The Official Thread for The London Lions

Introducing The London Lions, one of the two new teams in the PPL and only the second foreign team to take part in the league. We enter this competition with lofty goals and ambitions, even though it is our first season!



Representing the spiritual home of cricket, the london lions are looking forward to their first season and are raring to go!

The Coaching Setup

Head Coach: Geoff Boycott



Bowling Coach: Waqar Younis



Fielding Coach: Jonty Rhodes



Spin Bowling Coach/Player: Saqlain Mushtaq

Player Roster Season 2009/10 (PPL 5)

Name: HasanB (C)
Team: London Lions
Role: Specialist Batsman & Wicketkeeper
Batting Style: Right Handed Batsmen
Batting Average: 35
Bowling Style: N/A
Bowling Average:99


Name: saj001
Team: London Lions
Role: Specialist Batsman
Batting Style: Right Handed Batsmen
Batting Average: 35
Bowling Style: N/A
Bowling Average:99

Name: zimran72
Team: London Lions
Role: Specialist Batsman
Batting Style: Left Handed Batsmen
Batting Average: 35
Bowling Style: -
Bowling Average: N/A

Name: Suhaib
Team: London Lions
Role: Batting All Rounder
Batting Style: Right Handed Batsmen
Batting Average: 30
Bowling Style: Right Arm Off Spin
Bowling Average: 40

Name: Pakiboii
Team: London Lions
Role: Bowling All Rounder
Batting Style: Right Handed Batsmen
Batting Average: 25
Bowling Style: Right arm Fast
Bowling Average: 35

Name: FAM
Team: London Lions
Role: Specialist Batsman
Batting Style: Left Handed Batsmen
Batting Average: 35
Bowling Style: N/A
Bowling Average: N/A

Name: Free Hit
Team: London Lions
Role: Specialist Batsman
Batting Style: Right Handed Batsmen
Batting Average: 35
Bowling Style: N/A
Bowling Average: N/A

Name: Salazar
Team: London Lions
Role: Specialist Bowler
Batting Style: Right Handed Batsmen
Batting Average: 15
Bowling Style: Right arm off spin
Bowling Average: 30

Name: Lethal
Team: London Lions
Role: Bowling Allrounder
Batting Style: Right Handed Batsman
Batting Average: 25
Bowling Style: Right Arm Leg Spin
Bowling Average: 35

Name: Apnacricket
Team: London Lions
Role: Specialist Batsman
Batting Style: Left Handed Batsmen
Batting Average: 35
Bowling Style: N/A
Bowling Average:99

Name: insaaniyat
Team: London Lions
Role: Specialist Bowler
Batting Style: Left Handed Batsmen
Batting Average: 15
Bowling Style: Left Arm Fast Medium
Bowling Average: 30

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International Players



Name: Shane Bond
Team: London Lions
Role: Specialist Bowler
Batting Style: Right Handed Batsman
Bowling Style: Right Arm Fast
Batting Average: 15.93
Bowling Average: 20.87



Name: Jacques Kallis
Team: London Lions
Role: Batting All Rounder
Batting Style: Right Handed Batsman
Bowling Style: Right Arm Fast Medium
Batting Average: 45.25
Bowling Average: 32.10



Name: Chris Gayle
Team: London Lions
Role: Batting All Rounder
Batting Style: Right Handed Batsman
Bowling Style: Right Arm Off Spin
Batting Average: 40
Bowling Average: 34.03



Name: Nathan Bracken
Team: London Lions
Role: Specialist Bowler
Batting Style: Left Handed Batsman
Bowling Style: Left Arm Fast Medium
Batting Average: 12
Bowling Average: 24



Name: Angelo Matthews
Team: London Lions
Role: Bowling All Rounder
Batting Style: Right Handed Batsman
Bowling Style: Right Arm Medium Fast
Batting Average: 23
Bowling Average: 26



Name: Saqlain Mushtaq
Team: London Lions
Role: Specialist Bowler
Batting Style: Right Handed Batsman
Bowling Style: Right Arm Off Spin
Batting Average: 21
Bowling Average: 11


Name: Saeed Bin Nasir
Team: London Lions
Role: Specialist Batsman
Batting Style: Right Handed Batsman
Bowling Style: -
Batting Average: 49
Bowling Average: N/A

Nice logo......

London Lions Stadium

The London Lions are proud to have the home of cricket, Lords as their stadium. The first game in our newly adopted stadium will be against Bolan Bravehearts on the 12th of December, we take great pride in playing at Lords and hope to do the grounds stature justice with some great performances of our own.

