*Unofficial* New Zealand Black Caps Thread

[Jezroy]

Hey does anyone have a contact in a T20 league who would sign up Timmeh so he can decline a central contract?

TIA

 

[RMBolton]

New Zealand Cricket and the Black Caps were on the end of mixed messages from the ICC in this department, after a backflip over the availability of Ben Sears, the squad’s travelling reserve.

After initially being ruled ineligible to take part in a warm-up, Sears was cleared, but it was too late to arrange a fixture, given the logistics of travelling to the Caribbean

Why didn't Stead &co say so before? People would've been a lot more understanding about the warmup situation if this had been communicated. Doing the maths, Sears being eligible would've been the difference between being able to do what Australia did & not even being able to do that.

 

[RossTaylorsBox]

Wait, why would you be ineligible for a warmup I thought they were throwaway games with no status.

 

[thundaboult]

guys just one glance at southee and steads weasel faces u can tell they wanna take nzc for every last single penny lol

they will never call it quits themselves even if it benefits the group...stead will try a semi final choke finish at the champions trophy and get an extension past mid 2025....southee will play every single game, nathan smith will debut at age 31.

 

[RossTaylorsBox]

If I was looking to make a lot of money I would definitely target the New Zealand Cricket board.

 

[thundaboult]

speaking of...i'm guessing champions trophy next year is the actual likely last hurrah of boult-southee-lockie-sodhi-santner-milne-henry.....trents confirmed that no more world cups for him....and i do have enough faith that by 2026 t20 wc nzc will actually freshen things up quite a bit...expecting jamieson, ashok, milne, smith, henry, santner, fishers, sears, o'rourke, shipley and sears to be involved amongst all 3 formats. Hopefully ewald schreuder has a couple blinding seasons. Need a leftie.

 

[thundaboult]

If I was looking to make a lot of money I would definitely target the New Zealand Cricket board.

If ur southee and stead of course...ipl or bbl ain't payin em

 

[SillyCowCorner1]

Dylan Cleaver reporting this morning that KW will turn down an NZC contract.

Apparently to free him up for overseas leagues instead of Super Smash, while still being available for tests. Hopefully that's how it works out.

Captain of Gujarat Titans confirmed then?

 

[RMBolton]

I actually loved the Super Smash last season. Most invested I've ever been in a T20 competition.

Given I'm not really who these leagues market to it might actually be a bad sign though.

The wonders of full FTA broadcasting. I spent the holidays with my parents; they were tuning in every day, reminiscing in the nostalgia of watching Shell Cup in the old days.

I think there are some issues with SS, & I've complained enough about it, but I think it being relatively low budget helps differentiate it from the franchise leagues. I doubt it would be improved through importing 3rd rate overseas players. It's better off investing where it's really needed - OS players for the WSS. The last thing NZC should do is join the T20 League D*** Measuring Contest to be Second to the IPL. No good will come out of that.

 

[Nintendo]

Can NZ fans fill me in on why stead is so disliked? I've seen him make a few calls I disliked (Bracewell over phillips in Test cricket, tickner and kuggs playing test cricket over Shipley and co when England toured) but he doesnt seem THAT bad.

 

[_Ed_]

Can NZ fans fill me in on why stead is so disliked? I've seen him make a few calls I disliked (Bracewell over phillips in Test cricket, tickner and kuggs playing test cricket over Shipley and co when England toured) but he doesnt seem THAT bad.

I think my main problem with him is that IMO he's done a real disservice to the next generation of NZ players with his reluctance to give opportunities to emerging young talent, and we're going to suffer as a consequence of that when the older group all retire.

EDIT: And Kuggeleijn, of course - as much as I try to put him out of my mind.

 

[HeathDavisSpeed]

The SP being selected at all and also his [Stead’s] craven, obsequious language that suggests we should be lucky to even be participating sometimes.

 

[Moss]

This is 2007-08 all over again where one veteran after another decides to jump ship to T20 leagues. Prioritizing franchise cricket over internationals is a feature not bug obviously, but interesting how it seems to be happening in a clump now. Not proactively introducing new players to the lineup to deal with shocks like this seems very short-sighted, but NZ have to deal with it head on now.

