New Zealand's golden summer celebratory thread

[Days of Grace]

I think it would be remiss of New Zealand posters not to post something on New Zealand cricket after this golden summer. Test series wins over the West Indies and India (no.2 in the world). One-day series win over India 4-0 (no.1 in the world).

Our captain, who got the job in dubious circumstances which caused a national uproar little more than 18 months ago, scores 300 by himself to ensure a series win over India when we looked dead and gone in the second test.

The ex-captain, who could have quit the game and no one could have blamed him that much considering the manner of his dismissal from the top job, scores 3 centuries in 3 matches.

The Southee/Boult new ball partnership.

Wagner finally putting some performances on the board.

Just about the only negatives are Ryder being Ryder, and the openers continuing the long tradition of direness post-Richardson.


I could go on and on, but I'll stop here and say that as a long suffering follower of New Zealand cricket for 20 years, this has made me a very happy man. On ya boys.

 

[Fuller Pilch]

I know (on a good day) that apart from making semifinals and having funny-shaped grounds, NZ cricket is usually most known for its grit (ala the 302), but the thing that gets me is all the young talented players, as opposed to gritty fighters we have now. I hope they fight in a gritty manner, but they can really play.
If there were under 25 teams, I think NZ could be the best in the world.

Also, I know this should be in the domestic thread, but did Greg Hay get abducted by aliens for a few years? Why did he have all that time away from PS?

On that, could Michael Bracewell make a push for an opener's spot? Young, scores runs, good name, plays for one of the two preferred provinces?

 

[Flem274*]

nothing more to add really apart from golden summers have unexpected bonuses as you can see in Dan's tumblr

http://****yeahkanewilliamson.tumblr.com/

there's a very hot and heavy (not joking) fan fic in there too. a truly golden summer.

 

[jcas0167]

Yeah, it's been remarkable both in terms of series wins and punctuated by some incredible individual performances.

• At the start of the season there was talk of McCullum retiring given his back problems - he ends it having become only the third batsman after Don Bradman and Wally Hammond to hit a double century and a triple century in successive Tests.
• Corey Anderson breaks the long standing ODI world record for fastest century.
• Taylor & McCullum both score tons in first test against West Indies - Taylor going on to get a double.
• Taylor puts away slog sweep & looks becomes first NZ player to get hundreds in 3 successive tests - follows up with back to back match winning ODI tons against India.
• Boult gets ten wickets in a day at the Basin plus a stunning catch.
• Ronchi finally delivers in the T20 & ODI's, adding further firepower to the lower middle order with Anderson & Neesham.
• Adam Milne returns and bowls over 150 kph.
• Williamson impresses with 5 consecutive ODI fifties and a test ton against India - Gavaskar very impressed.
• Matt Henry 4/38 on debut.
• Wagner wins a test on the last afternoon.
• World record 6th wicket test partnership Watling & McCullum when it seemed question of whether we would lose in 3 days or 4.
• Crowe's record broken & McCullum joins 300 club & plays longest NZ test innings.
• Jimmy Neesham gets highest score on debut for someone batting 7 or below.

An amazing season, truly a golden summer.

 

[Dan]

nothing more to add really apart from golden summers have unexpected bonuses as you can see in Dan's tumblr

http://****yeahkanewilliamson.tumblr.com/

there's a very hot and heavy (not joking) fan fic in there too. a truly golden summer.

Please, please do not try and blame that on me. I know I'm known as a KW fan, but, erm, that's taking it to extremes. And then some.

Plus I can't write that well anyway

 

[hendrix]

The biggest thing for me is that we're actually getting the young blokes in the team, and they're performing. I don't know whether having faith in the young blokes is something that McHesson have brought on or whether we just genuinely have more talent around than we did a year ago. Probably a little bit of both.

Importantly, the young guys are getting into the team and are already tasting success.

We have 2 genuine allrounders. When the hell did that happen? We have a semi-reliable middle order. WTF? Even Sodhi took a few useful wickets against Bangladesh and has shown at least enough to see why the selectors blooded him.

The caveat to all this is Doug Bracewell's career. That's highly unlikely to happen to Neesham, Anderson or Latham, but it i something to consider.

 

[Binkley]

Wonderful summer, and great idea for a thread. The only disappointment is that the international season is over.

I agree with Hendrix about the performance of the new guys. Anderson, Henry and Neesham have all looked so comfortable and so classy right from the start. JimmyGS's century was incredible given the circumstances, and perhaps the most incredible thing about it was how calm, collected and confident he looked right from the start of his innings. He didn't look a debutante coming in with New Zealand in a precarious position, he looked like a talented teenager who was coming in to have a Sunday morning knock around with a bunch of younger kids. The other two were similarly world-beaters right from the get go, and you could put Rutherford's debut century last season in the same category. I dunno what they are putting in this generation's water, but I like it.

 

[Adders]

Seriously is great to see NZ cricket doing so well after all the **** that has gone down with them the last couple of years.

