***Official**** Sri Lanka in New Zealand 2014/2015

[YorksLanka]

Unrelated to the current series but regarding SL's WC squad.. I realize Ajantha Mendis didn't do himself any favors with his lack of control in terms of economy rate, but I'm not sure Jeevan Mendis deserves a spot in the WC squad when the highest ODI wicket-taker of all countries in 2014 doesn't get in..

Surely he deserves to at least get in the squad???
Cricket Records | Records | 2014 | One-Day Internationals | Most wickets | ESPN Cricinfo

No I dont think he does..the wickets in Aus & NZ will be much quicker than at home so he will become a slow medium who doesnt spin it much = cannon fodder..Jeevan can bat as well although i dont think he will get into the final XI if Rangana and Satchi are fit anyway tbh..

 

[cnerd123]

Didn't realize he didn't make the NZ squad.. he was express in Dubai of what I saw of him.. felt like the fastest in the world atm.. That and had decent control.

The problem is Ajantha is a weird animal for SL to appreciate. We are used to a phalanx of slow bowlers that control proceedings by slowing the run rate.. he doesn't do that, but he's shown that he's almost always in the wickets.. SL are betting on Senanayake + Malinga to come good which is a big gamble. I have a feeling they are going to miss Ajantha sometime during the WC but there's no going back now.. Jeevan Mendis's selection over him makes very little sense.. Ajantha getting shafted for being pretty much a bunny I guess - but really SL should not be depending on Jeevan for runs - he will top edge some short ball easy enough.

There seems to be a preference of bits-and-pieces players over specialists here.

I think it has more to do with the conditions.

Mendis doesn't get enough revs on the ball or enough bounce to be a threat on NZ and Aus pitches. Senanayake and Jeevan do. He also isn't that accurate.

His batting and fielding were probably secondary factors.

 

[Maximas]

Didn't realize he didn't make the NZ squad.. he was express in Dubai of what I saw of him.. felt like the fastest in the world atm.. That and had decent control.

The problem is Ajantha is a weird animal for SL to appreciate. We are used to a phalanx of slow bowlers that control proceedings by slowing the run rate.. he doesn't do that, but he's shown that he's almost always in the wickets.. SL are betting on Senanayake + Malinga to come good which is a big gamble. I have a feeling they are going to miss Ajantha sometime during the WC but there's no going back now.. Jeevan Mendis's selection over him makes very little sense.. Ajantha getting shafted for being pretty much a bunny I guess - but really SL should not be depending on Jeevan for runs - he will top edge some short ball easy enough.

There seems to be a preference of bits-and-pieces players over specialists here.

Not really, we have two world class specialist ODI spinners in the squad which is plenty for the conditions we'll face, we also have a somewhat settled top 6 batting line-up that won't change too much over the course of the tournament IMO, the areas of uncertainty in the team are positions 7-8, hence the selectors have given themselves some options there rather than bulked up on unnecessary specialists. The hit and miss nature of Ajantha (particularly in these conditions) and his lack of utility probably didn't help either. Agree largely with your point about Jeevan though, I don't really rate him as an ODI player at all but particularly in these conditions both his batting and bowling will be quite useless, hope he is more of a bench warmer than anything.

As for the 'big gamble' of Sachi and Malinga coming good - I don't see why Sachi won't, he's done it well over the last 2 years in all conditions and his bowling only seemed to improve after the action was re-modeled IMO. Malinga on the other hand is the best death bowler in the world on his day and no one else in Sri Lanka comes close to being able to produce what he can on his day, it's a gamble I spose but one we just absolutely have to take if we are serious about trying to win this thing.

 

[Jezroy]

Was Jan 8 the actual deadline for all sides or could we have actually waited long enough to gauge form from 1-2 games starting on Jan 11?

Yep - the deadline was always before the SL vs NZ ODI series started.

 

[Maximas]

I think it has more to do with the conditions.

Mendis doesn't get enough revs on the ball or enough bounce to be a threat on NZ and Aus pitches. Senanayake and Jeevan do. He also isn't that accurate.

