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*Unofficial* New Zealand Black Caps Thread
- Thread starter NZTailender
- Start date
Kenneth Viljoen
International Regular
Santner would be a good white ball captain
Jezroy
State Captain
Yeah a real mess at the moment. Hard to tell who’s actually in charge. Have heard from someone who’s close to the team that Stead is awful. Not a good manager of people. And yes, the mediocrity thing IS real. It’s all about performance, not results (a weird one - because when you perform you win).
Have heard that Rachin is good, but suffers a bit from the “I’m naturally good, I’ve done all the hard stuff already, do I really need to keep working to stay in the team?” syndrome.
I kind of lost interest once I saw they’d picked Southee in the first test, had a bit of interest piqued when they were doing well, then collapsed, then couldn’t buy a wicket for a while in the second innings.
But once I saw unchanged team for the second test, I just thought “do these guys even care? Do they even want to TRY something different?”. Turns out they broke records of a different kind.
Yep it was Tim’s time to retire from red ball cricket. But once again it’s all murky BS about him being on the plane to India, looking forward to the England tour. But yeah… great place to tell your captain he’s gone in a hotel room in Galle. It should have been in an NZC boardroom ahead of this tour. They SAID Tim would not play all 6 tests in the subcontinent (no one did - LOL Afghanistan). But get some balls. Be proactive, not reactive. Do something different when it’s not working. They were almost good enough to get a 1-1 against both Australia and SL, even in the state of flux they’re in.
Honestly worried for when England come here. What should have been a competitive series is, in all likelihood, going to come off the back of 7 consecutive test losses. Maybe Baz will feel bad and make England have a few “attacking declarations”?
Have heard that Rachin is good, but suffers a bit from the “I’m naturally good, I’ve done all the hard stuff already, do I really need to keep working to stay in the team?” syndrome.
I kind of lost interest once I saw they’d picked Southee in the first test, had a bit of interest piqued when they were doing well, then collapsed, then couldn’t buy a wicket for a while in the second innings.
But once I saw unchanged team for the second test, I just thought “do these guys even care? Do they even want to TRY something different?”. Turns out they broke records of a different kind.
Yep it was Tim’s time to retire from red ball cricket. But once again it’s all murky BS about him being on the plane to India, looking forward to the England tour. But yeah… great place to tell your captain he’s gone in a hotel room in Galle. It should have been in an NZC boardroom ahead of this tour. They SAID Tim would not play all 6 tests in the subcontinent (no one did - LOL Afghanistan). But get some balls. Be proactive, not reactive. Do something different when it’s not working. They were almost good enough to get a 1-1 against both Australia and SL, even in the state of flux they’re in.
Honestly worried for when England come here. What should have been a competitive series is, in all likelihood, going to come off the back of 7 consecutive test losses. Maybe Baz will feel bad and make England have a few “attacking declarations”?
Jezroy
State Captain
Mind you… if the team ends up having a bowling line up containing Sears, O’Rorke, and Henry. That’s a good start.
The batting line up is a massive concern for me. Captain Latham opening against England pre-Xmas… Conway still looking out of form even though he smashed a career saving however many, KW will be fine at home, Rachin you stick with, Mitchell seems to have lost a bit of that dominant swagger and seems a bit skittish, plus he’s shown some weaknesses to spin, Philips batting at 7 (I hate the message that sends to him when we have **** tail - he’s either supposed to bash and save us… or bash some quick runs), and I don’t know about Blundell… just goes through too many peaks and troughs to feel reliable - and troubled by quality spin.
The batting line up is a massive concern for me. Captain Latham opening against England pre-Xmas… Conway still looking out of form even though he smashed a career saving however many, KW will be fine at home, Rachin you stick with, Mitchell seems to have lost a bit of that dominant swagger and seems a bit skittish, plus he’s shown some weaknesses to spin, Philips batting at 7 (I hate the message that sends to him when we have **** tail - he’s either supposed to bash and save us… or bash some quick runs), and I don’t know about Blundell… just goes through too many peaks and troughs to feel reliable - and troubled by quality spin.
thundaboult
International Debutant
Its a very realistic possibility that by the end of the last test against england, we're on a 10 test losing streak. England might not be as solid as they were a year or 18 months ago but they've got all the signs of the young fighter being too energetic and free flowing for the senior citizen new zealand side. Could be a massacre especially for our batting order. Can definitely see sears, henry, nathan smith and o'rourke pulling off nearly wins by themselves, only to have the batters squander it.
I agree with Jez tho, Kane will be fine. Should make a couple fifties against england and come out alright overall. Facing mid to s**t bowling attacks at home in tests is his bread and butter since 2019. From what I've read on here and in general when fans speak of NZ greats, Crowe usually stepped his game up even more when he faced top tier bowling, unlike Kane.
I agree with Jez tho, Kane will be fine. Should make a couple fifties against england and come out alright overall. Facing mid to s**t bowling attacks at home in tests is his bread and butter since 2019. From what I've read on here and in general when fans speak of NZ greats, Crowe usually stepped his game up even more when he faced top tier bowling, unlike Kane.
HeathDavisSpeed
Cricket Web: All-Time Legend
I get the distinct feeling that Williamson doesn’t have the fight that he once had. Struck with the malaise afflicting the squad as a whole.
Honestly, I don't think it ever leaves you if you are a person like Kane. I don't believe that. He's not necessarily a milestones guy but all he knows is batting. He wants to bat and score tons for NZ. I don't know what the pitches are like in India but if he gets flat ones there and at home in Dec, expect 1-2 more
See this is where we get to with Stead being such a boring useless bastard...we start coming up with crazy strategies that even if they wouldn't work, are preferable to the boring rubbish we're wheeled out at the moment.
GP ain't an opener and he isn't a captain. But if he was, at least we'd start the game with some level of enthusiasm and buzz like we used to, right?
Bahnz
Hall of Fame Member
Bit of a stats question here - does it officially count as 7 consecutive losses given we had the washed-out Afghan test in the middle?
I remember that the 2012 Colombo test that Taylor and Southee won for us was following a run of 5 consecutive losses, which was NZ's equal worst ever. If I'm right in thinking that the Afghan test doesn't count because the toss was never held, then Stead and co will almost certainly be history makers before the month is out.
I don't believe so. I don't remember him batting higher than 4 in red ball. I know Dale opened for Otago last season when Thorn Parkes was out, & did pretty well: 40 (74) & 70* (93) vs Canterbury.