Team of the Year: 2012

Not sure the format with these, so I'll breakout and do my own.

We've only got one meaningless Test left so why not discuss who we think has been the best players this calender year.

My team:

Alistair Cook (ENG)
Hashim Amla (RSA)
Kevin Pietersen (RSA)
Michael Clarke (AUS)
Shiv Chanderpaul (WI)
Jacques Kallis (RSA)
AB De Villers (RSA)
Vernon Philander (RSA)
Jimmy Anderson (ENG)
Rangana Herath (SRI)
Saeed Ajmal (PAK)

Unlucky to miss out: Prior, Pujara, Samuels, Hussey, Sangakarra, Swan, Siddle, Steyn.

A team with a glut of runs up the top and all way through it. No surprise its full of Saffers, they've been the best. Taking two spinners because in this team Kallis would be third quick and the spinners have done well this year, very good stats. Indian and New Zealand notable for their absences.

Hmmm, the only England players I'd have in there would be KP and Prior. AB can f*ck off.

It's a very good form team, but I'd prefer a second opener.

And Ajmal. Hmmm. If it's on stats, defo.

And you're a bit short of pace, even if you press Shark into a lot of overs. Are you playing this in Kandy or somewhere? I think you have to have Steyn in.

Our English friends don't like it when someone calls KP a saffie.

............. and you can't blame them.

I don't mind a bit.

As long as he scores the runs, and doesn't ck with the team spirit!

WideWally wrote:Our English friends don't like it when someone calls KP a saffie.

............. and you can't blame them.

Oh yeah - look at the unabashed outrage on this thread so far. I'm actually convulsing with rage.

So you don't mind the RSA beside his name?

I think it is unfair cos when folk have a quick count they think BG has only picked two poms.

smith
cook
amla
kallis
clarke
chanders
prior
philander
hilf/siddle
ajmal
herath

baggygreen wrote:Not sure the format with these, so I'll breakout and do my own.

We've only got one meaningless Test left so why not discuss who we think has been the best players this calender year.

My team:

Alistair Cook (ENG)
Hashim Amla (RSA)
Kevin Pietersen (RSA)
Michael Clarke (AUS)
Shiv Chanderpaul (WI)
Jacques Kallis (RSA)
AB De Villers (RSA)
Vernon Philander (RSA)
Jimmy Anderson (ENG)
Rangana Herath (SRI)
Saeed Ajmal (PAK)

Unlucky to miss out: Prior, Pujara, Samuels, Hussey, Sangakarra, Swan, Siddle, Steyn.

A team with a glut of runs up the top and all way through it. No surprise its full of Saffers, they've been the best. Taking two spinners because in this team Kallis would be third quick and the spinners have done well this year, very good stats. Indian and New Zealand notable for their absences.

Smith in to open and Shiv missing out. Prior for AB and Steyn in for Philander.

You can't bat Clarke at four in your World XI when he himself is too chicken sh*t to bat there.

I'll go with-

Cook
Smith
Amla
Kallis
Clarke(c)
Pietersen
Prior+
Herath
Siddle
Steyn
M.Morkel

WideWally wrote:So you don't mind the RSA beside his name?

I think it is unfair cos when folk have a quick count they think BG has only picked two poms.

Haters are gonna hate

England barely even deserve any in the team of the year, IMO. They've been f*cking shit. Some win in India doesn't make up for the knee-knocking weakness we showed against SA and Pak - what's really going to stick in the mind?

Brass Monkey wrote:

WideWally wrote:So you don't mind the RSA beside his name?

I think it is unfair cos when folk have a quick count they think BG has only picked two poms.

Haters are gonna hate

England barely even deserve any in the team of the year, IMO. They've been f*cking shit. Some win in India doesn't make up for the knee-knocking weakness we showed against SA and Pak - what's really going to stick in the mind?

The win in India.

Ah. Yes, of course. We outplayed a team that was basically in disarray. No wonder you love Ian Bell and choose to bluntly ignore all the bad. We couldn't handle a world class chucker or the world class paceman of SA, but hey, no probs - we can half-feast on numbers 5, 6 and 8 in the world.

Plus, we can win a tweet-off against against any team in the world. Probably.

5 wins, 7 losses. Our worst year since 2003. Hmm, I think I'll choose to remember the poorer teams we beat. I think I used to think like that in about '95. When I was 14.

Sehwag
Gambhir
Raina
Tendulkar
Kohli
Yuvraj
Dhoni
Ashwin
Ojha
Ishant
Zaheer

Team primed for revenge

.... against Kenya?

Learn them proper about home conditions.

On principle, I could not choose Ajmal.

Herath to provide the spin; Anderson/Steyn/Morkel the pace, Prior to keep (I see BBB turning over in his metaphorical grave), Cook, Smith, Amla, Pietersen, Clarke, and Kallis to make up the top 6; Chanderpaul in for Kallis if the wicket looks difficult.

I concur that Steyn and Morkel are better bowlers than him but if you are picking a team of 2012 then Philanderer has to be picked ahead of them.

In a "you are only as good as your stats say you are" moment a 21 average against 30 cannot be overlooked

Brass Monkey wrote:5 wins, 7 losses. Our worst year since 2003. Hmm, I think I'll choose to remember the poorer teams we beat. I think I used to think like that in about '95. When I was 14.

Poorer teams on the surface, but India is a place we haven't won in since 1984, and only Australia has won in since 2004. We also lost the first test and had been written off as a team who had no idea at all how to play spin. Then not only did we come back to beat them, we came back to beat them despite losing tosses at Mumbai and Kolkata, on pitches made to order. We beat them at their own game.

You can't pretend it wasn't a great achievement, regardless of how crap we were for the rest of the year.

Poorer teams on the surface? Does the surface mean the pitch? I'm not detracting . from what is a good achievement, even 1-1 in SL is for us. I derived great pleasure from beating India over there especially as we were on the end of one of their famed 2 Test mug-jobs. The wins themselves were devastatingly brilliant. I just think a bit of context is required. The bigger challenges of the year were met with an ultra-meek feebleness which shouldn't be forgotten, because it could happen anytime. Our inadequacies are still apparent. Perversely, being on Asian style big turners probably helped us obtain a wicket-taking threat that was missing all summer and all of the first Test in India.

Swann is the 2nd highest wicket taker in 2012. He has 59 wkts at 30 taken in 14 Tests, whereas Ajmal only played 6 for 39 wkts at 20. So Ajmal seems a pretty reasonable choice as 2nd spinner.

skully wrote:Swann is the 2nd highest wicket taker in 2012. He has 59 wkts at 30 taken in 14 Tests, whereas Ajmal only played 6 for 39 wkts at 20. So Ajmal seems a pretty reasonable choice as 2nd spinner.

'Cept he's a pinger and therefore DQed.

Smith
Cook
Amla
Kallis
Clarke
Hussey
Prior
Herath
Siddle
Philander
Steyn

Plenty of overs for Clarke if it's "somewhere in the desert"?