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

[Prince EWS]

I don't like the idea of Munro batting up the order -- having Taylor at Watling at 5 and 7 is just rather pointless IMO -- but I think he should be in the mix for the 'apply icing at 6/7 and bowl a bit' roles that Anderson, Neesham and Santner* are fighting out at the moment. I think he makes more sense as a squad player with Watling in the team than Nicholls, who would've made more sense with Ronchi.

(* - Santner has a secure spot in the team as a spinner now IMO but he's still in the mix for that role as well; if he got it it'd open up a spot for another proper bowler)

Zinzan is always looking for some random icing in between two layers of cake though so we're going over well-travelled territory.

 

[Flem274*]

Colin Munro ODI #4 is a hilarious idea. The thought of him coming out at 2/10, 2/50 or even 2/100 against starc or steyn...

The batting is easy to pick

Guptill
Latham
Williamson
Taylor
Watling (wk)
Anderson
Neesham
Santner
Three more bowlers

Nicholls and Munro are the backup options in the squad. Taylor is terrible atm but that will change. He's been a run scoring machine in ODIs for several years now. This is his first year averaging less than 40 in ODIs since 2010 first below 50 since 2013. He'll come right. For an ODI WC in England you want 1-5 to be cakes and NZ are developing a good group of icing players with test match #6 prospects all the way to #8.

 

[Zinzan]

I don't like the idea of Munro batting up the order -- having Taylor at Watling at 5 and 7 is just rather pointless IMO -- but I think he should be in the mix for the 'apply icing at 6/7 and bowl a bit' roles that Anderson, Neesham and Santner* are fighting out at the moment. I think he makes more sense as a squad player with Watling in the team than Nicholls, who would've made more sense with Ronchi.

(* - Santner has a secure spot in the team as a spinner now IMO but he's still in the mix for that role as well; if he got it it'd open up a spot for another proper bowler)

Zinzan is always looking for some random icing in between two layers of cake though so we're going over well-travelled territory.

Not set on him batting at 4, the bigger point is he needs to be in the ODI side. Possibly 5 or 6. I do like the idea of alternating between left and right handers where possible, even if that means reacting at the time.

 

[Zinzan]

Yeah the Mensa-level brainpower of Hesson and Larsen can invest heavily in mongoloids like Colin Munro building towards a World Cup in English conditions, if they want to. I'll just laugh when he lets you all down.

It's impossible for Munro to bat well in England where ODI pitches have been so green and hard to score on in the last couple of years is it? Righteo.

I suppose we have all the other class options like Nicholls who can take international attacks apart on their day.

 

[honestbharani]

How does this series have 400 pages?

Ki-waahhh

 

[Mike5181]

Nicholls would have to be a direct replacement for Taylor as a reserve, you'd think. I'm not sure a Taylor-Nicholls-Watling combination would have the capacity to get us those 350-400 scores we regularly saw last year in England.

 

[Zinzan]

Nicholls would have to be a direct replacement for Taylor as a reserve, you'd think. I'm not sure a Taylor-Nicholls-Watling combination would have the capacity to get us those 350-400 scores we regularly saw last year in England.

That would be painful to watch, especially if Taylor's current form continues.

 

[Jono]

Great stuff from NZ... Still unsure if KW is the best man for the captaincy but I guess they do not really have any options. I just hope his batting does not get affected. What a class bat he is.

Yeah, his captaincy at the end just felt like "stick to the bowling plan, no matter what".

When India were nine down in the 43rd over, you've got to bring your two strike bowlers on and back them to take that last wicket. He let India stay in the game by allowing the last pair to hit the spinners around for three overs until the seamers came back.

You can't become a good captain until you make these errors and learn from it. He's surrounded by experienced players and coaches too so they should have helped him.

He'll learn from it - too early to judge him as captain.

 

[straw man]

I don't think it's right to ask Neesham to do that, he could develop the way Oram did (kind of) and play proper Test innings as well as being a hitting option in ODI/T20s. And anyway, Manu is the best striker in the country if you don't consider Gup when he's set. Considering the big leap Manu made over the last 12-18 months I'd expect him to keep developing and be a mainstay in ODIs and T20s. Has done reasonably well in franchise cricket around the world too where there's also pressure to perform.

Yeah Neesham is probably the least suited to that role, unlikely to be able to hit from ball 1.

