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*Official* New Zealand tour of UAE and England 2023

The Hutt Rec

International Vice-Captain
Meaningless series and our first game together for months ... we'll be better for the run.

Also I seem to have zero knowledge of any of our games currently. This is another one where I woke up and saw we'd played a game. Zero hype for the Blackcaps in the media atm.
 

Moss

International Vice-Captain
Think it’s fair to say the gap between England and NZ is fairly wide in whiteball cricket atm, NZ’s main XI just seem to have stagnated. From whatever little I watched England’s bowling was pretty exceptional in restricting NZ to 139.

NZ’s bowling needs a reboot after the WC IMO. I’m in the camp that believes Southee is respectable but no more in white ball. Lockie shouldn’t be in the team on the evidence of the last 2 years (sad really, he was indispensable before that), while the lack of a second spinner to keep Sodhi honest is a real problem (again, bad timing with Macewell’s injury).
 

SteveNZ

Cricketer Of The Year
Think it’s fair to say the gap between England and NZ is fairly wide in whiteball cricket atm, NZ’s main XI just seem to have stagnated. From whatever little I watched England’s bowling was pretty exceptional in restricting NZ to 139.

NZ’s bowling needs a reboot after the WC IMO. I’m in the camp that believes Southee is respectable but no more in white ball. Lockie shouldn’t be in the team on the evidence of the last 2 years (sad really, he was indispensable before that), while the lack of a second spinner to keep Sodhi honest is a real problem (again, bad timing with Macewell’s injury).
Do you mean third spinner, given Santner's inclusion?

I agree, Lockie shouldn't be in this side. I don't feel great saying that, I love the guy. But he isn't a threat.

Anyway, I've got no issue with a first-up loss in conditions where the other teams is much more accustomed to them. Looking for a big bounceback
 

Zinzan

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Massively surprised if we win any games against England this series, even with T20 often being a lottery. They look to have us covered in every area & hard to think outside of possibly Conway that any NZ'ders would make England's T20 XI.
 

Zinzan

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NZ’s bowling needs a reboot after the WC IMO. I’m in the camp that believes Southee is respectable but no more in white ball. Lockie shouldn’t be in the team on the evidence of the last 2 years (sad really, he was indispensable before that), while the lack of a second spinner to keep Sodhi honest is a real problem (again, bad timing with Macewell’s injury).
Yeah Southee is a waste of space as a white ball bowler against half decent opposition and it really grates me that it's his captaincy that keeps seeing him selected. Henry & Milne are both superior in both shorter forms, and Jamieson and Ferguson both should be, although I am concerned with the garbage Ferguson seems to have offered up in the last 18 months or so.

The biggest disappointment of all since the WC T20 opener vs. Australia is Finn Allen though who unfortunately is looking more and more like just a slogger with a good eye & nothing more.
 

Molehill

International Captain
Massively surprised if we win any games against England this series, even with T20 often being a lottery. They look to have us covered in every area & hard to think outside of possibly Conway that any NZ'ders would make England's T20 XI.
Can't even see that given England normally open with Buttler but are mixing it around a bit here.

Hopefully NZ offer more for the remaining games because that was pretty one sided.
 

TheBrand

First Class Debutant
The biggest disappointment of all since the WC T20 opener vs. Australia is Finn Allen though who unfortunately is looking more and more like just a slogger with a good eye & nothing more.
Doull's critique of Allen has frustrated me over the past few months, he rated him highly for being able to be aggressive at the top during the T20 World Cup so that Conway/KW could be "touch players" around him and then today he just absolutely tore him to shreds after he got out saying he couldn't rotate the strike etc.

The dude's MO should always be to go hard and aggressive during the powerplay in both T20I and ODI tbh. Building an innings is overrated for him hahaha.
 

Nintendo

Cricketer Of The Year
Massively surprised if we win any games against England this series, even with T20 often being a lottery. They look to have us covered in every area & hard to think outside of possibly Conway that any NZ'ders would make England's T20 XI.
Phillips and chapman would both get into the squad and be a decent chance of playing. Santner may aswell, but given how england have treated dawson I doubt it.
 

kevinw

International 12th Man
Phillips and chapman would both get into the squad and be a decent chance of playing. Santner may aswell, but given how england have treated dawson I doubt it.
Santer wouldn't get in the England squad. They have Mo and Livingstone as good second spinners who offer far more with the bat. And I don't think those batters would get in the squad either tbh. Boult is the only NZ player who'd make the England side.
 

SteveNZ

Cricketer Of The Year
Doull's critique of Allen has frustrated me over the past few months, he rated him highly for being able to be aggressive at the top during the T20 World Cup so that Conway/KW could be "touch players" around him and then today he just absolutely tore him to shreds after he got out saying he couldn't rotate the strike etc.

The dude's MO should always be to go hard and aggressive during the powerplay in both T20I and ODI tbh. Building an innings is overrated for him hahaha.
He's never been a measured commentator.

You're absolutely right, Allen's approach will always be to go hard in the powerplay and that is the best fit for us as a side. And we're not even at a stage where we can be concerned with how he rotates strike outside the powerplay, because it isn't happening enough yet. That was the great slight on Gup's game that he never really developed a game to rotate strike, but the thing Gup did was take full toll on his day/v average bowling/on small grounds (Eden Park).

Gup got there reasonably quickly in ODIs, he made a lot of 50+ scores early on v good sides. Allen, to be fair, has made a few over the past 12 months. Gup's technique got exposed a bit over the years but I don't know if it's that with Allen, he just misses straight balls because he hasn't developed a game plan to hit in certain areas and be patient/watchful enough to keep out the ones he needs to. That waft off Carse the other night was a classic sign of a guy who doesn't know his game. And in the back of every bowler's mind is the World T20 when Afridi had it written on his forehead that he was going to bowl in-swinging full balls to trap him lbw, and Allen fell hook, line and sinker.

I don't know the guy but I hope he's smart enough, and driven enough to work things out.
 

trundler

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Finn Allen is pretty much NZ's Sharjeel Khan. Far too limited to succeed in international cricket but the strike rate keeps fooling people into thinking he can win you games. A 20 from your opener is almost never good enough. His median score is... 14. He's not even going to consistently give you quick cameos. Even if NZ get the quickest of starts in the first 2 overs, the fact that they're guaranteed to lose at least one wicket in the powerplay more than squanders that advantage. NZ could genuinely get that same output out of Neesham or Santner or any other pinch hitter at the start of the innings. Those guys offer more to the side as a whole too, obviously. Of course, there's plenty of time for him to improve but as of now he's just not good enough.
 

Fuller Pilch

Hall of Fame Member
Santer wouldn't get in the England squad. They have Mo and Livingstone as good second spinners who offer far more with the bat. And I don't think those batters would get in the squad either tbh. Boult is the only NZ player who'd make the England side.
??

Santner (1st spinner) is better than Rashid.

And of course Conway and Phillips (world's best fielder and runner between wickets) would make it.

A combined top 4 would be
Buttler
Conway
Malan
Phillips
 
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