*Official* Pakistan v New Zealand in the UAE 2018

[Prince EWS]

Not that NZ need one or should risk the change I'm about to semi-advocate, but with his technique more textbook than Munro's he might be less vulnerable to good bowling up front -- there might be a parallel universe in which CdG opens, Munro bats six and it works better.

Lets make it this universe.

 

[wellAlbidarned]

Reckon we need to seriously give lockie a shot with the new ball, with Milne as third seamer. Southee is toothless and Henry looks like damaged goods. Would break the unspoken nz rule of only having one 150kph bloke in the side though.

 

[SteveNZ]

I kind of always thought they just made the wrong Colin open.

I think the fact CdG's List A career never hit any heights as an opener kinda ruled this one out. Plus last summer we basically had no late-over hitter other than him until Santner found some form. Could he do the job? He's got a better pure technique than Manu does, but - as crazy as this may sound - Manu has a better batting focus/mental game.

Manu's 50-over form has been pretty custard, but at least he has T20 form to show he's got something there - Ronchi was sucking in all formats. Worker continues to show he's not up to it, Phillips is not the man for the World Cup yet, Neesham ain't it either, there's really no one else. At least with Manu you're getting a guy that is currently scoring international runs, and is decently handy with the ball on the right pitch. And given 300+ will be the scores you're after next year, at least Manu gets on or gets out. He's not a 10 off 29 guy like some of the other candidates, plus at least one guy who bats in the middle order.

 

[Bahnz]

I kinda like the idea of a Boult, Fergz, Milne attack in certain conditions, wouldn't mind seeing NZ test it out a couple of times this summer on some of the quicker paced surfaces like Eden Park or on the fun Hamilton strip. Will depend on how Milne is bowling.

I think there are lots of potential solutions to the middle order problems, it's just that we have so little time left to test them out (thanks Hess). The opening spot is arguably a tougher spot to fill, and I'd almost consider giving Watling a go at it just to give the side a decent platform at the top - though that would likely put a lot of pressure on Gup to go hell for leather rather than just batting at his own pace.

 

[Gomez656]

So only second time in UAE in 34 years ODI series ends with no results in WHITE BALL

Ferguson m.O.m
Shaheen M.O.S ,(13 wickets)

 

[hendrix]

I really really hope NZ selectors are open-minded enough to select Milne and Ferguson together at some stage. Both of them can actually bowl economically when it's required of them so it's not like it's a particularly leaky option.

 

[The Hutt Rec]

I kinda like the idea of a Boult, Fergz, Milne attack in certain conditions, wouldn't mind seeing NZ test it out a couple of times this summer on some of the quicker paced surfaces like Eden Park or on the fun Hamilton strip. Will depend on how Milne is bowling.

I think there are lots of potential solutions to the middle order problems, it's just that we have so little time left to test them out (thanks Hess). The opening spot is arguably a tougher spot to fill, and I'd almost consider giving Watling a go at it just to give the side a decent platform at the top - though that would likely put a lot of pressure on Gup to go hell for leather rather than just batting at his own pace.

Its pretty awful how close to the World Cup we are, and how far we have to go in deciding the make up of the side. Wasted last season messing around with the likes of Broom and Kitchen ... I think our batting is in a bit of a mess at the moment, there don’t even seem to be many tested successful options.

At least Stead looks like he’ll try a few things, dropping Southee for Henry. Hopefully Larsen bows out after the WC, anyway.

 

[SteveNZ]

I kinda like the idea of a Boult, Fergz, Milne attack in certain conditions, wouldn't mind seeing NZ test it out a couple of times this summer on some of the quicker paced surfaces like Eden Park or on the fun Hamilton strip. Will depend on how Milne is bowling.

I think there are lots of potential solutions to the middle order problems, it's just that we have so little time left to test them out (thanks Hess). The opening spot is arguably a tougher spot to fill, and I'd almost consider giving Watling a go at it just to give the side a decent platform at the top - though that would likely put a lot of pressure on Gup to go hell for leather rather than just batting at his own pace.

