***Official*** New Zealand in India 2016

[hendrix]

Aren't all sports effectively monopolies? Why is a government monopoly necessarily better? Isn't the evidence on the side of 'ownership structures don't matter much as long as there is competition'?

Yeah honestly the BCCI's treatment of the ICL was anti-competitive and illegal, as far as I'm concerned.

 

[hendrix]

I'll say this in Hesson's defence over the Guptill saga. He's been very clear that he wants to stop the revolving door of the 90s and 00s where someone like Latham would have been on death row before yesterdays score. He gave Rutherford and Fulton every chance, Sodhi, Craig and Bracewell keep slinking back in and he persisted with the broken Boult and Southee for 18 months. Very few of those bets came off, but persistence also gave us the Wagner we have today and Boult is back in form. He was also man enough to recall Jeetan Patel and give the captaincy to Taylor when needed.

It's a no-win situation when your options in some areas are so poor but I think it's better to pick who you think has potential rather than throw every Tom, Dick and Rob Nicol at the problem and hope.

Guptill is waaaaay beyond revolving door. We pretty much have statistically significant data that show's he's not good enough against the top 8 teams. That's way beyond the chances most batsmen get.

RE: Ronchi/Henry Nicholls - again, I don't rate Nicholls but he deserves his shot and played well in SA.

 

[91Jmay]

I'll say this in Hesson's defence over the Guptill saga. He's been very clear that he wants to stop the revolving door of the 90s and 00s where someone like Latham would have been on death row before yesterdays score. He gave Rutherford and Fulton every chance, Sodhi, Craig and Bracewell keep slinking back in and he persisted with the broken Boult and Southee for 18 months. Very few of those bets came off, but persistence also gave us the Wagner we have today and Boult is back in form. He was also man enough to recall Jeetan Patel and give the captaincy to Taylor when needed.

It's a no-win situation when your options in some areas are so poor but I think it's better to pick who you think has potential rather than throw every Tom, Dick and Rob Nicol at the problem and hope.

Guptil has had 48 Tests. That is a big ****ing door.

 

[Moss]

Guptill played a couple of important knocks in England which was what earned him the long rope. Not to mention with BMac gone Hesson was probably wary of including one too many test rookies in the lineup. Or that's as much as I can rationalize his continued inclusion. Rutherford and Fulton similarly lived off a couple of good tests in that 2013 series against England.

I know Watling as w/k has been a prized asset for NZ but I atill maintain he's probably the best candidate for that no.5 spot (keeping quiet on Will Young as I haven't seen much of him apart from the vault videos posted here). While Ronchi is too old (and unreliable) I dont think it's the worst idea to give him the wicketkeeper slot until the next young candidate emerges, allowing Watling to move up the order. Excellent as Saha was it was just a bit painful to see him outdo Watling with the bat.

 

[Moss]

Disagree that NZ should be concerned. Well beaten but I don't think outclassed. Took 20 wickets and made India work hard for 3/4 or the match. Missing their world class batsman, losing the toss, getting the worst of weather conditions on day 2, and continuing to pick an opener with technical issues who isn't score runs against test class attacks, these things won't happen every time that NZ plays. India played well, some good batting on day 1 when the pitch was at it's best, some nuggety batting from Saha, some excellent spells from the seamers. Sometimes your opponents play well.

I'd be more concerned if we got back to NZ and Hesson didn't address some selection issues (opener who can bat time, #5 who is technically correct = Will Young, don't give a half-fit Southee the new ball).

Well, two things:
i) The pitch was about as suited to NZ as they could have hoped for in India, and ii) the conditions had eased out quite a bit on day 4, it wasn't as demanding as facing Steyn and Philander on that Centurion pitch. Sure, India played exceptionally well but this was a far cry from the NZ side who competed so well in UAE and the Windies. You're right though, Hesson had better reconsider some of his options once back in NZ

 

[Bahnz]

Guptill played a couple of important knocks in England which was what earned him the long rope. Not to mention with BMac gone Hesson was probably wary of including one too many test rookies in the lineup. Or that's as much as I can rationalize his continued inclusion. Rutherford and Fulton similarly lived off a couple of good tests in that 2013 series against England.

I know Watling as w/k has been a prized asset for NZ but I atill maintain he's probably the best candidate for that no.5 spot (keeping quiet on Will Young as I haven't seen much of him apart from the vault videos posted here). While Ronchi is too old (and unreliable) I dont think it's the worst idea to give him the wicketkeeper slot until the next young candidate emerges, allowing Watling to move up the order. Excellent as Saha was it was just a bit painful to see him outdo Watling with the bat.

Important to remember that in one of those two innings Guptill was caught off a no-ball when in the teens, and in another he was dropped off a sitter. If that's all the evidence that Hess can point to, then the defence's case isn't great.

The really worrying things of late have been the form of Watling and Taylor. Both have been genuinely poor this year (Zimbabwe tour excepted). No matter how much the bowling unit gels, we're never gonna win tests with only KW consistently making runs (this is the same issue we had back in 2012 when the bowlers were really improving, but Ross was the basically fighting a one man war with the bat).

 

[Burgey]

Kiwi fans pondering the continued selection of Guptill are getting a taste of what Australian fans felt in the 80s when Graeme Wood kept getting a go.

 

[NZTailender]

One suspects Rohit will play the next test given his decent outing. Dhawan injured so Gambhir to open. Guess they won't do anything to bring in a 5th bowler as they don't seem to need it ( )

 

[Burgey]

Isn't the next test in doubt, or is that yesterday's news?

 

[Athlai]

Isn't the next test in doubt, or is that yesterday's news?

BCCI apparently mistook their meaning, accounts weren't frozen at all. Things like the ongoing Test series are unaffected.

A couple tranasactions they hurriedly made to the value of $75 million USD to feeder associations were frozen.

 

[Burgey]

Good to know the adults are back in charge

 

[Jono]

ffs, amateur hour

 

[Burgey]

At least the cricket's going ahead. Most important thing.

 

[Flem274*]

Guptil has had 48 Tests. That is a big ****ing door.

there's no one better.

guptill and raval play for the same domestic team and basically had a head to head a couple of years ago. guptill scored mountains more than him.

 

[Gnske]

Get one of the meme domestic keepers to open, Blundell or Seifert.

 

[NZTailender]

I know he didn't have the greatest domestic season but

• Punches above his weight (meme seal of approval)
• Good against the new ball
• Not bad against spin iirc
• RH to complement the LH Latham
• Gritty/nuggety fighter, good for a 40 at least

 

[Howsie]

Brownlie is a terrible player of spin. You won't make it as a international batsman being that inept against spin bowling.

 

[Athlai]

Brownlie would be a great replacement for Nicholls if we want a new spud for the middle order.

 

[Howsie]

I've see Will Young mentioned quite a lot as a potential replacement for Nicholls but what about his CD teammate Tom Bruce?

I haven't seen a lot of him myself but from the little I have seen he looks a talent. Could he leapfrog Young and take the test number five spot during the summer?

 

[Athlai]

I've see Will Young mentioned quite a lot as a potential replacement for Nicholls but what about his CD teammate Tom Bruce?

I haven't seen a lot of him myself but from the little I have seen he looks a talent. Could he leapfrog Young and take the test number five spot during the summer?

Did you read the article today about him being prevented from playing an ODI for Scotland too?