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

[Prince EWS]

Southee/Martin/Wagner are all useful with the bat tbh.

Imagine making this post before Bruce Martin made his debut.

 

[straw man]

Test Squad is to be announced tomorrow.
Only changes i can see from the england squad will be the dropping of Guptill (injury) and Gillespie.
imo Astle and Anderson will come in for those two - provided Anderson has not picked up another injury

Didn't realise so soon. My squad:

The Core (5)
Taylor
McCullum
Williamson
Boult
Southee

Have done ok, not going to be dropped (4)
Watling
Wagner
Rutherford
Fulton

On the brink... retained for now (2)
Brownlie
Bracewell

The new guys (3)
Anderson
Astle
Ronchi

Is he injured is he not? My guess is Injured (1)
Vettori
..... so most likely replace with B. Martin

Assume 15 man squad though it could conceivably be 14 for just a two-test series.

Agree with Mike that it's disappointing Milne and Henry haven't played and so it's hard to consider them over Bracewell and Gillespie who've both performed ok if not exceptionally.

Edit: Reluctantly edited to include Ronchi as backup wicketkeeper and batsman

 

[Flem274*]

Fulton
Rutherford
Williamson
Taylor
Brownlie
McCullum (c)
Watling (wk)
Bracewell
Southee
Martin
Boult

Milne or Henry (Gillespie if he's firing)
Wagner I guess
A couple of batsmen

Martin is the best of the spinners, even if he isn't great, and is a very useful lower order batsman. I don't care that Milne and Henry haven't played yet on the A tour, they're clearly the two best uncapped bowlers (with a nod to Wheeler) and if Gillespie isn't at full steam one of them should tour. A second spinner is a waste of time because they won't be any better than Williamson and not as good with the bat. With Ryder unavailable, Flynn blacklisted and Broom being messed around with it doesn't really matter which batsmen we select because there is no clear leader of the pack and they shouldn't play yet anyway. It would have been nice to pick from the A side but they didn't select any batsmen for that tour, just a bunch of bowlers and allrounders.

I expect the selectors will pick a very unbalanced four of Bracewell, Gillespie, Anderson, Latham, Ronchi, Astle, Jeets and Devcich purely to drive up the collective blood pressure of CW (Wagner will play in place of Bracewell in their eleven as well).

Edit about bolded: forgot the Ronchi god mode last season (and on the A tour). No way would I select him as a specialist batsman ever but the more I think about it I'm certain he will tour as middle order batting and keeping reserve.

 

[Mike5181]

Wagner should be ahead of Bracewell at the moment tbf.

 

[straw man]

Martin is the best of the spinners, even if he isn't great, and is a very useful lower order batsman. I don't care that Milne and Henry haven't played yet on the A tour, they're clearly the two best uncapped bowlers (with a nod to Wheeler) and if Gillespie isn't at full steam one of them should tour. A second spinner is a waste of time because they won't be any better than Williamson and not as good with the bat. With Ryder unavailable, Flynn blacklisted and Broom being messed around with it doesn't really matter which batsmen we select because there is no clear leader of the pack and they shouldn't play yet anyway. It would have been nice to pick from the A side but they didn't select any batsmen for that tour, just a bunch of bowlers and allrounders.

I expect the selectors will pick a very unbalanced four of Bracewell, Gillespie, Anderson, Latham, Ronchi, Astle, Jeets and Devcich purely to drive up the collective blood pressure of CW (Wagner will play in place of Bracewell in their eleven as well).

Edit about bolded: forgot the Ronchi god mode last season (and on the A tour). No way would I select him as a specialist batsman ever but the more I think about it I'm certain he will tour as middle order batting and keeping reserve.

Qs:
- In the squad, is a second spinner (third, depending how you look at) really more of a waste of time than a fifth fast bowler for a tour of Bangladesh?
- In the unlikely event that Vettori is fit, would you still take B. Martin?
- Does the mediocre third seamer really add much to the XI? Could instead select a sub-mediocre spinner that should benefit from the conditions. OTOH, Wagner can bowl a lot of overs I guess.

