*Unofficial* New Zealand Black Caps Thread

[Flem274*]

Yeah this NZ A squad is actually hard to disagree with. One or two spots could change but that's a far cry from our usual take.

 

[NZTailender]

Yeah this NZ A squad is actually hard to disagree with. One or two spots could change but that's a far cry from our usual take.

Like was said in the other thread Ravindra would probably be better off playing in this than sitting at 7 in a limited overs side.

 

[Bahnz]

Disappointing to see that Sears is not included though. I doubt the selectors would leave him out of a tour like this given they included him in the ODI squad for their tour of Aus a year ago. Not sure if that means he's injured or not bothered, but either way a bit concerning.

 

[straw man]

Yeah cool to see youth - Abbas, Ashok, M Hay, O'Rourke, Foxcroft, Clarkson (though 26 now) - included. Also happy for the senior part of the team to include Bruce, Cooper, Duffy, Fletcher, Randall, Ajaz, Solia. Though less so L Carter (hides down the order at 6 in FC) and Rae. Wonder why no J Carter.

Good point by Bahnz that Sears is missing and so too is N Smith - NZ's future bowling stocks continue to look very light if they are continually unavailable. Fisher another, and Shipley also injured.

 

[straw man]

Like was said in the other thread Ravindra would probably be better off playing in this than sitting at 7 in a limited overs side.

I didn't comment on the other thread as the mispurposing of Rachin ****s me so badly (and we embarrassingly lost a match by fielding a terrible XI). Pointless adding another 'this is stupid' comment but, well, it IS stupid. Even if there are doubts whether he's a potential test opener, he absolutely is a top-order batsman first and foremost, not a T20 finisher. And his spin bowling is his second skill, not first. Urgh.

 

[Prince EWS]

Yeah this NZ A squad is actually hard to disagree with.

Needs more Dougeh and less Kuggs.

 

[CricAddict]

I didn't comment on the other thread as the mispurposing of Rachin ****s me so badly (and we embarrassingly lost a match by fielding a terrible XI). Pointless adding another 'this is stupid' comment but, well, it IS stupid. Even if there are doubts whether he's a potential test opener, he absolutely is a top-order batsman first and foremost, not a T20 finisher. And his spin bowling is his second skill, not first. Urgh.

Looks like they realize this though by not giving him the ball at all.

 

[NZTailender]

I didn't comment on the other thread as the mispurposing of Rachin ****s me so badly (and we embarrassingly lost a match by fielding a terrible XI). Pointless adding another 'this is stupid' comment but, well, it IS stupid. Even if there are doubts whether he's a potential test opener, he absolutely is a top-order batsman first and foremost, not a T20 finisher. And his spin bowling is his second skill, not first. Urgh.

I feel like we've gone back to the bad old John Bracewell days, iirc we had specialists batting around 7 for no real reason. Could be misremembering this though. Wouldn't get a bowl and hardly get a proper bat and was just a waste of time. Feel like Vincent and Sinclair were shoehorned into this area, but maybe I'm remembering it wrong.

 

[The Hutt Rec]

I feel like we've gone back to the bad old John Bracewell days, iirc we had specialists batting around 7 for no real reason. Could be misremembering this though. Wouldn't get a bowl and hardly get a proper bat and was just a waste of time. Feel like Vincent and Sinclair were shoehorned into this area, but maybe I'm remembering it wrong.

That's my memory too, and it wasn't just batsmen in random spots, there'd be things like ... Vettori opening the batting at the World Cup! And then ... the entire batting order would change the next game! It wasn't even consistent from one game to the next, just no rhyme nor reason to it (ok, I guess that's not too much different to games 2 and 3 of this series).

 

[Bahnz]

To be fair to Bracewell, NZ weren't exactly flush with opening batsmen after Richardson retired, but yes the approach he took of trialling Vincent/Sinclair/Harshall/Mills as top 3 batsmen was ill-advised.

 

[Athlai]

Lets not be fair to Bracewell imo

 

[Mike5181]

I didn't comment on the other thread as the mispurposing of Rachin ****s me so badly (and we embarrassingly lost a match by fielding a terrible XI). Pointless adding another 'this is stupid' comment but, well, it IS stupid. Even if there are doubts whether he's a potential test opener, he absolutely is a top-order batsman first and foremost, not a T20 finisher. And his spin bowling is his second skill, not first. Urgh.

Rachin should almost make himself unavailable for selection at this point. Playing at 7-8 in T20 internationals is doing him more harm than good.

 

[RossTaylorsBox]

Lets not be fair to Bracewell imo

Been saying this

 

[honestbharani]

Been saying this

Did u also say his name?

