New Zealand's succession plan

[Athlai]

Martin Guptill is in the top 10 tbf. It's not a great top ten.

 

[NZTailender]

Tim McIntosh continues to be criminally underrated

Who'd a thought Vincent would've ended up where he did after scoring 150 odd runs on debut against Aus in Oz.

 

[Athlai]

Tim McIntosh continues to be criminally underrated

Who'd a thought Vincent would've ended up where he did after scoring 150 odd runs on debut against Aus in Oz.

A few bookies probably wouldn't be surprised.

 

[Bahnz]

Tim McIntosh continues to be criminally underrated

Who'd a thought Vincent would've ended up where he did after scoring 150 odd runs on debut against Aus in Oz.

I don't know if I've ever seen an international batsman who looked as ungainly as McIntosh did. He managed to make Peter Fulton look languid and elegant in comparison. Tbf to him, he did play a few decent grafting innings, and he was probably binned earlier than he deserved to be.

 

[Athlai]

McIntosh after batting 3 hours for a 30 and putting on a floppy hat was gun

 

[jcas0167]

Hah, since I don't remember the '90s options I could probably put him as high as 4th on my list. Richardson, Latham, McCullum, Raval, and then probably someone like Tim McIntosh.

Raval would be behind Wright, but would probably be on about a par with Bryan Young & Matt Horne (I didn't see much of Trevor Franklin although he did graft a ton at Lords). My main memory of other 90's openers is seeing them struggle against Wasim & Waqar. White, Greatbatch, Hartland, Pocock, Darryn Murray, Craig Spearman, Gary Stead all battled hard without ever achieving consistent results.

 

[jimmy101]

The whole Lee Germon fiasco in the mid-90's was a pretty weird time for NZ. At least from an outsider's perspective.

 

[morgieb]

My top 5 specialist openers (not including guys like Fleming and McCullum who filled in for a dozen tests when we couldn't find anybody else) since I've started watching would probably be: Richardson, daylight, Latham, Young and Horne.

Young and Horne being 3rd and 4th in the pecking order says a lot about how **** your opening options have been in the last 30 years or so.

 

[SillyCowCorner1]

Santner is the Jack Leach.
Change my mind.

 

[The Hutt Rec]

Horne was a level above Young, imo.

Pretty sure I was the worlds biggest Blair Pocock fan for a while in the 90s there.

 

[Bahnz]

Horne was a level above Young, imo.

Pretty sure I was the worlds biggest Blair Pocock fan for a while in the 90s there.

Young shades it for me for his consistency - averaged around 30 against pretty much everyone he played against save the Windies (against whom he struggled) and Sri Lanka (against whom he hit 267 not out). Horne was more inconsistent, and more of a minnow basher, though it is true his peak moments (that century at Lord's and another v the ATG Australians) were probably more significant than anything Young achieved (though I'll always remember his hundred against Wasim and Waqar back in 94).

 

[Bahnz]

Young and Horne being 3rd and 4th in the pecking order says a lot about how **** your opening options have been in the last 30 years or so.

Indeed. Raval will probably sneak up to 3rd if he can keep defying gravity for another couple of seasons.

 

[Immenso]

Raval would be behind Wright, but would probably be on about a par with Bryan Young & Matt Horne (I didn't see much of Trevor Franklin although he did graft a ton at Lords). My main memory of other 90's openers is seeing them struggle against Wasim & Waqar. White, Greatbatch, Hartland, Pocock, Darryn Murray, Craig Spearman, Gary Stead all battled hard without ever achieving consistent results.

Trevor Franklin with a modern bat, could add 10 runs to his average.

He'd stiff-wrist block it to the boundary, rather than a single.

 

[Days of Grace]

Young shades it for me for his consistency - averaged around 30 against pretty much everyone he played against save the Windies (against whom he struggled) and Sri Lanka (against whom he hit 267 not out). Horne was more inconsistent, and more of a minnow basher, though it is true his peak moments (that century at Lord's and another v the ATG Australians) were probably more significant than anything Young achieved (though I'll always remember his hundred against Wasim and Waqar back in 94).

So do a few bookies.

I’m saying that in jest but Young and Shane ****ing Thomson toning up against Wasim and Waqar chasing 300+ was very unexpected. NZ had been pulverized in the first two tests.

1993/94 season was my first full season following cricket. I wondered what I had let myself into.

 

[The Hutt Rec]

So do a few bookies.

I’m saying that in jest but Young and Shane ****ing Thomson toning up against Wasim and Waqar chasing 300+ was very unexpected. NZ had been pulverized in the first two tests.

1993/94 season was my first full season following cricket. I wondered what I had let myself into.

I know this test has been mentioned quite a bit in the last decade or so as being very suspect. But I remember at the time seeing a pic of Young and Thompson with their tops off and they had obviously both been absolutely smashed several times, because they were both totally black and blue. So I dunno if it was dodgy, but it was no walk in the park for them, that's for sure. Must be quite annoying for them both to hear the rumours.

 

[hendrix]

Martin Guptill is in the top 10 tbf. It's not a great top ten.

No he's not

 

[Neil Young]

The whole Lee Germon fiasco in the mid-90's was a pretty weird time for NZ. At least from an outsider's perspective.

Yeah, came straight off the back of the Crowe/Rutherford wars. Shambolic time for NZ cricket, really.

 

[Bahnz]

No he's not

Hmmm

Richardson, Latham, Young, Horne, Raval and McIntosh are the only ones I'd probably rate above him (and Raval could easily fall back into the chasing pack over the next season or 2). Guptill would probably slot in somewhere around 8 or 9, and I say this as someone who had zero belief in his capabilities as a test opener.

By the way, I'm not including manufactured short-term openers like Fleming or McCullum in this list.

 

[Athlai]

Bahnz seal of approval. Guptill > Raval tbf

 

[NZTailender]

Having a top ten is fairly pointless, when it's basically half the openers of the time of any significance.

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