His batting and fielding were probably secondary factors.

Sachi doesn't really put all that much on the ball tbh, it's just that his accuracy combined with clever changes of pace and length make him difficult to hit, Mendis doesn't ever seem capable of bowling to a plan.

 

[cnerd123]

Sachi doesn't really put all that much on the ball tbh, it's just that his accuracy combined with clever changes of pace and length make him difficult to hit, Mendis doesn't ever seem capable of bowling to a plan.

He gets bounce and does spin it more than Mendis tho.

Jeevan has looked good to me when I've seen him. Dunnow about bowling to a plan or not tho, haven't seen him enough to determine how good his control is.

 

[Jezroy]

New Zealand without Tim Southee, Ross Taylor for first ODI | Cricket News | New Zealand v Sri Lanka | ESPN Cricinfo

Fast bowler Kyle Mills, who had to return home from the series against Pakistan in the UAE in December with a groin strain, is part of the World Cup squad, but is not back to full fitness yet. He will not feature in the first ODI, either, McMillan said.

"He's still resting but he's not far off. He's been bowling, I think he's coming off full runs," McMillan said. "So I think he'll join us as we head north and he's looking forward to some game time."

To cover for Southee and Mills' absence, Matt Henry, who missed out on the World Cup 15, has been added to the squad. However, he's being brought in "just in case", McMillan said, with Adam Milne, Mitchell McClenaghan and Trent Boult set to make the playing eleven. "Adam, Mitch, Trent, all three likely to play. Matt Henry is going to come in as cover. Obviously he was very unlucky not to make the [World Cup] squad. He'll come out and join us tomorrow, he's playing for Canterbury today at Rangiora [in the Ford Trophy]."

FYI - Taylor gone home, Southee rested, Mills not ready, and pretty sure no Vettori. Leaves 11 players I guess (plus Neesh and Henry hanging around). Pretty sure Henry will play at the World Cup. When was the last time 5 of our pace bowlers managed to get through a (potentially) 9 game series without injury?

If the TAB were running a sweep on NZ pace bowlers injury likelihood during the World Cup - I reckon it would go like this:

Mills - 1.90
Mitch - 2.00
Milne - 2.50
Southee - 4.00
Boult - 9.00

 

[Maximas]

He gets bounce and does spin it more than Mendis tho.

Jeevan has looked good to me when I've seen him. Dunnow about bowling to a plan or not tho, haven't seen him enough to determine how good his control is.

Yep

I was talking about Ajantha when I mentioned bowling to plans, Jeevan tends to drop short a bit too much I find

 

[Jezroy]

This has probably been posted before, but I'd never seen it until tonight

Trent bowls them over at 129kmh - Sport - Bay of Plenty Times News

The speed gun doesn't lie - Trent Boult is the fastest secondary school bowler in the country.
The 17-year-old bowled at 129km/h to win the National Bank Fast Bowling challenge in Auckland yesterday.

 

[Howsie]

Did they only run that for the two years, 07 and 08? Found it quite amusing during the Basin test that the two guys who won those comps were playing test cricket, Neesham being the other. Should've kept it going haha.

 

[BWSport]

Yeah we have a few pretty dodgy players in terms of injury risks. Maybe that the reason behind giving Henry and Milne the game time overseas, he knew they wouldn't be front runners for the match XI but felt that it is necessary to have players ready to go with international experience.

Can't remember the last time we got through a season when either Mills or Milne had a significant injury, glad that we have developed so much depth in this area

 

[Bahnz]

This has probably been posted before, but I'd never seen it until tonight

Trent bowls them over at 129kmh - Sport - Bay of Plenty Times News

The speed gun doesn't lie - Trent Boult is the fastest secondary school bowler in the country.
The 17-year-old bowled at 129km/h to win the National Bank Fast Bowling challenge in Auckland yesterday.

Haha, I remember that. Boult won the final, but I think Corey Anderson bowled the fastest ball in the entire competition (138k iirc).

 

[viriya]

Was it a selection based on conditions in NZ/Aus? Spinners here tend to be containers rather than wicket takers.

