***Official*** India in New Zealand 2013/14

[hendrix]

I like the bounce he gets more than anything. Probably the most awkward bounce in the Shield.

Yeah except for when Duffy is really firing but he's at least 2 years away. Milne also gets some decent lift too.

 

[Flem274*]

Btw boys, Bevan Small. 21 years old, 29 wickets @ 22 so far whilst playing most of his pro career with a ****ed rib. Hits the deck hard and gets good movement in. Last time he played under the gun was as a 17 year old for the under 19s - consistently high 130s and into the low 140s.

Test debut within two years provided he stays fit. Lock it in.

 

[Kippax]

Flying through at the Basin ftr. Get ready for a br....no actually, don't beat the boss at golf. Play Sodhi.

 

[Sachin95]

I know this is quite random but I hope all of you have seen this..it still tears me up till this day.. Sachin

Thank You Sachin - YouTube

 

[ohnoitsyou]

Just the latest bit of goss i've heard, apparently Karl Johnson is a bit of a control freak, like there always has to be one man on the tractor and one man on the gates at all times etc. So a lot of the better ground staff have left or a planning to leave before he gets back, which is why Seddon Park's coming out all sorts this season.

 

[Flem274*]

That Ferguson bloke is so fun to watch. I'm surprised he hasn't played a little more this season - his style is perfect for bowling at Eden Park.

 

[hendrix]

I know this is quite random but I hope all of you have seen this..it still tears me up till this day.. Sachin

Thank You Sachin - YouTube

Random comment, but I love that Indian singers don't cloud the notes with endless, excessive vibrato like pretty much every Western singer does. I like a bit of vibrato in some soul stuff etc, but most of the time I'd prefer the note to just sound pure (and on key).

 

[Blocky]

That Ferguson bloke is so fun to watch. I'm surprised he hasn't played a little more this season - his style is perfect for bowling at Eden Park.

Quick, gets a lot of bounce and very hard to face.... for two overs. That's always been his issue and I played with him a fair bit at club and a few rep matches on my way out of cricket, he's tried to get more serious with his fitness and pulled off a bit of weight he used to carry, but his major issue has been backing it up - he was the type of guy who couldn't roll his arm over on Tuesday and did it very gingerly on Thursday after a Saturday game.

Interesting stats on Wagner, what they do indicate is how great Boult and Southee are playing at the moment. I still like them as a unit, Wagner just seems to get the guys out that the other two struggle with, and truth be told, I'd take an average of 38.8 against most of the top order he's been bowling against. When you look at recent NZ A performances, no one is standing out as a replacement, no one is bettering his recent test record on A tours. I just don't think we have anyone else proven and ready to go yet. A lot of youth but all have their own issues

The clamour to get Henry in the side, yeah he's compiled some good domestic numbers and is starting to knock on the door, but he didn't take his chances at all on the NZ Tour, averaged 100 a wicket and got tapped pretty badly in limited overs stuff. The reason Bracewell keeps getting re-selected is because on NZ A tours, it's been him and Gillespie that take the lion share of the wickets, the younger players they try don't deliver.

Bennett, just not fit enough to get a test place. McCleneghan, look I'd put him in there but then you've got four left armers in the side if you keep Wagner, Milne, injured and injury prone, Kuggle, not proven it just yet, Gillespie, too old and breaks down too frequently.

As we've seen with players who recently got promotions, NZ A tours are counting for a lot more these days than they used to when selections are made. I think it'll take Henry a season to get past his performances in NZ A.

 

[Blocky]

Not even going to bother with Guptill, his failings as a player are so obvious that people clamouring for a test recall on the back of an innings that confirmed he needs a combination of luck, time and boundaries to have any scoring options aren't worth my time anymore.

Best thing that could happen to NZ Test side is that either Rutherford or Fulton get injured during warm ups and they have to play Ryder. Wonder if they'd ask him to open or get Baz to do it.

 

[Flem274*]

Mitch M is the fourth best left arm pace bowler in the country, and no where near the fourth best seamer in the country.

 

[hendrix]

If Fulton or Rutherford get injured they'll just pick Latham though, rather than moving everyone else around. Ryder is being considered only as a direct replacement for Taylor if he has to miss a test for paternal duties, or if any of the middle order is injured. Thankfully it seems unlikely they'll ask him to open.

 

[Flem274*]

Basically what they're saying is Ryder and McCullum are only going to be considered as middle order batsmen and they won't make the shuffle which is a popular solution on CW and in the media, and the selectors think McCullum is a better batsman than Ryder.

