New Zealand doom and gloom thread

[HeathDavisSpeed]

I remember being hugeley frustrated at some of those 'A" teams with averages ages of 29. But when I tried to come up with alternatives it was doing things like picking hail-marys like Tim Robinson based on one FC century etc etc

The next few 'A' teams should be quite fun. I don't think we are looking at another 88-92 generation. But we are looking at an above average looking crop IMO.

Fair point. This is particularly true or valid for top order batsmen.

 

[Flem274*]

I'm just not sure what you gain from playing guys like Young, Nicholls, Bruce or the SP. You know what you're gonna get from them. If there was a sudden middle order emergency and you needed to select Bruce, then his appearance or not for the A team isn't going to make you think differently about what his returns are likely to be. Sure, some experience is needed in the A team.

If I look back to that NZ A vs. Australia A series, the only players below 30 were Foxcroft (25), O'Donnell (29) and Duffy (29).

2nd Test, in came Mitch Hay, Abbas, Ashok and O'Rourke but that squad is still suffering from the same maturity bias as the Test team. Of the batsmen in that first test (and the 2nd for that matter) they're going to be retiring or declining at exactly the same time as Mitchell, Williamson, Nicholls, Young, Conway etc. Great that Abbas was there, but Cooper and Solia are not realistically replacements for Latham/Conway.

Fair, but I think it's less about learning and more about challenging the immediate reserves as much as possible. We know they can go big in domestic cricket but we might need them to play 2 tests in India or England.

 

[Athlai]

Young is a perfectly serviceable wider squad guy that can serve as injury cover if we are down 2-3 batsman.

 

[RMBolton]

I like the snippet on Max Chu being the best gloveman (which I will now take as the literal gospel truth 4ever), because I'm never otherwise going to know who has the best keeping skills domestically. Most relevant for test wicketkeeper and if he keeps performing then yes could line up to succeed Blundell. M Hay the other leading young candidate, by the looks of things.

First though we need a new white-ball keeper to replace Latham, and ideally to relieve Conway of the gloves in T20, and Chu doesn't seem like a white-ball batsman. I would say it will be interesting to see what they decide there, but it will probably just be to change nothing.

I think the white ball keeper will eventually be Allen, but the problem for him is domestically he's behind Fletcher. Ideally he'd take over in FT & SS as the Aces' keeper when he's playing.

 

[Fuller Pilch]

I think the white ball keeper will eventually be Allen, but the problem for him is domestically he's behind Fletcher. Ideally he'd take over in FT & SS as the Aces' keeper when he's playing.

Can't agree. Having a non-specialist keeper perhaps led to Conway's injury and Allen's batting is genuine x-factor. Besides, he's also one of our best fielders and with G Phillips and Ravindra (and perhaps Clarkson/Foxcroft/Abbas etc to bowl a bit) in the top 6, we can easily pick a keeper at 7. Australia won the 2022? WT20 with Wade at 7 if I remember.

 

[RMBolton]

I wouldn't pick Allen. Not without at least a season as a keeper for Auckland.

My main thinking around Allen getting the gig is that BCs HQ will want a keeper who's guaranteed to make the XI with the bat. Of course, that's with the current outlook. In a post-Stead era, things should be better.

 

[thundaboult]

gary stead and tim southee gtfo

 

[Fuller Pilch]

Team I'd like to see for 1st test vs England

Same top 7 as the current one but with Phillips at 6 and Blundell at 7. Phillips as captain. He will be heavily targeted by T20 leagues but along with Rachin needs be the face of NZ cricket for the next 5 years.

8-11: Smith, Henry, Sears, O'Rourke

Southee is a NZ great so can get a farewell ODI or T20.

I really hope that NZ A is playing a few games this summer as we need more batters putting their hands up and getting international experience. Young and Nicholls are not the answer. Also need our 2 young keepers playing ODIs and T20is this summer.

 

[thundaboult]

i would absolutely, finally, love for us to have a proper spinner who plays each n every single test like how aus do with lyon regardless of venue/conditions...but maybe GP is the answer....would love for him to focus on his batting but he seems like a different animal...has the energy to do everything in all 3 formats

for the love of god i hope he doesn't burtnout, his availability is crucial

 

[Fuller Pilch]

i would absolutely, finally, love for us to have a proper test spinner who plays each n every single game...but maybe GP is the answer....would love for him to focus on his batting but he seems like a different animal...has the energy to do everything in all 3 formats

for the love of god i hope he doesn't burtnout, his availability is crucial

Agree.