No I dont think he does..the wickets in Aus & NZ will be much quicker than at home so he will become a slow medium who doesnt spin it much = cannon fodder..Jeevan can bat as well although i dont think he will get into the final XI if Rangana and Satchi are fit anyway tbh..

I think it has more to do with the conditions.

Mendis doesn't get enough revs on the ball or enough bounce to be a threat on NZ and Aus pitches. Senanayake and Jeevan do. He also isn't that accurate.

His batting and fielding were probably secondary factors.

Not really, we have two world class specialist ODI spinners in the squad which is plenty for the conditions we'll face, we also have a somewhat settled top 6 batting line-up that won't change too much over the course of the tournament IMO, the areas of uncertainty in the team are positions 7-8, hence the selectors have given themselves some options there rather than bulked up on unnecessary specialists. The hit and miss nature of Ajantha (particularly in these conditions) and his lack of utility probably didn't help either. Agree largely with your point about Jeevan though, I don't really rate him as an ODI player at all but particularly in these conditions both his batting and bowling will be quite useless, hope he is more of a bench warmer than anything.

As for the 'big gamble' of Sachi and Malinga coming good - I don't see why Sachi won't, he's done it well over the last 2 years in all conditions and his bowling only seemed to improve after the action was re-modeled IMO. Malinga on the other hand is the best death bowler in the world on his day and no one else in Sri Lanka comes close to being able to produce what he can on his day, it's a gamble I spose but one we just absolutely have to take if we are serious about trying to win this thing.

I get that it's somewhat based on the conditions, so I think he shouldn't be in the first-choice XI as well, but not even making the squad over Jeevan Mendis?

Herath is just coming off an injury and Sena just remodeled his action (he bowled well in the last series, but say he loses his action in the WC), surely you need tested backup for those two?

Malinga is also coming off injury and we all know he's past his best in ODIs now and going by reputation more than genuine pace like he used to have.. I guess I'll wait to pass judgment on him after I see whether he's lost his gut.

 

[BeeGee]

The thing I most want to see from this series is Boult justifying his selection and putting in some good performances.

 

[Jezroy]

The thing I most want to see from this series is Boult justifying his selection and putting in some good performances.

I would much rather this happened and everyone went "Wow! The selectors were right! Boult FTW!" and Henry was still on the sidelines waiting for an injury.

Otherwise it's going to be over and over again "Why didn't they pick Henry! I knew it! They're the most useless ****s in the world!!!!". That gets pretty boring (especially when you hear it from people who know NOTHING about cricket, and wouldn't give a crap about the team if they weren't doing well).

Since "The McHesson Revolution", I prefer to sit back and see if they were right or wrong before having a huge opinion*

*sometimes

 

[Flem274*]

I'd love to get some egg on my face.

But it's Mills everyone calling the radio wants to drop for Henry, not Boulteh.

 

[Hurricane]

I'd love to get some egg on my face.

But it's Mills everyone calling the radio wants to drop for Henry, not Boulteh.

Unrelated to the bowlers but there has been some support developing for Munro on talkback.

 

[BeeGee]

Since "The McHesson Revolution", I prefer to sit back and see if they were right or wrong before having a huge opinion*

*sometimes

Having a huge opinion is fine. Mine is enormous. And there's nothing more enjoyable than getting it out on a public forum and waving it around for all to see. Sure, if you wave it around too much it might end up exploding in your face, but it's all good.

 

[BeeGee]

I'd love to get some egg on my face.

Stand close to me while I'm waving my opinion around.

But it's Mills everyone calling the radio wants to drop for Henry, not Boulteh.

Radio callers have small opinions. Mills will be fine, as long as they use him sensibly. Play him on slow decks, bowl him for a long spell with the new ball and don't use him at the death.

Mills is a proven performer, Boult isn't. I want to see Boult perform.

 

[Spark]

Having a huge opinion is fine. Mine is enormous. And there's nothing more enjoyable than getting it out on a public forum and waving it around for all to see. Sure, if you wave it around too much it might end up exploding in your face, but it's all good.

itstl