**Official** Road to New Zealand in the West Indies 2012

[Bahnz]

Nah. Apart from O'Brien it isn't flash. Mills hasn't had too much success as a test bowler, despite his heroics earlier in the year (wasn't far off being dropped iirc), Patel was still terrible, Vettori was Vettori and Franklin showed himself to be the 120kph half volley merchant we all know and love.

Martin, Bracewell, Gillespie mk II and Boult are a different kettle of fish.

As I recall, Franklin was still closer to his old self in that series, generally operating in the low to mid 130's, and getting a bit of swing. I remember later that summer he bowled a couple of really good spells against India at the Basin, and we all got very excited that old Jimmy was back. Sigh. The point is, he was nowhere near as good as he was pre-2007 WC, but it wasn't really until the following year that he completely shelved his bowling to become a batting allrounder.

[Flem274*]

As I recall, Franklin was still closer to his old self in that series, generally operating in the low to mid 130's, and getting a bit of swing. I remember later that summer he bowled a couple of really good spells against India at the Basin, and we all got very excited that old Jimmy was back. Sigh. The point is, he was nowhere near as good as he was pre-2007 WC, but it wasn't really until the following year that he completely shelved his bowling to become a batting allrounder.

Nah, he was terrible bar one spell. That spell where he tried to kill Nash then got him out really accentuated the difference between what he could have been and what he was in that series.

[Flem274*]

Speaking of which, does anyone know if Franklin plans to take bowling seriously again? Because surely he can see that the Franklin who took 70 wickets @ 27, with his batting (even if it lessened off a bit), would walk into our side?

[WindieWeathers]

Is the other Bravo no longer in the picture?

Nah, he just hasn't played enough four day cricket recently to be considered, he's talked about wanting to get back in the Test team but then we hear he's run off to the IPL TODAY!!! , and to be honest his batting and bowling in a WI shirt just hasn't been up to his usual standards over the past year but to his credit he done ok in the recent ODI series.

[Mike5181]

My ODI team:

1.Martin Guptill
2.Brendon McCullum
3.Kane Williamson
4.Ross Taylor
5.Dean Brownlie
6.Tom Latham
7.James Franklin/Nathan McCullum
8.Jacob Oram
9.Kyle Mills
10.Matt Henry
11.Tarun Nethula

[Mike5181]

Nah, he just hasn't played enough four day cricket recently to be considered, he's talked about wanting to get back in the Test team but then we hear he's run off to the IPL TODAY!!! , and to be honest his batting and bowling in a WI shirt just hasn't been up to his usual standards over the past year but to his credit he done ok in the recent ODI series.

What's Jerome Taylor's status? Doesn't look like he's played a game in nearly a year.

[WindieWeathers]

Can't believe we are beginning to look like underdogs against the West Indies (reaction to Bahnz's post)

Why Hurricane? the fact is we're a growing force, Pak came to town and couldn't win, we went to SL and they couldn't beat us, plus when we went to India we had two 100 run first innings leads,

Against your lot we're likely to have our strongest team on the park, so imo it's only right that we start as the favorites, especially when we're the home side, with our strongest eleven i believe we can cause any team problems so it's gonna be interesting to see how NZ deal with that!! .

[WindieWeathers]

What's Jerome Taylor's status? Doesn't look like he's played a game in nearly a year.

No-one really has a clue whats going on with Jerome right now!! , one minuet he's "injured" and can't play for Jamaica, five minuets later we see him in the IPL!! , the whole situation is a mess, and it's not like he's had a huge problem with the board and got left out like Gayle, the bloke just cannot get himself fit enough to play it seems, and it's a shame because on his day he was top class,

He's still only 27 so he can come back but the more time he spends away the more we're forgetting about him and focussing on the youngsters like Jason Holder, Shannon Gabriel, Kevin Mcclean, Carlos Brathwaite and Sheldon Cotterrell to name a few.

[Flem274*]

My ODI team:

1.Martin Guptill
2.Brendon McCullum
3.Kane Williamson
4.Ross Taylor
5.Dean Brownlie
6.Tom Latham
7.James Franklin/Nathan McCullum
8.Jacob Oram
9.Kyle Mills
10.Matt Henry
11.Tarun Nethula

Yeah decent team, I'd go the full monty with the ODI specialists though and suggest on a whim;

Martin Guptill
Rob Nicol (still deserves more time in the ODI side)
Stephen Murdoch (didn't realise how good his numbers were in List A)
Ross Taylor (c)
Tom Latham
Brendon McCullum (wk)
Andrew Ellis/James Franklin/Colin de Grandhomme/Colin Munro/Jimmy Neesham
Jacob Oram
Nathan McCullum
Kyle Mills
Tim Southee/Andy McKay/Matt Henry/Mitchell McClenaghan/Michael Bates

A lot of those guys could graduate to the test side, and that is fair enough, but for now I don't want a few guys playing ODIs and ****ing themselves up for tests.

