***Official*** New Zealand in Bangladesh & Sri Lanka 2013

[Maximas]

The fact that they are planning on doing something quite as arrogant as playing a bowler with a bowling average of over 50 is exactly why I abandoned support of New Zealand. Up the Tigers!

Most of Bangladesh's fast bowlers end up in this category

 

[Vic Trumper]

Yes, but the situation is slightly different... Hahaha. Ish is a good mate, and a future great bowler, but so undercooked that Gordon Ramsey would throw him in the rubbish.

 

[Bahnz]

It's good that the weather forecast appears to have brightened up a bit, though from the looks of it we'll still be lucky to get a full day's play tomorrow.

 

[AndyZaltzHair]

Eager to see how Marshall Ayub performs if he plays. He is performing consistently in domestic for quite some time now; decent player with good temperament and probably will come out to bat at critical no 3 position

 

[hendrix]

I like the idea of Wagner playing - especially ahead of Bracewell, Wagner seems to be able to produce something out of not much every now and then while I think Bracewell tends to need a bit in the pitch. I'm not sold on Ish Sodhi just yet but I hope he does really well

I legitimately hope he gets hammered. I'm so mean.

The fact that they are planning on doing something quite as arrogant as playing a bowler with a bowling average of over 50 is exactly why I abandoned support of New Zealand. Up the Tigers!

Yeah this.

If he does well, what does that mean? will he become our first choice spinner?

No. He might become our second spinner which is something we should barely ever be playing anyway. There's absolutely nothing to gain from his selection even in a best case scenario.

 

[RxGM]

Yeah this.

If he does well, what does that mean? will he become our first choice spinner?

No. He might become our second spinner which is something we should barely ever be playing anyway. There's absolutely nothing to gain from his selection even in a best case scenario.

I think most people on this forum agrees that Sodhi has not done enough to earn a test cap (the only player I can think of who had done less is Vettori), and probably isnt ready for test cricket, but to play the devils advocate, these are the reasons for playing Sodhi:

1) He has great potential and will stagnate playing NZ FC Cricket, even if he is unsuccessful what he learns will enhance his game
2) He has great temperament and even if he gets taken to he will bounce back
3) He can bat
4) He has the ability to get players out when the ball isnt swinging. [Some what debatable based on NZA but lets role with it]
5) He is the second best spinner in NZ, and given the pitch he will be more effective than a third seamer
6) Bruce Martin is only a Place Holder (similar to the role Robbie Hart played between Parore and McCullum) as soon as Sodhi proves he is ready he will take over.
7) If Sodhi bowls poorly his bowling load can be taken up by Martin & Williamson

 

[Bahnz]

5) He is the second best spinner in NZ, and given the pitch he will be more effective than a third seamer

He is absolutely not the 2nd best spinner in New Zealand. Even if you cut Vettori out of the reckoning, Martin, Patel, Williamson and perhaps Astle and Nethula are all better bowlers than him at this stage.

 

[Flem274*]

KW must be right up there, which probably says a lot about our spin stocks. At uni right now so cbf looking it up but iirc Bradburn was using him as ND's number one spinner for a bit, and not without some success.

PEWS might repeat the story about his old man seeing KW bowl on TV and commenting "this new offie the kiwi's have looks good" not realising he's a batsman.

 

[hendrix]

5) He is the second best spinner in NZ, and given the pitch he will be more effective than a third seamer

I don't think he'll be more effective than a good third seamer.

Besides, it's more important for NZ that we decide on and develop a proper 3rd seamer. That could be Wagner, Gillespie, Bracewell, hopefully Milne or any of Henry, Wheeler, Small etc etc.

But I agree with most of your other points. It's certainly not the end of the world.

The main frustration is that it's indicative of poor selection policy that's going the way of Australian type selections. We simply can't afford to mess around with players' careers like they have.

 

[Challis]

Argh! it's that time again, when my sleep gets sacrificed to the cricket Gods. I was actually going to give it a miss this time; having become disillusioned with all things associated with BD cricket: match fixing, BPL, BCB amateurs etc. But alas it was not to be, I once again will have to bow down to the Gods.

Since I started following Bangladesh, I think this may be the best squad that's ever been selected. There are no selections that scream out WHY! The selected squad consists of a core of established performers complimented with promising youth; no deadwood infecting the squad.
I'm looking forward to seeing how Anamul Haque and Marshal Ayub get on. Anamul is someone that I've been hyping up for some time (admittedly over-rating him), he has a lot of potential. His main strength is his conversion rate; once he gets a start he's very capable of getting a big score. However his main weakness is his atrocious footwork, particularly at the start of his innings, this means he gets a lot of single digit scores. Hopefully he works on this and improves his footwork.
Marshal Ayub is someone who has dominated the domestic first-class scene. He has scored several double hundreds which is rare for BD batsman.
I think it will be a closely fought out series, with the Tests edged by New Zealand and the ODIs by Bangladesh.

 

[hendrix]

We definitely need more Bangladesh supporters in this thread. It'll be awful if it's just us kiwis complaining about things.

 

[Flem274*]

Lacks Imrul Kayes

Trollololol

 

[Bahnz]

Only just saw that McCullum has pretty much confirmed that Sodhi will play. Yeesh.

 

[straw man]

I'd say that means Anderson is very very likely now too. I wonder if they'll then spring another surprise and leave out Wagner for one of Bracewell or Gillespie in order to not have three left arm seamers (and two front line spinners that can't make use of the rough they create).

Even if Sodhi has done little to deserve this opportunity, I'm excited to see how he'll bowl.

 

[hendrix]

I'm excited about Anderson, and it'll also be nice if Bracewell gets a shot with the new ball.

 

[RxGM]

He is absolutely not the 2nd best spinner in New Zealand. Even if you cut Vettori out of the reckoning, Martin, Patel, Williamson and perhaps Astle and Nethula are all better bowlers than him at this stage.

In the selection notebook Nethula and Patel both have lines through there names and Astle got outbowled by Sodhi on the A tour (at least in the selctors notebook)

 

[Bahnz]

So you're saying effectively that he's the 2nd best spinner in New Zealand except for all the other guys who are obviously better than him. Kinda like how democracy is the worst form of Government ever conceived except for all the other ones that have been trialed over the years?

 

[RxGM]

So you're saying effectively that he's the 2nd best spinner in New Zealand except for all the other guys who are obviously better than him. Kinda like how democracy is the worst form of Government ever conceived except for all the other ones that have been trialed over the years?

I’m saying he is the second best spinner in the eyes of McHesson.

 

[Flem274*]

I read an article where McCullum was saying 2010 was an example of what not to do.

Looks like they're trying hard to get a few examples out of 2013 as well. Subcontinental batsmen, even the lesser ones, aren't afraid of spinners. They will be relishing getting to play one who can't even dominate New Zealand domestic batsmen.

 

[Mike5181]

Test cricket!