Athlai
Not Terrible
What's Kane on CPL?
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***Official*** Sri Lanka in New Zealand 2015
- Thread starter Kippax
- Start date
Prince EWS
Global Moderator
Ahead of Ojha now, thankfully.
Hurricane
Hall of Fame Member
Spotlight on Tom Latham
Average 37.66 SR 43.93
His test debut was only in 2014 so he is a new addition to the team. We have some marvellously talented cricketers who contribute to CW. One of them wrote "In age group cricket Tom was always the big wicket in these neck of woods, yet unlike Kane you always felt you had a glimmer of hope of getting him out and that you were always in it, and then suddenly he was raising his bat to celebrate another century".
He didn't inspire enthusiasm when he sauntered to the crease at the basin reserve against the rampant Indians and soon departed with scores of 0 and 29 next to his name. But he learned. And what he learned is that test cricket is a step up and that he was going to have to play his very best just to reach 50 at this level.
And so he began. He went to the West Indies with grit between his teeth and scored 83, 73, and 82 in consecutive knocks and his fledgling career was underway.
There will be two Tom Lathams in his career. There will be the young Tom Latham who we are seeing right now: Feisty, technically correct, but getting out for scores of 40 or on a good day 80.
Then there will be old Tom Latham when he starts to get mentioned in the same breath as your Wrights, Turners, and Richardsons - 7-8 years from now it will be Old Tom who will make a name for himself by scoring at least one triple century.
What we have in front of us right now is a compact opening batsman who sees him team off to safe starts 7 out of ten times. His front elbow is very high and very correct when he drives. Unlike TMac he can clip bowlers off pads for runs and hence his strike rate is in the 40s rather than hovering in the 20s.
His stance is a work in progress. I suspect he may benefit from holding his feet a smidgeon further apart in his stance. I mean it is a good thing to be leaning forward as the ball is released. He just seems to have a problem pressing back quickly and getting right back and across. The example that springs to mind is his dismissal to a nothing delivery in the first inning at the GABBA where he just threw the bat out in front of himself and spooned it out to point. Likewise the lateness today on the pull shot are signs of someone not getting back and across before executing a shot.
On the upside he is the opener we have been crying out for. He is consistent. And he plays in the V extraordinarly well.
The Old Tom Latham when he arrives apart from being better off the back foot, will also have a more gifted bottom hand. How many times did Tom crunch the ball today straight to short cover. With more time he will stop using his hands as a combined unit that think the same, and will let his bottom hand have an intelligence of its own. Your bottom hand is your guide hand and it places the ball into sometimes tight gaps. The Old Tom will have better placement and probably an SR around 50 compared to Tom's current SR of 40.
I think he is a very exciting talent and an average of 37 from an opener is nothing to be sneezed at. All the rest we have tried in the past decade have not cracked 30. He is the real deal and he will only get better.
I think the biggest advangage he has going for him which Santner does not, is that Tom is a batsman's batsman. Tom has scored a large number of centuries and had at least one season dominating the pie chuckers in Plunket. You need to have spent hours and hours and hours out in the middle at some time in your life putting on huge scores. It builds an expectation inside of yourself. You believe you can ton up and you know how to do it.
I once took a ride home with my Dad from the pub, and after he turned the first corner he said "the car knows the way home from here Hurricane", and 5 minutes later we were back.
Your subconscious mind and the zone you go into while batting is based on all the past lessons you have learned. Your mind and body need to know their way to the century mark just like my Dad's car knows its way home from the bar. Fleming didn't know his way to the century mark. Tom does know that way. He knows how to bat and how not to get flustered. Look for him to steadily improve year by year.
Average 37.66 SR 43.93
His test debut was only in 2014 so he is a new addition to the team. We have some marvellously talented cricketers who contribute to CW. One of them wrote "In age group cricket Tom was always the big wicket in these neck of woods, yet unlike Kane you always felt you had a glimmer of hope of getting him out and that you were always in it, and then suddenly he was raising his bat to celebrate another century".
He didn't inspire enthusiasm when he sauntered to the crease at the basin reserve against the rampant Indians and soon departed with scores of 0 and 29 next to his name. But he learned. And what he learned is that test cricket is a step up and that he was going to have to play his very best just to reach 50 at this level.
And so he began. He went to the West Indies with grit between his teeth and scored 83, 73, and 82 in consecutive knocks and his fledgling career was underway.
There will be two Tom Lathams in his career. There will be the young Tom Latham who we are seeing right now: Feisty, technically correct, but getting out for scores of 40 or on a good day 80.
Then there will be old Tom Latham when he starts to get mentioned in the same breath as your Wrights, Turners, and Richardsons - 7-8 years from now it will be Old Tom who will make a name for himself by scoring at least one triple century.
What we have in front of us right now is a compact opening batsman who sees him team off to safe starts 7 out of ten times. His front elbow is very high and very correct when he drives. Unlike TMac he can clip bowlers off pads for runs and hence his strike rate is in the 40s rather than hovering in the 20s.
His stance is a work in progress. I suspect he may benefit from holding his feet a smidgeon further apart in his stance. I mean it is a good thing to be leaning forward as the ball is released. He just seems to have a problem pressing back quickly and getting right back and across. The example that springs to mind is his dismissal to a nothing delivery in the first inning at the GABBA where he just threw the bat out in front of himself and spooned it out to point. Likewise the lateness today on the pull shot are signs of someone not getting back and across before executing a shot.
