*Official* Sri Lanka Tour of New Zealand 2018/19

[NZTailender]

I just don't understand why Latham is being rested? The BC's barely played in 2018.

Probably something to do with him facing 889 balls in the test series, 500+ more than the next guy in his team, plus he's the ODI keeper.

Deserves a break.

 

[NZTailender]

If I could be convinced Nicholls would be a successful opener against international-class bowling, I'd adore that side.

Realistically though, I still see Nicholls' main strength in the middle order, with either Neesham, CDG or Anderson as the all-rounder.

I still have a soft-spot for Munro up top & think we can afford a slightly hit-miss goer like Munro (in the McCullum mould) when we have the solidarity of KW, Rosco, Latham & Nicholls to follow. Also allows Guptill to play his natural game without overly forcing his hand.

Although I do like your thinking of batting to no.8 with Santa, considering no. 1 England do exactly that.

That bowling attack is awesome, although I'd be a toss-up between Bennett (who I have a lot of time for) and Milne assuming he's fit. The latter offering more with the bat and in the field. I recall Bennett as a bit a slug around the park.

Agreed. It's shooting yourself in the foot twice if you have Nicholls open. He's unproven, so if he goes ****, that's not good. Then if someone in the middle order goes down injured or has a mare, who do we replace them with? Another unproven middle order player?

I would hope the age of shoving players into roles they're not familiar with ended with Bracewell.

The only other solutions I can think of are Worker (dubious), Rutherford (poor ODI record, circumspect technique but decent List A record of late), Phillips (unproven) or Young (yet to debut anywhere for BCs).

 

[NZTailender]

Surely Seifert can only make this team as a batsman? His keeping is barely FC standards.

Looking forward to Southee taking the new ball at the world cup with an average of 36 btw.

Batting wise I've seen nothing promising so far from him either.

Yar, it was worth giving the Seifert experiment another go, but his keeping is Wade-tier trash. The only spot I could see for him in the side right now is as an opener pitch hinter, but I doubt his batting is goiin to offer more than Munro's just yet.

He strikes me as being a bit Michael Slaterish with the bat - has a reputation for being a dasher so is trying doubley-hard to go for it. Whatever natural abilities he has seems to being overridden by an anxiety to bash everything.

Rubbish with the gloves though. If he clicks he could make a decent opener.

 

[TheBrand]

Wouldn't mind Bennett to have a chance. Anyone see the Super Smash the other day where he ripped into Logan van Beek on stump mic for having a shy at the stumps? Seemed pretty uncalled for haha.

Definitely worth a shot though, if I remember correctly he last played for NZ the last time India was here?

 

[NZTailender]

Wouldn't mind Bennett to have a chance. Anyone see the Super Smash the other day where he ripped into Logan van Beek on stump mic for having a shy at the stumps? Seemed pretty uncalled for haha.

Definitely worth a shot though, if I remember correctly he last played for NZ the last time India was here?

Played vs Bangladesh in Ireland, took 3-31 and 1-47

 

[nzfan]

https://i.stuff.co.nz/sport/cricket...out-of-sri-lanka-t20-doug-bracewell-called-in

Damn.

Bugger that's not good... was enjoying watching him play. Perhaps he would have landed an IPL gig if he went well in the T20s. It's only a grade 1 so he should be back up and running in a week or two max. If he can go well against India he could back fill for IPL teams.

 

[nzfan]

Wouldn't mind Bennett to have a chance. Anyone see the Super Smash the other day where he ripped into Logan van Beek on stump mic for having a shy at the stumps? Seemed pretty uncalled for haha.

Definitely worth a shot though, if I remember correctly he last played for NZ the last time India was here?

That wasn't Logan he was ripping into it was Malcolm Nofal. Fast bowlers mate, hate going for runs and it was rubbing salt wound right after that ball he went for couple more fours.

 

[TheBrand]

That wasn't Logan he was ripping into it was Malcolm Nofal. Fast bowlers mate, hate going for runs and it was rubbing salt wound right after that ball he went for couple more fours.

