**Official** England in New Zealand

[MoxPearl]

mcullum just scored the fastest every world domestic ODI 100....

 

[Tim]

every world? you mean NZ?

 

[Prince EWS]

every world? you mean NZ?

"Domestic ODI" is an oxymoron in itself, too..

 

[KiWiNiNjA]

"Domestic ODI" is an oxymoron in itself, too..

ODD?

 

[MoxPearl]

Sorry its hungover sunday :P

"Fastest ever 100 in a domestic 50 over comp"

fuk it back to bed :P

 

[Mixmasterreece]

Highlighted the paragraph I thought to be of interest to some :

http://www.stuff.co.nz/4423044a1823.html

Mathew Sinclair and Ross Taylor should run out and buy lottery tickets.

It's their lucky week after the Central Districts pair were awarded the two vacant Zealand middle-order batting spots for the first test against England, starting in Hamilton on Wednesday.

The bolter in the 13-man squad was South Africa-born Wellington all-rounder Grant Elliott, though his chance of making the playing XI looks slim.

National selector Dion Nash admitted the batting situation had given the panel headaches, though the conundrum was eased when Peter Fulton ruled himself out at the last minute with a knee injury and Jesse Ryder lost the plot.

Nash said a diet of one-day cricket had made it hard to weigh up form for the longer version of the game so the panel settled for the incumbent (Sinclair) and the up-and-coming (Taylor).

However, Nash said Northern Districts captain James Marshall and Central Districts' 23-year-old Greg Hay had been tossed about as alternative options.

Sinclair's last test innings was a shocker - dropped three times reaching 47 against Bangladesh at the Basin Reserve - but he has been forgiven.

"No one really endeared themselves with the bat against Bangladesh," Nash said. "We were concerned by it but, at the same time, he has shown form domestically and got a good 47 against the English attack in Dunedin.

"He is the incumbent and he knows the pressure is on to score runs, so he needs to impress upon us we have made the right call."

Taylor got the nod after scoring 144 runs at 72 in the one-day series against England. Taylor's runs didn't always come in a convincing manner and he is not renowned for batting for long periods, but he has a touch of class on his day.

"Ross is one of our brightest prospects and rather than interrupt his international momentum, we want to keep him going," Nash said.

The openers are Matthew Bell and Jamie How, a move that might signal the end of Craig Cumming's gritty career.

"Craig hasn't done enough this season [103 one-day runs for Otago at 17.16] and he's been overtaken by Matthew and Jamie," Nash said. "He's not dropped forever. We just want to pick guys on form and he hasn't got enough at the moment.

"Jamie picks himself, based upon form. He was close against Bangladesh."

Nash admitted Ryder's loss had been Elliott's gain when they went looking for a backup all-rounder to cover their bases for the first test.

"It probably doesn't take a brain surgeon to work out that Jesse probably would've been there - perhaps even in the starting lineup. That's Jesse's thing to work out now," Nash said.

Elliott, 28, was born in Johannesburg, debuted for Transvaal, and has spent the past three seasons playing for Wellington where he has looked to be a proficient batsman and bowled medium pace outswing. He has scored 1506 runs at 27.38, with three centuries and eight 50s.

Elliott was both shocked and delighted at his call-up.

"As soon as I arrived in New Zealand and made it my home, I had aspirations of playing international cricket for New Zealand.

"It's a really tough move to make. You always grow up thinking you're going to be a Springbok or a Protea and then you make that change to another country."

For all that, the only foreseeable way Elliott could creep into the starting lineup would be at the expense of third seamer Iain O'Brien, leaving the side light on bowling but with a powerful lower order if Elliott were at No8.

O'Brien beat his Wellington teammate Mark Gillespie to the third seamer's role, though Nash noted Gillespie was improving with every match after a shoulder injury.

Nash said his information was that the pitch in Hamilton would be a fine one, meaning swing would be the factor in the first test.

Expect Elliott to be released on the eve of the match and Jeetan Patel to carry the drinks, or vice versa.

The test team: Daniel Vettori (captain), Matthew Bell, Jamie How, Stephen Fleming, Mathew Sinclair, Ross Taylor, Jacob Oram, Brendon McCullum, Grant Elliot, Kyle Mills, Iain O'Brien, Jeetan Patel, Chris Martin.

 

[Richard]

mcullum just scored the fastest every world domestic ODI 100....

every world? you mean NZ?

"Domestic ODI" is an oxymoron in itself, too..

ODD?

Sorry its hungover sunday :P

"Fastest ever 100 in a domestic 50 over comp"

fuk it back to bed :P

Well when we got there eventually... ITSTL.

Here's the card, incidentally. Seems to be quite some game, interesting to see Alex Gidman playing (a whole 1* to his name), didn't know he was over in New Zealand this winter.

McCullum's century, BTW, came-up in 52 balls. Nay bad. Wonder if there were any dropped catches?

 

[Tim]

I'd like to see Greg Hay go on an 'A' tour or something first. He's only 23, we shouldn't rush him in when it's not overally dire right now.

 

[Mixmasterreece]

Seems NZ A are touring somewhere (may be india) in september.

I hope they pick the future of the blackcaps and not jobbers like Hopkins and Cumming, and players who may have falled out of form, or favour with the selecter e.g. Sinclair, Fulton etc. Theres no point taking older players, when we already know what we are going to get from them and they probably wont benefit from the experience.

Would like to see the likes of Guptil, Hay, Bennet, Flynn, Hira and maybe a couple of youngsters like Anderson and Boult (yes I know he's yet to play First Class, but NZ A isnt necassarily the next 'cabs off the rank'.). I feel the A team needs more of long term, youth development, feel as opposed to the usual make-up of the squad.

