2020/21 New Zealand Domestic Season

[straw man]

About time - he was terrible after coming back from injury last season. Bled runs all over the place, will be keen to see how he goes outside new ball spells this season.

 

[SteveNZ]

Rae to Colin - 6, 6, 6, W haha

Absolute alpha behaviour from Dutchy. Bloody great. Imagine thinking you're good enough to come around the wicket wearing a white sweat band and not being Chris Martin and thinking you're near good enough to bowl that stuff at CdG.

Looks like he's wintered well, old Dutchy. Well fed

 

[Flem274*]

I mentioned in the other thread how R O'Donnell has a rather weak average for someone initially talked up a fair bit, though he is still only 26. Looking around the domestics there are more batsmen like this than I initially realised.

So here it is, Battle Of The Mid-20s Batsmen Who've Been Around A Bit By Now And It's About Time To Start Averaging 40 Plus Like Greg Hay.
O'Donnell (Auck, 26) - 2513 @ 30.6
Solia (Auck, 27) - 1215 @ 30.4
L Carter (Cant, 25) - 1551 @ 31.0
Bowes (Cant, 28) - 2835 @ 27.2
McConchie (Cant, 28) - 1680 @ 32.9
J Carter (ND, 27) - 2293 @ 30.6
Renwick (Otago, 27) - 1194 @ 24.4
Kelly (Otago, 27) - 727 @ 22.7

Only encouraging signs from the two Carters so far this season.

it's not diplomatic to say but i think these guys just aren't good. o'donnell was popular on the forum as an age group player because he was well spoken and coaches/media rated him, but he hasn't delivered and in more ruthless sporting environments like first class rugby his head would be one of the first on the block for another player.

solia and mcconchie i give some leeway to because one is an allrounder and the other has improved recently but the rest and a few others are fortunate to still have careers. i understand it is a lot harder to bat in the shield now than it was back when munro and ingram were smoking medium pacers through the line on highways but the change is welcome. i looked at the career records for otago's batting last summer and they're borderline not a fc standard batting side. their best batsman by far is rutherford and despite having a great eye he only averages 35.

edit - this post was made before checking the scores. joe carter 146* lol

 

[Chewie]

it's not diplomatic to say but i think these guys just aren't good. o'donnell was popular on the forum as an age group player because he was well spoken and coaches/media rated him, but he hasn't delivered and in more ruthless sporting environments like first class rugby his head would be one of the first on the block for another player.

solia and mcconchie i give some leeway to because one is an allrounder and the other has improved recently but the rest and a few others are fortunate to still have careers. i understand it is a lot harder to bat in the shield now than it was back when munro and ingram were smoking medium pacers through the line on highways but the change is welcome. i looked at the career records for otago's batting last summer and they're borderline not a fc standard batting side. their best batsman by far is rutherford and despite having a great eye he only averages 35.

edit - this post was made before checking the scores. joe carter 146* lol

Carter also got two centuries in one of the last games last season

 

[The Hutt Rec]

Absolute alpha behaviour from Dutchy. Bloody great. Imagine thinking you're good enough to come around the wicket wearing a white sweat band and not being Chris Martin and thinking you're near good enough to bowl that stuff at CdG.

Looks like he's wintered well, old Dutchy. Well fed

Dunno if you can really describe CDG as alpha, the most softly spoken man in professional sport.

 

[straw man]

it's not diplomatic to say but i think these guys just aren't good. o'donnell was popular on the forum as an age group player because he was well spoken and coaches/media rated him, but he hasn't delivered and in more ruthless sporting environments like first class rugby his head would be one of the first on the block for another player.

solia and mcconchie i give some leeway to because one is an allrounder and the other has improved recently but the rest and a few others are fortunate to still have careers. i understand it is a lot harder to bat in the shield now than it was back when munro and ingram were smoking medium pacers through the line on highways but the change is welcome. i looked at the career records for otago's batting last summer and they're borderline not a fc standard batting side. their best batsman by far is rutherford and despite having a great eye he only averages 35.

edit - this post was made before checking the scores. joe carter 146* lol

I think it's true for some that they just aren't quite at the level, though to be clear I'm not saying it should be heave ho right now for these batsmen - just that the time to start really making big runs is NOW. Not an up-and-comer any more. If you get to 29 or 30 and are still averaging 30 as a specialist bat (especially if you're not an opener), someone else will rightly come and take your place.

