** Official ** Sri Lanka in New Zealand tour

[anzac]

I'm a James Franklin fan, and deserves his chance, but after seeing him belted all around Adelaide Oval, maybe he has lost his confidence with the ball, so maybe not. Ian Bulter should play. Depending on the pitches would depend if Chris Martin should get a run or not.

For batting, I would consider giving Hamish Marshall an extended run. I will be interested to see if Craig McMillan views this as a challange and tries to work his back side off and get back into the Test XI?

again I think Bracewell will be looking at Franklin & Mills re their ability to swing the ball...........

so far as Butler is concerned it would depend on how much life was in the pitch - if it's dead then his usual delivery short of a length will get up just high enough & slow enough for players like Jayasuriya to spank.............

and I'd not play Marshall in a Home Test series on low / slow pitches - esp with the SRL slow bowlers..................I'd rather look at Fulton, but I beleive the selectors will recall McMillan - situation would be tailor made for him - slow pitches & slow bowlers...........

 

[marc71178]

I will hold you to that d1ck. Richardson will bounce back and have an awesome series. Mark my words..

He's due a bigger series isn't he?

Any news on his potential retirement?

 

[Prince EWS]

again I think Bracewell will be looking at Franklin & Mills re their ability to swing the ball...........

so far as Butler is concerned it would depend on how much life was in the pitch - if it's dead then his usual delivery short of a length will get up just high enough & slow enough for players like Jayasuriya to spank.............

and I'd not play Marshall in a Home Test series on low / slow pitches - esp with the SRL slow bowlers..................I'd rather look at Fulton, but I beleive the selectors will recall McMillan - situation would be tailor made for him - slow pitches & slow bowlers...........

I think Sinclair will bat 4 with Papps opening, thus ruling out Fulton and Marshall.

M Papps
M Richardson
S Fleming
M Sinclair
S Styris
N Astle
J Oram
B McCullum
D Vettori
J Franklin
D Tuffey

If Bond is fit, I dont really know what Ide do... either Papps or Sinclair would go I guess.

 

[cric_manic]

I think Sinclair will bat 4 with Papps opening, thus ruling out Fulton and Marshall.

M Papps
M Richardson
S Fleming
M Sinclair
S Styris
N Astle
J Oram
B McCullum
D Vettori
J Franklin
D Tuffey

If Bond is fit, I dont really know what Ide do... either Papps or Sinclair would go I guess.

butler or mills

 

[Prince EWS]

No, Franklin.

Have you seen his test record?

TESTS
(including 26/11/2004)
M I NO Runs HS Ave SR 100 50 Ct St
Batting & Fielding 6 7 1 64 23 10.66 27.82 0 0 3 0

O M R W Ave BBI 5 10 SR Econ
Bowling 155 32 508 20 25.40 5-28 1 0 46.5 3.27

And thats coming straight out of the Australian tour, where he average will obviously be at it worse.

 

[Richard]

Fair enough, but that's quite different from saying he's done "largely nothing" in his short career to date.

True, I shouldn't have referred to him and Fernando in the same phrase, their careers have been totally different.

 

[Richard]

No, Franklin.

Have you seen his test record?

TESTS
(including 26/11/2004)
M I NO Runs HS Ave SR 100 50 Ct St
Batting & Fielding 6 7 1 64 23 10.66 27.82 0 0 3 0

O M R W Ave BBI 5 10 SR Econ
Bowling 155 32 508 20 25.40 5-28 1 0 46.5 3.27

And thats coming straight out of the Australian tour, where he average will obviously be at it worse.

It does, though, include 2 Bangladesh games which will almost invariably help any bowler's figures.
I'm not saying Franklin doesn't have potential as a Test-bowler if you ask me, but by-and-large he's been pretty poor so far and his accuracy leaves plenty to be desired.
Of course, all evidence suggests the same about Butler and Mills.

 

[Prince EWS]

It does, though, include 2 Bangladesh games which will almost invariably help any bowler's figures.
I'm not saying Franklin doesn't have potential as a Test-bowler if you ask me, but by-and-large he's been pretty poor so far and his accuracy leaves plenty to be desired.
Of course, all evidence suggests the same about Butler and Mills.

