NZTailender
I can't believe I ate the whole thing
In my mind Latham is older than he is, maybe because he's been around so long. He's 31, turning 32 this year. Giving up ODIs is probably something he won't desire because he feels he could make the 2027 world cup, but it is something we should look at if we want the best out of him. Conways 32, turning 33, so even in a best case scenario where they both magically find form, they'll both retire around the same time, so a succession plan is needed, whether that's playing Ravindra in the middle order until one of them does retire, or blooding someone new. I would say though, as class as Ravindra is in the middle order in *checks notes* two innings, the longer we have him there the less natural the transition to opener will be as I can see him missing more and more Plunket Shield in favour of multi format international duties. So for mine, the time is now - this year - or never.
The last time Latham scored a ton was vs Pakistan in the boxing day test of 2022, which was a good un. If we use 1 Jan 2023 as the marker, he's been middling at best, averaging 28.21 - a touch more than Conway, and slightly less than Nicholls (whose average is boosted by the single 200*, whilst Latham had a few 50+ scores in there in a much harder role). Given his more chronic recent lack of form, Conway was under more pressure despite scoring a test century in that time frame, plus that ostentatious WC century. In fact, if we use that same timeframe, Conway has overall been the better all format batsman than Latham, but unlike Conway Latham's lack of form hasn't had articles written in the news. I'm wondering if there's a bit of a team culture problem, in the sense that once they question his spot in the side, it won't just be for Tests, it will be for ODIs, and it seems like a too hard basket thing for Gary to find a Test opener and a ODI wicketkeeper at the same time.