You're right - Gup has completely lost himself in the past when burdened by slow scoring opening partners. I don't even know if there's an argument that BJ is scoring runs anyway, slow clip or otherwise. Did he not only make one score on the A tour?

We either pick and stick with Manu, knowing he is the most talented guy for the job, or we pick Phillips and say you're our guy for the next few years - use this World Cup as a chance to find your feet, we'd love it if you scored runs but equally we know you may not. I don't see any other options that have a hope of working.

 

[Zinzan]

I'd like to see Neesham given a chance to open this summer. A side like this could go well at the World Cup:

Guptill
Neesham
Williamson
Taylor
Latham
De Grandhomme
Anderson
Santner
Henry
Ferguson
Boult

I wouldn't be giving up on Munro anytime soon tbh, he's too talented not to persevere with imho.

Besides, for Neesham to be anywhere near the side, he's too much of a liability to bowl in white-ball cricket unless something's changed dramatically. Also, didn't they try Neesh as opener a few years back, unsuccessfully?

I do like him as a cricketer btw, and hope he proves me wrong.

 

[54321]

With regards to CDG does anyone think it would be better for him to come up the order. From what Ive seen since his debut, as a batsman he's very nervous at the start and does take his time before he gets some confidence. Him playing as a finisher has only resulted in him getting out to desperate shots when things are not going so well. I would really like to see how he would pan out at maybe 4, but not as the slogger he is known to be. Or at the very least, have someone tell him to not focus on the 6's, but to build an innings which he's done in the test side.

Also, I really hope Santner maintains his form after he comes back from injury.

 

[Moss]

I really really hope NZ selectors are open-minded enough to select Milne and Ferguson together at some stage. Both of them can actually bowl economically when it's required of them so it's not like it's a particularly leaky option.

Would agree with this provided Milne is fit and bowling at top speed. In India last year he seemed off the pace and was being hit around, He did look good in the T20 games on this tour, though.

 

[Moss]

You're right - Gup has completely lost himself in the past when burdened by slow scoring opening partners. I don't even know if there's an argument that BJ is scoring runs anyway, slow clip or otherwise. Did he not only make one score on the A tour?

We either pick and stick with Manu, knowing he is the most talented guy for the job, or we pick Phillips and say you're our guy for the next few years - use this World Cup as a chance to find your feet, we'd love it if you scored runs but equally we know you may not. I don't see any other options that have a hope of working.

Phillips is definitely not there yet. To use the BMac analogy he's probably where McCullum was in the lead up to the 2003 World Cup, but McCullum was able to fit in as a lower order batsman-keeper when his first shot at opening didn't go well.. Maybe Tim Seifert? But it's asking a lot of these guys to front up when they're still finding their feet at the international level. Best option seems to be: stick with Munro through the World Cup and hope he carries his T20 form into this format, and reconsider options after that if he doesn't.

 

[Moss]

I wouldn't be giving up on Munro anytime soon tbh, he's too talented not to persevere with imho.

Besides, for Neesham to be anywhere near the side, he's too much of a liability to bowl in white-ball cricket unless something's changed dramatically. Also, didn't they try Neesh as opener a few years back, unsuccessfully?

I do like him as a cricketer btw, and hope he proves me wrong.

Neesham is showing good List A form for Wellington, right? Possibly a good alternative to Nicholls for number six, though I wouldn't rely much on his bowling - maybe 2-3 overs just as Munro currently is doing.

 

[Zinzan]

Neesham is showing good List A form for Wellington, right? Possibly a good alternative to Nicholls for number six, though I wouldn't rely much on his bowling - maybe 2-3 overs just as Munro currently is doing.

I wouldn't write Neesham off, has great natural ability. Just needs to find his radar with the ball.

If I was him I'd model my action & general white-ball bowling on Jacob Oram, even minus 2-3 inches.

