**Official** New Zealand Domestic Season 2013/2014

[Kippax]

Cricket | Pressure on Matt McEwan to live up to... | Stuff.co.nz

Canterbury have to name a 14th player on August 9 and while Johnston and Lonsdale are options for that spot, The Press understands the Wizards are also looking outside of the region and possibly the country to fill that last spot.

 

[Dan]

I feel kinda bad for doing this, because I know shamelessly self-promoting can kinda suck at times, but I've started doing a bit of writing for a cricket website and would like to get some feedback/people reading. By all means tear the article apart; only one way to improve.

New Zealand Cricket’s Domestic Exodus

New Zealand cricket is losing some of its most promising youngsters and most experienced heads at a time when they need all the promise and experience they can get. This month has thrown up three unexpected departures of New Zealand domestic cricketers, raising issues about the structure and sustainability of cricket below the international level in the country.

Reece Young is 33. Two years ago he was representing the Black Caps in Test match cricket, playing 5 matches – including the historic Hobart Test that will go down as one of the greatest matches of all time. And now he has announced his retirement.


Peter McGlashan was 33 when he announced his retirement last year, mere days after being named in the preliminary squad for the ICC World T20. He played 4 ODIs and 11 T20is for New Zealand, and his replacement at Northern Districts was Adam Wheater, an English overseas player.


Mathew Sinclair is 37. He is the highest runscorer in Central Districts history with over 15000 runs across the three forms of the game. He averaged above 40 in the Plunket Shield last summer. He is the most consistent First Class batsman New Zealand has produced since Martin Crowe. He is renowned for being selected and then dropped from the national side. If he wished, he had multiple seasons left in him.


Harry Boam is 22. He averaged over 50 with the bat in the One Day competition last season, and had developed enough to be right up there with Corey Anderson and Jimmy Neesham in the promising all-rounder stakes.


Joe Austin-Smellie was 22 when he walked away from the game last year. He hadn’t set the world alight, but was an Under 19 representative for New Zealand and had carved out a handy start to his First Class career.


Something is driving New Zealand cricketers away from the game, and it is a serious problem. In a nation of 4 million, with only 6 First Class sides and a struggling national team, NZC cannot afford to let talented youngsters and experienced old heads become disillusioned with the game and leave.


The issue is, at least in part, related to pay. Domestic contracts in New Zealand are not nearly as highly paid as in Australia or the UK – and the nature of cricket makes it very difficult for a player like Mathew Sinclair to hold down employment away from the game. The problem is such that, according to Peter Lampp of stuff.co.nz, Sinclair had no choice but to sign up for the unemployment benefit after announcing his retirement. At 37 years of age, many people have 15 years of experience and an undergraduate degree behind them. Journeymen domestic cricketers have no such benefits, as all three of Sinclair, Young and McGlashan alluded to when expressing their desire to follow-up employment opportunities away from cricket in their retirement statements.


Boam is one who attempted to do both; he is studying a Commerce degree at Victoria University. He is engaged, and he owns his own home. This desire for normality – for security in income, for the freedom to not be bound by a fixture list – has pushed him away from a game he has presumably always loved.


But what can those in the NZC hierarchy do to prevent players from walking away before their time? They aren’t blessed with the TV revenue flowing through Cricket Australia; they don’t have the support base of billions like the BCCI, nor can they rely on drawcard home series like the ECB. It is a difficult problem to solve, if it is solvable at all, however it is clear to see that the administration needs to find some way to ensure talented youngsters are playing high-quality cricket against experienced opposition – without this international success is incredibly difficult.


We may never see another Mathew Sinclair, and the game would be poorer for it.

New Zealand Cricket's Domestic Exodus - Undisputed Sports - Undisputed Sports

 

[Kippax]

I feel kinda bad for doing this, because I know shamelessly self-promoting can kinda suck at times, but I've started doing a bit of writing for a cricket website and would like to get some feedback/people reading. By all means tear the article apart; only one way to improve.

New Zealand Cricket’s Domestic Exodus

Hard to argue with anything - really good. It is pretty dire, the sort of Veruca Salt approach to attaining golden tickets in cricket these days, rendering the Charlie Bucket that NZ cricket always was close to obsolete. As has happened with tennis and golf, NZ will be mowing Joe Root or Unmukt Chand's lawn in a sickeningly obsequious way for a long, long time as I see it.