Agree the pitches have made a difference last couple of seasons too - there would be an equivalent set of medium pacers (Rae, Bacon, Ferns etc) to those batsmen listed, but they have quite nice-looking stats owing to recent conditions being in their favour.

Oh and yes, Otago's batting absolutely is sub-FC standard and has been for a couple of seasons. Held up a little by Rutherford, semi-retired Broom and engine roomers Smith and Rippon. Wasting Kitchen by moving him all over the order from 1 to 8, which is dumb as he is one who does know how to make a score if given a chance - just put him at 5 pls.

 

[straw man]

Bad start to the season for Ravindra, out to Williams now. That did pitch well outside leg though.

 

[Flem274*]

you know im starting to think we won't win.

 

[Bahnz]

Finn Allen cleaned up by a Mitchell straight ball for another single figure score. I'm sorry guys, but I just don't see it with this kid.

 

[Nintendo]

Is Conway the only Wellington batsmen who gives a ****? So much talent in there lineup and they can't string together a decent performance with the bat.

 

[nzfan]

Another failure for Blundell, just left the bat hanging. Tell you what, Ed Nuttall is looking good, has been without injury for a while and it's paying off.

This is just about starting to worry now. By the time test series starts most our batters will be out of form and barely would have spent much time in the middle. Lucky we have T20s to start with but I'm hoping for at least one or two flat tracks prior the test series starts so that the batsman can feel a bit in. Otherwise all our batters will go with a very negative mindset and bowlers with false sense of security considering the first test is in Hamilton.

Tom Blundell has probably spent less than 50 balls in the middle so far. Rosco has had no time in the middle. Only Tom Latham has been able to spend some time in the middle so far. Forget 100s getting to 50s is getting a bit hard early in the season.

 

[Chewie]

Lets just open with Cooper and Latham instead

 

[The Hutt Rec]

Yeah Blundell is looking like Raval at the start of last season. Hopefully they’re proactive this time and don’t give him test after test of failure until he’s mentally destroyed. He is also keeping for Wellington which can’t help, though.

 

[Prince EWS]

Lets just open with Cooper and Latham instead

Won't even need to pick a spinner if you do that.

 

[Kippax]

Is Conway the only Wellington batsmen who gives a ****? So much talent in there lineup and they can't string together a decent performance with the bat.

The talent in it always came attached with a risk of being style over substance to me though tbh, at least until these guys are closer to 25.

They were sort of the Decile 10 school standouts, more than genuine meanies who were getting out there in the schoolboy and U17/U19 games and just relentlessly giving weak attacks a miserable time, at least three times in a 10-day tourney.

We obviously need to get a better blend of the city kid's self-consciousness, slightly neurotic or judicious mind with the rural kid's penchant for becoming a big U19 hit and then just lacking the drive or the smarts to kick on, not playing a type of cricket the rest of the cricket world really sees any utility in.

 

[Nintendo]

Damn it Conway, all that effort to play a **** shot 6 short.

 

[Flem274*]

sky sport nz have the shieffield shield on sky sport pop up while the plunket shield goes untelevised,

david white why are you so bad?

 

[The Hutt Rec]

sky sport nz have the shieffield shield on sky sport pop up while the plunket shield goes untelevised,

david white why are you so bad?

I saw today Sky are showing every game of the nz soccer premiership ... meanwhile we still can’t get every super smash game televised (even though Spark said they would do that as part of their agreement).

 

[Kippax]

Can a NZ Herald subscriber fill us in on this supposed "first white flag" from Spark re: cricket?

Spark says it's committed to sport; analyst sees Sky bundle as 'first white flag' - NZ Herald

"The start of a way out for Spark," one analyst says. The telco responds.

www.nzherald.co.nz

 

[Bahnz]

Can a NZ Herald subscriber fill us in on this supposed "first white flag" from Spark re: cricket?

Spark says it's committed to sport; analyst sees Sky bundle as 'first white flag' - NZ Herald

"The start of a way out for Spark," one analyst says. The telco responds.

www.nzherald.co.nz

Already have, check out the unofficial nz cricket thread