*Official* New Zealand Domestic Cricket Season 2012/2013

[SteveNZ]

Originally Posted by Flem274*

Would also be interested to hear if Stevo has any inside goss on the Auckland top order, because they have really relied on the 6/7/8 this season despite batting at one of the more benign grounds for batting. Losing a few good players to other provinces has probably played a big part I'm guessing?

It's not really inside goss as much as different guys are failing for different reasons. Motivation is one of them. If you look at the guys are scoring hundreds and are putting up big performances, they're excited up and comers or fringe NZ - although you could argue 90 percent of the six associations fall in those categories. Tim Mc, Louey and Reece all know their days are numbered. Lou can't wait for Friday, Tim Mc is in one of his slumps he finds hard to get out of and Reece has probably lost motivation back in AKL, around his family and with a new business venture. I said before the season that Lord Colin de was in a funk and I didn't think he'd score any, and he hasn't. He's a bit cut up about missing out on SA when he knew big runs like last year would have got him there.

Auckland have paid lip service to four-day cricket under Strangy, knowing they'll continue to look good if they win HRVs etc. A big ol' clearout in the Plunket could be the perfect scenario for 2013-14. Base side around the Munros, the Bartletts, the Kitchens, the O'Donnells, de Grandhomme, Bates, Cachopa (might see a push to get the other ones back too) with Hoppy playing the wise old head and maybe Bucko Martin still there as well. Tommy, Millsy, Tim Mc, Louey, Reece etc have been great servants but it's getting a bit stale. Get 11 guys there who want to win a title. And over time, drag the guys back who have gone further afield.

[Flem274*]

Originally Posted by SteveNZ

It's not really inside goss as much as different guys are failing for different reasons. Motivation is one of them. If you look at the guys are scoring hundreds and are putting up big performances, they're excited up and comers or fringe NZ - although you could argue 90 percent of the six associations fall in those categories. Tim Mc, Louey and Reece all know their days are numbered. Lou can't wait for Friday, Tim Mc is in one of his slumps he finds hard to get out of and Reece has probably lost motivation back in AKL, around his family and with a new business venture. I said before the season that Lord Colin de was in a funk and I didn't think he'd score any, and he hasn't. He's a bit cut up about missing out on SA when he knew big runs like last year would have got him there.

Auckland have paid lip service to four-day cricket under Strangy, knowing they'll continue to look good if they win HRVs etc. A big ol' clearout in the Plunket could be the perfect scenario for 2013-14. Base side around the Munros, the Bartletts, the Kitchens, the O'Donnells, de Grandhomme, Bates, Cachopa (might see a push to get the other ones back too) with Hoppy playing the wise old head and maybe Bucko Martin still there as well. Tommy, Millsy, Tim Mc, Louey, Reece etc have been great servants but it's getting a bit stale. Get 11 guys there who want to win a title. And over time, drag the guys back who have gone further afield.

Hopkins is still up for another year then?

Auckland would be nuts not to go chasing Carl Cachopa. It's only a matter of time before he registers a run of low scores but at Colin Munro Park he'll be a beast and he adds even more bowling depth to a side whose main advantage over the others is they have two allrounders who can change the game in a session with the bat and can bowl decently. Add Cachopa in at three with his dibbly dobblies and you can split the 5th bowling duties between three blokes, or maybe even 4th and 5th and bat a little deeper.

Mass clearout might be the way to go. Something has got to give. I'm surprised Auckland are being so petty about de Boorder turning down the contract, because he could add some grit if that's what is missing. Good to see them putting some faith in Craig Cachopa and moving him to four though.

And Strang should be turfed if he's not taking Plunket Shield seriously. Test cricket is the main form of the game and domestic sides shouldn't be allowed to lose sight of that, especially since a lot of Auckland's best limited overs players also don the whites anyway. Why ignore the long form?

edit: could probably do worse than asking Nicol and Raval to return as well. Vincent and McIntosh can't have much longer left.

