***Official*** Sri Lanka in New Zealand

[James]

Let's certainly hope so!

 

[chaminda_00]

Some intersting squad selections for Sri Lanka for the ODI team to take on NZ:

Squad:

Marvan Atapattu (captain), Chaminda Vaas (vice-captain), Sanath Jayasuriya, Mahela Jayawardene, Kumar Sangakkara, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Upul Tharanga, Farveez Maharoof, Muttiah Muralitharan, Avishka Gunawardene, Lasith Malinga, Malinga Bandara, Jehan Mubarak, Russel Arnold, Ruchira Perera, Dilhara Fernando

Jayasuriya back in the fold and Chandana and Zoysa out. Its good to see Malinga and Bandara get a run in the ODIs. But i would have liked to see Vandort in the sqaud instead of Gunawardene or Arnold. Hopefully the guys can be competive but going on recent performances by them and NZ it looks like it might be a one sided series unfortuntely.

 

[Natman20]

Radio says Vincent is fine to play but no word on Flemming. Squad named at in an hour and people are expecting changes and some people are thinking in the lines of Sinclair and Fulton to replace Mcmillan and/or Marshalls. Will have to wait and see.

 

[Smudge]

Macca given the old heave-ho:

The squad is.-
Stephen Fleming (captain)
Daniel Vettori (vice captain)
Andre Adams
Shane Bond
Chris Cairns
Peter Fulton
Jamie How
Hamish Marshall
Brendon McCullum
Kyle Mills
Jacob Oram
Scott Styris
Lou Vincent
“Nathan Astle and Craig McMillan have not been selected due to recent form. We felt they should return to domestic cricket to work on their batting before being re-considered for selection.
“Jamie How and Peter Fulton have been selected after showing consistent form in domestic cricket and New Zealand A over an extended period.
“Looking towards the World Cup, if we are going to create competition for World Cup places now is the appropriate time.
“James Marshall, James Franklin and Chris Martin have not been selected following the return of Stephen Fleming, Andre Adams and Shane Bond.
“The selectors were unanimous in the decision to select Hamish Marshall. We acknowledge his recent lack of form but believe he will turn it around.
“We were also conscious of the need to retain continuity within the squad and not to make wholesale changes.”

 

[cric_manic]

wow no Astle,cant say im suprised about Macca

 

[James]

Fantastic selections, although I am surprised they dumped Nathan Astle.

 

[Blaze]

They should grow some balls and pick Taylor and Ryder. They are the future superstars.

Really dumb idea to drop Astle.

 

[Ming]

It's only good for Astle to be dropped, because he was always going to struggle with Vaas swinging the ball back in seeing he's almost resigned himself to one shot only. One shot which is already failing him. Great to see McMillan dropped, he needs to show some consistent form before he should be recalled.

I am suprised to see Jamie How in there though, I would have thought Ryder would have got the nod ahead of him. How's a fine fielder, anyone remember his catch at Napier earlier in the year? Fulton's been rewarded for some VERY CONSISTENT form on the past few seasons, and hopefully he won't be played out of position like against Bangladesh. It's good to see the selectors showing faith in Marshall, he was looking good before he self destructed at Christchurch.

McCullum should open with Fleming, and play Vincent in the middle order.

My side:

1 Fleming
2 McCullum
3 H Marshall
4 Fulton
5 Vincent
6 Styris
7 Cairns
8 Oram
9 Vettori
10 Mills
11 Bond
SS Adams

 

[Ming]

They should grow some balls and pick Taylor and Ryder. They are the future superstars.

Really dumb idea to drop Astle.

Taylor's only had one good season, and Ryder is still only 20. Can only benefit them playing the rest of this domestic season at least. Astle is struggling, and it's technically clear too.

 

[James]

Please don't do that to Vincent again! He's just starting to perform at the top of the order and they should leave him there.

Have a good at their records guys in my Cricket Web news article.

 

[Ming]

Vincent is a middle order batsman, and he wants to play there too. They mucked around with him opening and 3 earlier in his career, and he's starting to come good batting in the middle order, and he should play there in this series.

I guess if How performs in these matches, he will get a head start ahead of the others for an opening Test berth.

 

[Blaze]

Taylor's only had one good season, and Ryder is still only 20. Can only benefit them playing the rest of this domestic season at least. Astle is struggling, and it's technically clear too.

They have both been around for a while though (3 seasons each I think) and would be suited to international wickets. A series against a team like Sri Lanka is a perfect opportunity to blood at least one of them in to the 'unit'

Astle is our best one day batsman ever. He always goes through periods where he doesn't score runs and then comes back stronger than ever. Look at his stats on cricinfo.

 

[James]

Didn't I say just yesterday with Glenn Turner on the selection panel, we would see some odd selections!

The poll on our frontpage says a lot with over 500 votes:

Who do you think should be dropped for the one-day series against Sri Lanka?

Craig McMillan
20%

Hamish Marshall
14%

James Franklin
24%

James Marshall
28%

Nathan Astle
13%

 

[Natman20]

Suprised about Astle going I would rather get rid of Hamish Marshall for Jamie How anyway great selections and I hope they can perform at international level. I am looking forward to this series. Hopefully no injuries! I just put a curse on them probably

 

[Ming]

They have both been around for a while though (3 seasons each I think) and would be suited to international wickets. A series against a team like Sri Lanka is a perfect opportunity to blood at least one of them in to the 'unit'

Astle is our best one day batsman ever. He always goes through periods where he doesn't score runs and then comes back stronger than ever. Look at his stats on cricinfo.

When was the last time he experienced a period of scoring consistently?

 

[Blaze]

My side:

1 Fleming
2 McCullum
3 H Marshall
4 Fulton
5 Vincent
6 Styris
7 Cairns
8 Oram
9 Vettori
10 Mills
11 Bond
SS Adams

Bracewell has already said that How is going to open with Fleming. He hinted that McCullum might bat above Cairns and Oram which is a good move IMO as he deserves at least 20 overs at the wicket. I think in a perfect world McCullum should be coming in at over 30 and Cairns at over 35.

I find it hard to see how both How and Fulton are going to play in the same side together. Maybe they will name Bond as the super sub and Adams will miss out. This way if we bat first we have huge batting depth and if we bowl we will just have to sub Bond on straight away and sacrifice the extra batsman.

 

[Blaze]

Astle's last 50 games - Average of 32

Astle's last 40 games - Average of 34.5

Astle's last 30 games - Average of 35

Astle's last 25 games - Average of 37

Astle's last 20 games - Average of 30

Astle's last 15 games - Average of 28

Astle's last 10 games - Average of 29

Astle's last 5 games - Average of 22

In his last 20 series his averages have been - 14, 48, 48, 20, 73, 15, 25, 26, 2, 24, 42, 31 ,163, 27, 40, 6, 33, 64, 13, 16

 

[marc71178]

Have to say that sticking with Marshall after that run is a bold decision, but I have a sneaky suspicion that it will prove to be a correct one.

 

[Ming]

In his last 20 series his averages have been - 14, 48, 48, 20, 73, 15, 25, 26, 2, 24, 42, 31 ,163, 27, 40, 6, 33, 64, 13, 16

So only 9 out of 20 series he's averaged over 30, hardly consistent. He needs to sort us his game and technique, he would struggle against any left-armer at the moment.

 

[Tim]

I reckon they'll pick this team for the first ODI

Fleming
How
Vincent
Marshall
Styris
McCullum (if its true that he is going to be promoted)
Cairns
Oram
Vettori
Mills
Bond

Sub: Adams

And if Hamish Marshall continues to struggle then I reckon Fulton could be a starter for game 2.