 

[Flem274*]

i'm one of the few left who thinks munro can genuinely bat, but i don't think he's an opener and ive always been convinced that in the world cup in real games against real attacks one dimensional sloggers (which is what munro is as an opener) are utterly exposed. basically, can your openers get through 10 overs of steyn/ngidi/rabada or starc/haz/cummins (or boult/southee/ferguson). this pakistan attacks looks excellent but the UAE decks are a dump and munro is struggling against the quicks. guptill/latham imo. even nicholls has opened for canterbury and you'd rather he start against pace than spin.

latham opening also opens up the option of having santa at #7 and using 5 real odi bowlers, which again is a massive advantage in the world cup if santa continues to provide #7 hitting power with lord colin at #6

im not against milne and ferguson playing together but milne is not a wicket taker, he's a 150kph gavin larsen and that should be taken into account. henry has death bowling issues but he's dynamite in the first 35 overs. if we want to go with the wicketest attack then it's boult/henry/ferguson imo.

 

[Black_Warrior]

I see Pakistan picked their test squad for New Zealand with the 4 quicks being Mohammed Abbas, Hasan Ali , Mir Hamza & Shaheen Shah Afridi.

I can understand moving on from Wahab Riaz and Rahat Ali in all formats. But where do you think Mohammed Amir & Junaid Khan are ? Will they be in the test squad to SA and the WC squad ?

Amir will be in the Test squad for South Africa. Test cricket is not the 1st priority for a large proportion of Pakistan's players and Amir has been grumbling about his work load for a while. He doesn't really enjoy bowling in Asia (especially UAE). Pakistan don't really have a policy of rest or rotation or prioritising certain players for certain formats so when Amir had a poor Asia Cup, they sort of played it in a way to give Amir what he wanted but also warn him a little bit. So Amir ideally would have liked to play the LOs against Australia and New Zealand and skip the Tests. They didn't give him that but instead dropped/rested him for the whole UAE season.

He will be back for the South Africa Test series and the pace attack will most likely be
Amir
Abbas
Shaheen/Hasan
Faheem


Regarding Junaid Khan, this is completely a Mickey Arthur thing. Arthur just never really valued or rated him and JK has never been his first choice. He has always picked him when he had no other choice
1) Irfan's mother dying and him not being able to travel to Australia for the ODI series in Jan 2017
2) Wahab's performance against India in CT 2017
3) Amir, Hasan, Shenwari all preferred ahead of JK in Asia Cup and all under performing by the time Pakistan were to play their last game against Bangladesh.


Reasons? Possibly JK's poor fielding and pace mostly being in the early 130s.

Sadly for JK, I have never seen a bowler riddled with worse luck. He was at his peak in 2014 when he was injured and just as he recovered and was looking to be fit for the World Cup 2015, he slipped on wet ground during training and did his knees badly.

It took him almost 2 years to make his way back. Then his consistent performances throughout CT got overshadowed by Amir and Hasan in the final.

He was only picked for the Asia Cup on bowling coach Azhar Mahmood's insistence and the grilling and criticism Sarfraz and Arthur faced after Junaid took 4 wickets in the Bangladesh game made Sarfraz claim that JK would be first choice in ODIs from now on.

Gets picked for the 1st ODI, gets injured. This series could have been the make or break series for him but now that he is out, I don't see him realistically getting that opportunity again.

Shaheen has stepped up big time and Amir will be back for South Africa. By the time Pakistan tour England in May, they would have finalized the players based on South Africa series. I will be pleasantly surprised if JK makes it to the World Cup 15 member squad

Also saw a kid open the bowling with Shaheen Shah Afridi for Peshawar in that T20 tournament and was bowling 150kph yorkers at will. Think his name is Haris Rauf. Where is he now ?

Think he came through one of those Lahore Qalandar talent hunts. Only played a few T20s for them. Probably will see more of him during next PSL.

