• Welcome to the Cricket Web forums, one of the biggest forums in the world dedicated to cricket.

    You are currently viewing our boards as a guest which gives you limited access to view most discussions and access our other features. By joining our free community you will have access to post topics, respond to polls, upload content and access many other special features. Registration is fast, simple and absolutely free so please, join the Cricket Web community today!

    If you have any problems with the registration process or your account login, please contact us.

***Official**** Sri Lanka in New Zealand 2014/2015

Kippax

Cricketer Of The Year
Brendon McCullum to open ODIs for Black Caps | Stuff.co.nz

"It's back down to No 5 for me in this test series. It was a horses for courses option in Sharjah, we needed the extra bowling option over there.

"I think you need to have a couple of players in the group who are quite fluid and it's easier to do for the captain, there's a bit more experience and a bit less pressure."

McCullum gave a clear indication his move to the middle order would almost certainly mean a recall at the top of the order for Otago teammate Hamish Rutherford, who would open alongside Tom Latham, rather than any experimenting.

"All I'll say about that is you need to have specialist openers in New Zealand," McCullum said. And it's that position causing minor headaches in one-day cricket too.

With Jesse Ryder not included in New Zealand's World Cup plans, others have been given a chance at the top the ODI innings with little success.

Dean Brownlie, Anton Devcich and Jimmy Neesham have all been given on-the-job interviews seemingly with the intention of the lucky applicant partnering Martin Guptill.

Kane Williamson and Ross Taylor are a lock at first and second drop and even McCullum's old innings-closer job is being looked after.

"We've got a No 3 and No 4 [Williamson and Taylor] who I believe are as good as any No 3 and 4 in the world.

"Then a guy like Luke Ronchi scoring runs significantly down the order who can close out games and we've got experience and hitters too.

"[Opening] probably suits my game as well, there'll be no stone unturned, we'll definitely be having a go.

"I also think Guppy and I go well as a combination."

McCullum insisted Guptill would not play an anchor role while he hit out, they would both be attacking as New Zealand looked to take games away from opposition early.

"We need to still be dominant up front and that's both players. You can afford to lose a few wickets along the way, but you can't just let the first 10 or 20 overs slip away. Both guys opening the batting need to be going hard."
 

BackFootPunch

International 12th Man
Thought they were wheeling Martin Sneddon out for a moment. Any relation?
Tall right arm quick. Swings it away and does a bit off the deck. A pretty handy prospect really. Has all the attributes you'd want from a fast bowler. He's been pretty dominant in club cricket in Dunedin this year.
 

Hurricane

Hall of Fame Member
No fatty for both tests.. gonna be rough.
Left-arm spinner Rangana Herath has been ruled out of Sri Lanka's first Test against New Zealand by the hamstring tear he suffered last week, team manager Michael de Zoysa has confirmed. Herath had damaged his upper, inner left thigh while training ahead of the fifth ODI against England, and though team management had initially been hopeful for a quick recovery, he will now likely be out for at least three weeks.

"I think Rangana's struggling to make the second Test as well," de Zoysa said. Even before the injury, Herath had been doubtful for the Boxing Day Test due to personal reasons, and he stayed in Sri Lanka while the team traveled to New Zealand on December 18.

Herath's absence puts Sri Lanka at a significant disadvantage, as the team has been heavily reliant on him for both penetration and control in Tests, over the past three years. He is 2014's top wicket-taker, with 60 scalps at 27.45, and will almost certainly remain atop that list by the year's end. He has also had the heaviest workload of any Test bowler by far this year, with 610.2 overs under his belt - 246 more than anyone else.

Sri Lanka have spin-bowling cover in the squad, in the form of Dilruwan Perera, and uncapped 21-year-old Tharindu Kaushal. Though both are offspinners, they afford the team significant variety: Perera has bowled with plenty of control as Sri Lanka's second spinner this year, taking 36 wickets for himself, while Kaushal has been a more aggressive bowler in domestic cricket.

Sri Lanka play a two-day warm-up match against a New Zealand XI in Queenstown, beginning on December 21. The first Test will played at the newly-accredited Hagley Oval in Christchurch, and the New Year Test will be played in Wellington. Seven ODIs are to follow.
Sri Lanka in New Zealand 2014-15 : Rangana Herath to miss first Test in New Zealand | Cricket News | New Zealand v Sri Lanka | ESPN Cricinfo
 

YorksLanka

International Debutant
Ithink Dilruwan Perera should come in instead for him..he has done reasonably well in the past and is still a newcomer to top level cricket
 

Kippax

Cricketer Of The Year
Seekkuge imo. Beating those stand-and-deliver New Zealanders through the air is the way to go.

 

Maximas

Cricketer Of The Year
Dilruwan isn't really a test class spinner, unable to provide much control or penetration against good batsmen, he is probably not much better than Mark Craig, but Tharindu Kaushal is really green and should probably be introduced to test cricket at home or somewhere else in the SC and I don't particularly like many of the other options so it'll probably have to be Dilruwan.
 

Migara

Cricketer Of The Year
No point in going back to orthodox off break bowlers like Dilruwan who float it up. Either they have to be tall like Senanayake or Lyon or unorthodox like Ashwin. Tharindu Kaushal is in between. Quite tall, and more on orthodox side with some real unorthodox deliveries bowling doosra and sliders. He will spin it on any surface (aka, a mini-Murali) unlike Dilruwan. Hope he has learnt to land six out of six deliveries on the spot by now.
 

viriya

International Captain
With no Herath or Mahela, if SL can avoid a whitewash it should be considered a triumph IMO. Unlikely though.
 

Zinzan

Request Your Custom Title Now!
With no Herath or Mahela, if SL can avoid a whitewash it should be considered a triumph IMO. Unlikely though.
You never know, they could win a really crucial toss on a green-top like India did in Wellington. From a NZ POV, I'm hoping the pitch remains spicy throughout to take the toss out of the equation.
 

morgieb

Request Your Custom Title Now!
With no Herath or Mahela, if SL can avoid a whitewash it should be considered a triumph IMO. Unlikely though.
You've still got Mathews and Sangakkara which could be enough batting to draw a game if the pitch is right/bad weather hits. Plus also winning a toss on a greentop could make things a lottery (therefore if I were NZ cricket I wouldn't produce a greentop, a seamy road would do the trick).

Will be interesting to see which bowling attack they go with. With Williamson back bowling could we see four seamers?
 

Bahnz

Hall of Fame Member
Yeah, there's a real danger that if SRL win the toss and stick us in on a green top, that the top order will be too jet lagged to put up much of a fight. A 4-day turnaround between arriving home from the desert and fronting up for the first test is a real organisational ****up by the NZC imo.
 

morgieb

Request Your Custom Title Now!
Yeah, there's a real danger that if SRL win the toss and stick us in on a green top, that the top order will be too jet lagged to put up much of a fight. A 4-day turnaround between arriving home from the desert and fronting up for the first test is a real organisational ****up by the NZC imo.
In fairness Sri Lanka have a similar turnaround :p
 

Top