what the? If he is coming in at no.3 he will face the new ball anyway, particularly as he is a NZ batsman.
No.5 and no.6 are the perfect positions in a team for attacking players IMO.
Your no.3 must be very solid, your no.4 your best batsman, no's 5 and 6 your most attacking batsmen. Astle and McMillan were a great no.5/6 pair for NZ when they were both in form.
I agree with you on those postions absolutely for tests, but not for one dayers. Astle opened for NZ in ODIs, and was our most successful ODI batsman for a long period. He was a #5/#6 in tests though. I don't think Taylor is ready for tests yet, but I would have him as a #5 in a test lineup.
For modern ODIs, you must use the powerplays to your advantage as a batting side. One of your openers should be able to come out of the blocks on a good day, and go at a better than a run a ball (Gilchrist, Jayasuria, and it's what NZ are trying to get out of McCullum)
The other opener should aim to bat solidly and build an innings.
#3 has to be someone with no fear and an adaptable game, who can come in and be able to do either of those jobs if an early wicket falls, or capitalise on a good start by your openers. #4 is your best batsman. #5 should be very solid, (incase of top-order collapse), someone you'd expect to come in after the powerplays and hit the gaps + the odd boundary in the middle overs, rotate the strike, and support a set batsman, or the power hitters in the late overs.
That's why my wishlist would be to see our ODI top order consist of
1.How
2.McCullum
3.Taylor
4.Styris
5.Fulton
because I think they've shown based on their records, that these roles suit their natural games.
I'm actually more at a loss to think of who would come after that. if Bond and Franklin were fit, then maybe
6.Oram
7.Franklin
8.Mills
9.Vettori
10.Bond
11.Patel
That gives us a 6-7-8 bracket who can all clear the ropes at the death. We have 6 decent bowling options, with Mills and Bond opening, Franklin first change, and Oram more of a batsman and backup bowling option
On, say, a pitch that's likely to get more seam movement and less turn, I would bump off Patel and bing Sinclair in at 6 as an extra Batsman, and have Oram the 5th Bowler.
Ahhh, how one can dream....
*
, he's a finisher a #6 type batsmen.