Yeah I don't like Munro overseas. Only a 22 average and one 50+ score for Munro in 26 innings in the T20 Blast stuff since 2014, which seems very low. Even James Franklin's been a bit of a ballstriking colossus in that Caribbean T20.

Who would you pick to bat 7 for NZ in ODIs? Someone younger like Seifert?

 

[Zinzan]

Who would you pick to bat 7 for NZ in ODIs? Someone younger like Seifert?

It's just bizarre people would wish to keep denying Munro in the white-ball forms.

 

[SteveNZ]

Yeah I don't like Munro overseas. Only a 22 average and one 50+ score for Munro in 26 innings in the T20 Blast stuff since 2014, which seems very low. Even James Franklin's been a bit of a ballstriking colossus in that Caribbean T20.

Colin scored two 50s and a ton in the space of two weeks in the Caribbean, and made contributions after that as well. Whilst also averaging over 30 and striking at 150+ for NZ last summer.

I know you'll think I'm a homer but you need to be better than that to quote Munro stats from two years ago, when he was quite visibly a much more rounded, mature cricketer last summer. It's largely irrelevant what he did in 2014 when we're looking at 2016/17 and beyond.

There is nothing you can throw at me to suggest Henry Nicholls is a better player than Colin, except that Nicholls wasn't picked for a Test he should never have played on a doomed tour. And hasn't been pigeon holed. Colin's FC record is so far and above Henry's, and it's not like decks in a dry Canterbury summer do a lot either.

 

[Zinzan]

Colin scored two 50s and a ton in the space of two weeks in the Caribbean, and made contributions after that as well. Whilst also averaging over 30 and striking at 150+ for NZ last summer.

I know you'll think I'm a homer but you need to be better than that to quote Munro stats from two years ago, when he was quite visibly a much more rounded, mature cricketer last summer. It's largely irrelevant what he did in 2014 when we're looking at 2016/17 and beyond.

There is nothing you can throw at me to suggest Henry Nicholls is a better player than Colin, except that Nicholls wasn't picked for a Test he should never have played on a doomed tour. And hasn't been pigeon holed. Colin's FC record is so far and above Henry's, and it's not like decks in a dry Canterbury summer do a lot either.

I think the standard response is that he's from Auckland so his stats don't count.

 

[SteveNZ]

You can't become a good captain until you make these errors and learn from it. He's surrounded by experienced players and coaches too so they should have helped him.

He'll learn from it - too early to judge him as captain.

It's an interesting one, how many captains over time can you say had Kane's meticulous, leave nothing to chance personality? Honest question, I can't think of many. This is a bloke that has dotted the Is and crossed the Ts on everything he's done in his life (apart from the maintenance of his beard). His brain is an excel spreadsheet. Whether that translates into successful captaincy of a sport like cricket, I'm not so sure. There'll be situations where a strict adherence to game plans will work but equally many where it won't - as others have said about this ODI series so far (my Sky is ****ed so I haven't watched much).

 

[SteveNZ]

I think the standard response is that he's from Auckland so his stats don't count.

Yeah, hence why I mentioned the Canterbury decks. Which Nicholls hoicked out on today to Ajaz Patel.

 

[Zinzan]

My main concern with KW's captaincy is it might just rob him 5-10% from his batting effectiveness. I'm not sure one series of getting dominated by Ashwin proves that, so the jury is still out.

It's just a shame we didn't have an other obvious option, because ideally I would have liked to see him concentrate on just being the star batsman for another 2 years before taking the captaincy in a couple of years at age 27-28.

I also feel more extroverted skippers generally do better with getting the best out of the limited talent pool NZ generally have. i.e. Flem and Bmac.

 

[Mike5181]

Is Latham out of the question captaincy-wise? He's had a bit of experience there with Canterbury and age grade sides iirc.

It's not really high on our priority list though. KW's a smart cricketer, he's just learning atm.

 

[Shri]

How does this series have 400 pages?

Praise be to our lord and savior Ashwin. Peace be upon him.

 

[masterawais]

Watch 5th and final ODI Online ...

Http://mycrickethighlights.us

 

[straw man]

I think it's a massive overreaction to say Williamson shouldn't be captain. Get back to me in two years if it's not going well.

 

[straw man]

Full allroundersville for NZ today, one too high at 5 (Neesham) and one too low at 8 (Santner).