***Official*** Australia in New Zealand 2016

[Athlai]

The Craig selection is the YOLO selection though.

It also fits in with the paradoxically conservative ideals McHesson holds. "Need a spinner for the 5th day" etc even though spinners die in NZ. "Show faith in players" even if they've just been destroyed by the same opposition in the most recent tour. I don't necessarily have a problem with either of these ideals, but there's no way Craig would be left out when you consider that he not only fits into the cheerleader's "be aggressive" chant as well as the Georgie Pie loyalty stamp program.

He's a gun slip fielder though.

7/10 Kippaxing.

 

[Prince EWS]

So is Mark Craig. It's the Basin, if king Jeets can only average 34.82 there in the Plunket Shield against total spuds, then what is Craig going to do?

Bat and catch better than Henry or Wagner.

 

[Bahnz]

I really don't like the idea of four seamers when Anderson's at six. It just seems like a waste.

Yeah, but Anderson just isn't a very good bowler in tests yet, and given his recent fitness issues I really don't think he can be relied on for more than 7 or 8 overs in a day.

 

[Prince EWS]

Yeah, but Anderson just isn't a very good bowler in tests yet, and given his recent fitness issues I really don't think he can be relied on for more than 7 or 8 overs in a day.

Yeah, but four and a half seamers to me still seems like a waste.

 

[TheJediBrah]

Bird and Siddle selected ahead of Pattinson

I swear there's something really wrong with these selectors. Pitch will be flat after the first morning and Bird & Siddle will be useless.

 

[Prince EWS]

Bird and Siddle selected ahead of Pattinson

Troll complete!

 

[TheJediBrah]

Apparently there were "questions" about Pattinson's fitness

Bull**** imo

 

[hendrix]

Troll complete!

nah, we needed them to drop Lyon.

 

[indiaholic]

Given his history, that is likely no?

 

[Prince EWS]

nah, we needed them to drop Lyon.

Was always a long shot with Mitch Marsh in the side I think.

 

[Flem274*]

craig won a test against sri lanka the last time he played at the basin

he's a perfectly fine bowler away from the australian pitch offspinner death trap

it was always going to be tough to choose between doug/wagner/henry. they've gone for a tight line and good areas which is fair enough. a big issue when bowling to australia is controlling their scoring, so doug can help with that.

 

[KungFu_Kallis]

As a kiwi no Henry makes me mad. And Bird makes me fear. Both accurate seamers who move it just enough. Both could be gun here.

 

[Bahnz]

craig won a test against sri lanka the last time he played at the basin

he's a perfectly fine bowler away from the australian pitch offspinner death trap

it was always going to be tough to choose between doug/wagner/henry. they've gone for a tight line and good areas which is fair enough. a big issue when bowling to australia is controlling their scoring, so doug can help with that.

Haha, don't be ridiculous. Craig helped pick up a few lower-middle order wickets after Trent and Doug had already done the hard work digging out Sangakkara and Matthews in the second innings. At best you could say that Craig contributed to the win, which is certainly more than you can usually say.

I agree that he's a better bowler than the uber-shunt that turned up in the Australia series, but I'd disagree that he's "a perfectly fine bowler" in most conditions. Even when he's taking wickets he's a run sieve. I remember Graeme Swann noting on TMS that any spinner worth his salt would've picked up 5 or 6 wickets on day 5 at Headingly, and the reason why Craig only finished with 3 was because of all the pies. Whether or not NZ can afford to carry him very much depends on how well Tim and Trent are bowling. That makes him a huge risk in the current circumstances.

 

[Gnske]

he's a perfectly fine bowler away from the australian pitch offspinner death trap

kek

kektoplasm

kekadu national park

 

[OverratedSanity]

craig won a test against sri lanka the last time he played at the basin

he's a perfectly fine bowler away from the australian pitch offspinner death trap

it was always going to be tough to choose between doug/wagner/henry. they've gone for a tight line and good areas which is fair enough. a big issue when bowling to australia is controlling their scoring, so doug can help with that.

That's exactly why Craig would massively hurt NZ's chances.

 

[Flem274*]

you guys got so greedy so quickly post-vettori. always an excuse to explain away craig's wickets or smirk at them.

remember mccullum hiding sodhi from the mighty west indies?

remember that time when jeetan patel won us a-oh yeah that's right i don't either.

 

[Flem274*]

all right then guys who do you pick for spin duties? because that basin wicket is deadset going to be the usual troll top and five seamers is both samey and begging for injuries or day 5 ineffectiveness. which spud do you pick?

the only other blokes who deserve to be there on wickets taken are jeets who lets face it, won't play again and tastle, who none of you like anyway.

 

[Bahnz]

all right then guys who do you pick for spin duties? because that basin wicket is deadset going to be the usual troll top and five seamers is both samey and begging for injuries or day 5 ineffectiveness. which spud do you pick?

the only other blokes who deserve to be there on wickets taken are jeets who lets face it, won't play again and tastle, who none of you like anyway.

Already on the record as saying I wouldn't pick anyone for spin duties. The only real value a spinner has is building pressure by keeping it tight and giving the quicks a rest. You're quite right that there's no obvious candidates for fulfilling this role besides Jeets. Replace Nicholls with Elliot so that we can get some cheap quick overs, and go with 5 quicks (obviously this won't happen but whateva). It's not ideal but it'll have to do.

Also, appreciating the irony of this discussion given that back in the late- Vettori days you were always gagging for 4 quicks while I advocated always playing a spinner.

 

[cnerd123]

I reckon Perry could be vaguely competent in Men's Test cricket on that deck, tbf.

Perry would legit probably be better than Stuart Binny IMO.

 

[hendrix]

Despite my protestations I am actually reasonably happy with the selections we have.

Would have preferred Henry and Wagner over Craig and Bracewell but the difference is not huge. There's also the batting and fielding, with the latter two quite significantly better in both disciplines.

I also think Craig could get in...but that's probably way optimistic. They do have a number of left handers.