*Unofficial* New Zealand Black Caps Thread

[vandem]

Black Caps players in English county cricket update

Henry joining Somerset for 7 FC games and T20 season. FC away to Lancashire tonight, interview linked below. "Would be nice to see some grass on the wicket".

Mitchell joining Lancashire for 3 FC games and T20. Is in the squad to play Somerset, along with de Grandhomme.

Edit - teams can only have 2 non-UK players in the playing XI, SA keeper/bat Dane Vilas is Lancs captain so Mitchell playing but not de Grandhomme.

Latham will play for Surrey, but not starting until June.

County Championship Preview: Lancashire v Somerset - Somerset

County Championship Preview: Lancashire v Somerset THE MATCH Somerset travel to Emirates Old Trafford this week to take on Lancashire...

somersetcountycc.co.uk

 

[vandem]

Mitchell interview

WATCH: The first interview with new overseas signing Daryl Mitchell

cricket.lancashirecricket.co.uk

 

[vandem]

Ajaz starting 7 FC game stint for Durham tonight.

 

[Neil Young]

We were pretty flexible with Boult, he seemed to be missing every other test and tour even when he was a contracted player, for the last few years. So I’m not too sure NZC wouldn’t have been open to all these things … but at the end of the day he can’t just swan in and play whatever test series he feels like.

Personally I don’t want to see him in the World Cup squad.

There's got to be an element pragmatism for me. Maybe along similar lines to the AB sabbatical lark. We want our best players on the park representing NZ as much as possible. If that means flexing a little to accommodate the best ones, I'm all for that.

 

[NZTailender]

Could tiered/staggered contracts be a thing, negotiated well in advance? If you don't want to play for NZ during an IPL window your contract becomes pro-rata and negotiated a year ahead, and if you don't get an IPL gig then tough ****. The money otherwise spent on that contract for those months can then be put to a few month contract for a fringe player to play/be in the squad.

 

[Fuller Pilch]

We could bring in something like the 'Giteau Law' (used by the Wallabies in rugby) when overseas/non-contracted players are eligible for selection if they've played a certain number of internationals or for a certain number of years.

 

[Flem274*]

I have a similar stance to my abdv one. It hurts us now to say no, but it prevents 8-9 first teamers picking and choosing in a decade.

 

[Immenso]

I think some of you are a bit too fundamentalist about central contracting and what it means, or should mean.

NZC are not trying to protect a profitable domestic structure, like the NZRU (well, formerly profitable ...)

Central contracts came about as a result of a threatened player strike. Not as an empire building exercise. NZC is not trying to defend their fortress where they demand the right to lose money paying 150 odd cricketers per year to play mostly untelevised matches with free entry. Getting some players salaries off their books isn't a bad thing. I'm not saying it's better outcome than the last 20 years situation, but it's not a disaster.

Many of you are may be too young to remember the 'normalisation' of players picking and choosing tours (for business reasons) in the pre-central contracting amateur days. Or retiring young. So, this doesn't feel much different to me. It was all about whether players 'made themselves available for selection'.

Anyway, much of it I think it is irrelevant - for the test team:
If Trent Boult has played nothing but T20 for the preceding 23 months , then I wouldn't pick him for test cricket. If Trent makes himself available for selection and manages to get through even a single FC game for ND, then I'd pick him.

The soft side/feels side of the team morale equation can and should be managed by the team coach.manager. Not by a selection availibilty criteria set out by the CEO etc.

 

[Athlai]

Trent Boult showing he is fit should be all that's required for Test selection. Regardless of the origin of central contracts, you have to acknowledge that T20 and the lucrative contracts involved have made us enter a new era of how players will be planning their futures.

And on the side of Test team selection?
Boult is an ATG NZ Test Bowler. If he is fit, I don't care if he hasn't played a Test in 2 years, he IS the better option. Outside of Southee, Henry and Jamieson, we don't have any current players that could even begin to keep him out based on merit alone.

 

[Immenso]

Trent Boult showing he is fit should be all that's required for Test selection. Regardless of the origin of central contracts, you have to acknowledge that T20 and the lucrative contracts involved have made us enter a new era of how players will be planning their futures.

And on the side of Test team selection?
Boult is an ATG NZ Test Bowler. If he is fit, I don't care if he hasn't played a Test in 2 years, he IS the better option. Outside of Southee, Henry and Jamieson, we don't have any current players that could even begin to keep him out based on merit alone.

I think I pretty much agree, and that a player of Boult's status would be worth 'risking'.

But, I think he will start losing that >4 overs resilience. Picking him at Mt Maunganui this summer when it was only 6 months since his last red ball game. would have been no risk, pretty standard in fact. Picking him next summer when it is 18 months since , and he's 34, I dunno. The year after ...

As an aside, the fitness of the 'franchise mercenaries' will be the interesting thing. Seen some players outside of the contracts system get tubby very quickly (Craig Cachopa, Dean Foxcroft etc). Understand that Boult's access to S & C coaching would be greater than the two I mention, with the MI becoming a global almost year-round team rather than a pop-up team. But ... something to keep an eye on.

