*Official* 2022 New Zealand Tour of England, Ireland, Scotland & Netherlands

[nzfan]

Ravindra needs to do some excellent work in the winter training (or an overseas gig if he can get one) with bat and ball or else Bracewell could well get his 3rd (or 2nd) spinner's spot in the tests in Pakistan (despite Macewell's terrible Plunket Shield).

They'll play Bracewell ahead of all non contracted players which is a given. That's the way things work and that's why he's the 16th and not Rutherford or Ravindra. It's not about the money that you get from contract that's important for the players but players will tell you if you are contracted more often than not you are preferred over others. Going by how they have gone about so far I don't think we are going to see Rachin much. Shame really, he's such a good player. Even purely as a batsman he's very capable. He should have converted those several fifties and good starts he had this season. Being in the squad and not bowling enough has cost him his bowling. Looking back probably it was best for him to have been released to play domestic cricket rather than sitting around in the shed with the black caps particularly at a young age. Same is happening with Allen, he's in the IPL side but didn't get a game.

I think a bit of up and down for young players will help. Finn Allen lost his spot for T20 WC, Ben Sears out of reckoning as well. Although I'd expect both Allen and Sears to be present vs Dutch, Scotland etc... I won't be surprised if Bracewell is named captain of the t20 side to take on Dutch, Scotland etc. such is his good fortune at the moment. Unbelievable rise from not even being the best player in the firebirds. Hard to predict the future but Bracewell could just go on to become someone like Devon Conway like Stead and Larsen would hope or will wilt under the immense pressure to perform with the bat and ball in long format and lose out on what he's better suitable for i.e. white ball.

 

[Bahnz]

If Henry produces another top-class performance at Lord's, Boult may not get back in the side.

Boult's record with the Duke is absolutely outstanding. There's no way he won't be playing the 2nd test.

 

[Flem274*]

If Michael Bracewell becomes as good as Devon Conway I will run naked down Victoria Street on a Friday night

 

[Flem274*]

If Michael Bracewell becomes as good as Devon Conway I will run naked down Victoria Street on a Friday night

acting like i don't already do this

 

[HeathDavisSpeed]

Really interesting discussions here. Some nice articulations of both the underlying concerns/discomfort about how this tour has been approached, but some of the specific examples of how that discomfort might manifest. I've been a bit divorced from cricket this summer just gone (perhaps due to no Basin Reserve test and no Spark Sport?) and some of this discussion is a bit more of an eye-opener for me than it would have been in the past.

 

[Zinzan]

I see Stead has intimated Henry will likely miss out on the 1st test, even with Boult also looking highly unlikely. Suggesting they'll go with the 3 seamers of Southee, Jamieson & Wagner, with the allrounder & Patel.

If we've learned nothing else about Matt Henry over the years, we must have established he should be a dead cert with a duke's ball. I'm perplexed with the reasoning behind it. Henry was MOTM in the 2nd test vs. England (prior to the WTC final) and then actually performed in NZ conditions for about the first time ever in the NZ season.

 

[SteveNZ]

Yeah, that's an interesting one. I love Wagner like I love thick socks on a winter's night, but I think we could all agree that Henry>Wagner with a Duke in English conditions.

 

[Fuller Pilch]

Also I like KJ as 1st change. You see off the new ball bowlers and all seems good. Then you see a 6ft 8in monster handing his sweater and sunnies to the umpire...

 

[nzfan]

I see Stead has intimated Henry will likely miss out on the 1st test, even with Boult also looking highly unlikely. Suggesting they'll go with the 3 seamers of Southee, Jamieson & Wagner, with the allrounder & Patel.

If we've learned nothing else about Matt Henry over the years, we must have established he should be a dead cert with a duke's ball. I'm perplexed with the reasoning behind it. Henry was MOTM in the 2nd test vs. England (prior to the WTC final) and then actually performed in NZ conditions for about the first time ever in the NZ season.

