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***Official**** Sri Lanka in New Zealand 2014/2015
- Thread starter Flem274*
- Start date
Fuller Pilch
Hall of Fame Member
I thought that but just didn't type it
kiwiviktor81
International Debutant
Yes. All his numbers are now significantly better than Andrew Jones.
Flem274*
123/5
Kane is in mine.
Pretty happy with this team, but the next 12 months are the most important in our history. We have a World Cup, a tour of England and home and away series against Australia. plus don't we see Sri Lanka down here again? With these series set against the back drop of the FTP being canned, we have to win to survive or we might only rarely play Australia, England and India from then on.
Decent western sides are expected to defend their shores against Asian sides and a West Indian outfit down on personnel, and to tour well against the Windies too. The draw and the victory in the UAE fortress are the greatest achievements by far for this team.
We've had our moments in England and Australia, but we've had some shockers as well and many of the batsmen in this team failed on their last (and for most, first) tours of those countries. We've never done much in South Africa either but we won't see them for a while. Taylor, McCullum and Brownlie are the only batsmen we have who have success in England or Australia.
The bowlers will be fine. The batsmen are still vulnerable to be boom or bust. The only difference from 2011 or even 2012 is their boom is bigger than ever so it hides the bust. We're not going to get away with the top four having brain fades like they have been guilty of against India and Sri Lanka. Like Pakistani spinners in the UAE, Anderson, Broad, Harris, Johnson, Pattinson and Lyon will punish any mistakes.
They key to the next 12 months of batting is Watling. Top order collapses against the quality of fast bowler we're about to face away from home are inevitable. The names above are too good not to, and we have a gaping hole at #1 in the order they are going to ruthlessly exploit. Neesham we know will attack no matter the situation because that's what he has been selected for, but Watling is the rock. He is the man in the lower order who bats time and guides the innings to 500 or provides the last stand. He's shown against South Africa in South Africa that he can handle ATG pace and elsewhere he's shown he can handle spin bowling.
I wouldn't be surprised if we go through 2015 without a single test victory but if we do win, Watling will have done his job even though you won't see his name in the headline.
Pretty happy with this team, but the next 12 months are the most important in our history. We have a World Cup, a tour of England and home and away series against Australia. plus don't we see Sri Lanka down here again? With these series set against the back drop of the FTP being canned, we have to win to survive or we might only rarely play Australia, England and India from then on.
Decent western sides are expected to defend their shores against Asian sides and a West Indian outfit down on personnel, and to tour well against the Windies too. The draw and the victory in the UAE fortress are the greatest achievements by far for this team.
We've had our moments in England and Australia, but we've had some shockers as well and many of the batsmen in this team failed on their last (and for most, first) tours of those countries. We've never done much in South Africa either but we won't see them for a while. Taylor, McCullum and Brownlie are the only batsmen we have who have success in England or Australia.
The bowlers will be fine. The batsmen are still vulnerable to be boom or bust. The only difference from 2011 or even 2012 is their boom is bigger than ever so it hides the bust. We're not going to get away with the top four having brain fades like they have been guilty of against India and Sri Lanka. Like Pakistani spinners in the UAE, Anderson, Broad, Harris, Johnson, Pattinson and Lyon will punish any mistakes.
They key to the next 12 months of batting is Watling. Top order collapses against the quality of fast bowler we're about to face away from home are inevitable. The names above are too good not to, and we have a gaping hole at #1 in the order they are going to ruthlessly exploit. Neesham we know will attack no matter the situation because that's what he has been selected for, but Watling is the rock. He is the man in the lower order who bats time and guides the innings to 500 or provides the last stand. He's shown against South Africa in South Africa that he can handle ATG pace and elsewhere he's shown he can handle spin bowling.
I wouldn't be surprised if we go through 2015 without a single test victory but if we do win, Watling will have done his job even though you won't see his name in the headline.
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jcas0167
International Debutant
I'd probably have Crowe over Taylor although it's very close. In 85/86 Crowe was highest run scorer for either side in the series win in Australia (average 77.25), second highest run scorer behind Coney in the home series (average 59.66) and leading run scorer for NZ in the series win over England in England (average 68.66).
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Zinzan
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Yes, for me & what's more he's moved slightly past Taylor in this last 3-4 months in my eyes. Taylor's wonderful when he's in & relies on those great hands and good eye, but Kane just looks so much more likely to prosper atm.
Athlai
Not Terrible
I'm not ruling Taylor out just yet, but I suspect that while he may come back into form, Williamson is probably only going to improve.
So I'll still wave the Taylor flag for now but Big Daddy Kane is likely to be our best by the end of the year.
Zinzan
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Please don't think I'm ruling Taylor out at all. We're lucky to have 3 genuine WC batsmen atm and Taylor is right up there. Kane's just taken his game to a new plane & like you say he seems to just be getting better and better.
Flem274*
123/5
Big Daddy Kane was always going to be the best, we just didn't want to admit it too early because we like to pull Howsie's leg.
Kane is just so ruthless. He's going to pull enough knocks out of the bag against the best attacks to remind us how awesome he is and then he'll accumulate huge tons every series he faces a lesser attack. He's got that Ponting, Kallis, Tendulkar, Sangakkara style no mercy that Taylor doesn't have, so Taylor will be in the tier below.
