have plated in the last 18 months
