Episode three of the Geras vs Massie cricketing showdown is underway. It's Norm's turn to pick first and, as I feared he might, he's exploiting his greater knowledge of South African cricket. Getting my excuses in early, I consider myself the underdog in this game. Anyway, the rules are the same as ever: only chaps who have played post-1945 are eligible for selection... You can follow the action here and, of course, at Norm's place too.
Norm gets us underway by selecting Graeme Pollock who may only be the finest left-handed batsman of them all.
This leaves me to select Barry Richards with my first pick. No way one can permit Norm to have Pollock and Richards...
Unsurprisingly, Norm ensures he will enjoy an advantage in the spin-bowling department, selecting Hugh Tayfield
My second choice is another player whose career was cut short by isolation and who, despite, is perhaps the best South African all-rounder since poor Aubrey Faulkner: Mike Proctor.
Norm nips in to select Shaun Pollock, probably South Africa's best player since they returned to the test arena. Such are the advantages of selecting first...
Which permits me to choose Dudley Nourse to anchor my middle-order.
Norm responds with Jacques Kallis - about whom I have had many arguments over the years...
Opening the bowling for my selection: Allan Donald.
Norm counters with Neil Adcock.
That means I have a chance to stop Norm cornering the market in Pollocks. Accordingly, I select Peter Pollock.
Rats! With his sixth pick Norm nips in ahead of me to select Colin Bland, no mean batsman but also perhaps the finest cover-point of, well, them all.
Disappointed at missing out on Bland, I'll make do with the elegance and style of Alan Melville who, like so many others, lost many of his best year's to Hitler's war.
Norm selects Bruce Mitchell with his seventh pick.
That permits me to find a place for Trevor Goddard, one of the most oft-overlooked of all-rounders. Though he often opened the batting for South Africa, he's likely to bat down the order in my side.
Yet again, Norm takes the fellow I was about to select. This time it's Eddie "Bunter" Barlow.
At least that gives me first pick of wicket-keepers and, since a) he's one of Norm's favourite players and b) he only kept wicket in a single test, I shall ignore Russell Endean and pick Denis Lindsay to be my stumper.
Norm's ninth pick is that fine, often over-looked bowler, Fanie de Villiers
My next selection, his failures against Australia notwithstanding, is perhaps the second best middle-order bat the Springboks have had since their return to the test arena: Darryl Cullinan.
Oh, rats again! Norm has just selected Lee Irvine, career average 40, who averaged 50 in his four match test career. But what a four match career it was, being the 4-0 hammering of the Australians in 1969-70.
I need a spinner. Trouble is, the cupboard is, if not bare, less than generously stocked once Tayfield is taken. Paul Adams' wizardry wore off once the element of surprise was gone. So it's Tufty Mann or Atholl Rowan. And although Len Hutton was Atholl's bunny, Mann satisfies my preference for slow left-arm tweakers and, also, it must be said, my weakness for cricketers who die terribly young (31 in his case). Plus, he only got to bowl at batsmen who knew how to play spin: think wheat he might have done against England these past 20 years...
Norm's final selection, and his wicket-keeper, is John Waite.
Completing my selection is Eric Rowan, Atholl's elder brother, whose career figures against quality English bowling on uncovered pitches are, to my mind, more impressive than some of the performances produced by the current crop of South African batsmen.
Analysis of the respective teams to follow overnight...
Teams, in order of selection:
Norm: Graeme Pollock, Hugh Tayfield, Shaun Pollock, Jacques Kallis, Neil Adcock, Colin Bland, Bruce Mitchell, Eddie Barlow, Fanie de Villiers, Lee Irvine, John Waite.
Alex: Barry Richards, Mike Proctor, Dudley Nourse, Allan Donald, Peter Pollock, Alan Melville, Trevor Goddard, Denis Lindsay (Wkt), Darryl Cullinan, Tufty Mann, Eric Rowan.
No Vincent Van Der Bijl? That's both a surprise and a shame. He was surely a better bowler than Fannie de Villiers?
Posted by: Tom | August 18, 2008 at 09:25 AM