The problem is well over the head of NZC imo because it's really a societal issue; the fact there is no history of 'tastemakers' or old money in NZ. The money men tend to be of the really ruthlessly self-made type who find rugby much more appealing. If there is a bit of softer wealth who enjoy cricket, they tend to be tight in a different way, believing $30,000 a year is ample for a young buck to take his girl out for a malted.

Hence there very few Kiwi kids with the credulity to do something 'for the nation', in fact city kids generally won't be hoodwinked into doing anything that is a near-neighbour of faith or chauvinism or jingoism or relates to the drivers of Old Zealand at all. You often hear of smarter kids getting gently chided for their cop-out in not leaving the country, that you may as well be slightly touched and living in your parents' basement if you've decided to stay in NZ. The 'Adelaide Effect' I think the Aussie media calls it, the desire to push genuinely talented people closer to the centre of the world's action.

I guess that's not a bad thing, it's just an uncomfortably hyper-rational thing for those who've hitched their sentiments to a game that has no real evolutionary right to exist in NZ, at least not in a flourishing golden age form.

 

[NUFAN]

Good article. The situation is very unfortunate.

My feedback would be to not always say the word 'he' when providing the Cricketers brief bio and say something else to state a sentence like the cricketers surname or the Wellington keeper etc.

 

[HeathDavisSpeed]

It's not a new thing though, Dan. Stu Mills gave up the game early, and (as I recall) that was to follow a more career orientated path.

 

[Immenso]

I actually dont think its a major problem (the recent retirements). Apart from the young wellington outliers, it is people retiring at an age i would exoect.

It was much worse 10 or so years ago when players were retiring in late 20s -e.g. Brooke Walker etc

We've had a few retirements of domestic legends the last 2 seasons; Cumming, Sinclair, Mason, Marshall. But for me, who had started to get used to the late 20s retirements, the fact we had such a huge number of experience and accomplished old pros on the circuit the last few years means that it has changed for the better.

The domestic contracts/retainers has IMO been one of the best changes by NZC in that last decade. IMO domestic cricket has gotten so much stronger than the late90 /early 00s because of this. And what happens in domestic cricket will flow into the national side about 5 years later. I'm quite positive about improvements to NZ domestic cricket (contacts, pitches) flowing into improved Blackcaps performance over the next decade.

It is a bit of a problem though, don't know how it is 'solved'. I genuinely do wish our domestic players were paid well. The retainers sometimes make their salaries look worse than they are as the retainers are published but the appearance fees don't get often reported and it is harder to try and add up/estimate how much they are paid.

It is a great opportunity for guys who are students, might take a little longer to complete a degree though.

Earlier than this pro and semi-pro eras - say up to the early 90s - when NZ domestic cricket was basically amateur and the season shorter it wasn't much of a problem, players hung around. But the season is now professional length but semi-pro wages.

 

[hendrix]

Dan, great article. I have a few comments from an editing perspective.

"New Zealand cricket is losing some of its most promising youngsters and most experienced heads at a time when they need all the promise and experience they can get"

New Zealand cricket is losing players from promising youngsters to experienced veterans at a time when they need all of the promise and experience available.

"If he wished, he had multiple seasons left in him"

Given that form and fitness were not an issue, it is likely that he could have continued playing for a number of seasons.

re: Reece Young: I'd like to add it in that he was widely considered one of the best domestic keepers in terms of his pure wicketkeeping skills (i.e. not including batting).

and the pay system, you could possibly include the pay scale:
The domestic contracts range in salary from $39,000 for the top-ranked player down to $19,000 for No 14.
(source)

 

[Kippax]

I actually dont think its a major problem (the recent retirements). Apart from the young wellington outliers, it is people retiring at an age i would exoect.

It was much worse 10 or so years ago when players were retiring in late 20s -e.g. Brooke Walker etc

We've had a few retirements of domestic legends the last 2 seasons; Cumming, Sinclair, Mason, Marshall. But for me, who had started to get used to the late 20s retirements, the fact we had such a huge number of experience and accomplished old pros on the circuit the last few years means that it has changed for the better.

