Off spin off a long run and no pivot.
He played for New Zealand Under 19s as a specialist bowler too. He wasn't just a random journeyman plugging a hole in a domestic side; he was seriously rated as a promising young bowler. I've always imagined he bowled a bit quicker than he did on Test debut -- maybe early 130s.
I find it so hard to see because he has nothing that you would imagine would catch the selector's eye in a young quick. He's short, not very athletic, his run-up and action (even before he went to these off-breaks) scream "part-timer". Yet somehow youth selectors were seeing that and thinking "here's our next quick" and somehow missed the fact that he has one of the best eyes on the planet.
I can't understand it either - sounds like a selection oddity. Tbf at that time Auckland loved selecting medium pacers that do a bit of this and that - Grobbelar and wasn't CDG selected as more of a bowler initially too?
Styris is immediately who I was thinking of - have always wanted Munro to bowl more like Styris or Nathan Astle. Munro has clearly looked within himself, studied the Tao Te Dibbly Dobbly, opened his heart and found enlightenment in being at one with the 100km/h ball that travels along the one true trajectory, the wobble.
At NZ U19s he batted below Greg Morgan. So more bowler, less batter than young Morgan. If you can remember what he was like.
So weird now when fat cities and reverse sweep maximums are so ***y, and skiddy 120kph bowling is certainly not. I guess 2006 in NZ was a simpler time when brisk medium pace "in the right areas" was a valid sort of specialist bowling and rank slogging was for bunnies only regardless of how many said bunny was actually middling.
This is much more off spin than either Styris or Astle ever were, even at Styris's offspinningest. It's not a mix of wobbly seamers and off cutters; it's just off breaks, every ball, with a medium pacer's run up. It's like he's decided to bowl offies now but hasn't got around to changing anything other than the grip and release yet. He's bowling slower than some other part time spinners.
The closest comparison is Garunaratne, I think.
You're welcome, Dougeh fans
You did this
I'd just popped into watch. Doug makes me numb in wonder at how a pro can bowl so many regular crappy long hops.
WI screwed now.
play every game on hamilton club pitches during february. at least three spinners is the standard.
I don't know, his List A record stacks up pretty well against half of the people they seem to pick. Great strike rate, mid-30s average if you take away the international stuff, and seems to hit a lot of sixes. Reasonable guy to have down at 7 to finish things in theory.
Fair point. It's a pretty trash record in all other aspects but his 50-over batting is ok over a reasonable sample size I guess.