Where did you get that from? I thought Henry was a shoo in.

 

[Moss]

Fingers crossed on Kane's elbow. He hasn't had a longish inning for a while and hope the issue is gone away otherwise we will likely have Mitchell, Nicholls, Bracewell, Blundell and CDG making up the middle order. Kane out and it looks a very shaky batting order. Kane in worse form is better than some of these players in best form. Time for Devon to blast two triple hundreds in the series and make up for it.

If there is an absence in the middle order (it’s Nicholls for this test, might be Kane at some point), why not just bring in the reserve opener (Rutherford) and bat the likes of Young and Conway in the middle where they belong. While Latham-Rutherford isn’t the greatest opening combination it’ll make that middle order look a lot better. Won’t happen of course, as he’s not named in the 15.

I also feel Williamson may benefit from dropping down to no.4, would be a slightly better way of getting back into test cricket and provides some calmness to the middle order. Especially since Conway really seems to enjoy batting in the top 3.

 

[Zinzan]

Where did you get that from? I thought Henry was a shoo in.

"At the moment, we think it's unlikely that Henry will play," Stead said. "Obviously with the Covid, that just put him back a week or so from where we were wanting but he is progressing really well. I think he's an unlikely starter so we will hold Michael Bracewell here as extra cover within the squad."

Henry Nicholls, Trent Boult doubtful for first Test against England

New Zealand name 15-man squad with Michael Bracewell also retained as cover

www.espncricinfo.com

 

[Fuller Pilch]

I read the article and the Henry in that quote refers to Henry Nicholls, not Matt Henry. It is only Cricinfo staff who are picking MH won't play (probably because TS, KJ, and NW are all ranked in the top 10 bowlers in the world). Stead didn't say anything about pace bowlers except saying Boult was arriving later in the day.

 

[Chewie]

Yea that's Henry Nicholls, he had covid on top of his hamstring tear

 

[Xix2565]

Yea that's Henry Nicholls, he had covid on top of his hamstring tear

Ouch.

 

[Shady Slim]

Yea that's Henry Nicholls, he had covid on top of his hamstring tear

yeah jeez that sucks esp given most people get covid on their lungs

 

[Flem274*]

Matt Henry was our second best bowler last summer and is now as good as the others in SENA conditions. I think he deserves to retain his spot.

KJ and Wags have looked faded for a wee while now so I think they're competing for one spot. Ajaz should play.

 

[Days of Grace]

So, we're looking at:

Young
Latham
Williamson*
Conway
Mitchell
Blundell+
de Grandhomme
Jamieson
Henry
Southee
Patel

de Grandhomme is a definite 4th seamer in English conditions provided he is back to near his best. It would be very cruel for Henry to miss out after finally coming good in a home series.

That batting order is extremely top heavy. Any chance of Fletcher over Blundell? Cricinfo seems to be rating his chances.

 

[Blenkinsop]

I wouldn't worry about the batting. England have been terrible at finishing off the tail for years. Southee and Henry/Boult/Wagner will Bumrah us everywhere.

 

[Moss]

I wouldn't worry about the batting. England have been terrible at finishing off the tail for years. Southee and Henry/Boult/Wagner will Bumrah us everywhere.

True, but this is balanced out by the fact that all of the above (plus Jaimeson, perhaps minus Wagner) don’t exactly put a price on their wickets, and as South Africa showed can be bounced out easily.

Wood would have been ideal against them, actually. That plus the fact that he was the one bowler to trouble Conway last year means NZ will probably be relieved he’s not in the side. Is Potts a chance to debut?

 

[Uppercut]

Lord’s apparently have thousands of unsold tickets, its games used to be guaranteed sell-outs. Taking place over a big bank holiday too.

Obviously that’s partly because they’ve set the price too high, but English cricket is in a really terrible place in terms of interest in the national team and sport more generally. There aren’t even any England fans posting in here ffs.