*Unofficial* New Zealand Black Caps Thread

[Fuller Pilch]

Rippon (as well as Conway) is now eligible for NZ. WIth Todd Astle retiring from red ball and Santner still struggling to take wickets he's a pretty decent option if they want a spinner batting in the top 8 - averaged 73 and 23 in the Plunket Shield

https://www.odt.co.nz/sport/cricket/rippon-ready-and-able-represent-nz

If (big ifs) he makes it at test level and can score runs at 7 and Jamieson can at 8, a 5-man attack of Boult, Southee/Ferguson, Jamieson, Wagner, Rippon looks pretty handy.

However his overall FC averages are 28 and 33 so no 8 is more realistic

 

[Kippax]

I've even seen Brad Schmulian being mooted for that role by pundits who put a lot of stock in the Shield numbers.

It seems wrist spin with just enough rudimentary deception to fool young or provincial New Zealanders works wonders. Add to that those scrupulous South African desires to keep things quite neat and tidy, including batting against the old ball that's stylish enough and full of high-percentage plays, and this becomes a recipe for great Shield success.

Meanwhile Ravindra looks the goods with his classical action on a dry surface, but without any of that rudimentary mystery you'd want for the level (an arm ball or something, anything to threaten the mediocre player's pads or stumps, like his new rival Michael Bracewell has started doing).

Look at the beauty in that bowling action for a guy with a 122 first-class average, honestly -

 

[Kippax]

Here's what Glenn Phillips has been able to achieve with his action from March 2019 to March 2020. I think we know Phillips lurking down low on a team sheet against the Windies or Pakistan at home would probably work out quite well from the batting side of things, and I suppose whenever someone as rich in pure hand-eye talent has set his mind to becoming something on a cricket field, we should try to take it nearly as seriously as he is. He did send down 59 overs for 124 runs in the Shield this season with five wickets.

 

[The Hutt Rec]

Sad to hear Jock Edwards passed away.

 

[Fuller Pilch]

Sad to hear Jock Edwards passed away.

Very. Would've been useful in the T20 era.

 

[The Hutt Rec]

Couple of good replays on Sky this weekend, our semi and final wins in the 2000 ICC Knock Out tournament.

 

[thundaboult]

Downloaded a torrent of the entire semi final vs India. Man...I remember being on the edge of my seat for literally the whole match. So much nervous energy. But wow that opening burst from Matty Henry and Trent. Can't stop watching. The dhoni run out is especially satisfying and seeing Guppy with the passion come out in the aggressive celebration. Can download the entire final vs eng as well but nah. That match literally killed cricket for me. Might as well watch wwe wrestling if bogus rules run the house.

 

[The Hutt Rec]

The 2000 semi was a great watch. Pakistan never quite got going with their score, and O’Connor with the cheeky tail-cleaning-up fiver.

Chase was so good though, Twose and Astle with a great partnership, then looked to be crumbling until McMillan and Styris brought it home. Looking forward to the final tomorrow.

Also loved seeing the latter-day Wasim bowl, I tend to forget sometimes that he went on for so long. Still had it in 2000, all over Astle early on.

 

[Flem274*]

hmm just thinking, this plague probably spells time for the boss in tests. the home season might be wiped out. kane will lose a year of prime batting as well.

wagner isn't young either for a quick.

 

[The Hutt Rec]

hmm just thinking, this plague probably spells time for the boss in tests. the home season might be wiped out. kane will lose a year of prime batting as well.

wagner isn't young either for a quick.

I read somewhere that Watling is close to retiring to focus on a coaching career, as well.

 

[SteveNZ]

hmm just thinking, this plague probably spells time for the boss in tests. the home season might be wiped out. kane will lose a year of prime batting as well.

wagner isn't young either for a quick.

Yep, agreed. It's a sad thing but I think Ross should have played his last Test. This is a real prick for a guy like him, Wagner loses a year at his peak (or near on), even Southee is denied a year at a time where he's bowled very well in Tests.

 

[Kippax]

come onnnnn conference cricket, with wagner and jamieson loaned back to south where they've played most of their professional cricket.

guptill
raval
kane (c)
phillips
seifert
watling (wk)
cdg
southee
somerville
ferguson
boult

rachin
blundell
conway
the boss (c)
young
neesham
cleaver (wk)
bracewell
ajaz
tickner
bennett

latham (c)
rutherford
murdoch
nicholls
carter
smith
fletcher (wk)
rippon
jamieson
henry
wagner

souths batting is a bit thin but this would be a fun tri-series.

