Your New Zealand World Cup Squad if selected today...

[Athlai]

Wating and Guptill vs. a decent attack has 20/1 after 11 overs written all over it. You need an aggressive opener with Guptill. But I'm 50/50 as to whether McCullum should open or come in at no.5.

Alderson and Clever in the Herald today asking the question: Which bowlers will join Southee and Boult in the squad? As if Boult was already confirmed. Ah, no, he isn't.

Key World Cup questions: Who will open the batting? - Sport - NZ Herald News

Yeah you're right, Guptill at the moment is all about setting a platform and launching when he is well set. Getting a proper dasher to partner him is what we desperately need.

Kane can go close to a SR of 100 when he needs to, Taylor isn't quite so slow when setting a platform and McCullum can go as fast as he pleases at any stage.

#Rydershapedhole

 

[Flem274*]

Just give Guptill a free reign to be the hitter and let Latham be the anchor.

 

[SteveNZ]

Wating and Guptill vs. a decent attack has 20/1 after 11 overs written all over it. You need an aggressive opener with Guptill. But I'm 50/50 as to whether McCullum should open or come in at no.5.

Alderson and Clever in the Herald today asking the question: Which bowlers will join Southee and Boult in the squad? As if Boult was already confirmed. Ah, no, he isn't.

Key World Cup questions: Who will open the batting? - Sport - NZ Herald News

I just don't get it.

We have played 31 ODIs (by my count) in 2013 and 2014. Trent Boult has played....three of them.

I know I sound like a stuck record but I don't see that can translate into a spot in the 15, let alone the XI.

 

[Hurricane]

With time boult could be effective in international limited overs cricket. I saw hi
In a 20 20 at the basin vs Wellington and he was too good for the provincial level batsman and only franklin looked able to score off him freely. That was an interesting game actually, nd had Tim and Trent playing so they knew they didn't have to set a big total, so they didn't try they set 168 without breaking a sweat and defended it with ease. As Tim southee walked off the field he was beseeched with offers from teenage girls no one else got approached.

 

[Hurricane]

With time boult could be effective in international limited overs cricket. I saw hi
In a 20 20 at the basin vs Wellington and he was too good for the provincial level batsman and only franklin looked able to score off him freely. That was an interesting game actually, nd had Tim and Trent playing so they knew they didn't have to set a big total, so they didn't try they set 168 without breaking a sweat and defended it with ease. As Tim southee walked off the field he was beseeched with offers from teenage girls no one else got approached.

 

[Hurricane]

Pardon the punctuation on my phone on a train

 

[hendrix]

Allow me to Blocky for a moment:

Yeah you're right, Guptill at the moment is all about setting a platform and launching when he is well set. Getting a proper dasher to partner him is what we desperately need.

This is such a rubbish niche Guptill has created/has had created for him. The goal should be to do what the team needs and while there is a balance to strike between smashing boundaries and staying in, it should not be one where we have to compromise the quality of the rest of the batsman.

The idea that we should have a pinch-hitting opener because Guptill can't rotate the strike is horrible.

I know that's not what anyone is advocating here but we have to be focused on getting the best, most talented batsmen in the team and that doesn't involve putting someone at the top to have a go to accommodate weaknesses in other players' games.

 

[Athlai]

Guptill is one of the best most talented batsman in the country. He just isn't at his best and is currently seemingly comfortable building a platform in one dayers.

That is something that NZ can use to its advantage. I mean ideally he'd be as good as Gilchrist and smash every attack and win us the world cup. But you play with what you've got. If Guptill can work on his tempo over the summer, great. If not, he is still better than Latham or whoever the next guy is.

 

[hendrix]

Guptill is one of the best most talented batsman in the country. He just isn't at his best and is currently seemingly comfortable building a platform in one dayers.

That is something that NZ can use to its advantage. I mean ideally he'd be as good as Gilchrist and smash every attack and win us the world cup. But you play with what you've got. If Guptill can work on his tempo over the summer, great. If not, he is still better than Latham or whoever the next guy is.

this is where the idea of "form" completely breaks down.

The fact that he's played good innings in the past does not mean he's a better chance than any similarly talented batsman to play good innings in the future. At what point does the current "trend" actually mean that it's not just a trend, but a career trait?

