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2020/21 New Zealand Domestic Season

vandem

International 12th Man
Surprised Duffy and Nathan Smith (a pair that I have in my head as palpably the best domestic pacers when there's nothing to be gained from hitting the deck the hardest yet there's a good amount in the air) aren't making a 20-man tour of England. I understand it with Smith I suppose (how many CdG and Mitchell understudies are really needed).
Duffy 50% chance of going? Not many clues who they will take as 6th (and 7th) seamer, they are only needed for 1st test and cover in case multiple injuries, so I assume 1 experienced steady FC seamer (Bracewell / Duffy / ???) and 1 wild card (Nuttall / Rae / Tickner / Sears / ???). I assume they won't pick Ferguson unless Boult or Jamieson gets injured during IPL.

Agree on Nathan Smith. He needed more pre-Christmas Plunket Shield success to get noticed as possible injury cover for de Grandhomme. 4 games, high score 23, bb 2-19, before some success against a weak WI A team. At the same time Mitchell was taking a 4-fer and a 5-fer, so changing from "batsman who bowls a little" to "batting all rounder" in selector notebooks. Missed opportunity for Smith. His time will come.
 

Moss

International Vice-Captain
BJ diminishing returns with the bat. Averaging 19 since start of tour to Aussie late 2019. Has looked scratchy in post-Christmas Plunket Shield video footage. The clock is ticking. Sadly. Hope that I am proven wrong.
Looked this up, and yes seems correct. Been a lean patch since his double hundred against England in late 2019. Scores this season were 30, 73, 5 and 7 (one of those single digit scores came in a 2nd innings declaration scenario), so hard to say definitively.

Think he’ll be needed for the India tour later this year, he was excellent with the bat during NZ’s last 2 series in Asia. Beyond that, possibly time to reconsider his future.
 

Kippax

Cricketer Of The Year
Yes that family is on great terms with Guptill.

It's mainly just the rootless liberal elites like Neesham, McClenaghan, Allen, Sodhi and Raval who'll tend to look at an Auckland contract and suddenly make like the PM when it's time for an interview with Hosking.

They are the biblical Jonahs. They were told by God and Heinrich Malan to run an errand to Nineveh and warn the residents of impending divine wrath (Jamieson's bowling improvements), yet they chose to be petulant, shifty and disobedient characters and set sail for Tarshish instead.


Eleven years. Eight trophies.

May 3, 2019

Auckland Cricket wishes to acknowledge the valuable contribution Mark O’Donnell has provided to Auckland Cricket through his eleven year coaching tenure with the Auckland Aces.

O’Donnell’s first stint with the Aces (season 2002/03 to 2008/09) included five trophies, with three four-day championships and two limited over titles.
2002/03 – State Championship
2004/05 – State Championship
2006/07 – State Twenty20 and State Shield
2008/09 – State Championship

He was then re-appointed at the helm in 2015/16 season, helping the Aces lift two trophies during the same season, and backing that up with a Ford Trophy success two seasons later.
2015/16 – Plunket Shield and Georgie Pie Super Smash
2017/18 – Ford Trophy

Auckland Cricket chief executive, Iain Laxon spoke highly of O’Donnell’s commitment through the years in developing cricketers to deliver consistent results.

“Mark has been a huge presence in the Aces environment, not just over the last four years but going back to his first stint with us as well. In that time he has done a fantastic job of developing players within our system and helping the Aces achieve success. His commitment to his players and his desire to do the best for them are the things that have stood out for me in his time with us. He has a huge passion for the game that shines through in what he delivers as a coach. I would like to thank Mark for everything he has given to the Aces over 11 years, and for what he has contributed to Auckland Cricket.”

BLACKCAPS star Martin Guptill thanked Mark O’Donnell for his continued support over the years and for introducing him into the New Zealand Domestic circuit.