I hope future generations appreciate what Ross Taylor meant to New Zealand during the Dark Years before Captain Fantastic laid a winning foundation that hopefully Adorable Future Captain Big Daddy Kane will build an empire on.
Kane is just so ruthless. He's going to pull enough knocks out of the bag against the best attacks to remind us how awesome he is and then he'll accumulate huge tons every series he faces a lesser attack. He's got that Ponting, Kallis, Tendulkar, Sangakkara style no mercy that Taylor doesn't have, so Taylor will be in the tier below.
I hope future generations appreciate what Ross Taylor meant to New Zealand during the Dark Years before Captain Fantastic laid a winning foundation that hopefully Adorable Future Captain Big Daddy Kane will build an empire on.
Blocky
Banned
Crowe is so far ahead of Taylor and still easily ahead of Williamson too at this stage in his career.
Keep in mind, Crowe had a 9 year period from 1985 till 1994 averaging 55 and his lowest average against any nation during that period was 45.3 against the West Indies who had Marshall, Garner, Walsh, Ambrose, Holding et all during that time period. He scored 16 centuries during that period in less tests than it's taken Taylor to score 12 and he was at certain points of that time pretty much undisputed as the worlds best batsman, something Taylor nor Williamson have achieved yet.
Williamson looks like he could go close to competing with Crowe but lets not kid ourselves, had there been as many test matches in his era as there are in todays era and had he remained healthy through those nine years, he'd have set run records we'll probably never see broken.
Keep in mind, Crowe had a 9 year period from 1985 till 1994 averaging 55 and his lowest average against any nation during that period was 45.3 against the West Indies who had Marshall, Garner, Walsh, Ambrose, Holding et all during that time period. He scored 16 centuries during that period in less tests than it's taken Taylor to score 12 and he was at certain points of that time pretty much undisputed as the worlds best batsman, something Taylor nor Williamson have achieved yet.
Williamson looks like he could go close to competing with Crowe but lets not kid ourselves, had there been as many test matches in his era as there are in todays era and had he remained healthy through those nine years, he'd have set run records we'll probably never see broken.
Zinzan
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Yup, no argument from me on Taylor not being in the same class as Crowe.
As you correctly point out, the decade between 1 Jan 85 - 31 Dec 94 Crowe had the best average in the world IIRC. When Taylor is even in the top 5 batsmen in the world over a given 10 year period, we can talk.
Like you said, different era, different bowlers & different wickets.
YorksLanka
International Debutant
Wish I was this good at the lottery. Congrats NZ on a deserved series win. I have to say I am not shocked by this(annoyed yes). Our batsmen haven't really adjusted well to batting in NZ bar Sanga & Dimuth and the problem is we ARE a side in rapid transition so at this stage the younger guys like Chandimal, silva and thirrimanne are not consistent enough with the bat to support Mathews. In order to succeed we need at least four guys in the team of which one is capable of gong big, supported by the other three. Herath clearly wasn't back to his best following his injury and when you play one spinner, he has to be. Our quicks are still very inexperienced and hopefully they learned something from Boult&Southee and finally our fielding was dire- no excuse for that in my book. Mathews again showed his old fault of allowing the game to drift rather than making something happen (Unlike Bmac ) like when we lost to Zpakistan because of the same thing,and this is something he needs to develop. Overall, NZ deserved winners and the correct result.
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Blocky
Banned
Sri Lanka are one of my favorite teams, Sangakkara would probably be my favorite player of this era so I was a little gutted that they didn't show more grit and fight for what could potentially be his last test series. The way they got themselves out was just horrible on a pitch that I'd expect Bill Lawry or Richie Benaud to be able to come out and bat comfortably on. I think it's a changing of the guard for Sri Lanka and they're facing an uphill battle because they've had so many greats go out of their side over the last five years without many of the younger players stepping up to perform anywhere near it. I do hope Sanga plays a few more years and hope that Pradeep's game here is a sign of things to come, they'll always be dangerous at home and Kaushal (the offie) looked a real prospect for the future.
Moss
International Captain
Started following cricket around the 91-92 season so didn't get to see the best of Crowe (in tests), but what he brought to the side was evident from the games he missed - Hamilton 92/93 where Wasim and Waqar defended 127, Pakistan's 2-1 win a year later, and the 93/94 Australia series when he flew home after the first test and the series just unravelled for NZ after that. Seemed he was pretty much playing through pain in the 1990's and still turned in masterful performances (England 1994 if anyone remembers).
Zinzan
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I think my earliest cricketing memory as a young nipper was the NZ vs. Eng series in 1984.
Blocky
Banned
I remember him coming into the side and being our first change bowler in test cricket for a couple of matches, I also had the chance to play against him when I did a couple of seasons for Kilburnie in Wellington later in his career and had a pretty long conversation with him that same season when both of us were at a Wellington Saints basketball game. Never understood why people thought he wasn't a people person, I just thought he had absolutely no tolerance for idiots/pissheads.
YorksLanka
International Debutant
Good shout, add in Lakmal to that attack too- didn't have a great series but has just come back from injury so is capable of better. It is hopefully a bit of experience and time that is needed but I am sure we will come back strong in time.