wouldnt mind getting back on one myself but am thinking my days are over for nz at the moment, to be honest i think there might be a few that don't get one especially now that the icl players are back in our domestic cricket ie bond tuffey etc the likes of styris hopkins gillespie mason might not find themselves getting a contractHello Mathew, great to see you back here again.
Just a quick question, with the NZC Contracts being announced soon who do you think there are any 'under-the-radar' players in the domsetic scene that could be a 'shock' inclusion?
Joshua.
firstly i think the moment may have got to the kiwis there we didnt get off to a good start and some pretty accurate death bowling was very hard to hit and hence they got on top very early and in 2020 if you dont maximise the overs early on to score it is hard to pull backHi Mat, good to have you back on CW Live Chat. At the beginning of the T20 World Cup I always thought the NZ batsmen had some weaknesses in terms of playing spin, but I was surprised to see that they looked to be struggling against pace as well, as demonstrated by the match against Pakistan where Umar Gul took 5 wickets with an economy rate of 2.00. In your opiniion, what went wrong there?
its hard mate all these guys are world class spinners of note the only thing to try and replicate this is studying hard there actions on a computer and being firm on your own batting plans, for instance sweep shot come down the wicket etc etc , no real hard answers you have to back yourselfJust in case he missed it the first time...
Hi Mathew,
As a NZ supporter, I am often frustrated about our inability to handle quality spinners - particularly the likes of Muralitharan, Kumble and Harbhajan. Again, this became an issue at the Twenty20 World Cup when we came up against Mendis. Obviously, this is hard to replicate in practice situations, but how can we improve our batsmen in regards to reading spinners out of the hand?
Cheers
Just in case Matty missed this one at the bottom of the page.Hey Matt, What are your thoughts on Shane Bond? Do you think he should have to earn his way back into the team, or should he be an automatic selection for the Sri Lanka tour in August?
its hard mate all these guys are world class spinners of note the only thing to try and replicate this is studying hard there actions on a computer and being firm on your own batting plans, for instance sweep shot come down the wicket etc etc , no real hard answers you have to back yourself
Just in case Matty missed this one at the bottom of the page.
loved playing over in oz got a lot of sledging myself from the crowd as well as players but you definitely knew you were in a battle , thats how it should feel to be unconmfortable because it is the same no matter where you play, the aussies think we are the worst sledgers so thats a complimentMat, how bad did you find the Australian crowds when you toured here? Thev're recieved a lot of bad press in the past, is it just a beat up?
the selectors i felt were under pressure to pick me because of the sheer amount of runs that i had, the selection was a good one as i was in a good space but as we all know one day cricket at the best of times can be hit and miss and we all nick the ball at times..dont get much feedback as i am not a contracted player and i guess that feedback was generated by me doing so well this year and putting pressure on all..usually you get the same old answers from the selectors and for me that has been ongoing for a while the best thing i can do is keep putting pressure on them via sheer amount of runs,,,cheersMat,
You may or may not recognise my username: people have often made sly jokes in reply to your blog entries about my (perhaps over-the-top) support of you on this forum.
It must be confusing and frustrating for you as a player to never really know where you stand. The selectors showed you were still in the frame by picking you for that ODI against the West Indies, but then you disappeared off the map after just one outing and seemed to fall behind a couple of other players (despite outperforming them domestically). Do you have any insight as to the logic behind some of the selections that seem, on the surface anyway, to be quite contradictory? Do you get feedback as a player on the fringes of selection as to the reasons why you are picked, or aren't picked as the case may be?
Thanks for your time,
Rob