Will put out my team for the next match. Spots open are:
*opener
*opener
Williamson
Taylor/*reserve
McCullum
Anderson
Watling
Southee
*bowler
Wagner
Boult
Firstly on Latham, although I thought from the time I first saw him play that he looked more suited to the middle order than to opening, he's opted to open for Canterbury and given his success there, there's no way he should play as reserve for Taylor in the middle order. Although it would be nice to give him longer as a domestic opener we really are short of options, he seems to have a good head and I don't see the harm bringing him in for one test knowing that he'll be opening on our tour to the West Indies too. I don't want to change both openers right now and Rutherford is clearly offering even less than Fulton - they both are horribly vulnerable early but we all know that Rutherford will throw it away if he does get in anyway as he has absolutely no idea how to construct an innings, whereas there's at least a chance Fulton will go on. Fulton is a useful slip too.
That means we need a different reserve for Taylor. Brownlie, Ronchi, Franklin, Redmond have all been mentioned as one-off options, though need to consider that whoever is picked is likely to go as reserve batsman to the Windies as well. I dislike all those options tbh. I dislike Brownlie least for the next match but he will die against spin if he ends up a reserve playing in WI. Still, Brownlie it is imo, narrowly beating out Ronchi. Taylor needs to put an order in with the someone upstairs for his baby to be born tomorrow so he can play the next test
.
I'll be alone in my opinion that I still saw plenty to like in Sodhi's bowling - particularly the drift that he got at times (e.g. Saturday afternoon, but saw precious little of it yesterday) and that he actually turned his leg break. He was always going to get slaughtered bowling to Kohli in particular though (and Dhoni and Pujara too). I liked that McCullum showed some faith in Sodhi and backed him, but aside from his 1+ four-balls per over it was the way that he couldn't land his legbreak at all when the pressure went on that is the real problem - hello 15-run over. He can't play in Wellington - we can't afford that luxury. Not sure what to do for a spinner to the WI, if we want to gamble on Sodhi or go for a finger-spinner.
Injuries are putting a real dampener on my enthusiasm for replacements though. Gillespie, Bennett, Neesham, Wells, NcCullum have been mooted. The three Otago all-rounders haven't done enough at domestic level imo and at this point wouldn't be more than bits-and-pieces at test level. I want more wickets from Jimmy for Otago. Picking an out-and-out bowler also means less reliant on Anderson, who strangely lost his action at times this match. Although I'm not enthused by Bennett and that bowling action playing at test level, he does deserve it unless Gillespie is at top-speed. Makes our tail even more horrible though.
Fulton
Latham
Williamson
Taylor (Brownlie)
McCullum
Anderson
Watling
Southee
Wagner
Boult
Bennett