***Official*** New Zealand in South Africa

[Isolator]

Marshall needs to be forcibly dragged back to NZ, made to clean toilets for a year as punishment, and then stuck into the test XI.

 

[Matt52]

I checked out the stats of every player in last weeks state championship round and unfortunately the signs are quite grim. We have a lot of younger players playing but they have not made an impact in their games to the extent that previous players did. Hardly any average over 35 and those that do quite often average 20 or so in List A. The bowling is equally as poor. No stand-outs really. Just players that take 1 or 2 per innings at around 33 or more.

Hmmm. I'm sure I am over-reacting but I think it may take a few years for us to be any success at Tests yet. Our current crop over there surely arn't as bad as they performed.
t.

I think our top 11 will be quite good. Just give the team time to settle down.. But i think we are going to struggle if we have injuries like we do at the moment..

Players like Fulton, Oram ,Bond, Franklin, Astle , McMillan, Mills, were all out with injury or retirement, so thats about two thirds of our top side gone.

When those guys are fit, well be better, I think Taylor and Ryder are more talented than Astle and McMillan and when they get a bit of confidence and experience they will be decent..

Im quite hopeful for our first 11 over the next few years. But two things need to happen. Bracewell needs to be used as achemical weapons test dummy and Ryder has to be chosen in the test side. ( Sinclair would also be an improvement.)

?
Sinclair
Fulton
Fleming
Ryder
Taylor

I cant see how that is any worse a batting line up than weve had recently, In fact I think its better, It just needs some time and experience together.

 

[Perm]

Francis - WTF? Seriously.

 

[HeathDavisSpeed]

Marshall needs to be forcibly dragged back to NZ,flushed down the made to clean toilets for a year as punishment, and then stuck into the test XI.

Corrected.

 

[Fiery]

Corrected.

Nah, don't flush him. Put him to use:

 

[Athlai]

Nah, don't flush him. Put him to use:

 

[Isolator]

Yeah, if you flushed him he'd wind up in the test XI, wouldn't he?

 

[Flem274*]

Does anyone else think we're being just a tad panicky? Everytime I switch on the radio I hear "Are we mentally weak as a nation? Are we minnows?" We've got bloody mark Richardson going on the radio saying we're going to become minnows and there's no talent coming through. Both statements are poorly informed. He also suggests Richard Jones and dads army should play. This lot don't ever seem to have heard of Ryder, Broom, Nicol, Hay, De Grandholmme etc. We aren't a minnow, i'd say we're on par with the West Indies and at home i believe we could beat the subcontinent sides. Talk about massive over-reaction.

 

[Fiery]

Yeah, if you flushed him he'd wind up in the test XI, wouldn't he?

touche

 

[TT Boy]

Oram and Martin are being rested for tomorrow’s 20/20 game. South Africa however are playing a full strength side with Kallis and Pollock returning. Kallis was omitted from the 20/20 WC but no issue has been taken with his presence in this side by CSA, who probably will be eating humble pie come tomorrow night.

 

[Dick Rockett]

Does anyone else think we're being just a tad panicky?

Without a doubt. It's a national pastime in this country to whinge about our sports teams. Probably the only thing worse was the arrogance concerning the All Blacks in the Rugby World Cup, as if all we had to do was show up.

Is no-one in this country capable of reasoned analysis? There was an article by Jonathan Millmow in the DomPost the other day that would have been poor writing from some part-time hack blogger, let alone the sports editor of a major daily. It was quite simply kneejerk, juvenile talkback radio vitriol. Millmow is a tosser.

Edit: linky

 

[HeathDavisSpeed]

Is no-one in this country capable of reasoned analysis? There was an article by Jonathan Millmow...

You shouldn't ever read anything written by a cretin. Its just liable to make one angry.

 

[Dick Rockett]

Yeah, the problem is that you flip the paper over, the article's right there and whoops, it's too late

 

[HeathDavisSpeed]

Yeah, the problem is that you flip the paper over, the article's right there and whoops, it's too late

Many a time I've had to supress a scream whilst having a coffee in a cafe in Petone, having made the inexcusable error of reading a Millmow article. His articles should be printed on super-absorbant paper as they're only fit for wiping your backside on.

