*Official* New Zealand in Zimbabwe

[Daemon]

Murray Goodwin tbh, can't believe the **** left. Would be dominating the world atm if he'd stayed.

 

[Hurricane]

My player ratings:

McCullum- 1
Guptill- 7
Williamson- 8
Taylor- 8
Watling- 4
Brownlie- 6.5
Young- 6.5
Vettori- 8
Bracewell- 9
Patel- 2
Martin- 4

Why did Patel score 2 and not 1.

 

[Athlai]

Why did Patel score 2 and not 1.

Jeets had a catch dropped and a blatant LBW turned down. He also did a little in the field and did his job as a night watchman.

**** game but not as **** as a specialist opener failing utterly twice.

 

[Hurricane]

Jeets had a catch dropped and a blatant LBW turned down. He also did a little in the field and did his job as a night watchman.

**** game but not as **** as a specialist opener failing utterly twice.

Was that young down the leg side? Or when was this?

 

[Flem274*]

I want to know why Watling gets four. His 30 included several dropped catches.

 

[Hurricane]

I want to know why Watling gets four. His 30 included several dropped catches.

Half the list is under protest as far as I am concerned.

 

[Mike5181]

Watling- A specialist fielder that performed his role brilliantly.

Patel- He hit a six i think.

 

[Athlai]

Was that young down the leg side? Or when was this?

Yeah Young down leg.

 

[Howsie]

Should be the last test for a few Kiwis here. Can't see how Martin and Patel can carry on after this.

Indeed, why New Zealand continue to bother with Chris Martin I have no idea. You can't tell me with a straight face that he's a infinitely better bowler to those that are 15 years younger and can bat and field to a decent standard. Good servant for New Zealand cricket but it's time to move on.

 

[Flem274*]

Vettori is still a fan.

New Zealand news: Martin one of NZ's best-ever Test bowlers - Vettori | New Zealand Cricket News | ESPN Cricinfo

 

[Hurricane]

Indeed, why New Zealand continue to bother with Chris Martin I have no idea. You can't tell me with a straight face that he's a infinitely better bowler to those that are 15 years younger and can bat and field to a decent standard. Good servant for New Zealand cricket but it's time to move on.

He's been an outstanding servant. He isn't injury prone. He doesn't break down on you in a test (Hamish Bennett says hi). I think he should be rewarded for his service.

 

[Flem274*]

We shouldn't be thinking about rewards though, we should only care about winning and playing the best side possible.

There are good arguments for Martin's continued inclusion; rewards isn't one of them.

 

[African Monkey]

He's been an outstanding servant. He isn't injury prone. He doesn't break down on you in a test (Hamish Bennett says hi). I think he should be rewarded for his service.

Yep pretty much. He'd have to be the only NZ bowler ever to have stayed injury free for most of his career lol.

 

[HeathDavisSpeed]

I think he should be rewarded for his service.

Ewan Chatfield was an excellent servant for NZ. Should he still be out there?

Lucky for Martin that the other options are untested, because he should have hit the scrapheap before that series against India.

 

[Howsie]

There are good arguments for Martin's continued inclusion.

Such as?

 

[Hurricane]

We shouldn't be thinking about rewards though, we should only care about winning and playing the best side possible.

There are good arguments for Martin's continued inclusion; rewards isn't one of them.

Ewan Chatfield was an excellent servant for NZ. Should he still be out there?

Lucky for Martin that the other options are untested, because he should have hit the scrapheap before that series against India.

I wrote quite a long post about martin but I deleted it and just wrote that one line as I thought I was getting into TL;DR category.

The extra comments I made is that he continues to bowl well enough. He should not be considered in the Patel category for the test that just passed as he managed three wickets for the game. His major issue is that he allows for the ball to shape into the right hander by bowling a foot outside off stump - when the ball isn't swinging it seems to take him a while to adjust.

He is needed for his experience levels as we have the young Bracewell and Southee in the team so he is needed from that perspective. Having say Trent Boult in the team as well would be a green bowling attack.
Until he demonstrably loses it - with performances like he threw in against Aussie at one point then yes he should be rewarded for his service. If he is mediocre against Australia then when can relook at him as everyone should be accountable.

 

[SteveNZ]

a) Experience. He has 201 Test wickets. Been there, done that. Is probably a mentor for the likes of Southee, Bracewell etc in their early days (obviously not so early with the former)
b) Only a year ago he was decimating an Indian top order with about 40,000 runs between them, on a road in India. He was also our best bowler in the home series against Pakistan with nine wickets at 27.
c) His fielding is adequate. He's no Jonty Rhodes but does all that is required of him at fine leg/mid on. Skiers are no longer an issue. And if we're relying on our No.11 for runs, we are barking up the wrong tree. Age is not an issue either - he keeps himself ultra fit, doesn't drink, etc.
d) Haven't seen any solutions as to who should be picked instead.

Absolutely ridiculous to say he should've been on the scrap heap before India. And it's not a case of rewarding him for service - he's the best man to take the new ball.

Again, knee jerking.

 

[Hurricane]

AWTA - gun post.

 

[HeathDavisSpeed]

a) Experience. He has 201 Test wickets. Been there, done that. Is probably a mentor for the likes of Southee, Bracewell etc in their early days (obviously not so early with the former)
b) Only a year ago he was decimating an Indian top order with about 40,000 runs between them, on a road in India. He was also our best bowler in the home series against Pakistan with nine wickets at 27.
c) His fielding is adequate. He's no Jonty Rhodes but does all that is required of him at fine leg/mid on. Skiers are no longer an issue. And if we're relying on our No.11 for runs, we are barking up the wrong tree. Age is not an issue either - he keeps himself ultra fit, doesn't drink, etc.
d) Haven't seen any solutions as to who should be picked instead.

Absolutely ridiculous to say he should've been on the scrap heap before India. And it's not a case of rewarding him for service - he's the best man to take the new ball.

Again, knee jerking.

Bull****. Point (b) in particular annoys the crap out of me. He's had one superb display of bowling in 2 or maybe even 3 years and he's still dining out on it. He was merely okay for Auckland last year, and before and after that *one innings* in India, he's been below par. Since 1 Jan 2009, he averages over 38 with the ball - as an opening bowler. That is simply not good enough. Since 1 Jan 2010, he averages over 43. That's Mo Sami territory.

As I said before, the competition for places hasn't been there and he's got himself a free ride because of it. He's not good enough any more for international cricket and is only still playing through dire necessity due to injuries, inexperience and a lack of selectorial guts.

 

[Hurricane]

^in the 3 matches in 2011 he is averaging 34 I think your higher stat for 2010 shows the impact of the Aussie series where he was attrocious at times.