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Black Caps Squad

straw man

straw man

Hall of Fame Member
Definitely a feeling that the exceptional Conway/Ravindra partnership (and the less acknowledged performance of Boult+Henry+Santner) hid the fact that we got away with one in our bowling vs England - it was bizarre to pick Neesham over Sodhi there and I hope we don't do that again.
 
Prince EWS

Prince EWS

Global Moderator
It does show that Kimber is right in a way about the small squad limits creating artificial headaches and weird elevens. If we had 17 man squads then Milne would have played that game.

But I kind of like the artificial selection drama, as a cricket nerd. Scrambling a team together without a couple of temporarily injured players is great theatre. That famous Symonds innings in 2003 might not have happened with bigger squads - he was picked as an allrounder option at #7, not a top 6 bat with Hogg or Harvey at 7. If they could have just called up Hodge, Lehmann, Blewett or whoever to bat 6 they probably would have.
 
Prince EWS

Prince EWS

Global Moderator
Flem274* said:
Same. World cups are a test of squad depth, adaptability and resilience as much as they are a best team v best team. There are always challenges for most sides during them.
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Yeah, crucially World Cups are a test of squad adaptability. If you could have massive squads they'd still test your depth (Milne would have been the depth in the situation we were talking about), but having to make your finisher bat 5 or your sixth bowler become your third seamer in a massive game are all part of the charm IMO.
 
S

SteveNZ

Cricketer Of The Year
It's interesting, isn't it - the bowling is probably a bigger issue at the moment, but the batting is getting more attention. I think it is partly because it's a new and exciting problem to have when we have depth and options.

Bowling might be the bigger issue right now, but we're not talking about it as much. Certainly there's a lot hinging on whether it's 3 frontline seamers, whether that third is Southee or Ferguson, or whether it's Sodhi. Obviously dependent on pitch conditions. If we can get deep in the tournament with Phillips/Mitchell/Rachin etc bowling a fair few overs, that will be one of the great heists of all time.
 
Days of Grace

Days of Grace

International Captain
How do Mitchell-Phillips-Ravindra stack up as a fifth bower against the fifth bowlers of other teams? Are they really that bad? Who has the strongest fifth bowler?
 
Days of Grace

Days of Grace

International Captain
Athlai said:
Pakistan with Nawaz or Shadab is pretty excellent
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They still went around the park yesterday, though.

If the majority of pitches are going to be flat, the fifth bowler won't be as much of a point of difference, imo. Everyone is going to get hammered.
 
Athlai

Athlai

Not Terrible
Days of Grace said:
They still went around the park yesterday, though.

If the majority of pitches are going to be flat, the fifth bowler won't be as much of a point of difference, imo. Everyone is going to get hammered.
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Yeah I reckon this is accurate. Though less likely to go for 90 odd in 10 overs admittedly.
 
CricAddict

CricAddict

Cricketer Of The Year
Days of Grace said:
How do Mitchell-Phillips-Ravindra stack up as a fifth bower against the fifth bowlers of other teams? Are they really that bad? Who has the strongest fifth bowler?
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This may not look reasonable considering how the English batsmen thrashed him yesterday but Mehedi Hasan Miraz is the best 5th bowler among the sides in this tournament and Mahedi Hasan is the best 6th considering he is in the side primarily as a bowler.
 
Days of Grace

Days of Grace

International Captain
Next game is Afghanistan and the last of the games that we will be overwhelming favorites for. Now is the time to actually give Sodhi and Southee a run, especially the former. Or we can wait until one of the games against the big teams which we can afford to drop.

If Sodhi plays for one of the quicks then I think we should drop Chapman and bring in Neesham so he can be the third seamer. Chapman has really done nothing wrong but at the same time he hasn't done anything because he doesn't bowl and bats at no.7 in a side that is winning everything.
 
thundaboult

thundaboult

International Debutant
RossTaylorsBox said:
We should really beat Sri Lanka. Australia too, except we have a massive mental block.
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Hopefully we approach the aussie game like how we did last year in the t20 wc. Calculated aggression, try to land the first punch before they do, and then unrelenting pressure. Much longer format this time but i'll choose to be optimistic about our chances.
 
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straw man

straw man

Hall of Fame Member
Days of Grace said:
Next game is Afghanistan and the last of the games that we will be overwhelming favorites for. Now is the time to actually give Sodhi and Southee a run, especially the former. Or we can wait until one of the games against the big teams which we can afford to drop.

If Sodhi plays for one of the quicks then I think we should drop Chapman and bring in Neesham so he can be the third seamer. Chapman has really done nothing wrong but at the same time he hasn't done anything because he doesn't bowl and bats at no.7 in a side that is winning everything.
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Yes to giving Sodhi a run, no to dropping Chapman for Neesham imo.

Chapman is a better batsman than Neesham, it's a rare situation but we don't really need Neesham's bowling. If Chapman fails each of the next 2-3 matches then consider dropping him, but give him that chance first.
 
P

Punk01

School Boy/Girl Captain
Ffs

Hope Williamsons left thumb is alright , that looked scary , X-ray scans today
If he's not fully fit , let him rest vs afg, so that he can be good in future matches

Will Young will slot in at 3
 
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