[Chubb]

Originally Posted by SteveNZ

It's not really inside goss as much as different guys are failing for different reasons. Motivation is one of them. If you look at the guys are scoring hundreds and are putting up big performances, they're excited up and comers or fringe NZ - although you could argue 90 percent of the six associations fall in those categories. Tim Mc, Louey and Reece all know their days are numbered. Lou can't wait for Friday, Tim Mc is in one of his slumps he finds hard to get out of and Reece has probably lost motivation back in AKL, around his family and with a new business venture. I said before the season that Lord Colin de was in a funk and I didn't think he'd score any, and he hasn't. He's a bit cut up about missing out on SA when he knew big runs like last year would have got him there.

Auckland have paid lip service to four-day cricket under Strangy, knowing they'll continue to look good if they win HRVs etc. A big ol' clearout in the Plunket could be the perfect scenario for 2013-14. Base side around the Munros, the Bartletts, the Kitchens, the O'Donnells, de Grandhomme, Bates, Cachopa (might see a push to get the other ones back too) with Hoppy playing the wise old head and maybe Bucko Martin still there as well. Tommy, Millsy, Tim Mc, Louey, Reece etc have been great servants but it's getting a bit stale. Get 11 guys there who want to win a title. And over time, drag the guys back who have gone further afield.

Apologies if you've been asked before, but what is your opinion of de Grandhomme? When you say he was in a funk, what was it about?

I thought he'd play for NZ when he moved over here but as with many others would rather he had played for Zimbabwe. I remember when the rebellion happened he was still there and was talked about but his father persuaded ZC not to pick him - money may have changed hands. I don't know.

[Immenso]

Originally Posted by SteveNZ

It's not really inside goss as much as different guys are failing for different reasons. Motivation is one of them. If you look at the guys are scoring hundreds and are putting up big performances, they're excited up and comers or fringe NZ - although you could argue 90 percent of the six associations fall in those categories. Tim Mc, Louey and Reece all know their days are numbered. Lou can't wait for Friday, Tim Mc is in one of his slumps he finds hard to get out of and Reece has probably lost motivation back in AKL, around his family and with a new business venture. I said before the season that Lord Colin de was in a funk and I didn't think he'd score any, and he hasn't. He's a bit cut up about missing out on SA when he knew big runs like last year would have got him there.

Auckland have paid lip service to four-day cricket under Strangy, knowing they'll continue to look good if they win HRVs etc. A big ol' clearout in the Plunket could be the perfect scenario for 2013-14. Base side around the Munros, the Bartletts, the Kitchens, the O'Donnells, de Grandhomme, Bates, Cachopa (might see a push to get the other ones back too) with Hoppy playing the wise old head and maybe Bucko Martin still there as well. Tommy, Millsy, Tim Mc, Louey, Reece etc have been great servants but it's getting a bit stale. Get 11 guys there who want to win a title. And over time, drag the guys back who have gone further afield.

Interesting. This is partly why I was frustrated at Mustard playing Plunket this round. Auckland need to balance current title hunts along with future continuity planning.

[ohnoitsyou]

Originally Posted by Mike5181

That bad thing about our first-class bowlers atm is that most of the promising ones are seriously injury-prone. Milne, Small, Wheeler, Henry, Bennett etc all miss more games than they play. When they are all out, the standard of our bowling attacks isn't great.

I have been trying to make a study of bowling actions over the last couple of years and have come to a couple of conclusions to this issue.

1.Bowlers of today tend to use their backs to generate extra pace (and sometimes bounce) and many by doing so, twist their backs slightly. This leads to increased risk of stress fractures and similar injuries. So instead of retaining the ability to twist the back in order to generate slightly more pace to surprise the batsman, some bowlers get greedy(coaches tell them to do so) and go for the extra pace every ball.

2. There is no need to go the gym as part of training, after a certain point. Every muscle that you need to bowl with gains strength as you bowl. By going to the gym, bowlers are strengthening their muscles in different ways. I believe this is another reason for players being injured more in the modern era. More net time > gym.

[SteveNZ]

Originally Posted by Chubb

Apologies if you've been asked before, but what is your opinion of de Grandhomme? When you say he was in a funk, what was it about?