Good point about the Bangladesh series, but Ide say a tour of Bangladesh followed by a tour of Australia should even everything out...

From what Ive seen of Franklin, hes a great bowler, but he just lacks consistancy, and realisation that you bowl in different places to different batsmen.

But, with the bowlers NZ have at their artillery, Ide say he should be almost guarenteed a spot in the side.

 

[bryce]

mills should not be considered for tests ATM, franklin, butler or martin should fill the other bowlers spot, otherwise that's the same team i'd pick aswell Prince EWS

 

[dinu23]

does anybody have info on Bond. what's up with him? is he still recovering from that back injury?

 

[cric_manic]

does anybody have info on Bond. what's up with him? is he still recovering from that back injury?

he says he is aiming to play aganist australia in nz

 

[Richard]

Good point about the Bangladesh series, but Ide say a tour of Bangladesh followed by a tour of Australia should even everything out...

You're actually quite right - his average from the two tours combined was 27.85 - before the two it was 24.07.
However, playing against Australia is something you've got to do.
Playing against Bangladesh is a luxury for anyone close to Test-class, and no-one really deserves it.
That was what I really meant - you can't discount Australia games the way you really should Bangladesh ones.

From what Ive seen of Franklin, hes a great bowler, but he just lacks consistancy, and realisation that you bowl in different places to different batsmen.

But, with the bowlers NZ have at their artillery, Ide say he should be almost guarenteed a spot in the side.

Certainly should - IMO he's far, far better than Mills, Butler and the like, and while he's not as accurate as Oram and Tuffey, he always looks more likely to take wickets when there's no seam in the pitch than them.

 

[Richard]

he says he is aiming to play aganist australia in nz

And he's said he's aiming to play in about 5 series he hasn't managed to make it to.
Until he actually starts playing cricket and suffering no reaction, I'm not going to take anything seriously.

 

[Prince EWS]

However, playing against Australia is something you've got to do.
Playing against Bangladesh is a luxury for anyone close to Test-class, and no-one really deserves it.
That was what I really meant - you can't discount Australia games the way you really should Bangladesh ones.

I disagree with that. You have to play against Bangladesh as well.....

The differernce from NZ to Bangladesh is the same distance from NZ to Australia IMO (tests only of course), so if Bangladesh is discounted, Australia should probably be as well.

But that actually wasnt my original point. My point was that his average isnt inflated at all at the moment. It is showing an accurate reflection of how he has bowled.

 

[Richard]

I disagree with that. You have to play against Bangladesh as well.....

The differernce from NZ to Bangladesh is the same distance from NZ to Australia IMO (tests only of course), so if Bangladesh is discounted, Australia should probably be as well.

I think Test-cricket would be a better game if no-one played Bangladesh.

 

[tooextracool]

Sri Lanka are fairly average?????
Their ODI form has been second-to-none recently and their Test form hasn't been bad at all aside from their three surrenders of the advantage in the home Australia series.

except that they are one of the worst touring sides in the world today.

 

[tooextracool]

I think Malinga has some potential, although his round arm action, seems to remind me of Fidel Edwards.

with that action he will almost never be accurate.

 

[tooextracool]

No, Franklin.

Have you seen his test record?

TESTS
(including 26/11/2004)
M I NO Runs HS Ave SR 100 50 Ct St
Batting & Fielding 6 7 1 64 23 10.66 27.82 0 0 3 0

O M R W Ave BBI 5 10 SR Econ
Bowling 155 32 508 20 25.40 5-28 1 0 46.5 3.27

And thats coming straight out of the Australian tour, where he average will obviously be at it worse.

too one dimensional, wont succeed unless the pitches help him considerably and even if he improves his accuracy(which is appalling ATM), he will still only be another bracken. he needs to make serious improvements if he is to ever succeed at the international level.

 

[meatspx]

There is no future for Mills in a succesful NZ attack.

Butler has been groomed for the past 2 years - he needs a concerted opportunity at the top to prove himself now. Same with Sinclair.

 

[James90]

So if someone fails miserably against Bangladesh, should that be ignored to?