 

[Mike5181]

Trent Boult showing he is fit should be all that's required for Test selection. Regardless of the origin of central contracts, you have to acknowledge that T20 and the lucrative contracts involved have made us enter a new era of how players will be planning their futures.

And on the side of Test team selection?
Boult is an ATG NZ Test Bowler. If he is fit, I don't care if he hasn't played a Test in 2 years, he IS the better option. Outside of Southee, Henry and Jamieson, we don't have any current players that could even begin to keep him out based on merit alone.

It seems like a no-brainer in terms of skill, but if you start blocking talent like Shipley from making the side to accommodate 34-35 year old part-timers, you risk losing them altogether. Not everyone is going to hang around like Will Young did until he's 30 odd.

 

[Athlai]

It seems like a no-brainer in terms of skill, but if you start blocking talent like Shipley from making the side to accommodate 34-35 year old part-timers, you risk losing them altogether. Not everyone is going to hang around like Will Young did until he's 30 odd.

I don't mind Boult missing minor series but the fact he wasn't called up when Jamieson was injured seemed absolutely mad.

 

[Immenso]

It seems like a no-brainer in terms of skill, but if you start blocking talent like Shipley from making the side to accommodate 34-35 year old part-timers, you risk losing them altogether. Not everyone is going to hang around like Will Young did until he's 30 odd.

To pose the other side, though.

How much extra would a Will Young or Henry Shipley's NZC contracts be worth with approximately six-to-ten 32 to 36 year olds off NZCs central contracting books?

Or, if talking from a playing side and meaning these 2 examples also opted to turn down central contracts, they'd still be available.

 

[Immenso]

One thing I will say - as shown by the example of "The Hero of Bombay" Ajaz Patel replacing 'no-name chucker' Mathew Khunemann at Durham only after the no-name was injured. Is that the vast majority of NZ cricketers need the blackcaps as both a shop window and a here-and-now income.

 

[jcas0167]

Can't access the ODT article but per Facebook group:

"Dean Foxcroft's bid to upgrade his domestic playing status from qualifying player to residential player has been successful.

The ICC will still have to sign off before he can represent New Zealand at international level.

But essentially he now has NZC’s endorsement."

Foxcroft gets status upgrade

He is Kiwi as now. Well, almost. That accent is still pretty thick, but South African-born all-rounder Dean Foxcroft has cleared an important...

www.odt.co.nz

 

[The Hutt Rec]

I’ve got no issue if the player’s union works out some year sabbatical thing for long term players, or they want to miss an overseas tour for a league (pretty much happens already).

We don’t really know if these options were looked at with Boult or not, they did mention at the time there’d been a lot of negotiations and trying to make it work.

But we already saw this year the Super Smash wasn’t up to much quality-wise with our various squads in Pakistan and the likes of Boult, CDG, Neesham, Guptill gone. Long term if we keep losing players like that and lowering the quality of our domestic cricket, it’s going to affect the next generation coming through, not getting that tough domestic experience. So I’m open to some special exemptions to let players go get the coin, but they need to be available for the home season at the least (at least until the IPL happens, which is already a big concession).

That basically rules out the Big Bash and the UAE leagues for our players, but that’s life. Plenty of other leagues to sign up for.

 

[RMBolton]

I’ve got no issue if the player’s union works out some year sabbatical thing for long term players, or they want to miss an overseas tour for a league (pretty much happens already).

We don’t really know if these options were looked at with Boult or not, they did mention at the time there’d been a lot of negotiations and trying to make it work.

But we already saw this year the Super Smash wasn’t up to much quality-wise with our various squads in Pakistan and the likes of Boult, CDG, Neesham, Guptill gone. Long term if we keep losing players like that and lowering the quality of our domestic cricket, it’s going to affect the next generation coming through, not getting that tough domestic experience. So I’m open to some special exemptions to let players go get the coin, but they need to be available for the home season at the least (at least until the IPL happens, which is already a big concession).

That basically rules out the Big Bash and the UAE leagues for our players, but that’s life. Plenty of other leagues to sign up for.

That's NZC's current policy, renewed in the latest contracts.

IPL: Yes
County Cricket/Blast/The Hundred/CPL/probably MLC: Yes, subject to tours
BBL/SA20/PSL/ILT20/BPL: No.

 

[honestbharani]

I would actually suggest Hyderabad would be a great base. And also probably the best place to taste a cross section of all kinds of Indian cuisine. Plus its not a dry state.

@Moss - the aerial shots they showed of the Hyd stadium just now shows a Metro station right next to it. So should not be that hard to get from the city.

 

[Immenso]

BTW, that NZ U19 team named. Will play in a qualifying tournament in Darwin in June.

"The squad will join Fiji, Indonesia, Japan, Papua New Guinea, Samoa and Vanuatu in the qualifying pool, with the top team qualifying for the World Cup."

 

[ataraxia]

BTW, that NZ U19 team named. Will play in a qualifying tournament in Darwin in June.

"The squad will join Fiji, Indonesia, Japan, Papua New Guinea, Samoa and Vanuatu in the qualifying pool, with the top team qualifying for the World Cup."

Dammit, would've been a perfect tournament for Ollie White to show his mettle it seems