*Official* New Zealand in Australia 2019/20

[Spark]

Bizarre that Aus will have an entire home Test summer with Smith not making more than 80-odd and each Test will be completely one-sided regardless.

 

[Arachnodouche]

Labuschagne is too young to be made captain after Paine but you'd imagine he shows enough poise to be the heir apparent at some point? His emergence may have shut the door on Smith ever regaining the post for good.

 

[Anil]

did labu and smith do a freaky friday switch after the ashes?

 

[Gob]

Labuschagne is too young to be made captain after Paine but you'd imagine he shows enough poise to be the heir apparent at some point? His emergence may have shut the door on Smith ever regaining the post for good.

More fuel to Daemon's stupid theory

 

[Gob]

What if Marnus fails to the dark side like Anakin and tamper balls.

Would TPC have the high ground

 

[SteveNZ]

How much clout does Tim Southee have in this New Zealand team? During last summer during the run in to the World Cup the commentators were told not to bring up his poor ODI record over the last four years as it didn't help anyone. And now he has obviously been dropped and they can't even admit to that.

If Southee was rested due to workload then I'm sorry I'm done with him. He's obviously not fit enough for international cricket, as if his bowling speeds the last 18 months have probably shown us anyway..

Had more clout under McCullum. Baz saw a shining light that consistently came out of his arse.

It's just a weird situation. You lose your senior bowler and you omit the other senior opener, who has 12 wickets at 25 in that series and is also your vice captain. This guy also doesn't play ODIs potentially anymore, so is due a rest at some stage anyway (yes he's a squad member but isnt in the XI presumably). Maybe his body is on the outer? I dunno. Wouldn't he have busted Stead's door down to play, and given he's VC take the captaincy, if he was fit?

 

[SteveNZ]

so um https://www.espncricinfo.com/story/...ost-new-zealand-11000-runs-nearly-600-wickets

has this **** seen henry bowl? i am a big fan of henry's odi work, and he can get into the low 140s, but 145kph is his absolute pace ceiling and he'll never bowl that in tests. he's not a fast bowler he's a 135kph corridor bowler. if you wanted genuine pace then you should have brought along bennett, kuggs or even bloody ben sears.

in any case, if you can't fly someone over in time, jamieson with his height will hit the deck harder than henry which has been the main threat from the aussie bowlers and wagner.

So they're probably getting an extra 3kph, maybe 5 out of Henry. That's stupid. He's either the better option to get guys out or not. And given his record, not. A real hail Mary selection

 

[The Hutt Rec]

Absolutely astonished about that from Stead, what on earth was he thinking?! Really beginning to question this guy’s credentials and credibility.

 

[quincywagstaff]

Bizarre that Aus will have an entire home Test summer with Smith not making more than 80-odd and each Test will be completely one-sided regardless.

In the 2004/05 season Matthew Hayden didn't score a ton and Ponting only reached three figures in the final Test of the summer in the middle of an era when they scored centuries galore in home summers.

Just another sign of how this summer is almost an exact replica of that season.

 

[Hicheal Michael]

McCullum, speaking on the Channel Seven commentary, was gobsmacked that Southee wasn't playing, 10 months after he was named skipper for an injured Williamson for the abandoned Bangladesh test in Christchurch in March. Tom Latham led the Black Caps out on Friday as the country's 30th test captain.
"This is a team short of experience, they've lost their leader Kane Williamson and they've struggled in parts of this series. He [Southee] took nine wickets in the first test match," McCullum said on Channel Seven.
"You replace him with Matt Henry who hasn't set the world on fire at test level yet, but is a tremendous talent. They're not comparable numbers between the two.
"I'd have played both of them and left out Colin de Grandhomme who is opening the bowling. He will present the seam but he's 120kmh. It's menacing in terms of line and length but not speed.

McCullum smoking more than durries if this is anything to go by.

Stead was right to drop Southee. At least Henry bends his back for the team.

 

[quincywagstaff]

Yep, I reckon the mistake was picking Southee for yet another Oz tour when he's been a consistent disappointment for over a decade.

And while he bowled well in Perth, the match stats flattered him. 2nd innings wickets were largely meaningless as match was done by then. When NZ needed him to stand up in the 1st innings of both Tests he was largely missing, especially in Melbourne.

 

[vcs]

Smith has faced lots of deliveries this series without getting as many runs as you'd usually expect from him. Probably just a temporary blip, it would be more worrying if he was nicking off early all the time.

 

[Flem274*]

McCullum smoking more than durries if this is anything to go by.

Stead was right to drop Southee. At least Henry bends his back for the team.

baz is one of those ex cricketers whose media career makes you think less of him

his ball by ball commentary and analysis can actually be decent, but he fell into the trap during the wc of demanding his favourite players every 5 minutes (southee and sodhi) and just can't keep his mouth shut with psycho-analysis in general.

you would think he had won the 2015 wc and test series the way he's going on.

 

[Hicheal Michael]

baz is one of those ex cricketers whose media career makes you think less of him

his ball by ball commentary and analysis can actually be decent, but he fell into the trap during the wc of demanding his favourite players every 5 minutes (southee and sodhi) and just can't keep his mouth shut with psycho-analysis in general.

you would think he had won the 2015 wc and test series the way he's going on.

Don't get me wrong, I'm still a fan - i wish he stayed on with the ODI and T20 side.

It's just his big upping of certain players that will invoke comparisons to Shane Warne before long.

 

[Daemon]

I’m not defending the decision, but the outcome is fine. I mean, Southee has had a big workload and the series is not only lost, but was clearly heading for a whitewash. May as well let Henry finish his career for himself and get that out of the way.

 

[TheBrand]

Don't hate it, he bowled pretty well especially on Day 1 of the Boxing Day Test, but just lacked wickets with the new ball, not that Henry has done much to alleviate this. All hail Lord Colin.

 

[GoodAreasShane]

Labuschagne is too young to be made captain after Paine but you'd imagine he shows enough poise to be the heir apparent at some point? His emergence may have shut the door on Smith ever regaining the post for good.

Never done the job domestically, therefore the idea is a complete non starter

 

[thierry henry]

Of course McCullum is ‘turning into’ a Warne-type character lmao, both a couple of narcissistic loonies, biggest difference is Barrie Mac’s delusions of grandeur are actually delusions.

 

[Grasshopper]

Just heard on the radio that Matt Henry has a broken left thumb. He'll play on with a splint and bat "if necessary". WTF else can go wrong??

 

[bill8164]

Just heard on the radio that Matt Henry has a broken left thumb. He'll play on with a splint and bat "if necessary". WTF else can go wrong??

Supposedly he is going to bowl, lack of knowledge on the subject but can you even bowl with a splint on the other hand?