*Official* New Zealand 'A' v Sri Lanka 'A'

[Craig]

I never said he was.

I notice he bats in the lower order.

 

[Tim]

I think that Bruce Martin has the potential to become quite a handy lower order batsman...I think he could become better than Wiseman, but hopefully not develop as late as Wiseman has in his career.

I haven't really seen too much of Martin in the field....but generally all players in NZ are better than good in the field.

 

[Tim]

I don't have much of a problem with Chris Martin being selected ahead of Mason.

He took 7/76 overall in the match against S.L 'A' so thats enough justification to be kept in the NZ team.
And I do believe he is very good at bowling to left-handers because his natural ability is to slant it in, rather than away from the right hander.

But as Martin will know...one stuff up & he'll be overtaken by 1 or 2 other bowlers so he has to perform straight away.
Not a bad position for NZ cricket to be in, really.

 

[anzac]

It's not that **** aside from apart from the selection of Matthew Bell aside.

Lineup in batting order:

M Bell
J How
P Fulton
M Sinclair
H Marshall
L Vincent
J Franklin
K Mills
R Hart +
B Martin
I Butler

How and Fulton are great up and coming talents and deserve their selections, Sinclair has gotten in there because of the high amount of runs he has scored in this domestic season, while Marshall has been given a punt based on his ODI success lately. The selection of Vincent shows that the selectors have finally put him in his rightful position, in the middle-order. Franklin was the top wicket-taker in the State Championship and has been wonderful with the bat as well. Mills is a decent option in first-class cricket, he has the ability to swing the ball and has a batting average of 43. Bruce Martin has also been brilliant with the ball, somewhat the forgotten man of NZ Cricket.

I know that this goes back a while but I've been MIA for a while.........

interesting selections in Bell & Marshall..............I know that comments were made re the absence of McIntosh, but I'm surprised no one commented re the absence of Jones & Cumming????

So far as the starting lineup went I'm surprised to see that Mason & C Martin got starts ahead of Franklin & Mills......Mason appears to be a OD 'specialist' and Martin has come back from the dead so far as his career goes (much like Bell
) - IMO both Mills & Franklin have as good FC stats & have more to offer as dual squad players than Martin in particular..........

 

[anzac]

Is this 16 for the tests? I think it would have to be:

Fleming
Richardson
Papps
Styris
McMillan
Astle
Vettori
Cairns
Oram
McCullum
Bond
Tuffey
Mason
Butler
B.Martin
Sinclair

The only problem I see there, is that there are no backup openers...but I guess they could use Fleming, Astle, Sinclair or McCullum if required.
Im absolutely sure Bracewell will continue to pick 2 spinners in his squad, and I think it's time Bruce Martin had another crack.

There is 1 specialist keeper (McCullum) & then Papps or Sinclair who could take the gloves..so that base is covered.
McMillan is really the only batsmen there i'm still concerned with (at this stage) & perhaps if he fails everytime against South Africa..NZ may opt for Peter Fulton or Lou Vincent. But at this stage i'm still picking McMillan to go to England.

I still reckon though that Franklin could be the surprise pick, he offers some variety with his left arm & there's no doubt that he's improved with the bat. Kyle Mills might be able to sneak in, but Franklin probably has the edge.

I'd rather have thought that Mills would be ahead of Mason so far as selection for the Test squad - as I said earlier Mason seems to be more of a OD 'specialist' whereas Mills is an established ODI squad member and has good FC stats..........

Both Mills & Franklin need to play in the 'A' series to have any chance...............

B Martin needs to show that he has good wicket taking ability to get the nod ahead of Wiseman.................

I agree re McMillan & I'd go so far that on current season I'd rather have Sinclair batting at No4 with Styris at 5..............

but hey, that's just me - my starting lineup would look something like this (all things being equal)..........

Richardson / Papps / Fleming / Sinclair / Astle / Styris / Oram / McCullum / Vettori / Tuffey / Bond

8D

 

[Mingster]

I'd rather have thought that Mills would be ahead of Mason so far as selection for the Test squad - as I said earlier Mason seems to be more of a OD 'specialist' whereas Mills is an established ODI squad member and has good FC stats..........

Both Mills & Franklin need to play in the 'A' series to have any chance...............

B Martin needs to show that he has good wicket taking ability to get the nod ahead of Wiseman.................

I agree re McMillan & I'd go so far that on current season I'd rather have Sinclair batting at No4 with Styris at 5..............

but hey, that's just me - my starting lineup would look something like this (all things being equal)..........

Richardson / Papps / Fleming / Sinclair / Astle / Styris / Oram / McCullum / Vettori / Tuffey / Bond

8D

Mason is not a OD specialist, his FC stats prove it and he was first selected as the 12th man for Test matches. Mills does not have good FC bowling stats, average of 30 is hardly convincing when Mason's is well under 25.

Mills isn't an established ODI member, his bowling was complete utter trash in the summer and I doubt he will overtake Mason who has emerged as a good foil to Tuffey.

Franklin and Mills are in the NZ 'A' squad. But I personally hope Franklin gets a few more chances.


Craig, in your previous post, you just said Martin can bat. :rolleyes:

 

[Craig]

Craig, in your previous post, you just said Martin can bat. :rolleyes:

I know what you and I said.