The side you posted, but with Wagner in for Bracewell, is the sensible, conservative and alltogether most likely option. I am a little uncomfortable with lack of spin and therefore a lot of fast bowling into dead tracks though it'd still be the side I'd pick.

Problem with more spin is that I don't want Astle to be required to bowl 25+ overs per day (or Southee and Boult for that matter). Would have to do something funkadelic like:

Fulton
Rutherford
Williamson
Taylor
McCullum (c)
Anderson
Watling (wk)
Astle
Southee
Martin
Boult

 

[hendrix]

Fulton
Rutherford
Williamson
Taylor
Brownlie
McCullum (c)
Watling (wk)
Bracewell
Southee
Martin
Boult

Milne or Henry (Gillespie if he's firing)
Wagner I guess
A couple of batsmen

Changes IMO:

1. Wagner over Bracewell.

2. Anderson over one of the spare seamers

3. Add a spinner over the other spare seamer. Vettori should play if fit.

 

[Maximas]

isn't Brownlie ****house in the SC though?

 

[Flem274*]

Is Vettori a goer? I thought he was having surgery or something.

Our seamers are better than our spinners, and our spinners struggle to be better than the likes of KW, so I wouldn't bother taking a spinner to a country where the opposition would love nothing more than to face two below par spinners.

 

[Hurricane]

I expect the selectors will pick a very unbalanced four of Bracewell, Gillespie, Anderson, Latham, Ronchi, Astle, Jeets and Devcich purely to drive up the collective blood pressure of CW (Wagner will play in place of Bracewell in their eleven as well).

If you are the voice of reason here and he gets selected I will break something. Hopefully the A side is his ceiling. We have discussed him before. 99% of us said he was gawd awful. And one poster defended him by saying that was just his early years as he only took up cricket later in life.

 

[Flem274*]

What CW thinks =/= what the selectors think

I can just see his ton when the chips were down getting him promoted long before he's got the long term record to prove his name. He's a spin bowling allrounder who bats in true alpha male McHesson fashion so I can see the stars aligning for him. Sorry, but I think it's a 15 - 25% chance of happening...

 

[Hurricane]

i would have a tough time deciding between who I wanted in the test team least out of him and Munro.

Also the history of the selectors is that you need 3 50s for the A team. Not just one big one. Watling gunned it for a whole series.

I have faith he has not done enough yet.

 

[Kippax]

Black Caps | Tim Southee Out of Tour; ND Bolters... | Stuff.co.nz

Tim Southee's misfortune should mean good news for his Northern Districts team-mates Corey Anderson and Ish Sodhi when the New Zealand test squad to tour Bangladesh is unveiled today.

In a significant blow for New Zealand, their pace bowling spearhead is expected to be ruled out of next month's two tests because of an ankle problem.

Southee underwent surgery in July on the ankle which hampered him late in the England tour, and doesn't yet have enough miles on the clock for a return to test cricket. It is hoped he will be fit for the limited overs segment of the tour starting in late October.

Southee's absence, and that of batsman Martin Guptill (broken finger), leaves two spots open from the 15 who lost 2-0 in England in May.

Those places are expected to go to two rising prospects in all-rounder Anderson and leg-spinner Sodhi, in the first squad named by coach Mike Hesson and new general manager national selection, Bruce Edgar.

Anderson, 22, has a big fan in Hesson after an impressive one-day international debut against England in June, which helped him clinch his first national contract.

The big-hitting all-rounder further enhanced his cause on Monday with a timely 100 off 115 balls for New Zealand A, batting at No 5 against India A in a four-day match at Visakhapatnam.

Indian-born Sodhi is only 20, with 11 first-class matches to his name, but has rocketed up the spin charts to sit behind left-armer Bruce Martin, who is the incumbent test No 1.

With veteran Daniel Vettori (achilles surgery) absent and Jeetan Patel and Tarun Nethula both out of favour, it leaves Sodhi, who has undoubted ability but is still learning his craft.

