Yep I'm more aggrieved at Rampaul and Holder being left out of the squad all together than them selecting Gabriel over Cotterell. Though tbh Sheldon has a lot more going for him in terms of wicket taking potential (better seam position, more pace, taller, swings the new ball a bit) and Gabriel was so bad at Dunedin that I think they should have gone with him instead.
Boult has always looked very solid with the bat to me apart from when he went up against steyn, which is somewhat understandable
Number 11s have always and will always get away with hitting through the line occasionally.
His first few innings he was slogging everything and was looking good. After that he tried to play defensibly for a while and was a walking wicket (iirc england home and away an example of this, of course good bowling factors in as well)
Can't help but think of the last West Indies tour - the single worst rain-affected tour in recent memory. Both tests badly affected and three or four of the five odis too (we were lucky to come out on the right side of D-L I think). iirc domestic cricket was barely interrupted all over the country too; the rain just followed the international matches.
From a nation whose had a holding option as a spinner for the last however many years, trust me when I say you'll take a guy who can bowl you to victory, and leak a few runs when the conditions don't favour him, over one that generally goes at 2s but hasn't sniffed out a final-day pitch in a long, long time.
It's looking a lot brighter now (looking from next to the Beehive sun has come out).
it's kinda not something that needs to be pointed out
