*Official* New Zealand Domestic Cricket Season 2012/2013

[khodder]

Went out and saw 6 or 8 overs of the Hawke Cup game in the lunch break. Canterbury Country's bowling lineup looked rather weak, not a lot to it.

Joe Carter (Ready made replacement to open for ND in the Plunket Shield) was looking good.

[Mike5181]

Wheeler's doing most of the damage for CD at the moment. 3/17 off 10 overs.

[Kippax]

Yeah there it is I think, Flynn's wicket most likely the crux, Mitchell as well I guess. Nice for Phlegm that it's Wheeler.

[straw man]

Duck for Joey Yovich today. After 2 centuries before Christmas, he hasn't scored many and at age 36 this may have been his last game.

I recall seeing him as an 18-19 year old playing for ND, nippy seamer getting good bounce, clean striking left hander batsmen, remarked to my mate that he would be the next Hadlee. Didn't quite turn old that way, but he's been part of an experienced ND side that has won more than it's share of silverware.

Three State Shield final wins show the way his career changed. In 2002/03 he was an opening bowler who knocked the top of the Auckland innings, dismissing Matt Horne and Mark Richardson in his first two overs, and from 3-18 they didn't recover. In 2004/05 he was an all rounder, a useful 17 (28) helped ND to 190, and took 3 wickets as ND won by 20 runs. In 2008/09, he was a lower order batsman and his 78* (76) was the highest score of the game.


2002/3 scoreboard
2004/5 scoreboard
2008/9 scoreboard

Nice write-up

[khodder]

I am going to go out on a limb and say that Michael Pollard needs to get some club form under his belt ASAP.

[straw man]

You sure live life on the edge saying that about a guy that averages 19 this season

[khodder]

You sure live life on the edge saying that about a guy that averages 19 this season

Meanwhile in ND, Brad Wilson keeps his spot with a mighty average of 23,

[khodder]

It scares me that the top wicket takers in the plunket shield this season are;

Brent Arnel, Mark Gillespie, Ian Butler and Ryan McCone. It especially scares me that Ryan McCone has 37 wickets @ 20 this season.

It sacres me that the top three run scorers in the plunket sheild this season are Aaron Redmond, Peter Fulton and Michael Papps.

Birghtsides - Ben Wheeler has 16 wickets @ 21, Jeet Raval 750 runs @46

[Immenso]

It scares me that the top wicket takers in the plunket shield this season are;

Brent Arnel, Mark Gillespie, Ian Butler and Ryan McCone. It especially scares me that Ryan McCone has 37 wickets @ 20 this season.

It sacres me that the top three run scorers in the plunket sheild this season are Aaron Redmond, Peter Fulton and Michael Papps.

Birghtsides - Ben Wheeler has 16 wickets @ 21, Jeet Raval 750 runs @46

Just on the bowlers. Does it scare you because you don't think they're any good? Or because its the same old, same old?

I was actually thinking recently how bloody good Arnel is at this level, and that it was a shame he didn't take the step up. Well, I should be careful with the use of the word "shame" as I am now about to say their is no shame in being a good FC cricketer who can't make the leap up to test cricket. He's a very good bowler and his record is admirable, only been about 7 or 8 seasons in FC cricket and he performs every year and has rocketed to 250 odd wickets.

Whenever I have watched him live at PS games, he looks really lively, good pace and steep bounce. Disappointing when it only relates to 129kph and dead straight at test level though. (although his last test was a shocker)

[Flem274*]

The stats don't tell the whole story there. In the absence of Southee and Boult, Arnel has been a lone ranger for most of the season (and is a good domestic bowler anyway). Likewise with Gillespie. Butler is in the form of his life and McCone has been the leader of a second string attack. Those bowlers both performed very well and stayed fit, which the likes of Wheeler, Bartlett, Milne and Small didn't. Henry and Bennett also missed most of the season with surgeries.

This is Fulton's first big season in a while and Papps stats can gagf. Got a double ton from declaration bowling and really has been a liability for Wellington, along with Brodie and Murdoch. Redmond is just weird. He got dropped last season.

edit: is T Mac injured or is his career, along with that of Reece Young, over?

[khodder]

Just on the bowlers. Does it scare you because you don't think they're any good? Or because its the same old, same old?

Moslty becasue it is the same guys who have tried and failed at test level (Apart from McCone and to an extent Gillespie, who does not scare me as much as long as his head is not playing tricks on him [Seriously Mark's problems are all Mental])

Arnel needs help from the pitch to do anything he gets it in NZ, though his immacualte lengths help him too.

It just sucks that every time we see a somewhat good and sharpish young bowler coming through they either cannot take a plunket shield wicket to save themselves or end up in the doctors queue.

[khodder]

For those not following; BOP 205/2; Bharat Popli scoring runs like they are going out of fashion. Joe Carter dismissed for 84;

For those counting Joe Carter in Hawke Cup so far this year; 187, 2, 77, 84.

[Binkley]

It scares me that the top wicket takers in the plunket shield this season are;

Brent Arnel, Mark Gillespie, Ian Butler and Ryan McCone. It especially scares me that Ryan McCone has 37 wickets @ 20 this season.

McCone's ball to get Barry in the second innings was a cracker.

I agree that it would nice to see promising youngsters doing well, but I also think it is good that we are keeping the old troopers around for longer than we used to (well, it is good if they are still performing anyway). It gives the youngsters someone to learn off. And there have also been old troopers who have not done well - Chris Martin and Lou Vincent to name two biggies, while James Marshall and Grant Elliott have been average at best for their teams (although Elliott clearly still has talent, as shown by his international form).

Another upside of the PS averages is that sub-par overseas players are no longer coming here and cleaning up. Who has visited this season? Trego, Woakes and Wheater were largely unimpressive. Jarvis was okay, but didn't set the world on fire. And the only other one I can think of is Fuller, who is virtually a kiwi (and certainly learnt his craft here).

Anyway. It is not all doom and gloom.

[Mike5181]

Arnel, Redmond etc performing so well is pretty dire. There's enough guys there to be excited about though.

Matt Henry
Ben Wheeler
Bevan Small
Daryl Mitchell
Jeet Raval
Adam Milne
Will Young
Hamish Rutherford
Jimmy Neesham
Tom Latham

[straw man]

There are two perspectives here; both are fair:

- Most people on this forum, me included, are primarily interested in the national team and therefore tend to view all domestic cricket primarily as a breeding ground for international-level players. This is fine - we want to see NZ do well and improve, though sometimes this viewpoint can lead to being overly dismissive of domestic-level players.

- Top level domestic cricket can also be seen as important in of itself. For some (most, actually) of the people playing, it will be the pinnacle of their careers and if so, well done to them. Particularly those who have gotten there through hard work and have reached somewhere near the limit of their ability. They've dedicated a significant period of time to the game and it's not like they'd be getting much financial reward or anything like that from it. So like Immenso says, someone like Arnel who came back from serious injury, turns up every season and takes plenty of wickets deserves to be applauded. Same for plenty of others. Sometimes it's easy to forget this just because we want good future NZ players.