I was wondering, what would their highest standing in test cricket ever have been? Could be wrong here but have they ever been considered a top 4 side? Despite what the rankings say, IMO you have South Africa and Australia out in front at the moment with probably nothing between India, England and NZ. If the kiwis can keep performing at this standard (and there is no reason to think they can't) they have every chance of becoming a top 3 side.

 

[morgieb]

Seriously is great to see NZ cricket doing so well after all the **** that has gone down with them the last couple of years.

I was wondering, what would their highest standing in test cricket ever have been? Could be wrong here but have they ever been considered a top 4 side? Despite what the rankings say, IMO you have South Africa and Australia out in front at the moment with probably nothing between India, England and NZ. If the kiwis can keep performing at this standard (and there is no reason to think they can't) they have every chance of becoming a top 3 side.

Turn of the millennium and the 80's possibly?

 

[_Ed_]

I'd say we would have been in the top four in the '80s - West Indies well ahead, of course, but we were among the best of the rest at that point. Doubt we've come close to that again since then, but maybe there's hope for that now.

 

[Woodster]

I'm really pleased for NZ and that was a fantastic series victory over India in a captivating contest. Must admit could see no way out for them in the second Test and certainly didn't envisage a McCullum triple while being more than ably supported by BJ and Jimmy.

I'm not well up enough on the depth of the NZ squad to know how they would cope with a few injuries, but if they can get the bulk of their strongest XI out on a regular basis it could be exciting times for the Black Caps. The opening slots still seem up for grabs for someone to come in and nail down a slot, but the Williamson, Taylor, and McCullum set-up looks pretty solid. Corey Anderson and Jimmy Neesham have both showed some real promise with the bat, be good to see them in the sterner tests ahead, while the bowling unit, in NZ conditions, looks very impressive. I guess there's also the spin position still open, but from what I saw of Sodhi there's certainly something to work with and at 21 he obviously has a lot to learn but can hopefully develop his leg spin.

Am I right in thinking it's West Indies away up next followed by Pakistan ?

 

[hendrix]

Yup West Indies away is the next series. Couldn't come at a better time for NZ really, in that they're in a similar ranking to us but we're in much better form.

The depth is still an issue. Injuries to any of Southee, Boult, Williamson or Taylor and the team is significantly weakened. The same could be said for McCullum and Watling, because there just aren't any middle order bats ready to come through from domestics - there are some really young guys but they're probably 2-3 years away.

 

[Flem274*]

Provided we don't pick Dougeh or Boomer in their current form we could survive injuries to the bowling attack if we picked the right like for like replacements.

Southee - Henry
Boult - Wheeler
Wagner - Bennett/Henry or maybe even Small/Milne (take your pick).

Biggest issues are the openers and the spinners, or lack of. Middle order batting cover also thin on the ground because I don't think Craig Cachopa, Michael Bracewell, Daryl Mitchell or Will Young are ready (and tbh I don't think they're going to be anywhere near KW/Taylor/Baz/Ryder league - they're going to be the Watling/Styris/Astle types of the next generation) and the older guys are either tried and failed or don't have a huge amount of form under the belt.

 

[hendrix]

Yeah it's certainly not panic stations on the bowling front, but while I'm confident that Henry could come in and do a reasonable job, I'll need to be convinced more about the other guys. They might take a wee while to find their feet.

I'm just hoping that the 4 batsmen you mentioned are the ones to put on the runs next season so we don't have to go backwards and pick another role player like Fulton/Redmond.

 

[straw man]

Best Thread eva

 

[SteveNZ]

Anyone willing to lay some praise at Mike Hesson's door?

 

[Agent Nationaux]

Congrats NZ fans, you guys deserve this after putting up with all the crap for years. Some of the best fans here.

 

[Slifer]

Outside of Oz and RSA I think NZ would and could beat the other test teams at home, that I'm confident about but overseas well, I think NZ could probably draw or beat WI, BAN and Zim, draw or lose to SL, PAk but I highly doubt they'll win in India, Australia, RSA or Eng.

 

[Bahnz]

Outside of Oz and RSA I think NZ would and could beat the other test teams at home, that I'm confident about but overseas well, I think NZ could probably draw or beat WI, BAN and Zim, draw or lose to SL, PAk but I highly doubt they'll win in India, Australia, RSA or Eng.

We'll certainly lose every game in Australia unless we get another Hobart greentop, which I consider extremely unlikely. We've improved a lot since last year, but we'd stil be hammered by SA in SA. We might have a chance at squaring a 2 match series in England if they're still struggling to find viable replacements for Swann and KP and Ish and Latham establish themselves, but I'm not convinced.

 

[Bahnz]

Anyone willing to lay some praise at Mike Hesson's door?

John Bracewell looked pretty good as a coach when we had Bond and Mk1 Franklin opening the bowling, correlation does not equal causation. Still, at the least it does appear as if he's re-established a working relationship with Taylor and I think he's been very sound with his team selections so far (barring playing Ish at Eden Park).