 

[ohnoitsyou]

Quick, gets a lot of bounce and very hard to face.... for two overs. That's always been his issue and I played with him a fair bit at club and a few rep matches on my way out of cricket, he's tried to get more serious with his fitness and pulled off a bit of weight he used to carry, but his major issue has been backing it up - he was the type of guy who couldn't roll his arm over on Tuesday and did it very gingerly on Thursday after a Saturday game.

Interesting stats on Wagner, what they do indicate is how great Boult and Southee are playing at the moment. I still like them as a unit, Wagner just seems to get the guys out that the other two struggle with, and truth be told, I'd take an average of 38.8 against most of the top order he's been bowling against. When you look at recent NZ A performances, no one is standing out as a replacement, no one is bettering his recent test record on A tours. I just don't think we have anyone else proven and ready to go yet. A lot of youth but all have their own issues

The clamour to get Henry in the side, yeah he's compiled some good domestic numbers and is starting to knock on the door, but he didn't take his chances at all on the NZ Tour, averaged 100 a wicket and got tapped pretty badly in limited overs stuff. The reason Bracewell keeps getting re-selected is because on NZ A tours, it's been him and Gillespie that take the lion share of the wickets, the younger players they try don't deliver.

Bennett, just not fit enough to get a test place. McCleneghan, look I'd put him in there but then you've got four left armers in the side if you keep Wagner, Milne, injured and injury prone, Kuggle, not proven it just yet, Gillespie, too old and breaks down too frequently.

As we've seen with players who recently got promotions, NZ A tours are counting for a lot more these days than they used to when selections are made. I think it'll take Henry a season to get past his performances in NZ A.

See i just don't get how Bennet isn't fit enough, he bowls 15-20+ a day regularly in FC cricket. What we saw at Eden Park was him putting 6 effort balls in an over. IMO we would only need 3-4 short sharp spells from him a day which i think he is capable of providing.

An A-tour in the sub continent should count for jack all when your selecting players to play at home (especially when it was 6 months ago). Many a fast bowler has struggled on their first trip there. In saying that Milne absolutely gunned in there, Wheeler wasn't selected and Bracewell and Gillespie did pretty average themselves.

Henry has been bowling excellent stuff across two seasons on some very flat wickets. Even on the A-tour he bowled very well in a couple of games for little reward in between being tonked (which happens to bowlers as good as Southee and J Anderson).

 

[Flem274*]

...

Cheers for the Ferguson info.

In their defence, Wheeler and Henry consistently outbowl Bracewell and Gillespie in the Plunket Shield. Bracewell and Gillespie have toured Asia before, and Henry hasn't, so they had an advantage there.

 

[ohnoitsyou]

Not even going to bother with Guptill, his failings as a player are so obvious that people clamouring for a test recall on the back of an innings that confirmed he needs a combination of luck, time and boundaries to have any scoring options aren't worth my time anymore.

Best thing that could happen to NZ Test side is that either Rutherford or Fulton get injured during warm ups and they have to play Ryder. Wonder if they'd ask him to open or get Baz to do it.

I would bet that Guptill would have more sucess as a test match opener than Ryder.

Look just take a read of this scorecard and maybe find some highlights on the vault and tell me that Guptill is as **** as you're making out. He's having no problems constructing innings at a first class level, his headspace is obviously fine there, meaning that he is capable of getting there at a test match level as well. This is a guy who has just scored 3 40+ scores in 7 ODI innings, who has been an absolute gun in the past and will be again.

Remember the WI series were he was the only batsmen to step up, before he started to get mentally ****ed

Central Districts v Auckland at Napier, Dec 12-15, 2013 | Cricket Scorecard | ESPN Cricinfo

 

[Flem274*]

I would bet that Guptill would have more sucess as a test match opener than Ryder.

Look just take a read of this scorecard and maybe find some highlights on the vault and tell me that Guptill is as **** as you're making out. He's having no problems constructing innings at a first class level, his headspace is obviously fine there, meaning that he is capable of getting there at a test match level as well. This is a guy who has just scored 3 40+ scores in 7 ODI innings, who has been an absolute gun in the past and will be again.

Remember the WI series were he was the only batsmen to step up, before he started to get mentally ****ed

Central Districts v Auckland at Napier, Dec 12-15, 2013 | Cricket Scorecard | ESPN Cricinfo

mate seriously its at the stage now where we just have to agree to disagree with him and let time tell

 

[Bahnz]

I admire what Hesson is trying to do (encourage Guptill to take on the accumulator role and learn new skills) but he's at an age now where he will be entering his prime and he needs to make the most of it, which means becoming the bully we all know he can be and he can work on a few things on the side as he goes. Right now he needs to play in the way that makes him most effective and that's the same method that brought him an average over 100 in first class this season. I don't know how much you have watched but I've seen a bit and he brought all his shots back. Yes it's a lower level but he was bullying them. Anything pitched up in the zone went to the boundary and short stuff got the pull. In tests he just prods on the front foot and either blocks or drives straight. They're literally his only shots along with putting away filth on the pads. Quit that stone walling rubbish and smoke 'em.

