NZ Test summer - Marks out of 10

[Blocky]

Taylor dropped sitters regularly when van Wyk was keeping because van Wyk is an awful keeper who won't go for chances on the inside of first slip. Taylor had to consistently go for chances that were well and truly keeper catches and this forced him to move both ways in the slips, which is not good slip catching technique and resulted in multiple drops. Since Watling's come into the side he's been pretty good.

He's still dropped and bobbled the occasional catch - he has been better since he was relieved of the captaincy, both as a batsman and as a fielder. I just don't think he was the type of guy who could excel in all three areas of the game and for everyone saying "But he was averaging heaps as a captain" - since he was dropped as captain, he's put seven runs onto his average. He has been superb and a revelation this season, but anyone admitting that must also admit that McCullum has been his equal with the bat, while combining that with his captaincy and ruthless chasing in the field.

No question Jimmy is a better bowler than Corey. I'm perfectly happy with Jimmy as a fourth seam option, in fact I'd say there's no better suited cricketer in the world. Obviously if we're playing four seamers, there must be a bit in the deck which he's well placed to exploit. And coming in at 8, again he's very well placed if we're 100-6, whatever it is, on an improving track and have the confidence to wrest initiative back to us. I don't think he's a one-paced batsman either, I'd back him to mix defence and attack as required. Corey I'm not as happy with as a fourth seamer, but yeah his future is at 5 - I'd compare him to someone like a Paul Collingwood, good enough to bowl but not necessarily your bonafide fourth seamer if conditions suit.

Anderson could develop into a much better bowler than he is and on occasion he does show it, but I think his major issue is that his body will let him down - he's got a bit of the Chris Cairns about him where his frame just can't stand up to over after over of bowling and unlike Cairns, his bowling isn't at sufficiently high enough of a standard to really worry about it - I think he should focus himself on being NZ's next #5 when McCullum goes and let Neesham focus on being the #6 all rounder

I'd much rather see us play four specialist seamers with Williamson offering spin than select the current crop of domestic spin bowlers, there isn't anyone there performing at a high enough calibre to suggest they'll offer more than Williamson can if pitch conditions suit. It's more a security blanket that sees us continue to pick players and if we were going to pick anyone, I'd probably either go back to Vettori (highly unlikely due to injury) or maybe even Buck Martin who at the very least showed he could comfortably tie down an end.

 

[Flem274*]

You do remember how immediately after he was dropped as skipper he was terrible don't you? His three tons against the Windies prop up that post skipper average by a lot.

Before skipper: 2221 @ 41.12
As skipper: 1047 @ 49.85

 

[hendrix]

McCullum's captaincy is better than Taylor's, Taylor's batting is at least as good as it was when he was captain, McCullum's batting is better than when he wasn't captain.

 

[SteveNZ]

I'd much rather see us play four specialist seamers with Williamson offering spin than select the current crop of domestic spin bowlers, there isn't anyone there performing at a high enough calibre to suggest they'll offer more than Williamson can if pitch conditions suit.

I imagine if I search back on my posts from 18 months ago, I would be saying exactly this same thing. Until such time that we have a spinner that we're confident can bowl us to Test victories, I wouldn't be allocating them a spot. The closest a spinner has come to doing so in a fourth innings (correct me if I'm wrong) is Kane at Eden Park v England

 

[Bahnz]

"Multiple chances" - I can remember one, with maybe one that dropped short of him and shouldn't be considered a chance in the test series. I can also remember him lifting the fielding performance solely through refusing to let the ball get to the fence on many occasions. No one can say that the NZ fielding performance hasn't improved out of sight in the last few tests and I put a lot of that down to people seeing him chase everything desperately and refuse to give up on any option.

Taylor and Williamson have both put down chances this season and Taylor hasn't been the safest pair of hands in NZ for quite some time - I'd actually say Fulton is far more likely to grab a catch than he is. Taylor still has the potential of dropping sitters beyond belief.

