who will be new zealands test seamers ?

[lockton2skipper]

because after the australian tour only tim southee, at last looks test standard. chris martin looks over the hill and darryl tuffey and brent arnell lack pace, plus with kyle mills and james franklin not the bowlers they were the cuboard looks bare. michael bates and graham aldridge were very succesfull at domestic level but are they test standard. perhaps it's time to look further ahead?

[Flem274*]

I remember Arnel looking like he had some bite. Didn't get the wickets though.

In answer: ****ed if I know.

[flibbertyjibber]

Are there any youngsters that went to the under 19 world cup that are any good? Might be worth chucking them in and seeing how they go.

[Matt79]

Aldridge and Ewen Thompson look to have been, based solely on the season stats, the two most successful bowlers in the NZ FC comp last year (along with Bates, although his avg and S/R was much worse). If the bowlers in the national team aren't looking the goods, is there anything wrong with giving them a shot? Sometimes the "successful/good form in FC, maybe successful in Tests" formula works.

Both the wrong side of 30, but I think the recent experience in the Aussie team with guys like Clark and Bollinger has shown that you can do alright giving older blokes a go if they are the best options available.

[vandem]

IIRC Alrdridge and Thompson are both 125 - 130 kmh bowlers (although ND coach Bradburn commented on the radio that Aldridge had a yard more pace than in previous seasons). So they join the queue for the steady 3rd seamer position, probably behind Tuffey - Arnel - Mills (with both Tuffey and Mills offering all-rounder batting ability).

Agree that Chris Martin looked tired last summer, but still touched 140s and probably has one more test summer left in him.

Never seen Bates bowl either live or on TV so can't comment.

Vettori over the last few years has talked repeatedly about bowlers who have extra pace (140+) to unsettle test bastmen, which is why O'Brien kept being picked after a poor start to his test career, and why McKay was rushed into the side last season.

So look for test team this year to have 2 of Southee / Martin / McKay opening the bowling, with Arnel / Tuffey as 3rd seamer. Hopefully only 3 seamers required as Vettori can drop back to 8, with Ryder / Williamson as part-time bowlers.

[Polo23]

The seam cupboard is bare...very bare. I'm more interested in the batting and seeing if Williamson gets a crack. Ryder coming back is massive too.

[Athlai]

Reckon Bates has all the tools to be a good Test bowler. Definitely should be ahead of Aldridge and Thompson.

[Matt79]

Originally Posted by vandem

IIRC Alrdridge and Thompson are both 125 - 130 kmh bowlers (although ND coach Bradburn commented on the radio that Aldridge had a yard more pace than in previous seasons). So they join the queue for the steady 3rd seamer position, probably behind Tuffey - Arnel - Mills (with both Tuffey and Mills offering all-rounder batting ability).

Agree that Chris Martin looked tired last summer, but still touched 140s and probably has one more test summer left in him.

Never seen Bates bowl either live or on TV so can't comment.

Vettori over the last few years has talked repeatedly about bowlers who have extra pace (140+) to unsettle test bastmen, which is why O'Brien kept being picked after a poor start to his test career, and why McKay was rushed into the side last season.

So look for test team this year to have 2 of Southee / Martin / McKay opening the bowling, with Arnel / Tuffey as 3rd seamer. Hopefully only 3 seamers required as Vettori can drop back to 8, with Ryder / Williamson as part-time bowlers.

Reckon its pretty pointless picking someone just because they bowl at 140-ish rather than 130, unless they are also a better bowler.

[Kylez]

Maybe James Franklin could be back into the fray after his solid performances for Gloucestershire in county cricket.

[Athlai]

Has been in fine English/NZ domestic form for two years now, just hasn't been able to play to his potential at the highest level.

[Blakey]

Stage 2 in your step to recovery is to accept that Franklin's talent/potential is a myth. What talent the guy has is predicated on his ability to handle stress. In that regard, he has talent enough to handle domestic cricket - not international.

Stage 1 was admiting that Dave is rubbish - congratulations - long live Brother McCullum.

[SmityNZ]

Originally Posted by Athlai

Reckon Bates has all the tools to be a good Test bowler. Definitely should be ahead of Aldridge and Thompson.

I think I'm right in saying Thompson has retired to take up a coaching role up north. Not that he would have been in the mix anyway, but for information's sake.

McKay is definitely a Test chance - he would have probably played against Bangladesh/Australia if not for foot injury. Southee will be there, Arnel bowled very well in a third seamer role without luck against Australia and will probably fight against Tuffey for a spot, while I don't think Martin has played his last Test.

[Athlai]

Originally Posted by Blakey

Stage 2 in your step to recovery is to accept that Franklin's talent/potential is a myth. What talent the guy has is predicated on his ability to handle stress. In that regard, he has talent enough to handle domestic cricket - not international.

Stage 1 was admiting that Dave is rubbish - congratulations - long live Brother McCullum.

Wasn't implying that he ever would be able to play to his potential to being a bit of a Sinclair. And Jeets is awesome.

[Athlai]

Originally Posted by SmityNZ

I think I'm right in saying Thompson has retired to take up a coaching role up north. Not that he would have been in the mix anyway, but for information's sake.

McKay is definitely a Test chance - he would have probably played against Bangladesh/Australia if not for foot injury. Southee will be there, Arnel bowled very well in a third seamer role without luck against Australia and will probably fight against Tuffey for a spot, while I don't think Martin has played his last Test.

McKay is in the Test setup isn't he? Played against Bangladesh and would've played against Australia if not for injury.

[vandem]

Originally Posted by Matt79

Reckon its pretty pointless picking someone just because they bowl at 140-ish rather than 130, unless they are also a better bowler.

You appear to have a different attitude to captain / seelctor Vettori. Have you ever noticed how he regularly used the phrase "hits the bat hard" when talking positively of Martin / O'Brien in the last couple of years. And how he was spitting when selectors didn't give him Martin for the WI test two years ago (when Vettroi wasn't part of the selection panel). And his comments after the the slightly surprising selection of McKay - said he was the quickest bowler he'd faced in domestic T20, the implication being that this was the main reason he'd been picked.