Fleming to open in SA tests?

[southern man]

Jeff is a batting all rounder at the moment he is carrying a current injury and cant bowl much, so will only bowl when required.

We arent the best team but most teams will make make ups similar to ours.

 

[Tim]

A good example is that rubbish team Northern Districts, sure they're missing Styris..but thats all.

Matthew Hart at 4?!, Yovich at 5!? & then Robbie Hart at 7? I think in OD cricket Hart is more like a #9, he's a specialist keeper...in 4 innings, Robbie Hart has averaged 8 batting at 7.

 

[anzac]

Batting in test cricket is not really the concern though...I'm happy with the amount of runs some openers or batsmen are scoring at domestic level.

OD batting averages are another story and still very poor.

I'm concerned re the Test middle order as I do not think they are consistant enough re form & there is no competition for places.......there are batsmen scoring runs at FC level but they are not getting into the Test squads to force the issue........

I also think that some of these FC batsmen would have better Shield averages if they got a more consistant run in their Shield teams once the Internationals came back...too much chopping & changing players & batting order to give the Internationals preference...........an unfortunate side effect for playing in a successful State side...........

 

[anzac]

Jeff is a batting all rounder at the moment he is carrying a current injury and cant bowl much, so will only bowl when required.

We arent the best team but most teams will make make ups similar to ours.

which supports my arguement that there are not enough specialist batsmen in the squads........

 

[Tim]

Chopping & Changing happens in any domestic competition around the world when international players come & go...the players who play the majority of the games should be well aware of this & to minimise the risk of being dropped for the international players, put the runs or wickets up on the board..it's as simple as that.

 

[southern man]

Jeff is currentley one of the most inform batsmen in the country is is averaging around 50.
James Franklin also bats fro wellington at 5.
Tama Canning bas for Auckland at 4 or 5.

 

[anzac]

A good example is that rubbish team Northern Districts, sure they're missing Styris..but thats all.

Matthew Hart at 4?!, Yovich at 5!? & then Robbie Hart at 7? I think in OD cricket Hart is more like a #9, he's a specialist keeper...in 4 innings, Robbie Hart has averaged 8 batting at 7.

what it shows is a lack of depth outside the big 3 in Auckland, Wellington & Canterbury..........

ND did well to hang in the Shield comp last year & the Marshalls & Horsely played a big part in their batting.......

look at how many players they loose to International duty....Vettori, Styris, Tuffey, R Hart, Butler & now H Marshall in ODIs.......that's up to 5 / 12 at any given time for Tests or ODIs - when you look at their resources no wonder they have been crap this season!!!!!

perhaps part of the long term solution is for NZCC to look at the issue regarding resources & try to introduce some sort of draft or whatever to even it out - better for the domestic comp & more consistant for the players..........

 

[southern man]

Otago is haas got a good base of some new youngsters and rep players.
We will be a good force in the next few years.
We also have one of the best development coaches in the country in Mark Bracewell.

 

[Tim]

Yeah but that was the same story with Northern Districts last season & somehow they won the State Shield...they would have been lucky to get Vettori, Tuffey & Styris especially for more than 3 matches.

I think Canterbury are really the only side who bat at least 5/6 specialist batsmen...and so it's also no coincidence that they're at the top of the table.

 

[anzac]

Jeff is currentley one of the most inform batsmen in the country is is averaging around 50.
James Franklin also bats fro wellington at 5.
Tama Canning bas for Auckland at 4 or 5.

problem is that they are all primarily bowling allrounders as opposed to batting allrounders - and you're not likely to get too many specialist batsmen selected below them even if they are batting at 4 or 5.........

 

[Tim]

Actually the points table is quite close, but when you move across to net run-rate, thats when it really tells the story.

Canterbury have a net run-rate of +0.375
Auckland are next with +0.297
followed by C.D with +0.097
the others are all in the negatives.

 

[southern man]

With Canterbury i wouldint be surprised if they lose a couple of their good young players due to to much depth.

 

[anzac]

Yeah but that was the same story with Northern Districts last season & somehow they won the State Shield...they would have been lucky to get Vettori, Tuffey & Styris especially for more than 3 matches.

I think Canterbury are really the only side who bat at least 5/6 specialist batsmen...and so it's also no coincidence that they're at the top of the table.

agreed but as I said the Marshall's & Horsley mainly did the necessary with the bat........this season the openers haven't been consistant & H Marshall's not been there to back them up......having the Internationals back is a bonus but could have come at cruicial times.......

 

[Tim]

That wouldn't be a bad thing at all, infact they should send some of them south to Otago to keep the competition healthy.

 

[southern man]

YIP
I would love to see some one like a Niel Broon down here or a Shanoon Stewart, we cant hold these players back.
They need timwe out in the middle.

 

[Dougie Rydal]

I think Canterbury are starting to develop another strong team as they did back in the early 90's when we saw, Astle, Harris, Cairns etc come through. Now we are seeing Papps, Fulton, Broom etc. I really rate these 3 players...

Papps - gutsy batsman with the ability to play long innings. Is a cert to play for NZ in the not too distant future.
Fulton - elegant strokemaker, very tall and hits well down the ground. Will play for NZ, further down the track.
Broom - probably the most naturally talented of them all, but needs more exposure at State level, as he has a habit of getting starts and then throwing it away.

Also players like Aaron Redmond who seem to have been around for ages is only 23, and is very young in terms of leg spin bowlers. I'm sure he will only get better and better.

Perhaps where Canty aren't bringing too many through is in the pace bowling ranks, although Wade Cornelius if he will ever be fully fit again is capable of bowling very fast spells. But i suspect injuries mean he won;t be the player he could've been.

 

[thierry henry]

Open with McIntosh in the tests. I don't care if we only score 2 an over, as long as we have the two best openers available. If he keeps scoring runs, get Fulton into the team asap. A year or two of good scoring and we should chuck Jesse Ryder in there as well.

 

[Tim]

Apparently they are using the North v South fixture as a trial for places in the ODI series against South Africa.
It's going to be 50 overs, rather than that 25 over format they tried.

I'm not too sure of origins of some of the players so I won't go naming the two teams I think will get selected at this stage.

I'd say the NZ 'A' fixtures v Sri Lanka 'A' will be more of a trial for places on the tour of England.

 

[Kent]

Tim - Aren't you slightly underestimating how difficult scoring consistent one-day runs on slow wickets against medium-pacers actually is? Gavin Larsen was hardly ever dominated at home, and many of the best batsmen in the world tried and failed. Then you add the s***y variable bounce, particularly at these summer holiday venues.

Our domestic one-day cricket really does seem stuck in the early '90s, but the surfaces are largely to blame. The selectors have to try to pick more on technique and potential because of this. Exhibit 'A' is Hamish Marshall, and I think we'd all be surprised how many others actually have the skills to make a similar go of it.

 

[Tim]

Fair call Kent, yeah there's no doubt that the pitches aren't the best here in New Zealand.

Maybe they should be looking to play more matches down in Alexandra or something? lol