***Official West Indies in New Zealand***

[Uppercut]

This could be fascinating. It's a question of which team is capable of out-choking the other.

 

[Woodster]

Quite like the look of the NZ attack, it includes a number of different options. Mark Gillespie will no doubt be used in a strike bowler role, while Oram and Vettori offer excellent control should a quiet run-restricting passage be required (also offering a wicket-taking threat), O'Brien, who I'm not a particular fan of, will do the donkey work and to be fair bowled some decent spells in Aus, and James Franklin will, hopefully for NZ, find any swing that's around. Patel is the other option that may be included should spin be the order of the day. In terms of quality, it still falls some way behind the best attacks, but with what is available and the balance of the attack looks as though it should trouble the WI line-up.

 

[Jigga988]

This could be fascinating. It's a question of which team is capable of out-choking the other.

good point

 

[TT Boy]

"The team selected for the first Test is a ripper. Batsmen like McIntosh, in the form of his life, and quickies like Gillespie, charging in fit and strong, is fantastic news,"



http://content-eap.cricinfo.com/nzvwi2008_09/content/current/story/381014.html

 

[Manee]

Good luck to Mark Gillespie, somebody who I back to do well. Looks a good bowler visibly and has a superb domestic record, with 212 wickets at 23.90, with a strike rate of 45.7.

 

[analyst]

Well Mark GIllespie looked like once the perfect foil for Bond and then the perfect replacement for him also, problem is, he doesn't know where the ball is going to go when it leaves his hand. So he is quite hopeless spraying the ball at 90mph on both sides of the wicket with no real length either. One of those bowlers, who needs a captain who believes in him and will probably end up bowling a dynamite spell against anyone.

 

[JimmyGS]

I hear master Bates has excellent wrist position, can anyone clarify?

Anyone who poo-poo'd that comment should shush. Master is one of his nicknames at suburbs. And yes, he has excellent seam position atm. Was hooping it against shore, got 4/6 or something including a hattrick.

 

[Precambrian]

I hear master Bates has excellent wrist position, can anyone clarify?

Heard more line than length kind of guy.

 

[Manee]

Well Mark GIllespie looked like once the perfect foil for Bond and then the perfect replacement for him also, problem is, he doesn't know where the ball is going to go when it leaves his hand. So he is quite hopeless spraying the ball at 90mph on both sides of the wicket with no real length either. One of those bowlers, who needs a captain who believes in him and will probably end up bowling a dynamite spell against anyone.

Definately. Was about to post that Gillespie is a good Test bowler, in theory, but looking at those FC stats, there is little reason he cannot be a potent Test wicket taker. He will have an issue exerting consistent pressure on opposition batsmen, but New Zealand pitches and West Indian batsmen mean that this should not be necessary. I understand that New Zealanders tend to get a tad touchy about me and others stereotyping their pitches as gardens, but for the purpose of this point, it fits so bleh!

 

[KiWiNiNjA]

"The team selected for the first Test is a ripper. Batsmen like McIntosh, in the form of his life, and quickies like Gillespie, charging in fit and strong, is fantastic news,"



http://content-eap.cricinfo.com/nzvwi2008_09/content/current/story/381014.html

Thats how Martin Crowe talks, unfortunately.

 

[GGG]

"The team selected for the first Test is a ripper. Batsmen like McIntosh, in the form of his life, and quickies like Gillespie, charging in fit and strong, is fantastic news,"



http://content-eap.cricinfo.com/nzvwi2008_09/content/current/story/381014.html

Wasn't Redmond also in the form of his life when selected.

 

[Flem274*]

I'm still laughing at Crowe for whinging about our lack of technique then suggesting McIntosh or Bell.

Good batsman, and has coached Taylor and How technically quite well, but an awful selector.

 

[Smudge]

I hear master Bates has excellent wrist position, can anyone clarify?

****s his wrist quite well, I believe.

 

[PhoenixFire]

Sprays it about a bit when bowling, I heard.

 

[NZTailender]

The talk is that Flynn will indeed bat at 3 with Ryder at 5. Think it's a good move (if we ignore Fulton) as Flynn seems to take a long time to score runs and as such will probably end up batting with the tail more often than not. Have a feeling the first time he will past 50 he'll make a massive score, in a Sinclairian sense.

As far as Tim McIntosh goes, think he could be worth a punt at least. Questionable technique aside, scoring 2 big centuries opening the batting domestically is better than not (obviously), meaning he'll have some confidence and form. We need to find a decent opener eventually, and to do so with have to give guys a chance to prove their worth.

 

[Natman20]

We need to find a decent opener eventually, and to do so with have to give guys a chance to prove their worth.

Thats all NZ has been doing for the last how many seasons. It's time to stop the rotation and let someone take the role more permanently. They will grow into it and score better I am sure of it. I think Bell and Sinclair could have helped our cause a lot but now the new guys have been tried it's time to persist with one of them. How is pretty good when in form and I think he has established himself in the opening role. I think Redmond for this series would have been a good option, just to give him another go and against a less threatening bowling attack. It will be interesting however to see how Mcintosh will make the transition and whether he can be more consistent when the pressure of representing the country is placed on him. Who knows maybe it would be a good thing to have a player that scores huge every so often rather than great consistency.

 

[JBH001]

I agree that Redmond should have been persisted with for the home series versus WI. My fear is that McIntosh will do well against the WI, only to be exposed by the Indians and on overseas tracks thus putting us back where we were. Even so, if it comes to that, I hope they stick with him and give him a decent run in the opening slot.

What are people's thoughts regarding Franklin and Vettori? Should Franklin be coming in at 8 or Vettori? I think Franklin the better batsman, certainly potentially, but Vettori has been scoring well over the last couple of years and despite the fact that he is awful to look at, still tends to put the runs up where they count, the scoreboard. Opinion?

 

[Flem274*]

Does it matter? They'll both probably contribute half the runs anyway.

 

[JBH001]

Haha, yeah. The team wins either way.

Nah, just been having a discussion about it with a mate of mine who was surprised when I said that I thought Franklin should bat 8, and Vettori 9. His opinion was that because Franklin has not played tests for a while, and granted his runs in FC this season, and despite his good runs with the bat in 2006, Vettori has been a form lower bat for the last two years or so, and should therefore retain his no. 8 spot. I thought he had a point too, despite the fact that Franklin at least looks a better batsman than Vettori, and I still think he should take the no. 8 slot.

You are probably right though. Its a moot question either way.

 

[Days of Grace]

Who will take the new ball?