His 22 first-class wickets have come at an average of 45 and he took 2-100 and 0-69 off a combined 48 overs for New Zealand A against India A in the past week.

If selected, Sodhi will benefit from the experience and shouldn't be required for the 11 unless injuries strike, with Kane Williamson a handy second spin option.

The other 13 who toured England are expected to retain their places, with Tom Latham the backup batsman and gloveman, and Mark Gillespie the backup paceman behind Trent Boult, Doug Bracewell and Neil Wagner.

Boult (side strain) and Martin (calf) are over injuries that forced them home from the tour of England.

The Bangladesh itinerary is expected to be confirmed today, with the first test pencilled in to start on October 9.


Likely New Zealand test squad: Brendon McCullum (c), Peter Fulton, Hamish Rutherford, Kane Williamson, Ross Taylor, Dean Brownlie, Tom Latham, BJ Watling, Corey Anderson, Bruce Martin, Doug Bracewell, Trent Boult, Neil Wagner, Mark Gillespie, Ish Sodhi.

 

[Immenso]

I'm amazed that an entire article about a tour team to Bagladesh doesn't even mention Todd Astle (but mentions 5 other spinners).

Mark Geenty's a cantab, isn't he?

I suppose he's got an ear close to the action, but I'm really suprised they would take Sodhi yet, even If he isn't expected to play. What if after playing one spinner in first test, they decide they want two in the second? Etc. what about illness or injury? Got to be prepared to play him, and play him as potentially the only specialist spinner in the team if Martin breaks a finger in the nets etc

Well, the current A tour is a good opportunity for Sodhi, still another 2 FC games in Sri Lanka. But this should be the limit of his elevation until he gets a heck of a lot more FC overs under his belt.

Astle with a 100 odd wickets in the last few seasons deserves to go IMO.

 

[Kippax]

I stopped being shocked by how half-hearted and mailed in the NZ cricket press is long ago itbt. In a land of the blind (except for Kippax videos), the association becomes king.

NZA recovery races in Visag - Ish v Corey! - YouTube

 

[Flem274*]

hmm, will be interesting to see how boult goes without his partner in crime again. dougeh, wagner and bartin in the same XI could go really badly if they all turn up in 4rpo mode at the same time.

brownlie is gonna need some runs since anderson is the flavour of the month with mchesson. should be mccullums head on the block since he only ever turns up at number six on roads when all the movement in the air is long gone, but there isnt much we can do about that since he's the skipper.

 

[Bahnz]

It would be, tbf, a bit weird if they continued to have Tom Latahm as the backup keeper given they clearly didn't trust him enough to fill the role v England earlier in the year.

Without Southee I'm now seriously worried that we'll struggle to win the tests. As has been noted a few times, Boult has struggled to take wickets when he hasn't had Southee on hand to apply the squeeze from the other end. I reckon Anderson would actually probably be a better bet than Brownlie for this series. He'd be more at home on the slow pitches in Bangladesh, and obviously has had recent success against sub-standard bowling attacks in the sub-continent. But Brownlie deserves to keep his place for a while longer, so:

Fulton, Rutherford, Williamson, Taylor, Brownlie, McCullum, Watling, Bracewell, Martin, Wagner, Boult

Williamson to take quite a few 2nd innings wickets whilst aiming at Bagner's footmarks.

 

[BackFootPunch]

Squad is out. As expected. Sodhi and Anderson new caps in Test squad

 

[hendrix]

I was really not expecting the Sodhi selection. It seems very premature.

 

[Flem274*]

hmmm

we’ve been pleased with the consistency Ish showed with the ball on the current NZA tour

sounds like sodhi bowled good areas without success, and they're happy to get him working on getting good players out as soon as they can since they back him not to get smashed, rather than let him sit in domestic cricket.

hopefully gillespie is bowling well. i like how mchesson are seemingly backing him to the hilt.

 

[hendrix]

For consistency's sake I would have preferred they went with Astle, tbh. Not because I think he's better, just that I don't want selections going down the Australia route.

"Hey why don't we get Corey Anderson opening the batting?"