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***Official*** South Africa in New Zealand 2012

Kippax

Cricketer Of The Year

Days of Grace

International Captain
I'll believe it when I see it re the green pitch.

Recently, there has usually been an article on how green the pitch is and how flabbergasted the two captains were upon first look, blah, blah, blah, only for it to turn out to be as flat as a pancake come midway through the first day.
 

wellAlbidarned

International Coach
Yeah, saying NZ has greentops is like saying the Arctic has Polar bears. They do exist, but they're as good as extinct almost.
 
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sonnench

U19 12th Man
Going to head down to Hamilton to watch day three and four, here's hoping the weather holds up. Would like us to find a definitive opener, not quite sold on Peterson yet and Rudolph is doing the business in the middle order. Maybe he could move up which would also mean we could bring in Duminy.

Would like Tahir to start taking more wickets, but he was unlucky i thought not to pick up a couple more in the first test, he seemed to really trouble McCullum. Speaking of unlucky, Steyn can't buy a wicket at the moment. I have actually heard people criticizing the man which is just crazy. Hoping for a big game from him.
 
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Flem274*

123/5
Would like Tahir to start taking more wickets, but he was unlucky i thought not to pick up a couple more in the first test, he seemed to really trouble Tahir. Speaking of unlucky, Steyn can't buy a wicket at the moment. I have actually heard people criticizing the man which is just crazy. Hoping for a big game from him.
Tahir troubled himself?:p
 

straw man

Hall of Fame Member
I see on Stuff website Wright is saying McCullum is probably going to stay at 3. Facepalm.jpeg

So now we are going to be stuck with Nicol or another equally poor opener for the foreseeable future, to go with the slightly less poor Guptill. Just when it looked like McCullum was doing the impossible and turning himself into our best opener since Richardson they have to go and fiddle with things.

I also don't see how it is going to work when Brownlie comes back to the middle order, with Flynn pushing for a spot too. Probably one less bowler :(
 

BackFootPunch

International 12th Man
I see on Stuff website Wright is saying McCullum is probably going to stay at 3. Facepalm.jpeg

So now we are going to be stuck with Nicol or another equally poor opener for the foreseeable future, to go with the slightly less poor Guptill. Just when it looked like McCullum was doing the impossible and turning himself into our best opener since Richardson they have to go and fiddle with things.

I also don't see how it is going to work when Brownlie comes back to the middle order, with Flynn pushing for a spot too. Probably one less bowler :(
I actually don't mind it too much to be honest, assuming McCullum performs. I've always believed that, in Tests, your best batsmen should probably bat 3/4/5 unless you have a very compelling reason to not do so. McCullum certainly has the ability to be one of best 3, it's always just been his temperament that's let him down.

A batting order something like this would be pretty handy:
1. Guptill
2. Next best opener
3. McCullum
4. Taylor
5. Williamson
6. Brownlie
7. van Wyk/Watling
8. Vettori

Let's tell Ryder, Flynn etc that if they want to play tests they need to open in domestic cricket and put the runs on the board. In an ideal world Guptill will crack test match batting sometime soon and Tom Latham will keep scoring runs and end up opening in the next 18 months. We know McCullum can open so if conditions ever dictate playing 4 bowlers and Vettori then we just drop the lesser of the 2 openers and move McCullum back to the top.
 

Howsie

International Captain
I also don't see how it is going to work when Brownlie comes back to the middle order, with Flynn pushing for a spot too. Probably one less bowler :(
Yeah, McCullum three, Taylor four and Vettori six. So effectively you're looking at a shootout between Williamson, Brownlie, Ryder and Flynn for that lone number five spot, slight errr waste of batting resources if you ask me. Especially with a couple of gimps opening the innings that aren't fit to tie the laces of those four batsmen.
 

KiWiNiNjA

International Coach
Yeah, NZ don't need another batsman who bats from 3-5, there is already a big pile of them.

Taylor, Williamson, Brownlie, Ryder, Flynn etc etc

Openers on the other hand.......
 

Kippax

Cricketer Of The Year
Brownlie to open with George Worker on Sunday and possibly at the Basin...you heard the figment of Kippax's imagination here first.
 

Mike5181

International Captain
On a pitch still with a noticeable grass cover, leg-spinner Nethula looks the most unlikely starter. Ellis, more a batting all-rounder, provides less of a wicket-taking option, leaving Arnel and the recalled Gillespie in a head to head contest. Taylor summed up the relative merits of both.

On Arnel: "He knows this wicket pretty well. He's been a form bowler and talking around the traps probably is the best he's bowled for a few years. He bowls wicket to wicket and can hurry players up. He's a little quicker than people think.

On Gillespie: "He is just a wicket-taker. He's an aggressive bowler. He's probably not going to go for 2-3 runs an over but will pick up wickets, especially in the makeup of our team and what we decide we need to take 20 wickets. He'll be a big part if he does play."

Arnel has nine wickets from five tests at 55.77, the last of those against Pakistan in January last year, while Gillespie has 11 wickets from three tests at 34.54, the most recent against the West Indies in Dunedin in 2008.
 

Days of Grace

International Captain
I love the idea of McCullum at no.3 (see my reasons a couple of thread pages back).

However, at the moment he is needed more as an opener because,
a) We don't have anyone, yes, ANYONE to partner Guptill. Cue Nicol scoring 150 at Hamilton.
b) We have middle-order players coming out of our ears.

c) Vettori is no longer penetrative enough as a bowler to justify him being in a four-man attack. He is a fifth bowler and therefore has to bat no.6 or no.7.

So, that means...

1. Guptill
2. McCullum
3. space open
4. Taylor
5. space open
6. Vettori
7. Watling/Van Wyk
8. Bracewell
9. seamer/spinner who can bat a bit
10. Boult
11. Martin
 
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