 

[Fiery]

Many a time I've had to supress a scream whilst having a coffee in a cafe in Petone, having made the inexcusable error of reading a Millmow article. His articles should be printed on super-absorbant paper as they're only fit for wiping your backside on.

You must love Stephen Jones, Heath

 

[NZTailender]

Does anyone else think we're being just a tad panicky? Everytime I switch on the radio I hear "Are we mentally weak as a nation? Are we minnows?" We've got bloody mark Richardson going on the radio saying we're going to become minnows and there's no talent coming through. Both statements are poorly informed. He also suggests Richard Jones and dads army should play. This lot don't ever seem to have heard of Ryder, Broom, Nicol, Hay, De Grandholmme etc. We aren't a minnow, i'd say we're on par with the West Indies and at home i believe we could beat the subcontinent sides. Talk about massive over-reaction.

There's a big gap between our 'test class' players and those talented youngsters coming through. We're missing a generation of players aged around 27/28 who can be called upon to step up when the main players are injured. The fact Michael Papps is our second best opening option is sad, and sadder that Jamie How is third.

IMO, the pitches in NZ should be changed a lot more so they're more batsmen friendly. You would think pitches good for bowling as ours are would produce more hardened batsman but sadly this isn't the case. Australia has more batsmen friendly pitches and look how they get on. Are pitches to blame for our failures in South Africa? No. But changing them would be a good start to getting our batsmen on a better level. Perhaps it would help our bowlers too.

 

[Dick Rockett]

IMO, the pitches in NZ should be changed a lot more so they're more batsmen friendly. You would think pitches good for bowling as ours are would produce more hardened batsman but sadly this isn't the case. Australia has more batsmen friendly pitches and look how they get on. Are pitches to blame for our failures in South Africa? No. But changing them would be a good start to getting our batsmen on a better level. Perhaps it would help our bowlers too.

I disagree, mainly because this has already been done. There's been significant work done on NZ pitches over the last 5 or 6 years to put more pace and bounce in them, and it's by and large been a success. Yes, there are abberations such as Seddon Park's pitch a few seasons ago, and the Indian tour back in '03, but the latter at least was hampered by some unusually poor weather affecting pitch preparation.

The stereotypical "low and slow" kiwi greentop is really an anachronism.

The other point I'll add is that if you take pitch development too far in one direction you end up hurting prospects in one of the main cricketing disciplines. If you make the pitches too batter friendly (which I think has become far too prevalent throughout the world in recent years), you turn the batsmen into flat-track bullies who fall apart at the first sign of some seam or variable bounce. If you have greentops you end up with bowlers who rely too much on the surface to do the work instead of developing swing and encouraging line and length.

 

[NZTailender]

I disagree, mainly because this has already been done. There's been significant work done on NZ pitches over the last 5 or 6 years to put more pace and bounce in them, and it's by and large been a success. Yes, there are abberations such as Seddon Park's pitch a few seasons ago, and the Indian tour back in '03, but the latter at least was hampered by some unusually poor weather affecting pitch preparation.

The stereotypical "low and slow" kiwi greentop is really an anachronism.

The other point I'll add is that if you take pitch development too far in one direction you end up hurting prospects in one of the main cricketing disciplines. If you make the pitches too batter friendly (which I think has become far too prevalent throughout the world in recent years), you turn the batsmen into flat-track bullies who fall apart at the first sign of some seam or variable bounce. If you have greentops you end up with bowlers who rely too much on the surface to do the work instead of developing swing and encouraging line and length.

At the moment this is the case. We need to find a more level in between.

 

[Dick Rockett]

Well yeah. Basically I agree with your latter sentence, but not the first.

 

[NZTailender]

Anyway, do we know what the status of our injured players is? I.e. when they're likely to return? Will Bond be fit for Bangladesh? Oram? Cumming?