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

[hendrix]

In general there was very little carry once the ball was older than about 2 overs. There was also enough variable bounce that it's difficult to know where the right position would've been.

Up to the stumps he was excellent - I was quite surprised at this because he hasn't looked 100% comfortable before. But he was very good. It must be difficult keeping to Bruce Martin knowing that about 1% of the balls are going to make it through to the gloves, but every time the ball beat the bat he was taking it well and ready for any stumping opportunity.

I was quite impressed because that's the one area I thought that Kruger van Wyk was better than him initially.

 

[wellAlbidarned]

RE watling vs rauchy - it's not only about the weight of runs, but the way they score them. Watling is the kind of guy who can regularly grind out 30s or 40s even when he's not at his best, enabling the guy at the other end to keep going. Ronchi is famous for being very all-or-nothing, which is not what we want from our number 6/7 position.

 

[Black_Warrior]

Wow Gazi. well played mate.

 

[Days of Grace]

I'd say we're in a bit of trouble here if the next pitch has a bit more bite for the spinners.

 

[Mike5181]

Any update on Southee?

 

[Flem274*]

Nope. Hopefully he's heading Northee.

 

[Hurricane]

My TV broke down prior to the test, and thanks to Radio Sport abandoning the idea of being a live sport station, really could only follow it when I was at the pub. How was Watling's keeping standing up to the stumps, I saw on the commentry that several catches dropped short of the slip corden, was he standing too far back, and thus pushing the cordon back.

In general there was very little carry once the ball was older than about 2 overs. There was also enough variable bounce that it's difficult to know where the right position would've been.

Up to the stumps he was excellent - I was quite surprised at this because he hasn't looked 100% comfortable before. But he was very good. It must be difficult keeping to Bruce Martin knowing that about 1% of the balls are going to make it through to the gloves, but every time the ball beat the bat he was taking it well and ready for any stumping opportunity.

I was quite impressed because that's the one area I thought that Kruger van Wyk was better than him initially.

there was one that bounced two metres in front of Ross that if he had his time again he might have had a flailing dive at - but it would have been a spectacular catch.

FWIW he has performed significantly better than the much vaunted Reece Young.

 

[ohnoitsyou]

I was very impressed by Taylor in the slips this game, was alert and quick to react. He seems to be back to his form of a few years back. A cordon with Taylor, McCullum, Williamson and Rudds (and maybe Guptill) is very good on paper.

 

[Flem274*]

McCullum is gun everywhere in the field except at slip imo. Shells a fair few.

 

[Kippax]

Nope. Hopefully he's heading Northee.

Yeah Southee was visible in the coverage.

 

[Bahnz]

I was very impressed by Taylor in the slips this game, was alert and quick to react. He seems to be back to his form of a few years back. A cordon with Taylor, McCullum, Williamson and Rudds (and maybe Guptill) is very good on paper.

McCullum is not a very good slipper. Ideally he'd be hanging around somewhere near cover point, but with Brownlie, Guppers and Jesse all out of the team I guess we don't have a lot of choice.

Also, didn't Ross drop a relatively straight forward chance off Kane? I've always thought he looks a little shakey when slipping to the spinners...probably because with Dan bowling he never really had much practice taking catches.

 

[hendrix]

Cricket: Black Caps may turn to injured Tim Southee... | Stuff.co.nz

Title is misleading. Southee unlikely to play. Probably a wise call given we'll need him for the WI and India series, but it's a real dent to our chances of taking 20 wickets. We'll already drop in the rankings even if we win.

The injured Southee was not part of the official 15-man squad, but is on tour with the side and Hesson said the senior quick would be given every opportunity to play, though was an unlikely starter.

"It's unlikely he'll play, though," the coach said.

"We'll make an assessment closer to the time. We won't force Tim if he's not ready. He's too valuable an asset to us for us to push him.

"We've got other quick-bowling options and if we think [playing another seamer] deserves to be considered then we'll consider it."

 

[Binkley]

More concerning to me in that article is Hesson's statement that 'we have a bounce bowler'. I really hope he isn't talking about Bracewell - but I bet you that he is. Hesson also claims that Neil Wagner is multiple people - all of whom can get reverse swing: 'we've got guys that reverse-swing it in Neil Wagner'. And I can see at least two problems with that statement.

 

[hendrix]

More concerning to me in that article is Hesson's statement that 'we have a bounce bowler'. I really hope he isn't talking about Bracewell - but I bet you that he is. Hesson also claims that Neil Wagner is multiple people - all of whom can get reverse swing: 'we've got guys that reverse-swing it in Neil Wagner'. And I can see at least two problems with that statement.