I thought he'd play for NZ when he moved over here but as with many others would rather he had played for Zimbabwe. I remember when the rebellion happened he was still there and was talked about but his father persuaded ZC not to pick him - money may have changed hands. I don't know.

First of all, I can't speak highly enough of the bloke. He's a great character who regularly loses money on the golf course. As a cricketer, I think he's as talented as most going around in international cricket. But application and maybe cricket smarts let him down. The ability to work on his game, put it into practice and bat for long periods hasn't come to him yet. It's something I've always seen in Colin Munro and has been proven lately. His bowling could have also been something v decent but he's had tendonitis issues and lost pace. Unfortunately I think he'll be overrun by the likes of Neesham/Munro/Anderson/the next clean striking all rounder.

Incidentally that stuff about his dad is untrue. Fairly certain it came from cricinfo but it never happened.

And Flem, it'd be wrong to say Strang gives a discredit to Plunket Shield - it's just kinda panned out that way. I think Hoppy has a couple more years in him if he keeps scoring runs and there's no obvious keeper back-up. He won't go into coaching, which is a big loss to NZ. He's a hell of a bloke. And luring the likes of Raval, Nicol may well happen if they commit to clearing out. Carl Cachopa and Munro are best mates, as are their wives, so that could pan out along with the original Auckland link of course. Whether they can offer him a contract to befit his output this season is a different story. That would go for the likes of de Boorder, Neesham too - unless they are on NZC contracts. Might be easier to get Jeet, Ish, Mark Craig, Brad Cachopa etc.

[Chubb]

Originally Posted by SteveNZ

First of all, I can't speak highly enough of the bloke. He's a great character who regularly loses money on the golf course. As a cricketer, I think he's as talented as most going around in international cricket. But application and maybe cricket smarts let him down. The ability to work on his game, put it into practice and bat for long periods hasn't come to him yet. It's something I've always seen in Colin Munro and has been proven lately. His bowling could have also been something v decent but he's had tendonitis issues and lost pace. Unfortunately I think he'll be overrun by the likes of Neesham/Munro/Anderson/the next clean striking all rounder.

Incidentally that stuff about his dad is untrue. Fairly certain it came from cricinfo but it never happened.

Interesting. Thanks.

[Bahnz]

Irritatingly, Southee is running into the the camera, so it's difficult to judge how much he was swinging it. Have to say, Papps and Ryder in particular did not play particularly clever shots.

[SteveNZ]

Originally Posted by Bahnz

Irritatingly, Southee is running into the the camera, so it's difficult to judge how much he was swinging it. Have to say, Papps and Ryder in particular did not play particularly clever shots.

You're being very generous with your assessment of Jesse's shot. That was ghastly, and really would have been better suited to a No.11 who was scared of a second new ball.

[Immenso]

Wow. Jesse. I think that may be the worst shot I have ever seen.

And Tugaga's wicket was a ripper.
Also, Hutchison looks the goods IMO, when I have seen him, but not picking up the rewards

[Flem274*]

Just seen it. That should be a good message for him. Needs DingDong in his ear at every training.

[Flem274*]

Kane got out in his favourite way, except to a spinner this time.

Brownlie likes charging Bhuphinder too.

[Immenso]

Lou Vincent's dismissal a cause for concern, not good for a FC opener. Even if it was his first ball.

[SteveNZ]

Originally Posted by Immenso

Lou Vincent's dismissal a cause for concern, not good for a FC opener. Even if it was his first ball.

He's been out that way 3-4-5 times already this season, stuck over his front leg. Old habits die hard. HRV=no blocking=happy Lou.

[Bahnz]

Originally Posted by SteveNZ

You're being very generous with your assessment of Jesse's shot. That was ghastly, and really would have been better suited to a No.11 who was scared of a second new ball.

Yep, look at the first ball he faced as well. Was definitely backing away towards leg, awful stuff. Will be interesting to see if Jesse actually tries to bat properly in the 2nd innings.