You're quite right, Guptill failed through poor performance. He was selected on talent and it became pretty clear he had no idea how to build an innings, and started trying to be a stodge and remove shots from his arsenal and what not. He kept failing, lost confidence which resulted in his technique falling apart further, and then he was rightly dropped.

I'm not saying pick him tomorrow, I'm saying don't give up on him. He's scoring the runs, and Latham aside no one has a claim like he does. Raval started the season well and I rate him but he couldn't keep up with Guptill, Latham or Papps, and he got to bat on the same pitches in the same situations as Guppy did.

Latham is starting to convince me now through weight of runs. If we needed a new opener for the first test then I wouldn't mind either of Latham or Guptill, and I'd probably pick based on who their partner was to keep the left-right combo.

Honestly Flem, this post makes me want to vomit. Guptill is nowhere close to having made the improvements needed to become a test standard opening bat. He remains dicey outside off stump and unable to rotate the strike. His test form over the past 18 months is abysmal (honestly we legitimately would've been no worse off sending Tim Southee out to open). And his form even in limited overs cricket this home summer has been extremely patchy. I don't care if he's been bossing about domestic lineups this summer. He was doing the same thing a couple of summers back and still ended up averaging sub 20 in the tests. His twin hundreds against England came just days after his pair at Headingly, and his test form meltdown in SA was immediately preceded by a spanking hundred in the T20's. He's brought back his shots in the Plunket Shield you say? I guarantee you they'll go on vacation again the moment he encounters bowlers who can bowl with accuracy at decent pace.

People just need to accept that Guptill is a domestic/LO bully, totally lacking both the technique and temperament to implement his game in test cricket. He is not, and will never be, Matthew Hayden. All of that being said, I don't disagree with not giving up on him. But not giving up on him doesn't mean bringing him into the test squad every time he scores a ODI century. He absolutely should not be even in consideration for the wider test squad when there are not only two established incumbents but 3 other players who should be ahead of him.

 

[ohnoitsyou]

mate seriously its at the stage now where we just have to agree to disagree with him and let time tell

mate i've got to find my fun somewhere

 

[ohnoitsyou]

Honestly Flem, this post makes me want to vomit. Guptill is nowhere close to having made the improvements needed to become a test standard opening bat. He remains dicey outside off stump and unable to rotate the strike. His test form over the past 18 months is abysmal (honestly we legitimately would've been no worse off sending Tim Southee out to open). And his form even in limited overs cricket this home summer has been extremely patchy. I don't care if he's been bossing about domestic lineups this summer. He was doing the same thing a couple of summers back and still ended up averaging sub 20 in the tests. His twin hundreds against England came just days after his pair at Headingly, and his test form meltdown in SA was immediately preceded by a spanking hundred in the T20's. He's brought back his shots in the Plunket Shield you say? I guarantee you they'll go on vacation again the moment he encounters bowlers who can bowl with accuracy at decent pace.

People just need to accept that Guptill is a domestic/LO bully, totally lacking both the technique and temperament to implement his game in test cricket. He is not, and will never be, Matthew Hayden. All of that being said, I don't disagree with not giving up on him. But not giving up on him doesn't mean bringing him into the test squad every time he scores a ODI century. He absolutely should not be even in consideration for the wider test squad when there are not only two established incumbents but 3 other players who should be ahead of him.

thanks for that darlingface #stealingAllOfPhlegm'sJokes

 

[Flem274*]

....

Mate I'm not saying he will be Hayden, I'm saying he can learn from Hayden's method.

I'm not advocating for his test squad selection based on ODI form, but on first class runs. There are only two domestic openers who can hold a candle to him - Latham and Papps. I think Latham getting a gig ahead of Guptill is fair but if you want to hold technical deficiencies and past failures against Guptill then you need to be consistent and hold them against Papps because all Siddons has done is adjust his backlift so he can hit sixes. Lachie Ferguson has just shown us (and numerous others before him) Papps is still the same batsman he was 10 years ago at his core.

I agree Guptill will fail in test cricket if he continues as he is, which is why I advocate he trusts what he does in all domestic cricket and ODI cricket (prior to anchor Guptill) in test cricket and just bats like he does in first class when he gets his next opportunity. Follow the Hayden example, and his own domestic example, and be a bully. He risks falling on his own sword but what he does now isn't going to work until he adjusts his technique. Until then he needs to find a way to score runs because he should and will be around the test squad on 4 day performance and that means he may get a call up before he has made the changes.

I think my post was a fair one. You're well within your rights to run to the toilet and vomit of course.