*Official* Sri Lanka Tour of New Zealand 2018/19

[Athlai]

Yus Blundell will play FC

 

[straw man]

Congrats to Young for the callup and Ajaz for retaining his spot. Bad luck to Somerville though I'm sure he'll play again some time.

I would've brought Ferguson in for Henry - want Ferguson to be close to a debut, even if only injury cover, and might be a blessing in disguise for Henry as he'd get some cricket.

 

[The Hutt Rec]

I’m surprised they kept Henry in there for that reason ... maybe he’ll leave early when inevitably not selected and get a Plunket Shield game though.

 

[Ahmad Zahir]

SL are horrible. Even NZ A would defeat them. They might have some chance in LOIs but no chance in Tests at all

 

[straw man]

Chameera bowled quite well last time and Kumara looks ok. The batting has been rubbish on SL's recent visits to NZ though.

 

[Days of Grace]

Anyone else think there may be a hangover period in the first couple of days for NZ as they struggle to get back to playing in different conditions after such a high?

 

[_Ed_]

Anyone else think there may be a hangover period in the first couple of days for NZ as they struggle to get back to playing in different conditions after such a high?

I do have a bit of a nagging concern that we bat first and find ourselves 60-4 at lunch.

 

[MagicPoopShovel]

Anyone else think there may be a hangover period in the first couple of days for NZ as they struggle to get back to playing in different conditions after such a high?

With another team maybe. Not with our current mob.

Though they did get some runs in that 2nd dig

Can some Kiwi's on here tell me how I should rate these batting performances? . I've not heard of Younghusband and the like before..

 

[straw man]

The NZ XI was a mixture of fringe FC players (Younghusband, Robinson, Coburn, Hampton) and youth players, some of whom will probably be good, eventually. But for now, you shouldn't rate SL's performance against them very highly.

 

[Moss]

Anyone else think there may be a hangover period in the first couple of days for NZ as they struggle to get back to playing in different conditions after such a high?

Also the quick turnaround time. Barely any gap between the final Pakistan test and the first of this series. An opportunity for Lanka to to capitalize perhaps.

 

[Gnske]

I dunno, I can see the 153 all outs already for Sri Lanka in this series.

Ban the stupid shots.

 

[nzfan]

Chandimal looked very confused after getting bowled by Coburn. Coburn next in line under the 'NZ spinners guaranteed to take a debut 7-fer' rule .

Agree with earlier comments that some very nice boundaries from Sandeep Patel and Katene Clarke. Interesting batting style from Max Chu too - a cross between Mark Chapman and a hyperactive frog.

That's because that ball was an absolute rank long hop that even Coburn didn't feel like celebrating. Chandimal wouldn't have faced a ball like that since under 15s :-)

 

[nzfan]

SL will go with two spinners and that won't help them. Their pacers are god enough but won't sustain quality for many spells.

Great news about Young, there was no doubt whatsoever he was going to be selected. He's got the goods, right technique and I predict he'll do great. He'll go well for a decade at least with that technique.

 

[randycricfreak]

SL will go with two spinners and that won't help them. Their pacers are god enough but won't sustain quality for many spells.

Great news about Young, there was no doubt whatsoever he was going to be selected. He's got the goods, right technique and I predict he'll do great. He'll go well for a decade at least with that technique.

disagree.

They'd most definitely play 3 fast bowlers.

At best they'd play Dilrwaun

They might even play 4 pacers.

 

[Gomez656]

https://m.cricbuzz.com/cricket-news...only-spinner-for-first-test-against-sri-lanka


NZ test team vs SL


Ajaz Patel was New Zealand's match-winner in the first Test against Pakistan in UAE

William Somerville's impressive seven-wicket return on his Test debut in Abu Dhabi was not enough to merit him a place in the New Zealand squad for the first Test of the home season against Sri Lanka. Left-arm spinner Ajaz Patel was picked as the lone spinner in the 13-man squad with legspinner Ish Sodhi also deemed surplus to requirements on the traditionally seaming Basin Reserve pitch in Wellington.

Patel, 30, made his Test debut ahead of Somerville in the first Test of the series against Pakistan, picking match figures of 7 for 123 in New Zealand's four-run win. His call-up for the sub-continental challenge came after a sustained period of excellence in the domestic circuit where he finished as the leading wicket-taker in each of the last three seasons. Patel went on to play each of the three Tests in the campaign and was joined by Somerville for the series-clinching win in the final Test.

"Ajaz certainly grabbed his opportunity on the UAE tour and he's a proven performer in New Zealand conditions," said selector Gavin Larsen. "Will Somerville was an obvious stand-out on debut in the Abu Dhabi decider and it's great to know we've got quality spin bowlers who can create competition for places.

Central Stags batsman Will Young was also included as a batting backup after impressing in the ongoing 'A' series against India. Young scored a century in Sunday's 50-over clash in Mount Maunganui and replaces keeper-batsman Tom Blundell, who will return to Plunkett Shield action starting later this week.

"It's an exciting time for Will Young who has been pushing for higher honours for a while now. He scored hundreds against Pakistan A and India A in recent months and fully deserves his call-up."

Squad for 1st Test: Kane Williamson (c), Tom Latham, Jeet Raval, Ross Taylor, Henry Nicholls, BJ Watling, Colin de Grandhomme, Tim Southee, Neil Wagner, Ajaz Patel, Trent Boult, Matt Henry, Will Young

 

[harsh.ag]

Tough call but hope he makes the most of it.

 

[Hicheal Michael]

Sri Lanka seems to have a very muddled test schedule - I was going to comment that this is the first tour of Nz without Sanga, only to realise they toured twice in 2015.

I read they are also touring South Africa again next year.

Test cricket is test cricket, i guess lol.

 

[Starfighter]

What's the Basin pitch expected to be like for this match? Hasn't it been disappointingly flat and slow over the few years?

 

[GoodAreasShane]

I like Coburn and his poor mans Paul Adams action.

Some of those pacers looked seriously ordinary though

 

[Kippax]

I like Coburn and his poor mans Paul Adams action.

Some of those pacers looked seriously ordinary though

Haha yeah, well Matthew Fisher was the sole option I could think of who's in any way rated a promising young pace talent (who wasn't already committed to a game that outranked that one). I see he has been active at the bowling crease each weekend recently in club cricket, so I'm not sure why that didn't hit Larsen as appealing.

I guess he saw the high RPO and high average at last year's U19 World Cup and put quite a lot of weight in that. Would also explain why he has Ravindra pegged as one of the top 4 U19 bowlers in the world and a slightly more penetrative bowler than Shaheen Afridi and Lloyd Pope (just in most recent U19 WC wickets), and Rachin is therefore a NZA bowling all-rounder.