***Official New Zealand Domestic Season 2021/22***

[Kippax]

Yes it seems Queenstown has shown that even with a modern reno and good money spent, that just can't quite get the life in the blocks they'd want to down there.

 

[nzfan]

Rachin 100 + Canterbury win would be a good day for me. The volts/stags match looking like a wee bit of a run-fest.

Don't care if he ends up on 70* if we can draw this that'll make my day. Canterbury have tormented us for too long to settle for a hundred of one batsman.

 

[nzfan]

Just as I thought the new ball brings a wicket. The last hope is Nathan Smith for firebirds.

 

[nzfan]

Where's the rain when desperately need it.

 

[nzfan]

At least we know Rachin can block for long hours and give up on his favorite pulls, drives for extended period of time. Shows he can adapt, that's a positive. Unfortunately rest just couldn't bat. Wish Blundell batted a bit longer, he's going to need some form going to India.

 

[NZTailender]

Finn looked massively unlucky there - whacked the ball back onto the stumps as he was trying to get back into the crease?

That said, not the best shot choice when trying to bat out a draw.

 

[Kippax]

No, he just inside-edged it really hard into the side of his front pad and it came back on its own.

 

[straw man]

That's a remarkably bad result for Wellington - yes they have two newer batsmen in the top 3 but the rest of the batting and engine room looks solid. Canterbury's collection of medium pacers perfect if there's any nip in the wicket, but even so...

 

[Kippax]

As Jos Buttler said once, it's a #OneFormatFuture.

Dreary Cantabs and their silly Dookaburra ball that they obviously lobbied NZC for = behind the times.

 

[nzfan]

It's not just dookaburra but also the basin deck. You got to have good skills to survive for long periods of time. Some said it moves even when it's like 75 overs old. Still Latham, Nicholls and Cam batted well. Sometimes this deck back fires for firebirds when they don't have a solid top order.

 

[Zinzan]

Sure it's been mentioned before, but at aged 37 Grey Hay must have the best FC record not to play an international in NZ history.

Prior to his score of 152 in this current live match, he averages over 42 with 14 (now 15) FC hundreds

Was he simply a victim of playing in an era of very good NZ batsmen or is there something else to it. IIRC he's averaged over 40 for close to a decade now, so it's not like he's only shown promise late in his career.

 

[Kippax]

Had a few (less serious) Trescothick-style issues I think, Hay. Made him a great fit for very obscure NZ domestic play, and a bad fit to thrust into dealing with the heavy mental strain of being a top-order bat in weak and ridiculed NZ teams.

 

[nzfan]

Interested to know when did Greg Hay start to score runs consistently particularly 100s. I know he's been around for ages and his numbers are quite good. I guess his career clashed with guppy, Jeet Rutherford and the likes.

Is Henry Cooper going to go the Hay way? Henry Cooper has pretty good numbers too for an opener.

 

[Kippax]

He was a very strong longer-format performer right from the start, but then note the one mediocre season and half-decade hiatus from the scene, when he realised making the big step up into Tests might not be for him.

 

[nzfan]

5 years is a long time to go missing from domestic circuit.

 

[SteveNZ]

Yeah. He was very, very close to getting picked for that 2008 England tour.

Then he had troubles with his mental health - henceforth the five-year gap. Definitely could claim that players of equal or lesser ilk have played for NZ, but things just didn't quite go his way at the right times.

 

[nzfan]

Test squad to India going to be announced tomorrow. Any guesses?

I'm going with

Latham
Conway
Kane
Rosco
Nicholls
Rachin
Blundell
Jamieson
Southee
Boult
Ajaz

The other 4 will likely be Somerville, Wagner, Darryl Mitchell and Cole.

It's possible Phillips can make the squad ahead of Cole of he can keep as a second keeper.

I'm guessing they're sending 15 and not 20 as the T20 squad will be there already.

 

[vandem]

Yeah. He was very, very close to getting picked for that 2008 England tour.

Then he had troubles with his mental health - henceforth the five-year gap. Definitely could claim that players of equal or lesser ilk have played for NZ, but things just didn't quite go his way at the right times.

IIRC press were saying James Marshall + Flynn + Hay were battling for 2 middle order spots on 2008 tour. It was a re-building period after retirements of Astle + McMillan + Styris then Fleming (forced by split captaincy debate?), and after Fulton and Sinclair hadn't made many runs in the 2007-08 home tests. All 3 had 600-ish FC middle-orders runs with average 50-60. Perhaps Marshall got the nod as he had experience at #3, and Flynn as he was a leftie?

Hay was unlucky in the 2nd half of his career that test selection policy was a little less merry-go-round than the previous decade (so Guppy and then Raval got a few more tests than warranted), and that Tom Blundell made the MCG century as a stopgap opener.

 

[nzfan]

Totally forgot Will young. He's got to make the test squad

Latham
Conway
Kane
Rosco
Nicholls
Rachin
Blundell
Jamieson
Southee
Boult
Ajaz

The other 4 will likely be Somerville, Wagner, Will Young and Cole/Darryl Mitchell. Id rather take Cole or anyone that can spin the ball and bat although it's harsh on Darryl Mitchell as he has done no wrong.

 

[nzfan]

We'll expect a squad close to this but then there'll be Santner and CDG out of nowhere.