So what relevance does that have? :rolleyes:

BTW welcome back anzac

 

[anzac]

Mason is not a OD specialist, his FC stats prove it and he was first selected as the 12th man for Test matches. Mills does not have good FC bowling stats, average of 30 is hardly convincing when Mason's is well under 25.

Mills isn't an established ODI member, his bowling was complete utter trash in the summer and I doubt he will overtake Mason who has emerged as a good foil to Tuffey.

Franklin and Mills are in the NZ 'A' squad. But I personally hope Franklin gets a few more chances.

was not aware he had been in a Test squad b4 - only knew he had been a ODI squad member about the time of the WC........whereas Mills has been in the ODI squad for several seasons & was usually the first replacement seamer used.....

had not found any stats for Mason bowling this season in the Championship so had no current 'form' in the longer game........whereas Mills took 13 @ just over 17..........

I have been calling for Franklin to be given a go for some time now - from memory it was one such post that may have even led to us first crossing swords............

stats aside how does the bowling compare amongst the contenders??? I only have recent commentary to go by....

Mills - RFM swing at about mid 130 ks
Mason - RFM low / mid 130s
Franklin - LFM swing??? low 130s
C Martin RFM swing??? mid 130s

I also see Franklin's bowling partner Gillespie was amongst the wickets - what's he like - another leftie??????

 

[anzac]

BTW welcome back anzac

cheers mate................

 

[Tim]

Martin is more low 140's.

 

[anzac]

Martin is more low 140's.

ok so that may indicate they are looking at his pace to quicken up the attack a bit as an option to Butler..........does he shape the ball or seam it off the pitch - my memory is not too clear from when he was here a couple of seasons back.........

 

[Tim]

Well he has enough pace on him to be a reasonable threat, but his ability to slant the ball away from the left-handers is something that the selectors were probably quite keen on.

 

[Mingster]

was not aware he had been in a Test squad b4 - only knew he had been a ODI squad member about the time of the WC........whereas Mills has been in the ODI squad for several seasons & was usually the first replacement seamer used.....

had not found any stats for Mason bowling this season in the Championship so had no current 'form' in the longer game........whereas Mills took 13 @ just over 17..........

I have been calling for Franklin to be given a go for some time now - from memory it was one such post that may have even led to us first crossing swords............

stats aside how does the bowling compare amongst the contenders??? I only have recent commentary to go by....

Mills - RFM swing at about mid 130 ks
Mason - RFM low / mid 130s
Franklin - LFM swing??? low 130s
C Martin RFM swing??? mid 130s

I also see Franklin's bowling partner Gillespie was amongst the wickets - what's he like - another leftie??????

Mason has done well in this year's State Championship, check again mate. I think he also has an average around the high 10's. Pretty good going.

Mills, Mason, Franklin are all around the same pace, mid 130s who just try and bowl line-and-length with a pace that's just 'fast' enough.

Martin is the fastest of the lot, and that spell in the SOO game probably sealed his inclusion. He bowled pretty quick that day.

Franklin did not deserver another shot at International Cricket before this season, because simply he hadn't put the numbers on the board. But now I am convinced.

Mills is definitely not a Test option before Mason, Martin or Franklin for me.

 

[Tim]

Sitting side on at the State Shield final, Chris Martin was bowling alot quicker than Mason..thats for sure.

I thought Martin bowled quite aggressively in the SOO match, those 2 short balls to Marshall & Styris were fantastic.

 

[Kent]

Reading 'Chris Martin' and 'State Shield final' in the same sentence gives me a twitch ahead of tomorrow morning!

That reminds me, 20% of the country would've watched another Ross Taylor promo on the TV1 news last night. He's going to be one of our most famous cricketers before he even debuts!

Of Samoan background, he joked playing kilikiti in his younger days means blocking doesn't come naturally to him. Nice media patter, but all this buzz makes me uneasy. It risks making him think he's closer than he actually is, but he seems smart enough to stay motivated and keep working on his game.

He said he's going to play league cricket in England this winter, but I guess there's still a bit of hoping for a tri-series call-up as well. He'll be in a good place to be on standby anyway.

 

[Mingster]

Taylor on TV1?

Didn't see that unfortunately. But why the hell did they do a profile on the State Shield start when the competition finished weeks ago?

Weird.

 

[Tim]

Yeah I saw it too...kind of strange to interview him when he hasn't really been in the spotlight since early february now.

Lol, he had a dig at Martin Crowe because of his comments that polynesians didn't have enough brains to play cricket. I don't think i'll add what I think about that though.

 

[Craig]

Didnt he make a comment regarding Moari's in that comment as well?

I do know he did have to apologise for that comment.

 

[Kent]

Technically Maoris are Polynesians. I can't remember the words he used, but I think he insulted both Maoris and Islanders.

Crowe's comments are probably best left in the past, but after getting to know golfer Phil Tataurangi through my brother, I doubt he's ever screamed 'whackididoo!' after a decent drive.

 

[Tim]

Crowe wrote it in one of his Wisden online columns.
Anyway good luck to Ross Taylor, I think he's got a good head on his shoulders.