**Official** New Zealand in South Africa

[straw man]

Inspired by the Colin Munro's lingering Safrican accent here's the NZ African XI. Have I missed anyone? Rather lacking in the bowling department but at least they have three wicketkeepers

Andrew De Boorder*
BJ Watling
Carl Cachopa
Colin Munro
Craig Cachopa
Kruger Van Wyk
Brad Cachopa
Derek De Boorder*
Colin De Grandhomme
...
Neil Wagner


* I know the De Boorders are NZ born but I need numbers so gonna assume the last name is via Safrica rather than Dutch.

Edit: Forgot BJ Watling - four wicketkeepers....

[SteveNZ]

Shwing and a miss, they're Dutch if anything. No Saffer at all in them.

Roald Badenhorst, James Fuller..

[BackFootPunch]

Grant Elliott

[straw man]

Fine then. Yeah I probably should have guessed Badenhorst with a name like that. And Grant Elliott gives us XI!

BJ Watling
Carl Cachopa
Colin Munro
Craig Cachopa
Grant Elliott
Kruger Van Wyk
Brad Cachopa
Colin De Grandhomme
Roald Badenhorst
James Fuller
Neil Wagner

[BackFootPunch]

Lack of spinner is disappointing though unsurprising. Can't imagine the Saffers would let any half decent spinner leave their shores these days.

[straw man]

Lots of middle order batsmen though (some of rather dubious quality). Everyone wants to bat at number 6.

[Days of Grace]

New theory: if Ronchi is really earmarked to take the gloves against England, then maybe McCullum can fill in for two tests in South Africa.

Seems cruel to give BJ the gloves and then take them away from him once Ronchi becomes available.

[jcas0167]

All right, since it's obvious this series is being viewed as a trial for the next limited overs allrounder, to get this thread moving lets place our bets.

Anderson - highest ceiling of the three, and potentially world class in both departments. Unfortunately he's on the floor of the room with the very high ceiling (to steal a quote from PEWS).
Munro - The most limited of the three due to his batting technique and his bowling is the weakest of this lot. His eye is as good as either and he makes hitting look easy. He has also been the most effective of the three with the bat across all formats so far.
Neesham - Equal with Anderson with the bat in terms of raw potential, but has been more effective with bat and ball. He is currently the most effective bowler of the three.

Batting (on results) - Munro, Neesham, Anderson
Batting (on potential) - Anderson = Neesham, gap, Munro
Bowling (on results) - Neesham, daylight, Anderson = Munro
Bowling (on potential) - Anderson, daylight, Neesham, daylight, Munro

I'm going to place my bet on Jimmy Neesham. He combines ability with progress.

I'm expecting to be told to taste it over the newest candidate for Genuine Fast Bowler Who Doesn't Break Down as well. I have a hunch McClenaghan will enjoy South African conditions quite a lot with his style of bowling.

Not going to taste it ftr. I was right in 2009. It's 2012 now.

This is an excellent analysis. I'd be interested to see some footage of Kuggeleijn batting - in the Dompost they said he looked like Cairns in getting his 156. He could be competing with this group pretty soon.

What's the highest in the order these guys could come in? Could Munro or Anderson bat at 4 in ODI's?

[Bahnz]

This is an excellent analysis. I'd be interested to see some footage of Kuggeleijn batting - in the Dompost they said he looked like Cairns in getting his 156. He could be competing with this group pretty soon.

What's the highest in the order these guys could come in? Could Munro or Anderson bat at 4 in ODI's?

lol, maybe in the sense that he was hitting the ball powerfully, but I can't think of any other similarities between the two. Zero foot movement, and just swinging through the line a lot of the time.

[jcas0167]

lol, maybe in the sense that he was hitting the ball powerfully, but I can't think of any other similarities between the two. Zero foot movement, and just swinging through the line a lot of the time.

hehe, cool. I've just tracked down the article (also I got his score mixed up with Southee's - it was 142 not out).

Not a huge foot-mover, he prefers to stand tall, and slightly to the leg side of the ball, and then hit hard through the line.

At times yesterday he resembled Chris Cairns and developing into a genuine allrounder is definitely his aim.

"In three or four years I want to be batting [at] six or seven and scoring a lot of runs, but we'll see how it goes," Kuggeleijn said.

Kuggeleijn Reveals Hidden Batting Talents | Stuff.co.nz

[Kippax]

All right, since it's obvious this series is being viewed as a trial for the next limited overs allrounder, to get this thread moving lets place our bets.

Wasn't a fan of Anderson's batting in that Seddon Park ton he made. Neesham's got more of a smooth and loose style, I expect him to get out lbw quite often, but his shotmaking at least looks the part a bit more.
Jimmy Neesham, Boundaries Compilation - YouTube

Munro scores 272/2 on his pull/hook shot when you search the vault btw, I was begrudgingly impressed. He'll have some special needs dismissals, but if this back foot power works in SA, then he gets on small grounds in NZ, he'll send shockwaves though CW with his batting record by the end of the England tour.

Anyway, I've got Neesham to have looked the best with the bat, but I think his bowling might get angled into the wheelhouse of good players a bit too predictably and get hit. The biggest threat I see is some tips from Bond getting Anderson swinging it back in consistently at good pace, which then wins the trial.

[Flem274*]

I really hope Munro trolls the South Africans into bowling short, because he is a million dollars on the back foot and through the legside. It's his stance imo that sets him up beautifully for those shots but at the same time makes his front foot offside play all about hand eye coordination (which is unlikely to work at this level).

[NZTailender]

Wasn't a fan of Anderson's batting in that Seddon Park ton he made. Neesham's got more of a smooth and loose style, I expect him to get out lbw quite often, but his shotmaking at least looks the part a bit more.
Jimmy Neesham, Boundaries Compilation - YouTube

Geeze, looks so effortless and pretty late as well. Lovin' it!

[Arachnodouche]

Neesham does look gorgeous in those hits. How's his defence?

[Kippax]

No, a bit of a dishevelled student flat in defence tbh. As it would need to be, when you're averaging 23 in NZ FC cricket despite your shotmaking and timing being that good. Gets ribbed as the pioneer of the 'attack watchman' role by his captain etc.