**Official** New Zealand in West Indies

[Hurricane]

Never seen a player drop a catch?

In a way it is not his fault - Taylor should not have put him in gully.

 

[Howsie]

Why not? He fields at gully a lot of the time and is one of this teams better fielders.

 

[Hurricane]

Far out, our batsmen played poorly. We should've added at least another 50 runs to that lead.

I thought we would be doing well to add 150 to our overnight score - but was surprised we scored so few. When I got up I was hoping we would still be in.

 

[BackFootPunch]

Quick question, do ya'll think Taylor is definitely the best man for the captaincy job?

I love the guy but I'm having some doubts tbh.

 

[Days of Grace]

Who else is there? Far and away the best batsman in both tests and ODIs and, sadly, has the more experience than anyone barring McCullum.

He seems to trying his best to put his head down and build an innings when he is batting but he still has some distance to go.

 

[straw man]

It's hard to know - some of our recent cricket might suggest a shortfall in leadership but to be fair he's had a bad run of injuries lately and time out of the side does not help, plus leading a team through difficult coach transitions would also be challenging.

I don't think there's any choice but to stick with Taylor anyway. He's likely to develop over time - look how many years it took Fleming to grow into an internationally respected captain.

 

[BackFootPunch]

Yeah there aren't really any other options I know, just get the feeling he's not gonna be a great skipper.

Definitely our best ODI batsman, by quite a margin. I don't think he's cracked Tests yet though which is really disappointing. His dismissals in this current match have been beyond disappointing.

 

[wellAlbidarned]

He's decent enough and there's plenty of more obvious problems to complain about before we can start complaining about captaincy.

 

[BackFootPunch]

He's decent enough and there's plenty of more obvious problems to complain about before we can start complaining about captaincy.

Unfortunately they're the same problems we've had for a decade and don't look like being solved any time soon.

 

[_Ed_]

I think there are some decent captaincy prospects around the squad - Guptill and Williamson will develop into good leaders IMO - but none are ready at this stage.

 

[Dan]

Kane Williamson in a few years? He captained the U/19s IIRC.

 

[Flem274*]

Quick question, do ya'll think Taylor is definitely the best man for the captaincy job?

Easily.

 

[BackFootPunch]

Did Stephen Fleming captain Canterbury before he got the New Zealand job?

I ask because our current provincial captains are mostly ex national players who will likely never play international cricket again (except for KvW and DdB). Where do our younger players get captaincy experience from apart from at U19 level? (Oh and A tours which we never go on any more)

 

[Hurricane]

Why not? He fields at gully a lot of the time and is one of this teams better fielders.

I am frustrated obviously. He makes that catch we are in a better position in this game.

In my office the other cricket players have given up following the black caps. And my own patience is getting tested so there is built up frustration as well. As one of their few remaining loyal fans I have a right to expect a certain minimum standard of play. I can live with one goober of a dropped catch a series but not more than that and we have exceeded our quota.

I am not bothered by our batting this series - I am not bothered by our bowling. We should be trying to be the best fielding team in the world however.

 

[Mike5181]

I've watched most of this test series and if I didn't know better, I would legitimately think Brendon McCullum's the captain. He's the one talking to all the bowlers after every over.

 

[BackFootPunch]

I am frustrated obviously. He makes that catch we are in a better position in this game.

In my office the other cricket players have given up following the black caps. And my own patience is getting tested so there is built up frustration as well. As one of their few remaining loyal fans I have a right to expect a certain minimum standard of play. I can live with one goober of a dropped catch a series but not more than that and we have exceeded our quota.

I am not bothered by our batting this series - I am not bothered by our bowling. We should be trying to be the best fielding team in the world however.

Fielding standards should improve under Hesson I reckon. He won't take any **** in that regard.

We genuinely don't have any passengers in the field either so we really should be the best in the world.

 

[wellAlbidarned]

Unfortunately they're the same problems we've had for a decade and don't look like being solved any time soon.

Indeed, though If we could go back in time and turn Einstein onto cricket instead of physics and get him to captain the blackcaps we'd most likely still suck. Having a great captain in a **** team is the epitome of polishing a turd.

 

[BackFootPunch]

Indeed, though If we could go back in time and turn Einstein onto cricket instead of physics and get him to captain the blackcaps we'd most likely still suck. Having a great captain in a **** team is the epitome of polishing a turd.

I'm not so sure actually. I think a great captain can actually make a **** team do better than they should. A good team will generally always do pretty well regardless of their leader but with a team like ours, especially with people in key positions not being terribly experienced, someone who can really lead might turn things around.

 

[Howsie]

Hmmm, so Van Wyk has now played the same amount of matches as Reece Young and averages 20, four less than Young. Straight swap for Watling when we head to India?

 

[BackFootPunch]

Yes please. That means we can play 5 bowlers.