*Official* New Zealand in Australia 2019/20

[Kippax]

Yeah the justification for the small squad was precisely this. They just don't want to admit a mistake and fly someone over for form reasons. If Raval was injured they probably would have flown over someone else.

Yes it would be interesting to know what Stead and Larsen would've done if they had a reserve opener at home that they suspected was right on the brink of commencing a very classy 10+ tons career, rather than Rutherford, getting dinged and suffering delayed concussion against a half-rat Archer. In the case of the former, that chance to look prescient and clever as a selection panel is dangled there in front of them.

Maybe these two would've still been pretty wet and tried to limit that 'dishonourable discharge' factor for Raval, so that he'd feel he could simply go back to Auckland and get himself back in the mix for some less onerous Test assignments. Stead would obviously relate to the pain of being an opener who may've been cut off a little too soon just on pure national vanity grounds, seeing they weren't prepared to turn up their noses at all the injudicious Craig Spearmans with an equal swiftness.

 

[RossTaylorsBox]

cumcloth

Nice autocorrect

 

[Howsie]

Is there anyone else that thinks this is nothing but pure amateur hour? It’s the World Cup debacle all over again. Because Stead and Pizza Boy refuse to allow competition inside the group we end up being boxed into a corner and playing guys out of position, and this is the ultimate one. This is the biggest test series we’ve playing in decades and we now have a keeper batsman who usually plays at six or seven opening in a test match. A keeper who if you actually look at his record hasn’t actually scored **** all runs in first class cricket the last few seasons.

When I heard Raval had been all but dropped the other day I assumed they would call over a proper option, but nope. Classic from Stead and the Pizza Boy.

 

[jcas0167]

Isn't this what they did in '93 with Bryan Young? Not sure if he much opening experience at the time, but it worked out well.

 

[Jezroy]

Isn't this what they did in '93 with Bryan Young? Not sure if he much opening experience at the time, but it worked out well.

Yeah you actually never know. Look at Mark Richardson. Nathan Astle. Those guys reinvented themselves with great success. Hell, we even had an opening batsman who didn’t do that great so he ended up being our best keeper batsman ever.

#greatbj

 

[Kippax]

Isn't this what they did in '93 with Bryan Young? Not sure if he much opening experience at the time, but it worked out well.

Yes quite similar, although they gave Young three warm-ups in their top 3 against Aussie state sides (including a NSW attack with McGrath) before they got a grinding 38 and 53 out of him in the third Test.

 

[Flem274*]

blundell is a decent reserve wicket keeper bat but i don't expect a bryan young. successful role conversions don't happen every day, and not usually after a team panics and takes selection advice from mitchell starc.

they should have cut raval before the tour or committed to him for all 3 tests.

 

[Kippax]

Yes it's becoming clear that NZA runs in any position now count for a whole lot more than say Seifert giving a little check punch down the ground to a domestic wobbler and averaging about 45 over a season. Pizza Boy now views that as a bit like the feeder tours in golf or tennis; feasting on all the journeymen and rookies only earns you a chance to actually do something against big boys. He wants you to get immersed in that NZA mix like Blundell did, and then take some of those games by the scruff a bit more than you have, with a bold and brandishing horizontal bat game.

No, that's not really it. That's pretty timorous stuff, someone who doesn't really know who he is as a red ball player against the big famous players yet. All the soft dismissals related to the hard hands and bad decisions of early years McCullum, but with a weaker front-foot pull shot.

 

[Meridio]

It's really worth emphasising just how stupid a decision it was to select a team for both the England and Australia series at once. I can't work out what actual good logical reason there is for doing that. It leaves you open to exactly this kind of selection dilemma, plus also the one we have with Santner - really, the right thing to do for the good of the team right now would be to pick Somerville and get him over there, but we already have Astle selected as an alternative spin option and having another player who wasn't in the original squad leapfrog him is really bad selection policy, but then Astle would get mauled on a flat MCG pitch so what do you do?

That said, I reckon Blundell will go well actually. Good back foot game and has stepped up strongly the few times he's been called upon.

 

[Mike5181]

Why the **** do we even have a reserve keeper in the squad rather than someone that can bat in the top order anyway? We have Latham in the squad, and even Nicholls can keep in an emergency.

 

[Howsie]

Blundell sets up to play of the back foot, I think if the Aussie quicks go full and get a little bit of movement he’ll probably be in trouble. He has always reminded me of Brownlie tbh, so hell he might score runs here.

Obviously hope he does and I’d rather him then Raval again but it’s still a stupid selection.