 

[Kippax]

I didn't comment on the other thread as the mispurposing of Rachin ****s me so badly (and we embarrassingly lost a match by fielding a terrible XI). Pointless adding another 'this is stupid' comment but, well, it IS stupid. Even if there are doubts whether he's a potential test opener, he absolutely is a top-order batsman first and foremost, not a T20 finisher. And his spin bowling is his second skill, not first. Urgh.

Well the 2021 Bangladesh tour did show that Ravindra is someone NZ could feasibly get a cheeky 2/30 off 10 out of, on the right pitch at the right time.

Also, one of only two chances at most for Ravindra to play an ODI World Cup in a country he's been making junior and senior cricket pilgrimages to on an annual basis. The fact he's in England right now suggests they see him as only a Santner illness or injury away from playing a role.

 

[G. S. Kohli]

Yeah this NZ A squad is actually hard to disagree with. One or two spots could change but that's a far cry from our usual take.

Expects tim Siefert to spank at Brisbane in last 2 ODI

New Zealand A squad vs Australia A: Muhammad Abbas, Adi Ashok, Tom Bruce (c), Leo Carter, Josh Clarkson, Henry Cooper, Jacob Duffy, Cam Fletcher, Dean Foxcroft, Mitch Hay, Scott Kuggeleijn, Will O'Rourke, Ajaz Patel, Michael Rae, Brett Randell, Tim Seifert, Sean Solia

 

[SteveNZ]

Well the 2021 Bangladesh tour did show that Ravindra is someone NZ could feasibly get a cheeky 2/30 off 10 out of, on the right pitch at the right time.

Also, one of only two chances at most for Ravindra to play an ODI World Cup in a country he's been making junior and senior cricket pilgrimages to on an annual basis. The fact he's in England right now suggests they see him as only a Santner illness or injury away from playing a role.

Yeah, he is the Santner back-up. Which to me feels lazy, herrr derr bowls left hand bats left hand Santner v2.0. Chapman could be the Santner back-up - good death hitter, bowls good enough LA in the right conditions, better fit for me. But he's not in the England squad, so that ain't happening.

 

[SteveNZ]

http://instagr.am/p/CwOTRR_SrmO/
Good to see Clarkson finally in the frame.

When Clarkson inevitably gets a game, the temptation for some might be 'oh look he's not setting the world on fire, you guys thought he was the messiah'. Which isn't what it is, at least for me. It's just completely flawed that he hasn't been included in roles that he would've suited better than other squad members, and off the back of his dominant Ford Trophy final. He isn't the second coming, but he's sure got talent that hopefully his deserve inclusion in the A side develops further.

Now he hasn't played cricket for five months (unless he's in England somewhere?) off the back of a dominant end to the home summer, which is disappointing.

 

[RMBolton]

When Clarkson inevitably gets a game, the temptation for some might be 'oh look he's not setting the world on fire, you guys thought he was the messiah'. Which isn't what it is, at least for me. It's just completely flawed that he hasn't been included in roles that he would've suited better than other squad members, and off the back of his dominant Ford Trophy final. He isn't the second coming, but he's sure got talent that hopefully his deserve inclusion in the A side develops further.

Now he hasn't played cricket for five months (unless he's in England somewhere?) off the back of a dominant end to the home summer, which is disappointing.

I'm sure I remember on the Stags' Instagram seeing Clarkson play in England.

 

[straw man]

Well the 2021 Bangladesh tour did show that Ravindra is someone NZ could feasibly get a cheeky 2/30 off 10 out of, on the right pitch at the right time.

Also, one of only two chances at most for Ravindra to play an ODI World Cup in a country he's been making junior and senior cricket pilgrimages to on an annual basis. The fact he's in England right now suggests they see him as only a Santner illness or injury away from playing a role.

Yes it seems that's what the selectors are thinking, I just disagree that Rachin should be considered a like-for-like replacement for Santner. He's a top-order batsman first. IMO we don't have a like-for-like replacement for Santner atm and, if he gets injured, we probably need to make up his batting and bowling with two different players (e.g. spinner and a batting allrounder).

That Bangladesh series I think was 5 T20s on rolled mud where Ajaz Patel was unplayable. And so were the Bangladesh spinners. Unlikely to encounter those conditions at the ODI WC imo, though if we did I'd want Ajaz selected as far more accurate than Rachin.

I know NZ are not flush with spin bowlers at the moment, which must explain why they want to look at Rachin in this role. But if they're going to include him in in this build-up to the World Cup, imo it should be as a batting allrounder who bats in the top 4 and bowls perhaps 5 overs per ODI. Part of this, for me, is because his spin bowling looks very stock-standard left arm orthodox, not a lot of flight/spin/variations, and his batting doesn't look suited to finishing an innings from 7 or 8. Rachin is still someone who is yet to prove to himself or anyone that he belongs in any role at international level. I'm not someone that thinks a player should never be asked to perform a different role than they have previously, but he'd be a lot more likely to succeed as a top order batsman than anything else right now imo.