The side in the last 18 months feels like one that has a range of class players who we know can perform well but everything's just a bit off. As such, it also feels like a return to form is "just around the corner." Except I feel like I've been thinking that for a while now - so is a change just around the corner, or are we officially on the decline?
Fella, I feel like it's officially a decline. I know we're famed for being world class whingers (probably with reason - both to be sooks and called sooks) but if you look back to mid 2021, what do we have to be optimistic about?
Look at our captain for the greatest example. He looks shot. Over the past year, he has missed countless games through injury and sickness, had the worst IPL batting season on record, and
has passed 50 once in 20 innings for New Zealand since that WTC final (the 80 in the T20 final). He just seems out on his feet, from the heights of the 2x double tons in the 2020-01 season. Fatherhood, captaincy, COVID, IPL, injuries, it just seems all too much
Who else has gone backwards since then? Will Young (from one-day hundreds v a top-line Australian team to dropped completely, poorly managed) Conway (looks nothing like the player he was 12 months ago) Jamieson (injured, lost a lot of impact from his initial burst) Southee (still a Test gun but being picked for no good reason in colours), Boult (in beast mode but who knows how much he'll play as an uncontracted player), Henry (another one you could argue has been mismanaged, why didn't he play yesterday?) Ferguson (more injuries, very expensive on all the recent tours) Latham (in a massive rut, can't score runs v good opposition), Ross and CdG (retired), Santner (is he effective, or just a guy other teams are happy to sit on for 0-50? His batting is a plus, to be fair), Wagner (on his last legs), Gup (also I'd argue past his use-by date) Nicholls (dropped from ODIs, in a very lean Test trot), Sodhi (nowhere near dependable) etc.
You do have positives in Daryl Mitchell, Blundell (I think he becomes an ODI option soon), then guys who have shown a bit like Finn, Phillips, Ajaz (ahem) etc but our selection woes have got in the way of their development as well. Obviously we'd point to the ridiculousness around Bracewell's selection in all three formats. And who's coming behind them? Is Sears ready? Is Rachin? Who else is pushing up in the bowling and batting ranks?
I think it's a massive decline and there's significant amount of work to be done in leadership, coaching, identity of who this side wants to be, selection, where the players' priorities lie, just bloody everything, really. It's going to be a messy couple of years ahead if we don't do some serious work on where we're at...and I don't know if Gary Stead and an increasingly fatigued Kane Williamson are it.
