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*Official* New Zealand Domestic Cricket Season 2012/2013

jcas0167

International Debutant
I wonder how much it would cost to send some players over to India to participate in a spin clinic? Matt Hayden said he particularly benefited from going to one in Chennai in 1998.

Not sure that they would fare too badly against Aussie state teams. The NZA team has been pretty competitive in the Emerging Players Tournament. I think Brownlie is someone who really demanded selection following his performances in that competition.

I remember there was a lot of hoopla about the live-in academy at Lincoln opening in the 90's. That seemed to be based on the Australian set up which had produced a number of stars. Why did that fall out of favour? Was it too expensive, or seen as ineffective? I remember Greg Loveridge who was in the original intake was critical of it, but hadn't read much else about why they moved away from that set up.
 
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Kippax

Cricketer Of The Year
Martin Crowe and Iain O'Brien were pretty scathing. Phrases like 'outstanding disaster' and 'generation ruined' bandied about pretty liberally...

Martin Crowe : Martin Crowe: Why can't New Zealand score more hundreds? | Cricinfo Magazine | ESPN Cricinfo

During this time, in 1998, the New Zealand board set up an academy in Lincoln. Coaches and professors from Victoria were flown in. But any hope that the next generation would be given assistance and expertise on how to post world-class scores soon fell apart. It was an outstanding disaster.

Biomechanics became the new buzzword for New Zealand's finest batting talent. The theory passed on was that hand speed and power efficiency "through the shot" was everything. Out the window went footwork, body position, soft hands and hitting the ball late below the eyes. In came heavier bats, high backlifts, minimal footwork and going hard at the ball.
Guest Column : Iain O'Brien: New Zealand's young attack a product of injury crisis | Cricinfo Magazine | ESPN Cricinfo

The academy took the best young players in the country and, for the winter, based them in Lincoln, Christchurch. The reward was coaching, an end-of-winter tour, and an opportunity to eat, sleep and breathe cricket for the off-season.

That all sounds great to a youngster. The issue was - and the system has now changed considerably - that all the bowlers who were sent to the academy were, in essence, turned into clones. Bowling actions were not just tweaked, they were thrown out and a complete remodelling process was started.

This "cloned" action was one based mostly on biomechanics. It was seen that this action was the most economical from an energy-output-to-pace-attained perspective. This action was seen to be the safest in relation to injury prevention. It was also seen to be the best from a technical point of view, as it allowed bowlers to swing it both ways with a similar action.

Where is the dotted line? Sign me up. This all sounds amazing. An action that won't cost me as much energy, I'd be injured less and I'd be able to swing it both ways. Too good to be true? Unfortunately it was. And for a while, New Zealand have been paying the price.

The "academy action" was implemented for all the right reasons. The statistics and the proof were there to back this programme.

But how many international bowlers have the same action? How many are clones of each other? Fast bowlers, just like their lazy spinner friends, are instantly recognisable by the often quite drastic differences and quirks in bowling actions - part of the beauty of our wonderful game.
We don't often muddle up bowlers when we just glance up at one of them running in, because of these differences. Each bowler is different. And each bowler's body is different. Every body on this planet is different. Whether it be muscle size, limb length, or level of flexibility. We are all different. So how can we expect there to be one action to suit all types?

Making changes to reduce the risk of injury is commonplace. Usually this is done on the back of having an injury during the rehab process. I hate hearing this as often as I do.

A bowler's body has become used to doing what it does since he first let go of a ball. Take a fresh, fit 18-year-old; maybe been playing cricket since he was six and just starting out on a first-class career. He has been bowling in preparation for 12 years. His maturing body has become strong in the places in which it needs to be strong. Twelve years of associated functional strength work from bowling.

This build-up lends itself to only making tweaks to an action. Changes can, and often will, cause injury because you have made a change that a body isn't strong enough to endure, and the body doesn't have the 12 years of strength to rely upon to absorb the new forces and impacts.

Tweaks, not changes. Tweaks lead to changes, but slowly. And slowly is safely. Wholesale changes - remodelling - more than often will lead to serious injury, often stress fractures, because the body is just not used to this new action and can't absorb the new forces.