Now you can help me with the creation of an accurate City XI and Country XI. Let's say it's for a 50-over series.

CITY (played junior cricket within the metro area of a large city, i.e. a capital city or one with a 500,000+ population)

Guptill
Conway
Munro/Ravindra
Phillips
Blundell +
Chapman/de Grandhomme
Neesham (c)
Jamieson
Sodhi
Sears
Ferguson

Despite entering many summers as the underdog, City nicely dovetails with the modern consumer demands (two speedsters pushing 150+, the social clout of an emboldened Neesham captaincy). Sledged by the NZ Country supporters around the world for possessing some very suspect play of the quick short ball (they base this on Chapman and Neesham in particular, conveniently overlooking Blundell and Phillips).

COUNTRY

Nicholls
Cleaver
Williamson (c)
Taylor
Latham +
Mitchell/Smith/Kelly/Foxcroft
Santner
Henry
Southee
Boult
Bennett/Duffy/Kuggs/Rippon

A staunchly anti-Neesham selection panel is always put in place for Country, to supply the series with a somewhat pungent, Queensland-mimicking intensity: Mike Hesson, Simon Doull, Sean Plunket.

Country are probably a $1.30 favourite at the TAB to take the series. City have some hopes to gain at least parity in the odds by 2025 though, via Phillips, Jamieson, Ravindra and Sears.

 

[Flem274*]

country win 3-2, but kane/ross/boult/henry/southee will ruthlessly exploit cities more subtle weaknesses while not being cowed by a few big shots or blows to the body.

those guys put the hype train of india to the sword on the biggest stage, city have some guns but they don't quite have enough.

 

[Flem274*]

kippax complained a while ago some associations don't force the cases for their players like others do. during lockdown the stags fb page has been really active, and #staggiesbyrequest is putting guys out there. tonight they had a minute of brad schmulian belting wagner, henry and neesham around and making sure to display hessons #shotsoffbothfeet.

 

[nzfan]

Country vs City... wouldn't have thought about that. How come Tauranga lads are in the country? It's one of the most populated cities in the country. Should be among the top 4 cities in NZ?

 

[nzfan]

Thought of posting some videos of the old. This one the first T20 domestic game for Kane Williamson. He didn't bat that day, he was slotted down at no.8 and didn't get a bat but opened the bowling vs Guptill.

The scorecard of the game is at https://www.espncricinfo.com/series/8654/scorecard/526620/auckland-vs-northern-districts-hrv-cup-2011-12

 

[nzfan]

kippax complained a while ago some associations don't force the cases for their players like others do. during lockdown the stags fb page has been really active, and #staggiesbyrequest is putting guys out there. tonight they had a minute of brad schmulian belting wagner, henry and neesham around and making sure to display hessons #shotsoffbothfeet.

So is Firebirds insta and facebook. Been going through the firebirds awards, pretty much Devon and Rachin grabbing lots of awards for Men's. Devon Conway walked away with many awards, player of the year, ford trophy and super smash player of the year. Jimmy Neesham the all rounder of the year. Hamish Bennett the bowler of the year. Rachin Raviindra the U20, U23, Most valuable player and Player's Plunkett Shield player of the year award. It's been a great year, fantastic memories for Firebirds. Haven't had such good results since couple of decades.

 

[nzfan]

Kane playing for ND vs Firebirds.

Looks very tidy, didn't have the power to smash the ball but very compact and an attractive looking player. Murali got him in this inning and no shame in getting out to him. Decent Firebirds bowling attack, Mark Gillespie, Luke Woodcock, Murali for starters.

The stance looks very much like Sachin Tendulkar and even some of the shot executions. He must have been a follower of the great Sachin Tendulkar. I don't see much changes in Kane's batting from then to now other than slightly open stance now and the bat held higher in the stance.

Here's the scorecard of the game https://www.espncricinfo.com/series/8654/scorecard/526631/northern-districts-vs-wellington-hrv-cup-2011-12

 

[Kippax]

Country vs City... wouldn't have thought about that. How come Tauranga lads are in the country? It's one of the most populated cities in the country. Should be among the top 4 cities in NZ?

Well if I made it any city above 100,000 being too urban to count as true Country cricket, I'd end up with a serious mismatch every summer.

 

[nzfan]

Well if I made it any city above 100,000 being too urban to count as true Country cricket, I'd end up with a serious mismatch every summer.

Hutt is a separate city? Didn't realize it's at no.6. We know it's not a city as much as we claim so, it's just Wellington.