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*Official* New Zealand in Sri Lanka

thierry henry

thierry henry

International Coach
I had almost forgotten that there had been such a debate about Conway opening in the first place...I was always reasonably keen on him not opening because I thought putting him in the best possible spot should be prioritised. However, I wasn't too bothered either way because I understood that it might be better for the team to have him there rather than a woefully out of position Young.

Conway's average as an opener has now dropped to 37 so maybe it's time to start having that discussion again?
 
NZTailender

NZTailender

I can't believe I ate the whole thing
Zinzan said:
Shouldn't happen, Will Young is a very poor man's Devon Conway, looks all at sea against decent quality pace & spin bowling.

Was basically a walking wicket against Australia when he did replace an injured Conway.

And yes Conway's average has dropped below 40, but Young's is 26.

The only value NZ will get out of Young is as a back up middle order batsman to cover the likes of Mitchell or Ravindra in the middle order if they're injured.
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I would actually back Young to do a better job at the moment. I'm a known Young fan boy but I think he's show in the past an application to scrap, despite his technical deficiencies for opening. Comparatively, Conway looks shot. Dude needs a rest or a spell in the middle order where he rightfully belongs (like Young). I'd rather a 3rd option over the both, but for the second test I'd back Young to score a gritty 40 over Conway who will probably manage an ugly score in the teens. Both aren't great results but I'd back Young to absorb deliveries moreso.
 
ataraxia

ataraxia

International Coach
I'd be seriously tempted to just open with Kane. It's not like he's really shielded at the minute; the major detriment to his performance would just be mental.
 
Bahnz

Bahnz

Hall of Fame Member
Seems like Mariu is another who's not really a dedicated opener, but switches between opener and #3 depending on the needs of his team. It's moot anyway, both him and Heaphy need another good season before they seriously enter the conversation. It's between Young, Conway and Ravindra for now.
 
S

SteveNZ

Cricketer Of The Year
straw man said:
Damn, knew he'd been in a slump but that drop is worse than expected.

We did the dirty on him by making him open, of course. Still probably the best thing for the side as a whole though.
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He did the dirty on himself, in a way. His game has gone to the pack where his hunger to be the best Test player he could be, went along with it.

I absolutely understand what he's done. No issues. But I don't agree that we did the dirty on him, he was the best equipped to do it and has found an incredible hole since IPL 2023, and the subsequent spike in his franchise participation. I don't think there's an ounce of coincidence there.
 
S

SteveNZ

Cricketer Of The Year
Blundell surprises me, this is a guy who doesn't play franchise stuff and isn't particularly considered for limited overs honours. His record since the last England tour is ghastly, and it's a pretty big sample size.

The focus on Conway's slump detracts from the fact that Latham is in a hole, too. He's renowned as a poor converter of starts and has been horrendous in the last year and a half - in 24 innings since Pakistan 2022, he has passed 20 in seventeen of those, six 50s. That's absolutely abysmal for a 32-year-old senior player with 80 Test experience. He's doing the hardest work there is in negating the new ball, but has a very obvious mental frailty in carrying on.
 
thierry henry

thierry henry

International Coach
RossTaylorsBox said:
Damn is that basically every game since that England tour?
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It just covers last summer - 6 tests total vs Bangladesh away, South Africa and Australia home. 10 dismissals, 3 double-figure scores, HS 33.

It doesn't include 3 tests against Sri Lanka either side of that, where he's made 82 runs at 20.5 - so basically he's been crap since England left here in February 2023.

Prior to that were 7 tests against England away - Pakistan away - England home, he had excellent series in all 3.
 
Moss

Moss

International Vice-Captain
It’s probably window dressing at this point but would consider Macewell for Santner on the basis that we’ll probably get as much or more from him with the bat, and he offers a different line of attack to Santner. Of course Henry probably would make more sense ( in place of either Santner or Southee), really depends on what NZ see as their best chance of taking 20 wickets at Galle.
 
Zinzan

Zinzan

Request Your Custom Title Now!
Bahnz said:
Given that both of New Zealand's last two defeats have been eminently avoidable, it really makes Southee's performances all the more aggravating. We all (myself included) were calling for NZ to move on from Wagner a good 18 months before he was finally given the Old Yeller treatment. Southee's performances over the past year have been far far worse than Wagner's ever were. I know Athlai will say "Duurrrr, Southee's da captin, they not gunna drop him silly, Ima big dumdum with a smelly butt" (or something to that general effect), but Southee has to go. NZ aren't good enough to carry such an obvious passenger in such a crucial role, and there's zero realistic upside to his continued selection. Give KW back the captaincy in an interim capacity (a longer term captain can be appointed for the England series in December), promise Tim a few farewell games in the T20's later this summer, and give NZ the best chance to level this series.
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Good to see the penny has dropped and you've finally come around to this patently obvious conclusion even if you are 12-18 months later on it vs. some of us.

This decision to make him test skipper in the first place was always absurd since even at that time he was clearly diminishing as a bowler.
 
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Moss

Moss

International Vice-Captain
straw man said:
Basically none, other than:
Young - a middle order player that we unsuccessfully tried to convert to an opener.
Rachin - opens domestically, but thought to be too loose to open in test cricket, which is probably correct for now. Still a question if he moves up in future or not.

Need a couple more options to emerge domestically.
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IMO this is NZ’s second biggest big-picture problem, after the spin attack. They’ve not introduced a single specialist opener since Raval many moons ago. Blundell, Conway and Young have all partnered Latham in that time, started well and tapered off. Really hope someone like Abbas lives up to his promise and breaks through.
 
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