To draw an easy analogy, take muscle soreness after running for the first time in a few months. For a day or two after, we can be very sore. This is because the body isn't used to these activities. For a bowler doing something new, add in the straight line and rotational forces, the torque, the stresses, the sudden jarring and repetitive impacts, and then add up the amount of time a bowler has had to become strong in his action to be able to do this day in day out. How long will it take to make a change and then be strong enough to continue with the change before serious injury occurs?

There will be a phase where the body can absorb big changes and things can go along smoothly. Just ask three bowlers who could and should have gone on to more - Richard Sherlock, Te Ahu Davis and Taraia Robin. All remodelled by the academy, all had success, and then all came down with similar injuries within a year of each other. Three bowlers who were naturally quick, and whom New Zealand have missed out on.

It now seems that the decision, at 25, after my first season of first-class cricket, to turn down an opportunity to go to the academy was one of the better ones I have made. My action is my action. My coach was always tweaking it, I was always tweaking it, and all bowlers will make tweaks as the days, and years, go by. Tweaks are fine. Tweaks can lead to changes, but by making tweaks it is a slowly, slowly approach. The body can then adapt and become used to the new movements. Too big a change or too much time off leaves the foundations weaker and opens the door for injury.
 

NZTailender

I can't believe I ate the whole thing
Knew about the batting, but not the bowling. Shocking when you really think about it. All sounds good on paper but in practice...

You'd have to wonder, would it be worth setting up a new academy? Except have guys like O'Brien and Crowe teaching what they've talked about there.
 

Immenso

International Vice-Captain
First objective for the Lincoln HPC should be covered all-weather turf practice wickets (using the Dunedin Stadium technology).

I don't know what they do these days with the winter fast bowlers program. But I feel uneasy about gathering the nations most promising bowlers in one place to ruin their bodies on concrete based wickets)
 

Immenso

International Vice-Captain
I really think the Blackcaps should be playing NZ A in a 4 day game tomorrow, while England play Otago.

But I'm not going to complain too much about the preparation, as the domestic season structure this year is so much better than the Vaughan years.
 

Bahnz

Hall of Fame Member
Aaron Redmond continues his good form this season. What are the odds that he'll be brought into the side in the 3rd test, after 4 successive single figure scores from Fulton?
 

Kippax

Cricketer Of The Year
Can't wait till Dean Bartlett gets fed up with his lack of shorter format play and comes to Wgtn.

Kuggs (as a bowler) can gtfo for another 2-3 years minimum. We'll send back McKay for Bartlett, that's what I'm putting on the table.
 

straw man

Hall of Fame Member
349 is a top score by Otago, especially when it looked like they might not bat out the overs at 319/7.

Kuggeleijn not the only to get tonked around either - so did Franklin, Elliott and Houghton.

And Milne in the other match with 3/82 off ten. Would have been good to watch that.
 

jcas0167

International Debutant
Aaron Redmond continues his good form this season. What are the odds that he'll be brought into the side in the 3rd test, after 4 successive single figure scores from Fulton?
I would like to see him and How opening for the 3rd test.

I see Daryl Mitchell has continued his good run of form with 95 off 92 balls. Must be in line for that A team.
 

Bahnz

Hall of Fame Member
And Milne in the other match with 3/82 off ten. Would have been good to watch that.
I'm not sure if that's right. I checked the scoring in the closing overs of ND's innings, and it seemed that they counted Milne as bowling both the 49th and 50th overs. It's possible that Milne actually finished with a more respectable (but still rubbish) 3/65 off 9.
 

straw man

Hall of Fame Member
I'm not sure if that's right. I checked the scoring in the closing overs of ND's innings, and it seemed that they counted Milne as bowling both the 49th and 50th overs. It's possible that Milne actually finished with a more respectable (but still rubbish) 3/65 off 9.
You're right, they've changed it now to 9 overs 3/64, with KNB upgraded to 10 overs 1/72.
 

Flem274*

123/5
Not too worried about Milne being ****e in List A. He's always been expensive in that format iirc and this is his first game back so he was always going to be rusty.

So naturally the selectors pick him for ODIs and 20/20.

If he stays fit he's going to England, Ford Trophy figures be damned if he gets hit. You heard it here first. If he or Gillespie are running on all cylinders I'd have one as part of a four man pace attack in tests straight away.

In the absence of competition from Mitch M due to his injury, Wheeler is the obvious choice for Boult's injury cover if needed, but it will probably be Wagner. I'm not even being biased.
 

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