 

[Mike5181]

I'd actually back him to score runs in the middle-order. Big ask to open.

 

[SteveNZ]

If we're talking simply Blundell v Raval as of this week, its right to go for Blundell. But it shouldn't be.

I dont know how any selectors, let alone one with a coach who batted in that position, can plump for a guy to open who hasn't got any experience there. In arguably our biggest Test in what, decades? Even the most basic of punters knows opening is a specialist position. We're 3 hrs flight from home yet we didn't bring a back up to a guy who was clearly in ********* form?

And does this mean Blundell is now the first choice opener or does it mean we're stop gapping? If it's the latter, that is horrendous management of our side. I know no one is beating down the door as a back up opener but you cannot pick a middle order player to open and you definitely cannot do it against Australia on Boxing Day.

 

[ataraxia]

If we're talking simply Blundell v Raval as of this week, its right to go for Blundell. But it shouldn't be.

I dont know how any selectors, let alone one with a coach who batted in that position, can plump for a guy to open who hasn't got any experience there. In arguably our biggest Test in what, decades? Even the most basic of punters knows opening is a specialist position. We're 3 hrs flight from home yet we didn't bring a back up to a guy who was clearly in ********* form?

And does this mean Blundell is now the first choice opener or does it mean we're stop gapping? If it's the latter, that is horrendous management of our side. I know no one is beating down the door as a back up opener but you cannot pick a middle order player to open and you definitely cannot do it against Australia on Boxing Day.

*cue Blundell ton*

 

[SteveNZ]

*cue Blundell ton*

There'll be no one happier than me if so!!! I like Blundell, I think he's got something about him - and he's not scared of short pitched pace bowling, which is handy. But he's not an opener. Hasn't had the prep, apart from yesterday. The selectors are now basically telling us he's the incumbent because they have close access to genuine openers in NZ and they chose not to go to them. And they could have replaced Ferguson with an opener but they chose to bring over Jamieson, who won't play, so they're saying Blundell is the guy. We'll see how that goes

 

[ataraxia]

There'll be no one happier than me if so!!! I like Blundell, I think he's got something about him - and he's not scared of short pitched pace bowling, which is handy. But he's not an opener. Hasn't had the prep, apart from yesterday. The selectors are now basically telling us he's the incumbent because they have close access to genuine openers in NZ and they chose not to go to them. And they could have replaced Ferguson with an opener but they chose to bring over Jamieson, who won't play, so they're saying Blundell is the guy. We'll see how that goes

Someone else in the side could open tbh. Kane, Nicholls, and Watling all have experience with that.

Agree completely with your comment.

 

[SteveNZ]

Someone else in the side could open tbh. Kane, Nicholls, and Watling all have experience with that.

Agree completely with your comment.

Problem with that, and selectors would say the same, is that yeah, those three guys have absolute advantage in terms of probably being better than any other option...but does the team become stronger or weaker with those guys moving?

It's a hard one, no one else is even close to putting their hand up at domestic level.

 

[straw man]

Slow to catch this news but now find it pretty funny. An indictment on the squad selection, obviously, though from Blundell's perspective he has nothing to lose. And we have nothing to lose either when compared to the current state of (poor old) Jeet Raval.

Should be fun. Perhaps replace Latham with Daryl Mitchell while we're at it? /MarkRichardson

 

[jcas0167]

It's really worth emphasising just how stupid a decision it was to select a team for both the England and Australia series at once. I can't work out what actual good logical reason there is for doing that. It leaves you open to exactly this kind of selection dilemma, plus also the one we have with Santner - really, the right thing to do for the good of the team right now would be to pick Somerville and get him over there, but we already have Astle selected as an alternative spin option and having another player who wasn't in the original squad leapfrog him is really bad selection policy, but then Astle would get mauled on a flat MCG pitch so what do you do?

That said, I reckon Blundell will go well actually. Good back foot game and has stepped up strongly the few times he's been called upon.

If Larsen & co had been watching the '85 series highlights on Sky they would see that NZ flew over Bracewell from club cricket because the SCG was such a raging Bunsen. He played along with the other two spinners in the squad, but then played ahead of both the original squad spinners in the deciding test in Perth. In homage to that great series win it would be fitting to fly in Sommerville.

The All Blacks did the same with Mike Brewer who happened to be in France doing promotional work for Canterbury and got picked ahead of Liam Barry who was in the touring squad.

 

[wellAlbidarned]

Raval should've been dropped but doing it one game in with a makeshift replacement must be blood in the water to australia. For a team that's prided itself on consistent selection policy that's a bad sign.