New Zealand A Tour of India and Sri Lanka

[Flem274*]

kugglejuggle to appear in the odi squad for bangladesh

 

[Bahnz]

Sounds like it wasn't the best day for Latham. Run out and then drops three slip catches. Coaches really need to learn that keepers often make the worst slippers.

 

[Arjun]

Meenu's now the focus of India A's win over NZ-A. Looking closely at his stats, I find that he's had a little more than part-time to bowl in ODs, and has bowling figures you'd love to see in a regular bowler- economy under five, and a strike rate a little over 30. In eighteen games, he's snared sixteen wickets. But then, that's 18 out of 31 he's bowled in, and a little less than five overs an innings when he has- so we expect a lot more out of the young man. That's not even counting his very occasional-and inadequate- bowling in FCs.

But will that cloud his focus on his batting? Although he has an impressive batting record in FC matches, he's been rather poor in ODs, with a paltry average of 21. For someone primarily a batsman, that's rather poor, and needs to be fixed with one really good season, much like Sachin Baby's 2012-13 season. I'm not sure playing as an all-rounder is good for this bloke, but he's definitely top five material if handled well.

 

[Immenso]

Dropped catches, no balls galore, dumb dismissals. Sounds amateurish, not 'A' standard.

 

[Blain]

New season ****ness I guess, but as you say not A standard. Might have been a little closer if they didnt make so many drops and no balls.

The bowling line up looks strong, I'm not sure what the pitch is like but that attack (minus Kuggs) is our next of the line for the top team.

The batting line up appears a little all over the place, I dont know what they are trying to do. Play guys in their natural comfortable positions and we might see more consistance. In saying that the middle order collapse's are unexpectable (not that the Black Caps think so).

 

[Immenso]

Yeah, fair point about the early season rustiness, I suppose.

 

[straw man]

The batting line up appears a little all over the place, I dont know what they are trying to do. Play guys in their natural comfortable positions and we might see more consistance. In saying that the middle order collapse's are unexpectable (not that the Black Caps think so).

Yes, this has been commented on for the whole tour, but for ODs specifically that lineup is too much icing, not enough cake. An OD lineup should imo have at least 4 'proper' batsmen that will reliably score runs, even if only at a strike rate of 70-80. They bat in the top order, know how to construct innings and they have the capability to withstand testing bowling and testing circumstances. Sometimes they even score a hundred.

In that top 6 I count two aspiring 'proper' batsmen: Cachopa and Latham. Yet both in fact have abysmal one-day domestic records so they're not yet good enough to consistently perform that role anyway. This is where an A side usually has a couple of senior domestic figures in the mold of Matthew Sinclair; not a prospect for promotion to NZ duties but gives everyone else a bedrock to perform around. A glance at the domestic OD figures from last season suggests Papps, How and perhaps Kitchen could have been considered for this.

Ronchi, Munro, Devcich and from what I've seen so far, Mitchell, are the aforementioned icing. They are chancers who may be able to do this:

6.4
Mohanty to Ronchi, SIX, humongous hit!! good delivery on off but Ronchi picked it from outside off and launched it over mid wicket fence

but are also likely to fail to do the basics well, lack the skills to survive testing bowling or circumstances and will try to hit their way out of trouble. This roll-the-dice approach usually has a limited lifespan and 300+ scores are not built on quick 30s.

Then there's the fact that Ellis is at 7 and his 34(47) yesterday is probably the limit of his capabilities. I appreciate he's in the side as the senior domestic stalwart and captain and I don't object to that given who's on tour, but he basically needs to be hidden in that batting lineup.

My NZ A one-day XI
How/Papps
Devcich
Cachopa
Latham
Kitchen
Mitchell/Anderson
Ronchi
Ellis *
Milne
Gillespie
Henry

Otago players not considered. Another spinner would be nice but not Astle or Sodhi. Did not consider dropping Ellis.

Edit: Luke Woodcock another to consider as experienced backbone for NZ A tour of subcontinent.

 

[Flem274*]

i wouldnt include mitchell in the munro, ronchi etc category. he is definitely trying to be a proper batsman in the shield, and with good results. we seem intent on batting him at 7 for nz A though

 

[straw man]

Everyone knows that if you're a big guy that bowls medium pace and hits the ball a long way then in NZ you fit into the Chris Cairns mold and bat 6 or 7. Don't fight the narrative

 

[Kippax]

Yeah there is a pretty unsubtle and autofire look to how Mitchell's been going about it, his 50 off 60 or whatever was only because he was over-swinging and clothing it a lot.

The thing to be mindful of with Papps I guess is he's converted into more of a paunchy throw-the-hands power player himself. He does still put it along the turf a bit more than their current top 6, but not as much as he used to.

Papps' 40 Boundaries - YouTube

 

[RxGM]

It just occured to me but where is Hira, is he considered to be too senior for the A side?
Or is he considered to be solely a T20 specialist.
Imo if Taylor had of got his way over selections and kept the captaincy he would be the incumbant LO spinner

 

[Kippax]

It just occured to me but where is Hira, is he considered to be too senior for the A side?
Or is he considered to be solely a T20 specialist.
Imo if Taylor had of got his way over selections and kept the captaincy he would be the incumbant LO spinner

Yeah was struggling to make Canterbury's FT side in March.

Cricket: Wizards captain speaks up in Hira's corner... | Stuff.co.nz

 

[Kippax]

Drops -

 

[Kippax]

Chops -

 

[straw man]

Chops -

I take back my comment about Chops aspiring to be a 'proper' batsman.

 

[hendrix]

yeah those flicks across the line...

 

[straw man]

Against the spin bowlers it looks like he's playing golf.

Also extremely reluctant to get low over that front knee in a way reminiscent of my own lazy hack batting. He cbf getting over the top of the ball and is just playing roulette hitting in the air.

 

[straw man]

Drops -

Love what I'm seeing from Milne and Henry. Oddly, they look more similar than before both in looks and bowling action. Milne's has gone through another significant iteration - each time I see him the rhythm and levers have changed.

Always tempting to compare Milne to Bond. Milne's getting some inswing there though he's really cutting down the side of the ball to get that, whereas Bond's was more natural. iirc Milne can swing it both ways with current action though.

 

[Flem274*]

Milne and Henry are both looking very good.

I'd want to watch some footage from last season before committing to my next point but Cachopa looks to be trying to stand taller than he did last season, which might explain the locked front knee.

 

[Mike5181]

I watched quite a bit of the game and I was impressed with Daryl Mitchell. He wasn't at his best obviously, but I can see why he's done so well in first-class cricket.