 

[Black_Warrior]

My instinct here was to point out that it 'working' against Zimbabwe's Second XI wouldn't have proved much either way, but to be fair the same actually largely applies here anyway -- Hafeez 4.0 and Harris are much more likely to come off as bowlers in the UAE than England, so if it works here it may actually give a false impression of what the best balance actually is for the WC.

Think they will go with the CT composition in the World Cup

Amir
Shaheen/Shenwari/Junaid
Hasan
Faheem/Imad
Shadab
Hafeez

 

[SeamUp]

Amir will be in the Test squad for South Africa. Test cricket is not the 1st priority for a large proportion of Pakistan's players and Amir has been grumbling about his work load for a while. He doesn't really enjoy bowling in Asia (especially UAE). Pakistan don't really have a policy of rest or rotation or prioritising certain players for certain formats so when Amir had a poor Asia Cup, they sort of played it in a way to give Amir what he wanted but also warn him a little bit. So Amir ideally would have liked to play the LOs against Australia and New Zealand and skip the Tests. They didn't give him that but instead dropped/rested him for the whole UAE season.

He will be back for the South Africa Test series and the pace attack will most likely be
Amir
Abbas
Shaheen/Hasan
Faheem


Regarding Junaid Khan, this is completely a Mickey Arthur thing. Arthur just never really valued or rated him and JK has never been his first choice. He has always picked him when he had no other choice
1) Irfan's mother dying and him not being able to travel to Australia for the ODI series in Jan 2017
2) Wahab's performance against India in CT 2017
3) Amir, Hasan, Shenwari all preferred ahead of JK in Asia Cup and all under performing by the time Pakistan were to play their last game against Bangladesh.


Reasons? Possibly JK's poor fielding and pace mostly being in the early 130s.

Sadly for JK, I have never seen a bowler riddled with worse luck. He was at his peak in 2014 when he was injured and just as he recovered and was looking to be fit for the World Cup 2015, he slipped on wet ground during training and did his knees badly.

It took him almost 2 years to make his way back. Then his consistent performances throughout CT got overshadowed by Amir and Hasan in the final.

He was only picked for the Asia Cup on bowling coach Azhar Mahmood's insistence and the grilling and criticism Sarfraz and Arthur faced after Junaid took 4 wickets in the Bangladesh game made Sarfraz claim that JK would be first choice in ODIs from now on.

Gets picked for the 1st ODI, gets injured. This series could have been the make or break series for him but now that he is out, I don't see him realistically getting that opportunity again.

Shaheen has stepped up big time and Amir will be back for South Africa. By the time Pakistan tour England in May, they would have finalized the players based on South Africa series. I will be pleasantly surprised if JK makes it to the World Cup 15 member squad



Think he came through one of those Lahore Qalandar talent hunts. Only played a few T20s for them. Probably will see more of him during next PSL.

Thanks for this mate.

Look forward to your guys arrival. Your bowling attack could give us a tougher time than last time and you got to feel Mickey has been building for this in the back of his mind. Last tour was tough viewing at times and as ever for Pakistan they have never come to terms batting in SA. That will be the key if they can improve there.

 

[Athlai]

Munro can’t bat but he can certainly shovel and therefore will always be a solid choice for NZ agribusiness.

 

[Moss]

Regarding Junaid Khan, this is completely a Mickey Arthur thing. Arthur just never really valued or rated him and JK has never been his first choice. He has always picked him when he had no other choice
1) Irfan's mother dying and him not being able to travel to Australia for the ODI series in Jan 2017
2) Wahab's performance against India in CT 2017
3) Amir, Hasan, Shenwari all preferred ahead of JK in Asia Cup and all under performing by the time Pakistan were to play their last game against Bangladesh.


Reasons? Possibly JK's poor fielding and pace mostly being in the early 130s.

This was an enjoyable post, pretty useful as I haven't followed the inner workings of Pakistan cricket for a while now. I do remember Junaid bowling very well against the Lankans during that 2014-15 period when they seemed to play each other all the time. Surprised to see the assessment of his pace though. Has he slowed down over the course of his career?