“At 19, Mark O’Donnell gave me my big break into the Auckland squad back in January 2006, straight out of the Under 19 Tournament in Lincoln. He has been my longest serving coach through my cricketing journey and I can’t thank him enough for his support through the years. I wish him all the very best for his future.”
 

ataraxia

International Coach
Wow, that's 7 dismissals in an innings for Bocock now. Though I don't imagine the run out counts, so 6.
 

jcas0167

International Debutant
Canterbury Country captain Harry Chamberlain bringing up his maiden first class century. Seems he made his list A debut in 2017 but only made his first class debut last week.
 

nzfan

International Vice-Captain
Surprised Duffy and Nathan Smith (a pair that I have in my head as palpably the best domestic pacers when there's nothing to be gained from hitting the deck the hardest yet there's a good amount in the air) aren't making a 20-man tour of England. I understand it with Smith I suppose (how many CdG and Mitchell understudies are really needed).
Duffy is injured otherwise no doubt he'd have played the T20s vs Bangladesh.

Nathan Smith will be like Sam Curran for us in the long run.
 

Bahnz

Hall of Fame Member
Yeah, I'm starting to think that Blundell is on balance probably the better bat than Watling. Watling's form with the bat in both international and domestics has been suspect for a while, and since he's been freed of the responsibility of opening the batting for Wellington, Blundell's looked a million bucks. The fact that Blundell's given up opening for Wellington to me signals that the Stead has given him a quiet word that he won't be opening the batting in England and will competing for Watling's place. I hope so anyway. We don't want to have a repeat of the Rutherford debacle.

But BJ will get the spot and fair enough, he's NZ's GOAT wicket keeper. His keeping is also probably a notch above Blundell's as well which is probably worth the extra 5-10 runs on average that you might expect from Blundell at the moment. Also with the Duke ball, Blundell's front-foot frailties will be a lot easier to expose. Good back-up player to have in the squad though.

Apparently Taylor in the comm box on Thursday night mentioned that Doug was in the running for the tour. Hope not, but then again it's hard to argue that he's any less deserving of a spot than Matt Henry. Still, at least Henry has his absurd 2018 County form to fall back on. I think I'd prefer to send in one of Canterbury's young trundlers to fill in the numbers. Of the two, I like Sheat the best.

My 20 man squad
First XI: Latham, Conway, KW, Taylor, Nicholls, Watling, CdG, Jamieson, Southee, Wagner, Boult
Support: Young, Mitchell, Blundell, Phillips, Ajaz, Santner, Duffy, Henry, Sheat
 

hendrix

Hall of Fame Member
what.

Watling is a miles better batsman, keeper and all round cricketer at this point. Bizarre comments.
 

Bahnz

Hall of Fame Member
what.

Watling is a miles better batsman, keeper and all round cricketer at this point. Bizarre comments.
Based on what? Yeah, Blundell hasn't played much but their averages are similar, and he's made valuable contributions against the 2 best bowling attacks in the world (in series where Watling struggled) batting out of position at the top of the order. As you say, Watling's the better keeper, and that experience (especially against the Duke ball in England) adds a couple more points to his column as well. But I think Blundell's the better bat at this point.
 

jcas0167

International Debutant
Great to see final innings run chases on in two games on the last day of the season. Meanwhile, I hope Leopard can get a decent total here after limited opportunities.
 

hendrix

Hall of Fame Member
Based on what? Yeah, Blundell hasn't played much but their averages are similar, and he's made valuable contributions against the 2 best bowling attacks in the world (in series where Watling struggled) batting out of position at the top of the order. As you say, Watling's the better keeper, and that experience (especially against the Duke ball in England) adds a couple more points to his column as well. But I think Blundell's the better bat at this point.


Watling:
Just over a year ago he pretty much single-handedly won us a test against Broad, Archer, Woakes and Stokes with one of the best double centuries I've ever seen.
Then he has just 2 lean series
And then one test ago his 73 pretty much held us together when we could have easily collapsed, and gave us a winnable first innings score.

Sorry but that is not a terrible recent record, and coupled with the fact that he's historically our best wicketkeeper batsman and is probably the best wicket keeper batsman in the world I just don't get how you could say someone like Blundell is better than him.
 

hendrix

Hall of Fame Member
If BJ is the miles better batsman, why hasn't be scored nearly as many runs as Blundell since Christmas?
Because we've played bugger all cricket since christmas and cricket is a game that requires a decent run to find statistical significance.

We're talking about the best wicket keeper batsman in the world guys. So weird.
 

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