CharlesLara
U19 12th Man
I have been somewhat amazed at how Boult's status has risen so dramatically that people actually think he is better than Southee. I rate Boult, always have, but Southee edges him and offers more IMO also has more skills. Boult will get there though. I mean I understand he had a good world cup, and has been consistent for a wee while now, but it's almost as if a left armer cleaning guys up seems to be more appealing than right armer nicking guys off. I just see Southee as having better plans with more relenting accuracy to make those plans work, not that he doesn't have his searching days, but I have seen Boult sans the new ball search quite a bit and stray in line. With that being said I still think (with bias of course) Southee and Boult offer far more than Anderson/Broad, but Anderson with the Duke is a bit of an Ace in the pack.nah Southee's still NZ's best Test bowler and at this point he's better than Jimmy, but Jimmy in England with the Duke is a different proposition.
Both Southee and Boult should be better than Broad but you never know when Broad can have one of those games.
I also might be in the minority of NZ fans who isn't as worried prep wise as some of the others. Sure the batting definitely needs work but in reality the biggest problems that needed to be addressed were in the warm up games. I have no doubt that Bmac's game doesn't exactly change a whole lot regardless of conditions, and with regards to Kane, I have yet to come across someone who is more meticulous in his preparation, you can be sure that he would be doing EVERYTHING he can to make sure he is ready, excuses don't exist in his world. Bowlers will be fine IMO. I think we need not underestimate the professionalism of this NZ and how much Test cricket means to them, unfortunately that includes the IPL, its part and parcel of the international calendar.
I also don't believe the overseas conditions is as big a factor as people think when comparing countries like NZ and England, the conditions are not as different as say India vs England. The big difference is obviously the Duke and also the fact that red ball cricket has been out the picture, but like I said those that would most likely be affected by conditions have had the warm up games.
BTW, as life as a graphic designer/graphic design tutor has consumed me, I am absolutely frothing at the mouth for the first ball. There's just something about the start of the English summer, particularly at Lords that provides everything we love about the game.