Stadium: Lords Cricket Ground
Capacity: 30,000
Floodlights: Yes
End names: Pavilion End, Nursery End

We should get umar , Ajmal.

rest we can decide later

Good suggestions, Ajmal was already on my shortlist and would be a very handy player to have. Umar Akmal is also worth considering.

Once we have completed our domestic lineup, i'll explain how the international draft works and we can formulate some proper plans for it.

apna logo dekho,pardesi.
Shair hain ya patangey

abhey if you are a true pakistani then type it in urdu, what is this urdu-english.

Edit

we need more batsmen

how many international player are we allowed?

We get 7 international players overall.

G Smith was also a consideration of mine by the way due to his very good current average.

Can i be VC?

Well your international player suggestions have been good so far!

We'll decide all this stuff when the squad is completed, we will probably have a small warm up series against the bravehearts...so it will be decided before that series.

Also the international player draft is taking place this saturday, so we need to get our plan together before then.

saturday, what time?

it will be good warm up for the boy's . shoudl be easy victories

saj001, you can co-manage the side with Hasan if he agrees to it. Me and McBoom did it last season. Now I'm in full CHARGE of the Leopards!

boi , how does intl draft work's?

*roar*

Well said mate, well said

G Smith would be a great pick
How about Siddle?
Steyn?
KP?

Ajmal sounds like a shrewd buy

outside bets can be
Mike Hussey
Cameron White
JP Duminy

I dont think its a good idea discussing Intl players you are going to pick on PP.
Many other managers will be looking.....

Hasan we have 4 all rounders already and I think that should be enough. We should target only specialist bowlers and batsmen now and after having a full team we can decide on international players.

We can always change our player types if our team composition isnt what we want it to be. Thats why im waiting to see the final line-up before deciding my own player type.

yep we need to finalise our domestic team first.

Already caused an upset in the Punjabi camp?

Well we would welcome Omar Malik if he wants to move to our team

For those of you who havent been following this, Omar Malik who currently plays for the Punjab Panthers has said that he wanted to transfer to another team...he put the London Lions at the top of his choices. He actually is threatening to quit the PPL unless he gets to transfer over to us.

So basically if he does decide to move to us, we would welcome him. It just needs to be finalised with the Panthers manager Mohsin.

Also it appears we have had our first controversy of the season.

And they call us Pardesis pfft

Free Hit is member number 7 of our squad.

You should be charged with tampering. Welcoming a player when he's already part of another team? Where is your professionalism? Wait till we cut him from our squad and then offer him a contract!!!! Down with the Lions!!!

Is this the same player you said good riddance to?

Its a simple transfer, happens in football, in the nfl, in cricket...if the player wants to join us hes more than welcome, nothing untoward about that.

That's tampering, my friend. Inviting a player when he's under contract with another club. We need to set up a punishment for this.

There was no invitation whatsoever, the player was dissatisfied with your team...he threatened to quit unless he was allowed to move. Nothing to do with us im afraid.

Inswinger ko mirchi lagi

London lions's showing that they are the real deal

so true that

Just hope you guys don't play us early on!!!

Youre that concerned about having to face us already??

Abhey take it easy mate, the season is still a few weeks away...no need to start sweating already

Guys, Salazar is out 8th member...he did choose initially to go with the Bravehearts so lets make sure we show him how wrong he was to choose them first. Salazar is a very good poster here on PP so he'll be a good addition to the squad.

Also I thought it might be interesting for you to read this quote from the Bravehearts manager:



As you can see he was willing to throw out one of his players for someone else...that is how they treat their team members in that team. Remember we are the opposite of that, every member of the Lions squad is an integral and indispensable team member!

Another thing is that at this point we have too many all rounders in the side, so therefore some of you will have to change either to specialist batsmen or specialist bowlers.

Remember that we are allowed to have 5 internationals in our playing XI so that leaves on 6 spots open for PPers. If you are a specialist bowler or batsman you are therefore likely to get more chances to be in the matchday squad. We are looking for around 3 or 4 of the all rounders to change their player type...so please post here if you want to change. Thanks.

I am happy to become a specialist batsmen one down.

You can make me a specialist batsman or a specialist bowler - whatever is good for the team.

Thanks very much for that guys, its very helpful. If anyone else wants to change their player type then put down what your preference is.

I'll be putting up a revised player roster including averages by tonight.

