2023 All Year Fantasy Competition

[The Professor]

The names are in.

The count has been counted.

The is have been dotted and the ts have been crossed.

It is time to find out who we've all been blessed/lumbered with for the next 12 months.

In what can be one of the jammiest moves of random allocation ever, this year's runaway leader Red Devil got the first pick. He held on to Babar Azam and the world expected him to stay in for Mohammad Rizwan but.....lo and behold he goes left field and selects Shakib Al Hasan. Shakib has not featured on this list for 3 years after his suspension for suspicious activities regarding approaches from bookmakers. So that completed Red's 2 man team - Babar Azam and Shakib Al Hasan.

Next up is my father who swoops, jackal like, on the figure of Australian captain Pat Cummins as his inaugural pick. He will get the final selection as the draft process returns back up the ladder for pick number 2.

DiligentDefence returns to the game this year with 2 berths to fill. His first choice is a young man who has had a breakout 2022 - Sam Curran.

Then onto myself....After the worst year on record, I discarded all my players so have a clean slate to play with. I have managed to bag my first choice in the form of Jos Buttler - a man to have not featured in our list since 2019.


Similarly, MIB did not have the most prodigious year and has 2 places to fill...he has managed to pick the player that featured (somewhere) in almost everyone's wishlist - Harry Brook.

Durham retains Simon Harmer for a 6th glorious year and gets his first choice partner to join him - Rashid Khan. Rashid was a big player in the first two years of our List but had a very poor 2020 and was dropped. Can he be a force again?

Arthur plays, what I would call, a sneaky one by retaining Bairstow, discarding Pant and Root and then immediately picking Pant up again to keep him steady for 2023.

GingerPele is a new franchise to the league and picks up a brand new player. He was a name that was on a few lists last year ...but only GP went for Devon Conway this time out.

The RedTwins retain David Warner following his heroic display today....and joining him is Hardik Pandya to complete their team.

Last up from the first round is Red Junior who held on to the White Ball powerhouse that is Moeen Ali and add a former List member - Ravindra Jadeja to complete their team.

So that's the first round with RD, DFM, Arthur RT and RJr. Seeing their business end.

We now go back up the ladder to complete GingerPele, MIB, The Professor, DiligentDefence and The Prof Sr's team.

GP's second choice sees him add the statuesque figure of Marco Jansen to the mix to see him end with the all new pairing of Jansen and Conway.

MIB already has Harry Brook and adds Shubman Gill. This is the third time he has been selected and each time by different people. Will he have the sticking power this year?

Now The Professor finishes his business adding hard hitting White ball batter Suryakumar Yadav to hard hitting White ball batter Jos Buttler to ensure that his Strike Rate column need never be blank.


In the penultimate deal of the day, DD picks up Cam Green to form a youthful alliance alongside Sam Curran.

And finally, The Professor Senior goes for an all Australian unit as he adds batter Usman Khawaja to join his International captain Pat Cummins.

And that is that.

All points from the first of January count.

This year has seen some notable figures depart. Joe Root and Simon Harmer were the only two players to have featured every year but Root was not picked this time out. Nor was Ben Stokes. Former Cricketers of the Year Glenn Maxwell and Marnus Labuschagne do not get another go either.

The teams in full are:

Red Devil - Babar Azam and Shakib Al Hasan

The Professor Senior - Pat Cummins and Usman Khawaja

DiligentDefence - Sam Curran and Cam Green

The Professor - Jos Buttler and Suryakumar Yadav

MIB - Harry Brook and Shubmann Gill

DFM - Simon Harmer and Rashid Khan

Arthur - Jonny Bairstow and Rishabh Pant

GingerPele - Devon Conway and Marco Jansen

RedTwins - David Warner and Hardik Pandya

Red Junior - Moeen Ali and Ravindra Jadeja.

[meninblue]

Well conducted auction.

[Arthur Crabtree]

Cheers Prof.

Wonder if Bairstow will ever play again.

[Durhamfootman]

Cheers Prof.

Wonder if Bairstow will ever play again.

ha.... not now

Cheers Prof. There were 2 players I desperately wanted to play alongside SRH in a 3 man team. In a 2 man team I had to make a choice and tbh, it pretty much took the toss of a coin to decide. Only time will tell if I picked wisely

we have a game

[gingerpele]

Happy with my team, looking forward to entering for the first time!

[Durhamfootman]

Arthur continues his trend of having all his players out of action

Rishabh Pant has been involved in what sounds like a really nasty car crash, so lets hope he's okay

[Arthur Crabtree]

Yes, best wishes to him. He's conscious and seems to be ok.

Presume he crashed into Bairstow.

[Durhamfootman]

fell asleep at the wheel, seemingly

might have been listening to a Peter Moores motivational CD

[meninblue]

I don't this he will play anything before IPL as there are multiple injuries. After seeing pics of Mercedes crashed and burnt, he is is lucky to have survived. Horrific pictures of the crashed car.

Also he was dropped from T20i and ODI squad which was announced few days back. Perhaps he will miss few tests in which he is a definite selection.

[The Professor]

Probably one of the most unfortunate selections in the 5 year history of this competition

[Arthur Crabtree]

I bet he scores more than Kane Williamson last year.

[The Professor]

I take that personally

[Arthur Crabtree]

You are Kane Williamson!

[The Professor]

Equally as sensible

Worse beard

[Durhamfootman]

Probably one of the most unfortunate selections in the 5 year history of this competition

competition hasn't started yet

option to change to Arthur's next choice if he wants it? There'd be no complaints from me