I'm not saying he should be dropped or anything, I'm just saying it's outrageous that the rest of the team should be picked to accomodate his weaknesses. He's nowhere near the point of being an automatic selection anywhere so we shouldn't be picking an opening partner for him, we should be picking our two best openers full stop.

 

[Mike5181]

this is where the idea of "form" completely breaks down.

The fact that he's played good innings in the past does not mean he's a better chance than any similarly talented batsman to play good innings in the future. At what point does the current "trend" actually mean that it's not just a trend, but a career trait?

I'm not saying he should be dropped or anything, I'm just saying it's outrageous that the rest of the team should be picked to accomodate his weaknesses. He's nowhere near the point of being an automatic selection anywhere so we shouldn't be picking an opening partner for him, we should be picking our two best openers full stop.

Devcich and Brownlie are representing New Zealand as openers in ODI cricket less than two months out from a world cup, so yes Guptill absolutely should be an automatic selection.

 

[Athlai]

He top scored in the A tour and has made runs domestically. Thats why the majority of people are saying he is an automatic pick come the world cup.

Yes his past ODI success comes to mind for everyone, but beyond that he is still an automatic selection.

 

[hendrix]

Devcich and Brownlie are representing New Zealand as openers in ODI cricket less than two months out from a world cup, so yes Guptill absolutely should be an automatic selection.

Yup and they are failing.

There are other actual opening options in the wider squad (namely Latham, but also McCullum, Watling, Williamson and Neesham).

Don't get me wrong, I think a pairing of Guptill and Latham is probably our best bet at the moment, but I don't think that Guptill's weakness should influence who his other partner is significantly more than vice versa. Yes, his incumbency counts for something, but not to the point of weakening the whole batting order.

If we're picking Devcich because Guptill needs a pinch hitter, then that's just rubbish, and not just because Devcich is rubbish.

 

[Athlai]

I don't this is really a crowd that has anyone that would say Devcich should be in the team.

 

[hendrix]

I don't this is really a crowd that has anyone that would say Devcich should be in the team.

well let me put my McHesson hat on for a while:
Guptill:
- Front foot hero
- struggles to get going early

potential complementary partners:

Brownlie:
- Back foot hero
- Good vs pace

Devcich:
- spin option
- pinch hitter
- left hander

These two guys are being given first dibs because of the way they fit around Guptill's weaknesses.

 

[Athlai]

I don't know if you can say that McHesson is picking around Guptill's weakness at all? Devcich is there because he can bowl too. The 5th bowler and opener spots are the biggest weakness in the team which is why the push to get Neesham to open also came out of the camp. Devcich is a domestic stop-gap for such a role.

Brownlie is more or less just a fairly decent domestic batsman who is getting a prolonged chance at getting in the team. I doubt very much either of them will be in the picture come WC time but the logic of why they're in the frame at all definitely isn't to fit around Guptill.

 

[hendrix]

Affy just tell me you want Latham opening and we can kiss and make up.

 

[Hurricane]

Affy just tell me you want Latham opening and we can kiss and make up.

Love it

 

[Athlai]

Latham is my 2nd choice

 

[Zinzan]

I agree Guptill & Latham should be the front-runners for the opening slots at this stage, but with the caveat that Guptill is told under no uncertain terms that the way he approached things in 2014 is going to be unacceptable moving forward. It's just not good enough to be 3 off 30 balls in ODIs in NZ conditions, even if sometimes he does make it up later in the innings, on the occasions he does get out after a slow start, it just puts undue & unfair pressure on the middle order.

Whilst Guptill's career record with an average in the late 30s and a SR near-on 80 is excellent, let's not forget his 2014 record to date reads; 381 runs @ 31.8 with a SR of 67.

So happy enough for Guptill to be in there, but these selfish sluggish starts need to stop!

 

[Flem274*]

Guptill always used to be a dasher (remember the constant 40-70 scores?) so I suspect last summer the plan was Ryder hits and Guptill bats through and tbf he did his job often enough, it's just when he didn't it looked terrible because being the anchor is a role he's never really had to do.

Put Latham up the top and let Guptill play how he has always played. Or if we must have a hitter up there, let Guptill and the hitter go for it at both ends like McCullum and Ryder used to.