Apnacricket & insaaniyat are the two latest members of our squad, a warm welcome to them. We pretty much have a full roster now pending the transfer of Omar Malik.

Welcome insaaniyat and Apnacricket

Ok an updated roster has now been put up in post #1 (The OP). Once the final couple of things are sorted i'll put up the remaining stats on there and we'll be all set to get ourselves some international players!

we got SOME attacking team

hasanB , i need to talk to you on intl tranfers. but my Pm ain't working

Yeah the PM function is disabled, you can only send pm's to mods. So if you quickly post your msn contact here, then once i add you you can delete the post.

edit

Ok you can edit it mate.

Name: Salazar
Team: London Lions
Role: Specialist Bowler
Batting Style: Right Handed Batsmen
Batting Average: 15
Bowling Style: Right arm off spin
Bowling Average: 30

I'll be Idone's brother, Idid

Name: Lethal
Team: London Lions
Role: Bowling Allrounder
Batting Style: Right Handed Batsman
Batting Average: 25
Bowling Style: Right Arm Leg Spin
Bowling Average: 35

Ok mate, i'll put you up as that player type for now...however depending on which international players we get, you might have to change a bit.

In keeping with our theme of aggressive gameplay, Shane Bond is our first international signing. The team roster in post #1 has been updated and this will continue as we sign more internationals.

South African star Jacques Kallis is our second international signing.

Good picks so far Hasan

Good picks sir jee. *roar*

iLike iLike

We have also snapped up West Indies captain, sensation and superstar Chris Gayle. Nothing even needs to be said about Gayles power batting, however his canny spinners will also come in handy. A rather dynamic team appears to be forming here

Sorry, guys, Kemar Roach is not eligble for selection.
You can pick another player instead of him.

No problem Boi, that was a misunderstanding on our part.

So instead we have selected Nathan Bracken, a left arm seamer who is integral to the World Champion Australian ODI squad.

Our latest international signing is none other than our very own Pakistani batting star Umar Akmal, with a high batting average nearing in on 45 he is a more than welcome addition to our squad!

perfect! we got the best on!

Sorry, no can do....

For the love of God Boi he has played 10 ODI games what more were you looking for?

I know its harsh but rules are rules....

Well if that is the final decision from you guys then we will change it no problem

Welcome Saeed Bin Naser

You guys need to relax!!

Says the guy with a panther as his avatar.

hasan, didn't you get the messsage!!

Guys, those of you that do not have my msn contact yet it is:

hasan_ali_bhatti@hotmail.com

Please add me as soon as you can so that we can all be inolved with final team planning and selection as the season approaches. If you could note down the address and then let me know so that I can edit this post, thanks!

We need a spinner guys.

You've got Idid

Done added on msn

Hi Hasan. Got your pm. The problem with the PP spinners is that if they get owned in a match then their averages will go high and they will become useless for the rest of the matches. Averages of International players don't change.

I suggest Saqlain Mushtaq for our next pick. He averages 21.78.

Has'nt Saqlain retired?

I was thinking the same thing.. but he still plays first class cricket. I guess we have to consider him a player.

I am pretty sure we weren`t specfic on the retirement rule in regards to whether it has to be from international cricket or cricket in general.

FAM, very good suggestion there...Saqlain will be our final pick to round things off quite nicely.

Also Usama thanks for clarifying things rules wise, i've had a look and there doesnt appear to be anything saying the player must be active in international cricket. Therefore we are on the right side of the rulebook with this selection

lol, you're lucky dude , good christmas gift while we the experienced managers got the last shitty averaged players lol.

kher, dhaka has shown it's not all about averages ! :

Be ready to face the champions ! :p

hasanb,

Please post your starting XI for the first warm up match against Bolan. Also let me know what pitch you will be playing on? (Flat, Normal, Bowling).

The first game is on the 12th so I will be posting the team on the evening of December 11th if thats alright.

In the meantime we are holding a 2 day training and practice camp to tune up for the series. This will be held under the auspices of our newly announced head coach Geoff Boycott. Special attention will be paid to fielding with out fielding coach/consultant Jonty Rhodes.

Waqar Younis has been hired to work with our battery of pace and seam bowlers ....Axcellent.

While Saqlain, already part of our squad will be lending a hand in coaching the younger spinners too. So get cracking guys, only two days till we announce the squad!

FAM, back to the serious stuff though i'm just going to assess the various scenarios and team selections and let you know directly regarding pitch type etc.