He dropped a straightforward chance at short cover in the 1st test against WI that proved rather crucial given how that match turned out. He put another easy chance down in the second test against Bangladesh off Tamim. And going slightly out of the bounds of this discussion, he dropped at least one easy chance against India in the ODI's. I suspect there are more, but I can't be arsed spending hours trawling through cricinfo text commentary looking for them. By comparison, I can't remember Taylor putting down a single chance this summer and all I can remember of Williamson was the tough chance off Sodhi's bowling in the 3rd test v WI.

I'm not saying that McCullum is a bad fielder, in fact he's excellent in the covers (although I would say that he's a genuinely bad slipper) but arguing that he's the best in a side with Taylor, Williamson, Southee and Boult is going a bit far.

 

[jonbrooks]

Based on all 5 tests McCullum is too high. Hit an excellent hundred at Dunedin, but followed it up with a ghastly dismissal in the 2nd innings that meant that New Zealand had to consolidate for an hour instead of pushing for victory. Didn't do much of note in the rest of the WI series, and as I mentioned in the India tour thread, even his performances in the last two tests haven't been flawless. 8.5 out of 10.

I agree. McCullum's performance against the Windies wasn't the best. While he scored a ton of runs in two innings against India he did fail in the second innings of the first test. It was Taylor's priceless 41 which got us over the 400 run psychological barrier.

 

[jonbrooks]

Assess him as a full package though - he was without doubt the best fielder on the park for New Zealand and set the mood for the side, chasing every ball and pulling in some amazing dives to stop boundaries, even when his body was playing up. As a captain he got the team firing, got players like Taylor feeling comfortable in the team setup, found the best out of guys like Southee who had threatened to be world class but never proved it and drove home the advantages NZ had in three of the four tests.

As a batsman, I think you're being harsh on him - a lot of people already pointed out that making the most out of your innings after getting early chances is just part of test cricket. In two tests, he went close to setting the NZ record in a single test series with his aggregate against India. You've really got to have something against Baz to mark him any lower than 9 - I almost gave him a 10.

Best fielder? He dropped a number of catches.

I am neutral on Baz. I like it when he performs but haven't been impressed with his performances over the last three years.

 

[jonbrooks]

Fulton - 1, rubbish all round
Rutherford - 3, scored some runs in 3rd innings against India but for the most part useless
Williamson - 7, a very good series for him
Taylor - 9, best NZ batsman amongst the current crop and good chance of being the best NZ batsman ever
McCullum - 8.5, the two big innings against India accounts for a large part of his 8.5
Anderson - 6, awesome in the short form but struggled in the tests
Watling - 7,
Sodhi - 1, total rubbish
Wagner - 7, bowled with a lot of heart and won us the 1st test against India
Southee - 7, solid bowling effort
Boult - 7, solid bowling effort

Latham - 4, struggled at the top level
Neesham - 7, one big inning but disappointing with the ball

 

[Dan]

Rutherford - 3
Fulton - 2
Williamson - 8
Taylor - 9.5
McCullum - 9
Anderson - 6
Watling - 7.5
Sodhi - 2.5
Southee - 8
Wagner - 6.5
Boult - 7.5

Neesham - 8.5
Latham - 4
Redmond - 2

 

[Blocky]

Forgot all about poor Redmond.

 

[Wright]

I imagine if I search back on my posts from 18 months ago, I would be saying exactly this same thing. Until such time that we have a spinner that we're confident can bowl us to Test victories, I wouldn't be allocating them a spot. The closest a spinner has come to doing so in a fourth innings (correct me if I'm wrong) is Kane at Eden Park v England

Id be happy with a spinner who could block up an end, keep the runs down and gives the pace bowlers a rest while keeping us up with the overs rate in a days play.

 

[flibbertyjibber]

Coach and captain deserve 10's for the way they rode the ****storm when Taylor was sacked and come out long term in a very promising position. Also Taylor for just being a great player and not rocking the boat.

 

[Fuller Pilch]

Younghusband, 1 point for sub fielding + extras for an awesome name (my fav since Ryan Sidebottom)

Ryder & Bracewell - can we give negatives?

 

[NZTailender]

Id be happy with a spinner who could block up an end, keep the runs down and gives the pace bowlers a rest while keeping us up with the overs rate in a days play.

If only Br00ce could keep his pies at bay, his econ rate of 2.55 could be smaller and handier.