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*Official* New Zealand in Zimbabwe 2025 (Tests)
- Thread starter ataraxia
- Start date
Prince EWS
Global Moderator
Serves him right for making runs.
flibbertyjibber
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Real shame, looks a very useful cricketer. Bowls at a much brisker pace than he looks, fields well and can bat. Hope it's not too serious.
Howsie
Cricketer Of The Year
Yeah I thought Chapman had been the backup test bat the last few series. Admittedly I barely watch or follow cricket much nowadays (cheers Gary) but this new chap hasn’t exactly done anything to make me think things are going to change.
Nicholls, he was done about 3 years ago. Blundell about 18 months. Mitchell looks to be on the same path. Conway too really. Yet somehow not a single up and coming batsman is picked to play Zimbabwe…
I can already see how this tour of Australia is going to go
Skyliner
International Debutant
'If you can't make it here you won't make it anywhere' to paraphrase the old Frank Sinatra song. I am sure if there are flops amongst the old stagers from this tour of Zimbabwe then RW will start easing people out the door. It's tough for the new coach to come in and make a bunch of changes on his first test tour. That burden should have been shouldered by Stead. The fact that it is Zimbabwe that we are facing wouldn't make it any easier for a new coach to jettison incumbents. As other posters have suggested, the NZ A tour of South Africa will be significant in terms of who takes their opportunities & then are given the chance to step up off the back of that. Maybe the feeling was that rather than have new players sitting on a bench in Zimbabwe it would be better to have them playing in South Africa.
HeathDavisSpeed
Cricket Web: All-Time Legend
That sounds vaguely reasonable until you remember that Nicholls had been jettisoned - his last Test was an abject outing at Mirpur in December 2023 - and Walter has brought him back into the fold.
Skyliner
International Debutant
I'm just living in hope and looking for mitigation at the moment. NZC handed Nicholls a new contract for one. There may also have been a feeling that with the absence of Williamson, Latham, and GP another experienced hand was needed.
I still think there is a fair bit of water to go under the bridge before we get to Australia.
I'll reserve final judgement and give Walter one more series to show he is his own man and not a carbon copy of Stead.
A chill just went down my spine...I can already see how this tour of Australia is going to go
Howsie is right, though. Guys like Latham, Conway, Mitchell, Blundell, god forbid Bracewell (love him in limited overs but not Tests) and Nicholls will be trying to hold on for grim life to be there.
Immenso
International Vice-Captain
NZ (or at least us on CW) are getting all 'England obsessing over the ashes' about this tour to Australia.
If it is Bkackcsps HQ with this attitude/tunnel vision, then it is to our detriment.
The team needs to be constantly ticking over and re-newing. Not aiming for some mythical climax that will actually end up in an England v Mitchell Johnson massacre as 7 has-beens all get shown their beans in the same series.
Walter is proving to be the biggest ***** in cricket history. What man with any balls would be too scared to let Blundell 'share' the non -WTC series with Hay. Etc. Even if it is the coach's first series.
An insecure *****, exacerbating Stead's mistakes, in fact rolling back the tiny progress Stead had made (Nicholls).
If it is Bkackcsps HQ with this attitude/tunnel vision, then it is to our detriment.
The team needs to be constantly ticking over and re-newing. Not aiming for some mythical climax that will actually end up in an England v Mitchell Johnson massacre as 7 has-beens all get shown their beans in the same series.
Walter is proving to be the biggest ***** in cricket history. What man with any balls would be too scared to let Blundell 'share' the non -WTC series with Hay. Etc. Even if it is the coach's first series.
An insecure *****, exacerbating Stead's mistakes, in fact rolling back the tiny progress Stead had made (Nicholls).
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honestbharani
Whatever it takes!!!
haha you know its a different level of hate/anger/frustration when you call someone a ***** and then feel the need to point out that it was indeed the P-word in a seperate edit.
Niiceee...
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NZTailender
I can't believe I ate the whole thing
I mean I get where you're coming from but in the test arena we've scaled all the mountains except Australia and South Africa away. We should absolutely be focusing on trying to overcome those obstacles with planning even if it means not taking a tour of Zimbabwe or hosting West Indies with the same intensity.
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_Ed_
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Looks pretty good on Santner's captaincy CV at least.
Immenso
International Vice-Captain
See. I think it would more intense if they gave others a chance in a tour like this.
Watching half a dozen complacent zombies sleepwalking to their mass Mitch Johnson moment is not intense.
An agreement that no encumbency is threatened. But some rotation will happen for a non-WTC series. Will sharpen up the zombies if they've actually got anything left, as well as ease the future transition.
There are 4 or so other Matt Henry's out there Watching while 4 Tim Southee's glide along with no cares in the world, stealing their test caps and contract positions
It is bad for this team now, it is bad for the shaping of our next 10 years, and it is bad for 'our ashes' in 18 months time.
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HeathDavisSpeed
Cricket Web: All-Time Legend
O’Rourke off the field too. Gonna have to see some more Mitchell dobbers here methinks.
I don't like it either. Then again, I've always been uncomfortable about hyping up that series in general.
A 4-Test series vs Australia sounds exciting on the surface, but then once you figure out it's the first in nearly 100 years of NZ being a Test team it's just another example of Australia's snobbish & condescending attitude towards New Zealand.
Get Australia off the pedestal, for goodness sake. I don't care how good they are or how crap our history is against them.