Sigh.
Tim Southee's selection in the T20 is a good thing in my mind because he's clearly a prospect from the future. I was impressed by him in the T20 match vs Bangladesh (mainly because he bowled to Fleming's plan).
I see these T20's as a nothing, really, as much as I enjoy the T20 format. 2 matches that mean squat in the grand scheme of things (there's not even a T20 ranking at the ICC site...) - so why not try someone new? Exposing Southee to the international scene will do him the world of good in his development in my opinion.
Saying that, he should be in the ODI squad as well. Hitchcock? He may be alright on domestic tracks but he shouldn't play T20's or ODI's for us - he is definitely a step backwards. Southee should be at least in the ODI squad, even if it's only to play a couple of dead rubber games (if that occurs).
Ryder is a good selection for me as well. Wrong format though, but he's hardly going to get into the test line up considering you have Styris and Vincent waiting in the wings, no doubt ahead of him.
Debuting him in T20's and ODI's will be good for him just like Southee. He may not have a good domestic record in the OD format but he is a very talented cricketer and someone who I would think would thrive at international level. But if he opens, I'll be livid.
Dropping Gillespie for the ODI's is a good move, as he's extremely poor in that area. But yet, he is a fine T20 bowler. IIRC he is the 5th best wicket taker for us in that format behind Bond, Vettori, Styris and Patel. And yet Martin is retained! To be fair though, Martin has been okay in T20 internationals.
And add to this, Jeetan Patel also not playing in the T20's! Madness! Especially since he's in the ODI squad where he has been poor of late.
The mind simply boggles.
Mason's selection seems to be that of there's no Bond, Franklin and Gillespie is ****, so you're in. For what it's worth I do think he's a good bowler. He's not world class but far better than Paul Hitchcock, Bradley Scott et al.
Dropping Sinclair is a good move. Let's face it, he shouldn't play one day internationals, as good a batsman is he is. Besides, I'd prefer if he kept his form for Tests and now there won't be the chance of the "oh he failed in ODI's, lets drop him from tests" mentality.
Anyway, I would've liked to have seen Neil Broom get a call up for the ODI's. He seems to have earnt it more than Ryder at least.