Yeah. Both Boult and Bracewell can reverse it, and Southee is probably our best exponent of reverse.

He might be referring to Gillespie with the bounce comment?

Dunno, hopefully he's leaving the bowling up to Bond but you never know

 

[Maximas]

New Zealand in Bangladesh 2013-14 : Ish Sodhi a 'good prospect' - Mike Hesson | Cricket News | Bangladesh v New Zealand | ESPN Cricinfo

Hesson and co still trying to convince fans Sodhi is a good guy to have around - even as an investment.

 

[wellAlbidarned]

if he's such a good prospect then let him figure out how to average under 40 in domestics first. There's a limit to the logic of selections based on potential.

 

[SteveNZ]

New Zealand in Bangladesh 2013-14 : Ish Sodhi a 'good prospect' - Mike Hesson | Cricket News | Bangladesh v New Zealand | ESPN Cricinfo

Hesson and co still trying to convince fans Sodhi is a good guy to have around - even as an investment.

May as well pick and stick now, play him in the right conditions and keep him amongst the group so he feels at ease over time. He's a talented guy who has the right tools, and if we're ever to develop a Test-winning spin bowler he's it. It ain't Astle, it ain't Martin, it ain't Patel, it isn't anyone else.

Maybe it's just me but I get the feeling Hesson isn't the big fan of Watling that I, and probably most of us are. I don't think any Test hundred scored by Baz would be prefaced with 'a bit of fortune early on' as if he needed to provide context to it.

 

[hendrix]

Maybe it's just me but I get the feeling Hesson isn't the big fan of Watling that I, and probably most of us are. I don't think any Test hundred scored by Baz would be prefaced with 'a bit of fortune early on' as if he needed to provide context to it.

Yeah.

It might be going a bit Kippax with the conspiracy theories, but the way he said "we're delighted for him, he worked very hard over the winter" rather than just "he's a very good player" makes me very worried they want to replace him with Ronchi.

 

[Flem274*]

Bowling selection for the next game is tough. Dropping Sodhi or Anderson after one test match is unfair, but neither Sodhi nor Martin inspire any confidence. Bringing Brownlie back in for extra batting would mean Anderson would have to go, which isn't fair either (despite Brownlie being the much superior batsman, which everyone knew before the series) and is an admission they were wrong about Brownlie after all but saying they don't rate him with his quick dropping. Bringing in Wagner or Gillespie for Martin all but crowns Sodhi as our number one spinner sans Vettori, which he plainly shouldn't be. Four quicks is waving the white flag on spin mid-series, which is bull**** and should have been done before the series if this is how much rope they were going to give the pair.

I have no sympathy for McHesson though because we wouldn't be in this position if they hadn't tried to be cute with squad selection. A spinner who is only Plunket Shield standard by a very liberal stretch was never and will never trouble subcontinental batsmen. It was arguably the dumbest gamble we've made since John Bracewell sent Kyle Mills in at number three, and indicative of New Zealand's mediocre and rank amatuer "she'll be right mate" approach to cricket. To be fair to them a lot of their selection was based on feedback from A tour staff, which means Grant Bradburn is just as culpable and after Anton Devcich gets comprehensively wrecked in the ODI series Bradburn should lose his job for poor A tour selection, management and parochialism. The sad thing is Bradburn will not lose his job and the biggest losers from this will be the players, who by no fault of their own have been elevated beyond their present ability.

I don't actually know who should play now because they have made such a right royal hash of this, but before the series it was obvious three quicks and Martin was the best approach for those who don't subscribe to the four quicks and KW theory. It would be pretty amusing if they run with Boult, Bracewell, Wagner/Gillespie, Anderson and KW for the next game.

New Zealand will never become a respected test nation while they continue to allow national staff to run the game in such a parochial and amatuer manner.

 

[Flem274*]

Maybe it's just me but I get the feeling Hesson isn't the big fan of Watling that I, and probably most of us are. I don't think any Test hundred scored by Baz would be prefaced with 'a bit of fortune early on' as if he needed to provide context to it.

Haha so much this, and you're not the first to voice this suspicion (Howsie was saying it a fair bit last year based on what people closer than us had said iirc).

I wouldn't be surprised if they're looking for the slightest excuse to elevate Ronchi since he fits into the mould McHesson want for New Zealand so well. "Earned the right to be aggressive", "Plays with intent", "That's the way he plays" and so on. Players like Watling who are willing to bat time like a ***** Beta male and put work before a swig and a ciggie behind the bike sheds aren't welcome.