The domestic contracts/retainers has IMO been one of the best changes by NZC in that last decade. IMO domestic cricket has gotten so much stronger than the late90 /early 00s because of this. And what happens in domestic cricket will flow into the national side about 5 years later. I'm quite positive about improvements to NZ domestic cricket (contacts, pitches) flowing into improved Blackcaps performance over the next decade.

Yeah, less sold on that than some. The Alex Taits and Andrew Schwasses not averaging low 20s was an important step, but teams being flummoxed when asked how they'll keep Colin Munro to an average under 124 is a pretty desperate definition of improvement in many ways. 360/5 at stumps looks better than 150 plays 90/4, but to use a snooker analogy, there's rarely any table awareness on show to get the century breaks if we're honest. More often it resembles a couple of chancers coming in late and potting all the balls left on the lips from a pretty god-awful game of pool.

Andrew de Boorder would be another pretty sharp guy who's presumably dumped his shares in cricket while the loss was still one he could stomach. The smart money in particular is still dumping and selling short, which is never good.

 

[Mike5181]

This wouldn't be far off the strongest I've seen our bowlers in the PS

Wheeler
Milne
Small
Henry
Bracewell
Gillespie
Arnel
Butler
Aldridge
Bartlett

When they're available:
Southee
Boult
Wagner

 

[Kippax]

This wouldn't be far off the strongest I've seen our bowlers in the PS

Wheeler
Milne
Small
Henry
Bracewell
Gillespie
Arnel
Butler
Aldridge
Bartlett

When they're available:
Southee
Boult
Wagner

Yeah but how many of these guys are sort of the Helen Flanagans of pace bowling, will they just produce clips that would make a good gif here and there and then just get infuriatingly dumb after a while. Stay on the park and stop Gareth Andrew and Munro from making massive tons that humiliate your province if you're so good.

 

[straw man]

Yeah but how many of these guys are sort of the Helen Flanagans of pace bowling, will they just produce clips that would make a good gif here and there and then just get infuriatingly dumb after a while. Stay on the park and stop Gareth Andrew and Munro from making massive tons that humiliate your province if you're so good.

They're just playing the long game Kippax - eventually Auckland through a combination of desperation and a false sense of security will move Munro to opener. Problem solved - won't score another run.

Opposition bowlers will celebrate while four or five wickets fall, before the next lower-order biffer or nurdler finds it all too easy against the 30-overs-old ball and averages a hundred through the season.

This is a long way of saying you make a fair point.

 

[Immenso]

Kippax.

I do recognise your point you are making. Is it ‘better’ or just ‘different’. Is a hairy arsed chancer like Munro and CBF Jesse smacking run-a-ball centuries any better than dibbly-dobblies like Tait and Schwass averaging mid teens with the ball.

I’m in the glass half full camp, as I think NZC have more closely replicated the norms of international cricket (basically ‘flat’ pitches) which will produce players who are suited to that environment. At the moment IMO it is producing the raw material in the bowlers (but they are still very raw) and once that change has matured then it will demand more from the batsmen and we will see less of the Munro and Nicol and Ingram domination.

I think it’s logical that if a change is made, then that change will result in a reaction. I think this ‘reaction’ has been the promotion of more skilful bowlers. I admit that my theory that these better bowlers will eventually also flow into better batsmen may be a bit hopeful. Maybe the combination of better bowlers but also better pitches will just mean the quality of batting will flatline. Which is depressing as, I had a “what is the point” moment during our Lords collapse.

I think the major weakness in the structure at the moment is the provincial 2nd XI system. In particular bowlers promoted temporarily into the Plunket Shield circuit are woefully under prepared in terms of physical and mental stamina to bowl to a hairy chancers at the end of a long day. This ‘weak 2nd XI theory’ plus the current good crop of bowlers still being so young is my straw to grasp while the Munros thrash hundreds.

I’m also in the glass half full camp as I see the provincial contracts making a huge change to the quality of domestic cricket. So really - I have the opposite view to the article by Dan.

Back to Dan’s article.
10 or even 5 years ago I never would have envisaged the Plunket Shield being dotted with so many veterans as has been the case the last 2 seasons. Players who are either see-sawing on and off the central contract list like; Sinclair, Gillespie, Arnel, Franklin, Redmond, Elliot, McKay. Or are a fair way below the central contract contention - or had been out of central contracts for a few years, like; J Marshall, Mason, Aldridge, Butler, McIntosh, Hopkins, Parlane. Even J McMiilan and McSkimming.