Quite a few names up there in places. I'm not sure who our best finisher allrounder is, so I don't mind who they pick as long as it isn't a wtf selection.

The final bowler spot depends on what we want. A strike bowler, a left armer or just the best bowler available? You can make cases for some of those players meeting all of those criteria.

This is a make or break for Mills. I love him, but he's been behind the eight ball this summer. He's also getting on and injury prone and we need to start thinking about the 2015 world cup. The same goes for Oram.

I also think McCullum is our best finisher and should move back to number six.

\_/ if we lose the ODIs. Really want to win the test series though.

[Flem274*]

Watching Bevan Small right now on the highlights. **** he's going to be good. I wonder what his Ford Trophy stats are? I need a CD player to go on and on about.

[SteveNZ]

Speaking of which, does anyone know if Franklin plans to take bowling seriously again? Because surely he can see that the Franklin who took 70 wickets @ 27, with his batting (even if it lessened off a bit), would walk into our side?

I doubt it. Why go through that rigour when his batting at present is earning him IPL contracts, Big Bash cameos etc? I think he knows his Test days are nigh-on done, and he can probably command a place in the T20 side and the ODIs at a push as well.

[Mike5181]

Watching Bevan Small right now on the highlights. **** he's going to be good. I wonder what his Ford Trophy stats are? I need a CD player to go on and on about.

Yeah, I've rated him for a while now. He's got a bit of x factor in him.

[BackFootPunch]

Watching Bevan Small right now on the highlights. **** he's going to be good. I wonder what his Ford Trophy stats are? I need a CD player to go on and on about.

I've always wondered why he took as long as he did to crack the CD side. Played a bit of age-group cricket against him and he was pretty much always their best bowler. Fairly sure he was slightly more of a threat than Wheeler, Milne etc back then so was surprised when the other two "made it" before him. All three were pretty bloody good though tbf.

[Mike5181]

Yeah decent team, I'd go the full monty with the ODI specialists though and suggest on a whim;

Martin Guptill
Rob Nicol (still deserves more time in the ODI side)
Stephen Murdoch (didn't realise how good his numbers were in List A)
Ross Taylor (c)
Tom Latham
Brendon McCullum (wk)
Andrew Ellis/James Franklin/Colin de Grandhomme/Colin Munro/Jimmy Neesham
Jacob Oram
Nathan McCullum
Kyle Mills
Tim Southee/Andy McKay/Matt Henry/Mitchell McClenaghan/Michael Bates

A lot of those guys could graduate to the test side, and that is fair enough, but for now I don't want a few guys playing ODIs and ****ing themselves up for tests.

Quite a few names up there in places. I'm not sure who our best finisher allrounder is, so I don't mind who they pick as long as it isn't a wtf selection.

The final bowler spot depends on what we want. A strike bowler, a left armer or just the best bowler available? You can make cases for some of those players meeting all of those criteria.

This is a make or break for Mills. I love him, but he's been behind the eight ball this summer. He's also getting on and injury prone and we need to start thinking about the 2015 world cup. The same goes for Oram.

I also think McCullum is our best finisher and should move back to number six.

\_/ if we lose the ODIs. Really want to win the test series though.

Murdoch's List A numbers are terrible btw. You must have accidentally looked at his first class stats instead. Nicol has a better chance at succeeding in ODIs than in tests obviously but he was still severely outclassed in the games against South Africa. I don't want a guy in the team just to play well against the lesser teams. Tarun Nethula should get a spot over NMac based on bowling alone. It was only one game but he bowled well against South Africa and looked like a legit wicket taker. He was unlucky we were so bad in the field or he would've had 4/60 odd. Matt Henry deserves a chance based on performances in all forms of the game. I'd much rather have James Franklin or NMac in the role Ellis is supposedly playing as well.

[Flem274*]

I looked at Murdoch's stats for this season only, and made the mistake of assuming he's been at least decent prior to this one.

I've pigeonholed Nethula for tests. Would much rather he established himself in the long format as Vettori's heir before anything else. We don't have a shortage of spinners who can tie up an end, so I don't see Nethula playing ODIs as essential.

I think Ellis is the best bowler of the allrounders I've seen so I'd lean towards him for now.