Seems the vast majority want five bowlers. I'm not sold - not sure the fourth seamer will add much benefit to this side. In a normal test xi, having someone like Cairns or Oram at 6 was fine as they were only marginally worse batsmen than the players they were replacing (and often probably better). But to play Cairns at 6 or 7 here, he's replacing Fleming or Jones I guess, which is a big step down. I know you then pick Watling/McCullum ahead of Smith/Parore and make up 10-15 runs per innings that way (though you lose on keeping quality). I went for Cairns, Boult and Bond. If you don't think Crowe and Williamson are enough for 5th bowling duties (don't forget Richardson!!!) then pick Ryder at 6... which I know is an interesting issue.
Also not enough appreciation for Simon Doull on here - he was just as good as Boult and Southee when he was fit. His averaged slipped from 25.8 to 29 in his last 6 tests (thanks Statsguru), three tests on the glue wickets against Gibbs and Cullinan, then three more against England and Australia when he seemingly was never fit. Amazed he has no votes (admittedly I didn't vote for him either!) when the likes of O'Brien has a couple...
Also not enough appreciation for Simon Doull on here - he was just as good as Boult and Southee when he was fit. His averaged slipped from 25.8 to 29 in his last 6 tests (thanks Statsguru), three tests on the glue wickets against Gibbs and Cullinan, then three more against England and Australia when he seemingly was never fit. Amazed he has no votes (admittedly I didn't vote for him either!) when the likes of O'Brien has a couple...