This is one of the few opportunities to give some promising players a taste of a higher quality of cricket than our domestic comp, without throwing them in the deepend.

So in that vain, I would like to see a lineup picked similar to this :

Guptil, Watling(+), Flynn, Hay, Nicol (c), Weston , Elliot, Anderson, Hira, Bennet, Sherlock - with Boult, Burtt and Broom on tour.

 

[Tim]

I get the feeling that James Marshall would almost certainly be the Captain of that side. You've picked quite a young side, I think they'd throw in the likes of Marshall maybe even Craig Cumming. I think Bradley Scott would be in the mix there too.

 

[Richard]

Craig Cumming is surely a better batsman than James Marshall any day of any given week?

 

[Mixmasterreece]

I get the feeling that James Marshall would almost certainly be the Captain of that side. You've picked quite a young side, I think they'd throw in the likes of Marshall maybe even Craig Cumming. I think Bradley Scott would be in the mix there too.

Thats the general idea of my thinking.

Marshall doesnt have a future with the blackcaps, and even if he did it would be a short one.

Need to have an eye on the future with this one.

 

[Mixmasterreece]

Craig Cumming is surely a better batsman than James Marshall any day of any given week?

Tough call, both domestic journeyman who have never made the step up to international cricket when given the chance.

Cumming would have his nose in front due to two good scores in test cricket, although he has glaring issues with his footwork when facing quality swing bowling.

 

[Smudge]

Well when we got there eventually... ITSTL.

Here's the card, incidentally. Seems to be quite some game, interesting to see Alex Gidman playing (a whole 1* to his name), didn't know he was over in New Zealand this winter.

McCullum's century, BTW, came-up in 52 balls. Nay bad. Wonder if there were any dropped catches?

He top-edged a ball over third man's head for six, which landed just over the rope - the fielder McKay came in and if he had stayed on the rope, there was half a chance he would have caught it, and he skied another one that was missed by third man running in to the 30m circle, but I'm pretty sure he didn't get a hand on it. Pretty sure the latter one came when he was between 100 and 150 - can't remember about the former though.

 

[Tim]

he was royally spanking them. he gave very few chances

 

[aussie]

To be honest I've thought that the whole series but hes yet to deliver. To be honest I wonder if the lack of pressure against New Zealand gets to him...i.e. its not an Ashes series, its not at home to his fans, its not in SA to prove a point to the detractors..

Ha, good point. But also KP could be suffering a bit from the hectic international schedule since England haven't had a meaningly international break since he debuted in mid 2005 & i don't think one is coming up in the near future.

 

[superkingdave]

Anyway..one thing i only just realised from the warm-up games is Bell batting at 5 ahead of Collingwood..hopefully that will happen in the tests as well (indications are that it will). Looking for a big series from Bell to be honest.

 

[Bahnz]

He top-edged a ball over third man's head for six, which landed just over the rope - the fielder McKay came in and if he had stayed on the rope, there was half a chance he would have caught it, and he skied another one that was missed by third man running in to the 30m circle, but I'm pretty sure he didn't get a hand on it. Pretty sure the latter one came when he was between 100 and 150 - can't remember about the former though.

While the fielder didn't get a hand on the second one, he stopped when he saw that the wicket keeper was running for it, before realising he was the only one who had a chance and setting off again. It remains my main worry about McCullum, is that all these chances and half chances that he offers will be taken more often than not against top quality sides.

 

[Bahnz]

Theres no point taking older players, when we already know what we are going to get from them and they probably wont benefit from the experience.

Completely disagree. Just because a player is older than 27 doesn't mean they should be ignored by the selectors. Yes they might have never broken into the national side whilst they were young, or they may have done so with little success. But that doesn't mean they're the same player now that they were when they were younger. Many older players make huge changes to their technique, mind set or style of play. Just think of Mark Richardson and Scott Styris, both players who didn't really come into their own until their late 20's, yet have been two of our most valuable players in recent years.

 

[Flem274*]

Seems NZ A are touring somewhere (may be india) in september.

I hope they pick the future of the blackcaps and not jobbers like Hopkins and Cumming, and players who may have falled out of form, or favour with the selecter e.g. Sinclair, Fulton etc. Theres no point taking older players, when we already know what we are going to get from them and they probably wont benefit from the experience.

Would like to see the likes of Guptil, Hay, Bennet, Flynn, Hira and maybe a couple of youngsters like Anderson and Boult (yes I know he's yet to play First Class, but NZ A isnt necassarily the next 'cabs off the rank'.). I feel the A team needs more of long term, youth development, feel as opposed to the usual make-up of the squad.

This is one of the few opportunities to give some promising players a taste of a higher quality of cricket than our domestic comp, without throwing them in the deepend.

So in that vain, I would like to see a lineup picked similar to this :

Guptil, Watling(+), Flynn, Hay, Nicol (c), Weston , Elliot, Anderson, Hira, Bennet, Sherlock - with Boult, Burtt and Broom on tour.

Interesting side. Would prefer:

Guptill
Papps
Flynn
Hay
Broom
Elliot
Weston (wk)
Houghton
Southee
Scott
Bennet

Nicol
Todd
Hiini

Not sure on the skipper. I think Weston is a better keeper than Watling (I saw Weston keep for our school side and Taranaki and he's fairly decent (cue Heath calling me biased), not great but our current crop of keepers apart from Van Wyk don't really set the world on fire)