Hopefully Ashok develops into a good quality test spinner. For a 22 year-old to already have 3 1st class 5-fers and 1 4-fer on NZ pitches after just 10 games is very promising

 

[wellAlbidarned]

Agree.

Hopefully Ashok develops into a good quality test spinner. For a 22 year-old to already have 3 1st class 5-fers and 1 4-fer on NZ pitches after just 10 games.

I want to believe in Ashok but the conversion rate for quickish, googly dependent leggies transferring to tests isn't great. NZ domestic batsmen just aren't picking him imo.

We need to invest in specialist finger spin, and we need to do it yesterday.

 

[Bahnz]

Team I'd like to see for 1st test vs England

Same top 7 as the current one but with Phillips at 6 and Blundell at 7. Phillips as captain. He will be heavily targeted by T20 leagues but along with Rachin needs be the face of NZ cricket for the next 5 years.

8-11: Smith, Henry, Sears, O'Rourke

Southee is a NZ great so can get a farewell ODI or T20.

I really hope that NZ A is playing a few games this summer as we need more batters putting their hands up and getting international experience. Young and Nicholls are not the answer. Also need our 2 young keepers playing ODIs and T20is this summer.

Agreed, with a question mark around Blundell. If the rest of his Asian tour goes as badly as we expect, there will be a real question around whether Mitch Hay should get the nod. If Hay can make runs in the first half of the Plunket Shield and Blundell tanks in India I think k give him a crack, especially now that England are Broaderson-less.

 

[RMBolton]

Team I'd like to see for 1st test vs England

Same top 7 as the current one but with Phillips at 6 and Blundell at 7. Phillips as captain. He will be heavily targeted by T20 leagues but along with Rachin needs be the face of NZ cricket for the next 5 years.

8-11: Smith, Henry, Sears, O'Rourke

Southee is a NZ great so can get a farewell ODI or T20.

I really hope that NZ A is playing a few games this summer as we need more batters putting their hands up and getting international experience. Young and Nicholls are not the answer. Also need our 2 young keepers playing ODIs and T20is this summer.

Definitely a T20. It's the one format where he's still good.

 

[Fuller Pilch]

Agreed, with a question mark around Blundell. If the rest of his Asian tour goes as badly as we expect, there will be a real question around whether Mitch Hay should get the nod. If Hay can make runs in the first half of the Plunket Shield and Blundell tanks in India I think k give him a crack, especially now that England are Broaderson-less.

The 1st test against England starts on 28 November.

There are 2 rounds of PS before that with the 3rd round starting on the same day as the 1st test. That way at least those not in the XI can still be playing 1st class cricket I guess.

 

[Moss]

Agreed, with a question mark around Blundell. If the rest of his Asian tour goes as badly as we expect, there will be a real question around whether Mitch Hay should get the nod. If Hay can make runs in the first half of the Plunket Shield and Blundell tanks in India I think k give him a crack, especially now that England are Broaderson-less.

Blundell will be fine at home and anywhere thats not the SC. I think NZ can still bank on 2-3 good seasons from him and among the senior players he’s less of a worry IMO with the Asian cycle coming to an end. I would still start looking for replacements and ease them in through the white ball sides so they’re ready to take over (which is precisely what they should have done with him when he spent all that time as Watling’s understudy).

 

[wellAlbidarned]

yeah blundell doing bad in spin conditions is *suprised pikachu face*, can't read into it too much

 

[Moss]

A popular counter-question I see on social media from people who closely follow NZ cricket is “who would you replace Stead with?”, implying there arent any great candidates at the moment. Do any names come to mind at this point?

 

[govinda indian fan]

A popular counter-question I see on social media from people who closely follow NZ cricket is “who would you replace Stead with?”, implying there arent any great candidates at the moment. Do any names come to mind at this point?

Maybe Fleming or vettori

 

[Flem274*]

A popular counter-question I see on social media from people who closely follow NZ cricket is “who would you replace Stead with?”, implying there arent any great candidates at the moment. Do any names come to mind at this point?

Malan. Fleming. I'm sure there is plenty of coaching talent around.

 

[Red_Ink_Squid]

A popular counter-question I see on social media from people who closely follow NZ cricket is “who would you replace Stead with?”, implying there arent any great candidates at the moment. Do any names come to mind at this point?

Just pick any random Kiwi from CW.


Like, I dunno, Skyliner?