Add in H Marshall and A Adams & Styris with their occasional appearances fitted within their Kopak/Euro/County cricket commitments. The place has been relatively oozing experience these last few years.

The two young Wellington guys have given up the game completely even at club level – that is not a financial decision. That is falling out of love with it all. A de Boorder would have been a better example, although he was still available, but just not available to sign the contract which would commit him to 7 months of inflexibility when he wanted to put a bit more focus on work/study.

McGlashen’s was a fairly understandable response to Watling getting fast tracked. R Young was also a farily understandable response to his rapid blackcaps demotion. Both early 30s, and seeing the road ahead was gradual decline.

Sinclair retiring at 37 is not a moment for lament or suprise, it’s a moment to celebrate the most experienced domestic cricketer in our history’s fantastic career.

 

[Kippax]

Stay on the park and stop Gareth Andrew and Munro from making massive tons

Nick Beard, Kugglejuggle, Ronchi every second innings....

Cricket Records | Plunket Shield, 2012/13 | Records | High scores | ESPN Cricinfo

 

[hendrix]

Opposition bowlers will celebrate while four or five wickets fall, before the next lower-order biffer or nurdler finds it all too easy against the 30-overs-old ball and averages a hundred through the season

another shout for the Duke ball

 

[Immenso]

another shout for the Duke ball

5 rounds with the Duke and 5 rounds with the Kookaburra would give a rounded 'education'.

Outside the box thinking from Buchana.. I mean from Immenso

 

[straw man]

another shout for the Duke ball

I know this was an off-the-cuff comment but no - there might be other good reasons to introduce a Duke ball but making it so our domestic bowlers don't need to learn how to bowl with an old ball is surely not one of them.

 

[hendrix]

meh, old ball skills are best learnt at international level anyway. NZ domestic batsmen just don't have the ability to help develop our old ball bowlers. There's never been a NZ bowler straight from domestic cricket who had old ball skills at the international level.

domestic old ball skills = chucking a wide long hop that the batsman tries to hit too hard and spoons to a fielder

international old ball skills = very tight stump-to-stump line, reverse swing, occasional slower ball.

Jimmy Anderson used to be awful with the old ball and now he's excellent. I don't care if a new strike bowler comes in and can't do anything with the old ball. That's the way it is right now anyway. We are heavily reliant on the new cherry and that's ok. It's our strength, we may as well make the most of it.

 

[Kippax]

another shout for the Duke ball

Yeah the Duke's business case is getting traction in even Australia, so it's not fanciful at all. Dukes seem to be really pushing ruthlessly for greater market share the last couple of years or so (the high Aussie dollar no doubt hurting Kookaburra).

If a country says a certain aspect doesn't stand up to their conditions, Dukes will change the composition slightly to suit.

'We won't exist': Kookaburra bemoans cricket ball change proposal | Newcastle Herald

Eagle Sport (poor grammar from this guy, but anyway)

 

[Mike5181]

Yeah but how many of these guys are sort of the Helen Flanagans of pace bowling, will they just produce clips that would make a good gif here and there and then just get infuriatingly dumb after a while. Stay on the park and stop Gareth Andrew and Munro from making massive tons that humiliate your province if you're so good.

Nick Beard, Kugglejuggle, Ronchi every second innings....

Cricket Records | Plunket Shield, 2012/13 | Records | High scores | ESPN Cricinfo

You're always going to get random guys scoring runs occasionally. It's cricket, it happens. A 19 year old scored 98 against the second best bowling attack in the world just a few weeks ago. But half of those aren't even relevant.

Kuggeleijn 142*:

Trego
Lamb
Badenhorst
Patel
Mathiewson

Munro's 269*:

Gillespie
Woakes
Hutchinson
Kuggeleijn
Elliot
Boam

Beard's 188:

Ferguson
Bates
CdG
Singh
B Martin

Andrew's 180:

C Martin
K Mills
CdG
B Martin
Singh

And recent ODI performances aside, Ronchi's hardly a shunt.

 

[Kippax]

I know they're young and some research claims it all settles down after 25 etc., but 'stay on the park to prevent your province being humiliated' was part of what I said.

Ukyo Katayama was 'good' enough to pull off some hilariously reckless passing moves, but it's fair to say he didn't have a career his F1 teams will look back on with great fondness.