by The Professor » Mon Dec 27, 2021 2:07 pm
An expectant hush falls over the Dubai conference centre where the All Year Fantasy auction is to take place; the socially distanced teams are ready to fight tooth and nail for their prime cuts for the year ahead.
For those uninitiated, contributors are selected randomly to make their first choices with second choices reversed. This year we are having three cricketers each (pauses for gasp of appreciation). This takes the total list up to 21. There are only 2 contributors who need their third pick thanks to retentions and they do not have any clashes on their list so parity is assured.
The order of selection this year will go:
Arthur
RedDevil
The Professor
MenInBlue
DFM
RedTwins
RedDevilJunior.
So without further ado, let's see who has who:
Arthur has retained Joe Root for his fifth year on our List which means who only has two berths to fill. What with being first he inevitably get's his most desired pick - Rishabh Pant. The Indian is making his debut in this competiton.
On to this year's third place team lead by RedDevil. He chose to retain third placed Babar Azam and adds one of the most desired selections at this auction. Half of the contributors wanted Mohammad Rizwan but it is RD who gets him to join his fellow countryman.
It was another disappointing campaign for The Professor and this is reflected in his blank slate for the 2022 season. His first pick is controversial Sri Lankan Limited Overs player Bhankuka Rajapaksa eho had a decent Lankan Premier League and an explosive Abu Dhabi T10 tournament. He is the first Sri Lankan to feature in this competition.
As is traditional MenInBlue has shed his entire team and picks up his first choice player: New Zealand and Bangalore's Kyle Jamieson.
With the inevitability of night following day DFM has stayed true to Simon Harmer. He does not get Rizwan due to RD's snaffling but does bag his second choice in the form of new Essex man Matt Critchley. All eyes will be on the CloudFM Ground next year for Team DFM.
Controversially RedTwins retained David Warner who has spent almost all of 2021 rooted to the bottom of the List. Will their faith pay off. Joining wee Davey is one of MIB's discards. Controversy will abound as Warner is joined by Quinton De Kock. Let's hope there is no talk about families in that camp.
Finally in the first round is Red Devil Junior who retains last year's Cricketer of the Year Marnus Labuschagne and teams him up with the discarded Moeen Ali from the now defunct Alviro franchise.
And thus ends Round 1 of the auction. Stand by for Round 2.
"It has been said of the unseen army of the dead, on their everlasting march, that when they are passing a rural cricket ground the Englishman falls out of the ranks for a moment to look over the gate and smile."