I was at every day of this Test, apart from day 5 when I figured it wasn't worth watching us try to haul in 500. So completely missed Southee's blitzkrieg. Tim had made NZ U19 runs and was batting top 4-5 for King's College, so to think 17 years later he'd be averaging 15 (and even that seems generous) was unthinkable.
That's a fair and accurate assessment of Clouderson, tbf.
One player went on to be a wonderful bowler with many fantastic performances around the world, and the other became the battleground for English and Australian posters to discuss for over a decade.
He definitely is the most effective with a new ball - he swings it both ways at a good clip. Although I did hear/read someone saying he'd made a concerted effort to be better with the older ball with a view that it would help him at the selection table. He's a really fit guy, who they think could perform a Wagner role if required - although that's not something I'd want to be doing too much to someone with Smith's skill.
Santner isn't actually in the squad for the first Test, he's joining from the second Test onwards.
Yes the Bazball version of Guptill would not be dissimilar to Zac Crawley who looks 100 times better when given the licence to express himself with a positive mindset. Both look like a million dollars when on song with their ability to hit through the line with their extra long reach.
Yes, that's exactly who I was thinking of
Still think he's gonna be useful IMO.
This has been my feeling for 12 months but bizarrely I don't feel that way for this series. With Sears injured, Smith and Duffy both potential debutants, he needs to be that 3rd seamer
Yep I completely agree with this one. I do think Crawley has a better defensive technique than Gup but part of the issue as well was that Gup so badly wanted to be a good Test opener, but that made him tight in the way he played and uncertain about himself. In ODIs he came out with more confidence, and was world class
His swansong and not captain, he'll probably have a decent time with the ball.
Hope so. On his substack Dylan Cleaver discussed a theory that the weight of captaincy and having to drop friends (Wagner) might have contributed to his declining form.
