***Official*** New Zealand Domestic Season 2017/18

[Kippax]

Karn stars with five-fer in affluent India A display | Cricbuzz.com

After a thrill-a-minute one-dayer the preceding evening, the same 22-yard strip seemed to have woken up tired as it registered a remarkable drop in pace and assisted spin.

Having won the toss, New Zealand A openers George Worker and Colin Munro started off cautiously till Munro went back to his usual self. Striking boundaries off back to back balls in the third over, Munro got going, seeing which Worker too played an upper cut to send one packing over third man off Siraj for a six.

Their joy didn't last long as the first-change bowler of the afternoon, Deepak Hooda, got Worker out stumped for 22 by beating him in flight and length. Munro cleared the deep mid-wicket fence with a towering blow before slicing one to cover point off Thampi. Little did New Zealand know that their downward spiral had just begun.

The centurion from Tuesday's game, Glenn Phillips, fell to the trend of the day as another bowling change made way for a wicket. Phillips, trying to pull Vijay Shankar off the first ball, missed it to be clean bowled. Tom Bruce didn't last long either. While Henry Nicholls was watching all of this unfold from the other end, he was joined in by de Grandhomme, with whom he added 37 runs to ignite hopes of a fightback. India A tightened the noose during this phase with Shahbaz Nadeem and Karn Sharma bowling in tandem for 12 overs. Nicholls in an attempt to break the shackles, miscued a heave to long off, falling for 35 off Karn Sharma.

From 134 for 5 to 143 all-out, New Zealand A went crashing down in less than seven overs, three of those scalps going to Karn Sharma as the legspinner ended with a five-fer.

 

[Kippax]

Colin Munro - Journey from Tongaat to Twenty20 | Cricbuzz.com

The time when I got my Test debut, I wasn't prepared, playing South Africa in South Africa was tough. After the last two years I have had, hopefully... They say, 'keep smashing the lights out,' and I keep saying to them, 'Form lasts only so long..'

"I think I deserve a Test crack, whether it comes or not, we will see. It does bother, that's where sometimes you know that the selectors do have a hard job, keeping balance and all in mind but you need to select people when they are in red-hot form and give them the best opportunity to succeed at that level because it is hard going up to that level.

"It'd have been nice to sort of get a crack last summer but I have come here and got that 60-odd in the four-day game. It is about being positive, if Test cricket doesn't happen, then it doesn't happen. I could have given up last year and got on with my white-ball cricket but I will have a crack with Auckland this year, play some four-day cricket, hopefully put some numbers up and see if I can go one better and get that average even higher, I don't think they can keep ignoring me."

However, while Munro still craves to play red-ball cricket for New Zealand, he isn't turning deaf to the growing noises of franchise-based cricket. Munro tells Cricbuzz that he was very close to head in that direction this year until he got the central contract with NZC. He admits that being on the road for so long, just playing cricket could often leave one with not too many options to fall back on after retirement. "This year, I was very close, I wasn't sure if I was going to get the New Zealand contract or not. I still want to play all formats and that is why I am here on the 'A' trip. So as long as I am in the fray to play all three formats for New Zealand, I am up. As soon as I feel that it's just about playing some T20s here and there, one got to weigh up options.

"There's financial stuff as well, I have got two kids, wife back home, mortgage and stuff... these little things, in fact not little things, they are big things and you got to take care of all that. At the moment, I have accepted my NZC contract and I am going to take it year by year. So I have got a year with New Zealand now, hopefully a new role in terms of going up the order and batting at the top, if it comes to batting in the middle and get the opportunity to bowl a few overs as well.

"But if the time does come, as long as I have kept the lines of communication open with NZC like I have in the last three or four weeks where I am thinking of going, there's always a time and they are pretty open to it if you don't accept your New Zealand contract and you're going to go and play some franchise cricket around the world and if you are free, you can still play for New Zealand. As long as I am being looked at for all three formats, New Zealand is my hundred per cent priority.

 

[nzfan]

Karn stars with five-fer in affluent India A display | Cricbuzz.com

Disappointing eh? Glen has I supposed booked his berth for the Blacks Caps India tour.

Sadly Tom Blundell hasn't had a lot of hits so far.. He's batted thrice and has been on the tour over half a month. I just wish they don't do musical chairs and give each of the keepers two or three games each in a row to show what they can offer.

P.S: I should get on to the pooch to get your Jodie Barrett videos mate, will do over the weekend.