On the upside he is the opener we have been crying out for. He is consistent. And he plays in the V extraordinarly well.
The Old Tom Latham when he arrives apart from being better off the back foot, will also have a more gifted bottom hand. How many times did Tom crunch the ball today straight to short cover. With more time he will stop using his hands as a combined unit that think the same, and will let his bottom hand have an intelligence of its own. Your bottom hand is your guide hand and it places the ball into sometimes tight gaps. The Old Tom will have better placement and probably an SR around 50 compared to Tom's current SR of 40.
I think he is a very exciting talent and an average of 37 from an opener is nothing to be sneezed at. All the rest we have tried in the past decade have not cracked 30. He is the real deal and he will only get better.
I think the biggest advangage he has going for him which Santner does not, is that Tom is a batsman's batsman. Tom has scored a large number of centuries and had at least one season dominating the pie chuckers in Plunket. You need to have spent hours and hours and hours out in the middle at some time in your life putting on huge scores. It builds an expectation inside of yourself. You believe you can ton up and you know how to do it.
I once took a ride home with my Dad from the pub, and after he turned the first corner he said "the car knows the way home from here Hurricane", and 5 minutes later we were back.
Your subconscious mind and the zone you go into while batting is based on all the past lessons you have learned. Your mind and body need to know their way to the century mark just like my Dad's car knows its way home from the bar. Fleming didn't know his way to the century mark. Tom does know that way. He knows how to bat and how not to get flustered. Look for him to steadily improve year by year.
Fuller Pilch
Hall of Fame Member
He batted 4 on debut for Ross Taylor. These are his stats as an opener:
14 1082 137 41.61 2
All-round records | Test matches | Cricinfo Statsguru | ESPN Cricinfo
His ODI opener stats are very good too.
RossTaylorsBox
Cricket Web: All-Time Legend
Really hope your dad didn't say that while drink-driving home from the bar.
marc71178
Eyes not spreadsheets
Kind of to be expected from a Sri Lankan fan...
YorksLanka
International Debutant
Kind of to be expected from a Sri Lankan fan...[/QUOTE
Now back to the cricket.. That was some working over Herath got and whilst he showed good heart , he had to eventually succumb..Siriwardana batted well but just gave his wicket away to a really loose shot. Some of those cover drives were lovely to watch..the tail did better than I thought as I wasn't expecting any of them to trouble the scorers..NZ well in control of the match and that tapping you may hear might or might not be the sound of my raindance..don't care what anyone says, everyone is expecting us to get whitewashed in this tour so a draw will be a good result for me..huge ask though and can't see it tbh.boult is clearly stuffing at the Monet but Southee is such a good bowler and I have been impressed with Bracewell too..
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Hurricane
Hall of Fame Member
I think Howsie has a point. Man the **** up Angelo and bat at 3. I think Chandimal is quality. With those two you can have a quality 3 and 4. Angelo walking in at number 5 is walking into scoreboard pressure each time. It's not like sideways movement bothers Angelo either. Let some Noob have the cushier job of batting at number 5. I like your opener. You are one more test match quality batsman from having all you need from a batting perspective. Your number 7 Siriwardane is going to make 40 something and maybe an 80 something mosttime he bats. But his defensive set up is loose and I recommend investing in a better prospect as he is not part of the solution (too inconsistent).Kind of to be expected from a Sri Lankan fan...[/QUOTE
Now back to the cricket.. That was some working over Herath got and whilst he showed good heart , he had to eventually succumb..Siriwardana batted well but just gave his wicket away to a really loose shot. Some of those cover drives were lovely to watch..the tail did better than I thought as I wasn't expecting any of them to trouble the scorers..NZ well in control of the match and that tapping you may hear might or might not be the sound of my raindance..
Your bowling - you have Mathews and he is your best seamer. Chamera and the rest of them need and badly need a season in county cricket or even if you can't score such a plumb contract, a run in plunket would help them. They all need more bowling and way more experience. They are the opposite of Bracewell.
But boy your boys have ticker. It is not impossible you could beat us in the next test if you get some lucky breaks.
I like your team and you have put a good foot forward on this tour so far.
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YorksLanka
International Debutant
@hurricane, I honestly dont think it's a question of him not manning up,I just think his technique isn't good enough to bat at 3. I disagree with you in siriwardana, i think he will do well- he won't be another Sanga or Mahela but at 30,we can't expect him to be.He is a decent bat, good fielder and a handy bowler.
Agree with you that our young bowlers do need.more experience and a contract somewhere will do a world of good(sure Dimi can sort it lol).BTW, Prasad is our best bowler but we are missing him due to injury
Agree with you that our young bowlers do need.more experience and a contract somewhere will do a world of good(sure Dimi can sort it lol).BTW, Prasad is our best bowler but we are missing him due to injury
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BeeGee
International Captain
It's nice to see Wags back in the team. We really missed his different style of bowling and ability to reverse the old ball.
Bracewell's tight line and length bowling is OK, but if he's going to be NZ's third seamer he has to be able to take more wickets with the old ball.
Bracewell's tight line and length bowling is OK, but if he's going to be NZ's third seamer he has to be able to take more wickets with the old ball.
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Bahnz
Hall of Fame Member
Half an hour after lunch tops.
Cabinet96
Hall of Fame Member
Howe_zat
Audio File
That won't include the 140 he's picked up in this match so far so it's not outlandish