Spark
Global Moderator
I don't think there's enough space in the summer for all of this.
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***Official*** Australia in New Zealand 2016
- Thread starter Spark
- Start date
Shady Slim
International Coach
it probably would involve doing away with the hobart windies test and some of the mohammad amir rampage of redemption tour but that's fine
Gob
International Coach
Johnson was unplayable for a season. Harris was injured half of the timeI really don't see how Ryan Harris, Mitchell Johnson, Peter Siddle, Nathan Lyon can be considered weaker than say Peter Siddle, Josh Hazelwood, Jackson Bird and Nathan Lyon. Australia lived and died on Mitchell Johnson terrorising opponents. Clarke can't take credit tactically for the fact that Johnson was basically unplayable for two seasons, it really didn't matter where the fielders were in those spells.
But agree to disagree I guess; like I say I seem to be in the minority in my thoughts here so I'll stop defending them
Starfighter
Cricket Web: All-Time Legend
Yes, um...
TheJediBrah
Request Your Custom Title Now!
Clarke was a stuck-up pretty boy which doesn't get you a whole lot of respect in Australia generally. If he was Indian or English he would have been much more popular IMO.
Bahnz
Hall of Fame Member
Braces out for the second test (yay! - sorry flem)
Cricket: Bracewell out of second test - Sport - NZ Herald News
There's an upside and a downside to this. On the upside, this'll mean that Henry comes into the team. On the downside, losing Doug's batting makes 4 seamers + Craig less likely.
Cricket: Bracewell out of second test - Sport - NZ Herald News
There's an upside and a downside to this. On the upside, this'll mean that Henry comes into the team. On the downside, losing Doug's batting makes 4 seamers + Craig less likely.
Jord
U19 Vice-Captain
I find Bracewell is a theoretical player.
The Theory of Bracewell
Theoretically, the line and length he bowls should mean he takes wickets but he doesn't.
Theoretically, the ability he shows with bat in hand means we should see a lot more contributions from him, but we don't.
Theoretically, Hesson and the selectors should have no reason to continue playing Bracewell, but they do, changing the plan on the basis that Bracewell offered more with the bat than say Henry or Wagner might is wrong in practice, even if the theory of it is sound.
The Theory of Bracewell
Theoretically, the line and length he bowls should mean he takes wickets but he doesn't.
Theoretically, the ability he shows with bat in hand means we should see a lot more contributions from him, but we don't.
Theoretically, Hesson and the selectors should have no reason to continue playing Bracewell, but they do, changing the plan on the basis that Bracewell offered more with the bat than say Henry or Wagner might is wrong in practice, even if the theory of it is sound.
Dylan Cleaver in the NZ Herald, excellent column discussing omission of Wagner and other stuff.
Dylan Cleaver: The curious case of Neil Wagner - Sport - NZ Herald News
Doug Bracewell isn't a bad bowler, and he's someone they thought could do a job in playing a holding-type role as a third seamer. That's not a luxury we can particularly afford when Southee and Boult aren't on song. It's also not a luxury you can afford when you post 180 first-up, green seamer or not. Having said that, he might've had 2-for on day one if not for a bad spill and an even worse umpiring decision.
The balance of the side isn't unduly affected by Henry/Wagner batting 9. Pidg Craig is very comfortably a Test #8 and at the end of the day, it's the top 7s job to get the majority of the runs as they did in Perth. Such an NZ mentality to try and squeeze runs out of our lower order. The great Australian sides demanded their batsmen do the job, and demanded their lower order battlers became better and did a job for their partner/team (this is directed at you, TG Southee).
The balance of the side isn't unduly affected by Henry/Wagner batting 9. Pidg Craig is very comfortably a Test #8 and at the end of the day, it's the top 7s job to get the majority of the runs as they did in Perth. Such an NZ mentality to try and squeeze runs out of our lower order. The great Australian sides demanded their batsmen do the job, and demanded their lower order battlers became better and did a job for their partner/team (this is directed at you, TG Southee).
hendrix
Hall of Fame Member
He's not test standard.
Immenso
International Vice-Captain
Keep in mind that adding the Chappell-Hadlee removed the first test of the series. So if it had remained a 3 match series then under the current domestic scheduling even the fringe players like Craig, Latham, Wags, Watling (if uninjured) would have had a diet of domestic limited overs stuff as a warm up.
I had a complaint post on the domestic thread about the scheduling of the Ford Trophy - resulting in only one round of Plunket Shield before this test series. It was too long and could have been easily compressed by a week to free up a second round of Plunket before the tests.
NZs international home schedule is pretty fluid. E.g. we don't have traditional rocks to base an integrated schedule around like Boxing Day and New Year tests.
NZC have also been pretty fluid the last 3 years in their domestic scheduling as they try to tweak the timing of the Pie Fest each year (this is now driven by not wanting to be in the Big bash's shadow, rather than any other considerations I believe).
But one thing NZC have been very incompetent at for about 15 years is intertwining the domestic and international home schedules so that the blackcaps are as best prepared as possible for the format they are about to play. Remember McIntosh preparing for early Jan test with 7 weeks of Auckland second division club cricket for Parnell. However this is one thing David White actually identified and mentioned upon his appointment. His result was in the first season under his CEOship that we had the HRV Cup split with some Friday night under Lights rounds before xmas in conjunction with the Plunket Shield – with the remainder of the HRV in its normal holiday spot, then back to Plunket, then finishing with Ford Trophy.
This was actually the best we have had from a blackcaps point of view. But resulted in whining from some as:
- only North Island associations had lights, so HRV schedule was skewed.
- no one attends anything sporting pre-xmas
- some people’s pretty little heads can’t cope with tournaments not in exclusive blacks (people who don’t follow European football I presume).
It was I concede a failure from an HRV Cup POV – the result was to change it to the (even worse) November block
.
So in Summary; White did actually make a change to improve the schedule, but abandoned it pretty quickly – and came up with something that achieves neither domestic crowds nor good blackcaps preparation. But still better than Vaughan's abomination.
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straw man
Hall of Fame Member
Yes, two tests here meant that one day into the first match NZ's chance of winning the series was all-but gone, and that reduces a lot of the interest in the series. David White and his 'blah blah tests are the highest form of the game blah blah' while doing the complete opposite really infuriates me.
I agree it was good to have the Chappell Hadlee series back, though would have made more sense to try to cram that into a different part of the calendar (which might be next summer, but that's fine).
TheJediBrah
Request Your Custom Title Now!
really? Didn't seem to generate much interest at all from what I saw.
straw man
Hall of Fame Member
Heh, had a thought last night about Bracewell getting injured but dismissed it, as that's one thing Bracewell doesn't seem to struggle much with.
Sounds like Henry is going to be favoured over Wagner, which makes sense if there's going to be movement but not if it's going to be a road. I agree 4 seamers + Craig (leaving Anderson out) is tempting, though I'm sure they won't go that way.
Liked this quote on Wagner:
straw man
Hall of Fame Member
Crowds were good. NZ seemed to follow it fairly closely.
Bahnz
Hall of Fame Member
Another incoherent rant brought to you by Skyliner.
Jord
U19 Vice-Captain
If winning THIS particular test is all that matters for NZ then you would have to say you would play both Wagner and Henry. If Craig was deemed to be useful enough to play then ultimately that would come at the cost of either Southee or Boult sitting out on form. They won't of course do this, because without realising it they often pick sides that they're building for the future rather than sides that are ready right now.