*** un-Official - New Zealand Black Caps Thread ***

[straw man]

Very surprising selection of Astle - IMO has less to suggest he might be international quality even than Nethula.

Don't mind that Nethula has been told to go back to work on his game though - his confidence must be low after that bad WI warmup and then sitting on the sidelines for months, plus seemed to be almost purely bowling topspinners for NZ A.

I see Oram has not retired yet either and is in the limited overs squad. . I guess his bowling might still be ok in ODIs but..........

[SteveNZ]

Would love to know why Todd Astle didn't play in the NZ A series, averaged 38 with the ball in 2011-12 and has now gone ahead of a guy who has fallen two back at least in the pecking order despite not being given a chance yet. I'm not a big Nethula fan but they picked him, I guess with the belief he was good enough, didn't play him apart from a three-day match and now deem he's well back.

If the selectors think Astle is the answer I think they'll be unpleasantly surprised. His record in the few NZ A matches he has played in the past is abysmal. And I doubt we're considering a FC average of 22 another string to a bow. He may turn it big but his pitch maps require wide screen.

And then we have Nicol recalled to Test cricket based on nothing but poor scores for Gloucestershire and one score in T20s...and dropped from T20s. Makes sense - at least for the current regime.

[Mike5181]

“The one new face is Todd Astle. He has the ability to contribute in all three facets of the game and deserves his opportunity after a putting in consistent performances over a number of seasons."

Since when? Todd Astle has only ever had success in first-class. That being said I don't have a massive problem with him being in the test squad.

[straw man]

Originally Posted by Mike5181

“The one new face is Todd Astle. He has the ability to contribute in all three facets of the game and deserves his opportunity after a putting in consistent performances over a number of seasons."

Since when? Todd Astle has only ever had success in first-class. That being said I don't have a massive problem with him being in the test squad.

I think by 3 facets they mean batting, bowling, fielding rather than three forms of the game.

My impression of Astle's accuracy is very similar to SteveNZ's. That said I hope to be proved wrong. Until then having a legspinner who can also contribute with the bat sounds far too good to be true.

I didn't even notice Nicol has somehow made it back into the test squad . What more can be said? Just hope the XI from the India tests remains unchanged.

[Mike5181]

Originally Posted by straw man

I think by 3 facets they mean batting, bowling, fielding rather than three forms of the game.

My impression of Astle's accuracy is very similar to SteveNZ's. That said I hope to be proved wrong. Until then having a legspinner who can also contribute with the bad sounds far too good to be true.

I didn't even notice Nicol has somehow made it back into the test squad . What more can be said? Just hope the XI from the India tests remains unchanged.

Oh, god. I completely misread that, never mind. That's fair enough then.

For the starting test team I'd go something like this:

Tests
1.Brendon McCullum
2.Martin Guptill
3.Kane Williamson
4.Ross Taylor (c)
5.James Franklin
6.Daniel Flynn
7.Kruger Van Wyk+
8.Doug Bracewell
9.Tim Southee
10.Jeetan Patel
11.Trent Boult

Reserves:
Rob Nicol (would really prefer Broom)
Todd Astle
Chris Martin
Neil Wagner

ODIs
1.Martin Guptill
2.Brendon McCullum
3.Kane Williamson
4.Ross Taylor (c)
5.James Franklin- 6
6.BJ Watling
7.Nathan McCullum - 5
8.Jacob Oram - 4
9.Kyle Mills- 2
10.Tim Southee- 1
11.Trent Boult- 3

[straw man]

When you put it like that I now realise Nicol is our ONLY batting reserve. That's horrible.

Wagner is also there btw.

[Kippax]

Todd Astle, 2011/12 FC Wickets - YouTube

Ryder's Contempt for Todd Astle - YouTube

[Prince EWS]

Nicol in the Test squad again already? Really? I've never been a big Watling fan but he's not a better option than Nicol at this point I'm not here.

[Prince EWS]

Originally Posted by Kippax

Todd Astle, 2011/12 FC Wickets - YouTube

Ryder's Contempt for Todd Astle - YouTube

He's actually got quite a nice looking action; really needs to work on getting some more momentum into it at the point of release though.

I don't mind the selection so much; what's odd is how it's been handled beforehand, as SteveNZ suggested.

[Mike5181]

“BJ Watling will return to New Zealand after the one-day matches. He has spent a lot of time touring but has had limited opportunities to play and we believe it is best for his development if he’s made available for the upcoming Plunket Shield fixtures."

Plunket Shield > sitting on the side lines, I guess. If there's an injury or drastic decline in form of one of the players it'd be stupid not to have our best players available though.

[straw man]

It's reasonable logic and sitting on the sidelines surely doesnt help anyone - for example suspect it had a negative impact on Jeets' development. Tho might have made more sense to leave Watling out of the T20 WC instead, as he's definitely a better test batsman than Nicol. Could have played NZ A series.

Similarly, surely one of Martin or Wagner would be better off playing Plunket Shield. Hard to see us needing two spare seamers in a two-test series in the subcontinent.

[Bahnz]

Wow, Astle's selection came waaaaaaay out of left field. You'd have to assume, given the series is in SL, that he has a decent chance of getting a game as well. Feel sorry for Nethula, he's been getting some pretty mixed signals from the selectors of late. Also feel a bit sorry for Bruce Martin, who's picked up pretty decent (by NZ standards) figures in his last couple of seasons without even being noticed by the selectors.

Milne still in the limited overs squad is a bit weird too. If they're going to persist with selecting him, I hope he at least gets a game this time. At this stage of his career it might be better for him to play in the slightly more forgiving ODI format (although, tbh, it'd be even better if he was just left in domestics for a couple of years).

[wellAlbidarned]

Martin suffered heavily from the MacGill/Warne effect. Stupid selectors being more worried about the myths of variety than putting the best 11 players on the pitch.

[straw man]

Should say, I quite like the move to rest Guptill from limited-overs series - he's had a very busy calendar recently. Leaving Bracewell at home for those will do him no harm either.

[Scaly piscine]

Originally Posted by SteveNZ

If the selectors think Astle is the answer I think they'll be unpleasantly surprised. His record in the few NZ A matches he has played in the past is abysmal. And I doubt we're considering a FC average of 22 another string to a bow. He may turn it big but his pitch maps require wide screen.

Originally Posted by Kippax

Todd Astle, 2011/12 FC Wickets - YouTube

Ryder's Contempt for Todd Astle - YouTube

Doesn't look like it. Seems to get his wickets turning it a fraction or the batsmen playing for said turn and being lbw. Well there are some rank slogs and across the line heaves in there too, so he might be useful when England tour.