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

[NZTailender]

Originally Posted by 33/3from3.3

To be perfectly honest i don't care who we pick to be in any Black Caps team ever... as long as Chris Martin gets well away from cricket for ever

We could always have this team:

1. M Horne
2. M Bell
3. C McMillan
4. R Jones
5. J Marshall
6. B Walker
7. R Hart (wk)
8. P Wiseman
9. D Sewell
10. K Walmsley
11. I O'Brien

No Chris Martin...

[Perm]

Very, very interesting post about the upcoming Test series there NZTailender. I would also like to see Jeetan Patel given a bit more of a go in Test's for the Black Caps, he does have a very high average in First Class cricket but definately has talent and looks to have stepped it up at international level. What I don't get is why do they groudsman try and make the pitches so seamer friendly? If I was the NZ Cricket Board I would like to see one of our international pitches being turned into a bit of a turner to accomodate for these up and coming spinners.

We really need this test series victory, preferrably 2-0 because the Sri Lankan's don't travel very well and we need to prove that we are worthy to play some of the bigger teams. Need to shut down Jayawardene and Sangakkarra, they will be the real dangermen in this series with the bat while Muralitharan will be the main wicket taker, I think Vaas is declining slightly in the test arena.

Predictions from the NZ Point of View
1-0 to NZ with the other game being a draw
Jacob Oram to score 100's
Bond to take the most wickets if he plays both games, if not Franklin

[Perm]

Originally Posted by NZTailender

We could always have this team:

1. M Horne
2. M Bell
3. C McMillan
4. R Jones
5. J Marshall
6. B Walker
7. R Hart (wk)
8. P Wiseman
9. D Sewell
10. K Walmsley
11. I O'Brien

No Chris Martin...

David Sewell has retired from competitive cricket.

[Smudge]

Originally Posted by Perm

David Sewell has retired from competitive cricket.

Well, not strictly true - he's playing for the Oamaru club in the North Otago senior competition - they're hoping to get a couple of Hawke Cup games out of him as well, although he has a young family and a new business to worry about.

[Perm]

Originally Posted by Voltman

Well, not strictly true - he's playing for the Oamaru club in the North Otago senior competition - they're hoping to get a couple of Hawke Cup games out of him as well, although he has a young family and a new business to worry about.

Ah apologies, what I meant was he retired from playing for Otago.

[16 tins of Spam]

Originally Posted by 33/3from3.3

To be perfectly honest i don't care who we pick to be in any Black Caps team ever... as long as Chris Martin gets well away from cricket for ever

I'm pretty sure he's busy touring with Coldplay, so no worries there...

[Arjun]

What's happened to Sherlock, Davis, Mark Gillespie and all those young fast bowlers discussed a few months ago? I heard Sherlock in particular was very injury-prone and hardly got a match.

[NZTailender]

Originally Posted by Arjun

What's happened to Sherlock, Davis, Mark Gillespie and all those young fast bowlers discussed a few months ago? I heard Sherlock in particular was very injury-prone and hardly got a match.

Don't know, to be honest. Hopefully this years domestic season will throw up some potential players.

[_Ed_]

Originally Posted by Arjun

What's happened to Sherlock, Davis, Mark Gillespie and all those young fast bowlers discussed a few months ago? I heard Sherlock in particular was very injury-prone and hardly got a match.

Gillespie is right in contention (was in the Champions Trophy squad), the other two are already suffering the major injury problems that come with being an NZ pace bowler.

[Perm]

I don't think Davis is a very experienced bowler at domestic level, I'm pretty sure he didn't play at all for Northern Districts last year while Sherlock is as injury prone as Bond. Gillespie is right up there alongisde Michael Mason but bowls a bit faster.

[Matt52]

I am still living in the fairy land where Hamish Marshall can regain some form. And he cant make the team in the middle order so the only spot for him is as an opener.....

Also, who really cares that much about ANOTHER test series against Sri Lanka..we have played them so many times, recently, its just getting a little boring.....I am beginning to be able to pronounce their names correctly. SO, I think we should use this as a bit of a talent search exercise before the world cup. Last nights effort showed that some of our current team are not good enough against the aussies, I am not saying we should change the whole team, but lets find at least one more player.


H. Marshall
P Fulton.
S. Fleming
L.Vincent
J. Ryder/ R Taylor
J. Oram
B. McCullum
D. Vettori
J. Franklin
R. Sherlock/ M. Gillespie
S.Bond

I think Vincent should be in the middle order. No 4 is his best spot. He is not an opener in either form of the game. Another case of NZ destroying talent in order to keep the average performers in the middle order in Styris and Astle. Styris and Astle are good in one dayers but HOW MANY OTHER COUNTRIES WOULD HAVE BATSMEN AVERAGING LESS THAN 40 OVER A LONG PERIOD OF TIME AS FIRST CHOICE PICKS?????????. in a test team.

I think both Astle and Styris should be replaced with someone with the potential to do better. L. Vincent looks a much better player in the middle order, and he should be given a consistent run in that spot as an apology to making him bat out of position all the time........ How long do you think Styris would last as an opener in Test matches????, or Astle???????? not very long I would think.......

The next best option in the middle order is J. Ryder. His first class record is pretty good so he should be given a go to see what he can do before the world cup. Taylor's first class record is not that good but as an experience building exercise before the world cup it might be useful.

I think Bond needs a fast bowling partner.....I dont think you can go into a test with only one genuine strike bowler.....Steve Waugh said that tests are all about getting twenty wickets, so I dont think we can choose just one bowler that can bowl fast yorkers and such....even if this new guy gets hit around a bit, give him some time...Franklin is good but we need another quick. Fleming,on the recent tour to SA, when asked what was the difference between the two sides, he replied " 10kph".

[_Ed_]

Actually I've often thought Styris would handle opening in tests and that there are plenty of worse options. He just seems to me to have the right technique for it. But he obviously doesn't want to, so he won't.

[Macka]

Originally Posted by _Ed_

Actually I've often thought Styris would handle opening in tests and that there are plenty of worse options. He just seems to me to have the right technique for it. But he obviously doesn't want to, so he won't.

Completely disagree. Styris takes a long time to get in, and he looks pretty average until he does. He's prone to jabbing at the ball outside of off early in his innings.

Although he does have a few hundreds batting at 3...

Nah. Bad idea in my opinion.

[Macka]

Originally Posted by Arjun

What's happened to Sherlock, Davis, Mark Gillespie and all those young fast bowlers discussed a few months ago? I heard Sherlock in particular was very injury-prone and hardly got a match.

Sherlock and Davis are nobodies hyped up by members of this forum. They've played about 15 games combined for their provinces. I've never once heard their names mentioned by anyone reputable.

Gillespie is promising, and he was in the Trophy squad but didn't get a game.

[Arjun]

Gillespie is right up there alongisde Michael Mason but bowls a bit faster.

I've seen Mason in a practice match here in India, and he didn't seem too fast. He was a reserve bowler who didn't make the playing XI in the tour. Tell me Gillespie isn't that slow...

As for opening the innings (another highly debatable issue), let's keep the same pair for both Tests and ODI's, shall we? Some mention Hamish Marshall, but if he's struggling at three or four, where he's done well in the past, how will promoting him to open help? Maybe they can have Fleming and Astle open regularly as in ODI's, but they've put that aside now and are not too regular. The best option would be to go back to Papps and How (or Cumming or maybe Richard Jones, these are names that come to mind instantly) for both Tests and ODI's, and freeze that pair for a long time.