As for Kane, hard to believe that he sees himself as a T20 gun-for-hire but franchise cricket works in funny ways. Getting paid by an IPL side to warm the bench for 2 months is clearly not enough. Let's hope for the best case scenario (that he is able to focus a bit more on tests, high profile ODIs etc.) but with NZC indexing on T20s and an overseas league on just about every month, no idea how he'll be able to manage it. Get the feeling his love for the game has somehow irreparably sapped since the WTC victory 3 years ago.

 

[centurymaker]

Doesn't seem like KW will play into his late 30s. Probably look to retire sometime after the 2026/27 series with 2027 WC being his last tournament.

 

[_Ed_]

Doesn't seem like KW will play into his late 30s. Probably look to retire sometime after the 2026/27 series with 2027 WC being his last tournament.

If his T20 batting takes a bit of a turn for the better again, have to say I'd love him to stick around until 2028 - we're hosting that T20 World Cup with Australia. Would be great to see him raising the bat for a half-century or two in front of sell-out home crowds.

 

[jcas0167]

I think my main problem with him is that IMO he's done a real disservice to the next generation of NZ players with his reluctance to give opportunities to emerging young talent, and we're going to suffer as a consequence of that when the older group all retire.

EDIT: And Kuggeleijn, of course - as much as I try to put him out of my mind.

This has been remedied to an extent in part due to injuries and perhaps Wells coming in as a selector. O'Rourke, Sears, Ravindra have all stepped up pretty well across all formats. Others like Ashok, Foxcroft, Robinson, Clarkson and Foulkes have had some brief opportunities. I think next season maybe Abbas could get an opportunity.

 

[RMBolton]

This has been remedied to an extent in part due to injuries and perhaps Wells coming in as a selector. O'Rourke, Sears, Ravindra have all stepped up pretty well across all formats. Others like Ashok, Foxcroft, Robinson, Clarkson and Foulkes have had some brief opportunities. I think next season maybe Abbas could get an opportunity.

Ashok hasn't exactly made waves, but your first over in ODI cricket being a maiden is pretty badass, especially as a leg spinner. If he manages to recover from his injury & put in some good results, he'll definitely fight Sodhi for a spot.
Foxcroft's entry into international cricket might be a bit spluttery, but you began to see by the end of the Pakistan series that he was beginning to settle in.
Robinson already has a T20I 50 to his name, which is pretty impressive.
Clarkson was decent with the ball on ODI debut vs Bangladesh, & looked confident with the bat by the last T20 in Pakistan.
Foulkes, well, he probably wouldn't get selected if Smith wasn't playing County.

 

[SteveNZ]

Why didn't Stead &co say so before? People would've been a lot more understanding about the warmup situation if this had been communicated. Doing the maths, Sears being eligible would've been the difference between being able to do what Australia did & not even being able to do that.

Yeah, I felt that was a communication error he made. Then he tried to rectify it later on, but the mood was already out there after the Afghanistan loss.

Can NZ fans fill me in on why stead is so disliked? I've seen him make a few calls I disliked (Bracewell over phillips in Test cricket, tickner and kuggs playing test cricket over Shipley and co when England toured) but he doesnt seem THAT bad.

I feel like a lot of the discontent with Stead is the lack of charisma he has as a leader. Ian Foster (ex All Blacks coach) was the same. Both had decent results to point to, but they were really unlikeable. Really boring in the media, Stead gave some truly horrible quotes during his time (we shouldn't expect to win all matches was the nadir), made some poor selections - but Hesson had those - and just generally gave off a really boring, uninspiring vibe that certainly me as a fan, I never felt he was capable of taking this side forward. I've never seen a player publicly support him.

 

[SteveNZ]

Not proactively introducing new players to the lineup to deal with shocks like this seems very short-sighted, but NZ have to deal with it head on now

Yep, this is a major issue. They've clung onto this Test side without much of a succession plan (Ravindra recently the exception) but not so much when you've won two series' in a three-year cycle since the WTC final (both at home, one v South Africa B and the other over a very average Sri Lankan outfit).

 

[Prince EWS]

Wait, why would you be ineligible for a warmup I thought they were throwaway games with no status.

Even if he was somehow ineligible to be in the playing eleven there was an easy way around it - just name someone who isn't there in the XI and let Sears come on as a substitute fielder without batting or bowling.