 

[Kippax]

That Phillips 140 does complicate it I suppose, if they were always quite keen on Munro as one of their four options for top-order spots (Guptill, Latham/Munro, KW), which sticks to Hesson's usual requirement of someone in the top 3 having proven wicket-keeping or bowling in them.

We think of Phillips as a guy who'd be put forward to Finch it up over there against the new ball, but if he pinches anyone's squad place it may have to be Nicholls', with Latham already in. Nicholls being the other guy who could take the gloves in an emergency, but isn't renowned for being elite with the skill.

 

[Mike5181]

Sounds like they'd prefer to see Latham in the middle-order against spin, and Munro at the top generating a good SR.

New Zealand prepare to launch Latham in new role - ESPNcricinfo

 

[straw man]

Considering our total lack of explosive power in the middle to lower order in the Champions Trophy, I don't know that Latham at 5 is really going to help things.

Don't know if they're considering Philips as a wicketkeeper seeing as he hasn't kept much (at all?) on the A tour. So Seifert or Blundell should hurry up and score some (OD) runs if they want a chance to bat 7 in the India series.

 

[Kippax]

He's only just joined the A tour of course, scored a big ton, seemed to be completely running on fumes in his batting the next day. A main indicator for me thinking Phillips will be denied the job is SteveNZ reporting he's just frankly substandard at wicket-keeping at present, in our domestic thread last season. Auckland seemed to want part-time offies out of him, rather than to do a huge favour for the national cause, getting him into the gloves and keeping him there.

 

[Kippax]

Not that Ben Horne made a bad start to his Auckland FC career, I guess Auckland figure Horne can also get into the Ronchi replacement mix.

 

[straw man]

Yeah Ben Horne looks a promising player

 

[Kippax]

The Board Of Control For Cricket In India

 

[Kippax]

https://twitter.com/Shirsh9

 

[straw man]

Timely from Worker after a poor tour, on 96* currently.

Will likely collapse in a heap though 124 from 17 overs with 5 wickets in hand is doable in theory.

 

[NZTailender]

Absolute shocker of a tour from our great specialist bat hopes.

We're going to see a lot more of Nicholls, aren't we?

 

[Kippax]

P.S: I should get on to the pooch to get your Jodie Barrett videos mate, will do over the weekend.

I encourage everyone to bombard nzfan with tons of rare and wonderful requests, until he caves in and just throws me into the video vault, where I belong.

 

[Kippax]

Chapple Cup -
https://www.crichq.com/competitions/2113/draws/34350/rounds

Leopard opening the batting and not bowling any overs this weekend. Another Hawke's Bay vs. Manawatu final tomorrow, like it usually is at the Chapple Cup, but it looks like Nelson are getting pretty strong now and could've made it, if Josh Clarkson had been around. Willem Ludick used to bat down at No. 8 for South Africa U19 in 2016, but he becomes a class act in a 'land of the blind, one-eyed man is king' sort of way.

 

[Kippax]

https://www.stuff.co.nz/nelson-mail...tive-season-with-annual-chapple-cup-challenge

Nelson also lamenting the significant loss of Central Stags batsman Josh Clarkson who is out for several weeks after fracturing his forearm during a recent Stags practice match.

And to further accentuate Clarkson's misfortune, he'd been standing at the non-striker's end at the time

However, the Griffins have been boosted by the arrival of South African allrounder Evan Jones from Marlborough who'll join fellow South African Willem Ludick in the Nelson lineup.

The two Pretorian allrounders arrived in Nelson last February, Ludick linking up with Nelson club Athletic College Old Boys and Jones joining Blenheim's Renwick club. Both players duly made their representative debuts for their respective provinces although Jones has opted to play his cricket in Nelson this season with the Wanderers club.

They are currently in the process of registering as New Zealand players in a potential bid to attract Central Stags contracts. Both are on three-year working visas.

A former South Africa under-19 representative, Ludick was part of Nelson's seam attack during last season's Hawke Cup campaign and will assume the captaincy in Napier. Offspinner Jones enhances Nelson's slow bowling resources as a foil for left-arm spinner Felix Murray.

 

[Kippax]

C Munny back in pole position to be Guptill's opening partner. Or maybe Hesson would entertain fielding two bats who try to Finch it up and establish that RR while the ball's hard and new, KW down to 4.

 

[Kippax]

The Board Of Control For Cricket In India

C Munny falls early for just 8.

 

[Kippax]

I see Dane Watson moved away from Nethula and is now trying to get on the scene via Phlegm's boys (Marty Kain retired).

 

[Kippax]

Don't try to be a hero here, Bevan! Just stay out of the hospital wards and be fit for a bit of Plunket Shield.