You could definitely hear him say "Logan, what the *** are you doing". Van Beek had a shy at the stumps when Canterbury were 9 down and if he hits the game is over yet Bennett still felt like giving him a spray! Haha. Or was Nofal the guy who threw it back at the stumps and ended up hitting Bennett with the ball, hilarious!

 

[nzfan]

You could definitely hear him say "Logan, what the *** are you doing". Van Beek had a shy at the stumps when Canterbury were 9 down and if he hits the game is over yet Bennett still felt like giving him a spray! Haha. Or was Nofal the guy who threw it back at the stumps and ended up hitting Bennett with the ball, hilarious!

Yeah for sure it was Nofal. I was a the ground, left arm throw as well and a wild throw nowhere close to the stumps. I was at the entrance of Basin Reserve planning to leave and saw big Nofal written on the back of the shirt. Bennett by then had gone for some runs and was seething. The big fella gave an absolute spray to Nofal. You don't want to piss off your fast bowling captain when he's going for runs and Nofal although not arguing was speaking back which I guess is not a great idea. Maybe Bennett wanted to claim another wicket to make his figures look good. Not only missed out on that but also was smashed around rest of the over

 

[Immenso]

Shot of the day yesterday. De Silvas flick thru square leg that raced to the point boundary off the back of his bat, still accelerating as it crossed the pip squeak boundary .

Modern bats huh.

 

[nzfan]

Is there a credit due for McMillan? Black caps have been outstanding with the bat in the recent months. Some credit goes to the coaching staff?

 

[Moss]

Is there a credit due for McMillan? Black caps have been outstanding with the bat in the recent months. Some credit goes to the coaching staff?

Happy to acknowledge it, considering he does get a bit of stick (on this forum anyway) whenever the batting fails. Often forgotten that he was a pretty good middle order bat in tests, his last 2 years took the sheen off his record somewhat.

 

[Moss]

Agreed. It's shooting yourself in the foot twice if you have Nicholls open. He's unproven, so if he goes ****, that's not good. Then if someone in the middle order goes down injured or has a mare, who do we replace them with? Another unproven middle order player?

I would hope the age of shoving players into roles they're not familiar with ended with Bracewell.

The only other solutions I can think of are Worker (dubious), Rutherford (poor ODI record, circumspect technique but decent List A record of late), Phillips (unproven) or Young (yet to debut anywhere for BCs).

It's too late to trial any unproven players as Guptill's partner at the top IMO. Stick with Munro and hope he can manage to play the Mccullum role to whatever extent possible. Latham as backup opener if Colin has a poor run. KW to assume the role as a worst case.

 

[maggot8210]

It's too late to trial any unproven players as Guptill's partner at the top IMO. Stick with Munro and hope he can manage to play the Mccullum role to whatever extent possible. Latham as backup opener if Colin has a poor run. KW to assume the role as a worst case.

With Latham not being considered, is it more a case of having a fear of two players at the crease that don't have explosive strike rates if guptill goes early? Protecting Kane and allowing him to build in to his innings without the pressure to accelerate. I'd imagine Kane's got a higher strike rate than latham. Colin would be more suited for the role imo.

 

[Daemon]

Kim Southee averages 45 in the last three years and 61 in the last year. Time to let go.

 

[Days of Grace]

Which team in the world has the strongest lower-middle order batting and 5th bowler? As usual in ODIs those could be the key positions.

Remember when we used to have the cake-icing analogy? The 2015 had a great blend.

A lower-middle order of Neesham, de Boom-Boom, and Santa is icing enough to compliment the fruit cake of Kane, Boss and Tom

 

[Days of Grace]

Guptill
Munro
Williamson (c)
Taylor
Latham (wk)
Neesham
de Grandhomme
Santner
Southee
Ferguson
Boult

Nicholls
Sodhi
Henry

 

[Neil Young]

It's too late to trial any unproven players as Guptill's partner at the top IMO.

8 games is plenty to trial something new.

 

[Athlai]

We could also rest Guptill or push Williamson/Taylor down a spot (or rest one) and really go wild on playing 2 top order options every game until the world cup.

 

[Neil Young]

We could also rest Guptill or push Williamson/Taylor down a spot (or rest one) and really go wild on playing 2 top order options every game until the world cup.

I don't even understand what you're saying here, but I like it! GO!!