**Official** New Zealand in Australia Thread

[Craig]

Brett Lee got picked again, but it is back to NSW for you (unless injuries strike).

I hate to know what Simon Katich must be feeling when he had a better tour of India then Lehmann.

 

[Will Scarlet]

I agree with everyone that has criticised Marshall's inclusion in a test team without a FC century - in more than 60 games I think. And I doubt he will handle the extra bounce that Gillespie and McGrath get, or the turn that Warne gets.

I'd have had Fulton playing both the tests against BAN and now he could play against AUS, with a little confidence. Should have been in the squad.

I don't like Flemming opening in tests but believe that Sinclair should be in the team, but he's not an opener. I'd like to be proven wrong though.

Martin ahead of Mills - who is not an allrounder despite that season where he averaged 100 in FC cricket.

I'm happy that Katich was dropped for Lehman, from a NZ perspective.

Not matter what the selections, GO THE KIWIS!!!

 

[Craig]

Why do they have to give Kyle Mills so many chances when new players should be inducted into the team and given exposure? That Bangladesh series was a cakewalk for him, but he has been a failure when it mattered most.

And what new players are these Arjun?

I would like to know Arjun, I really would.

 

[Tim]

Arjun, the problem in NZ is that 16 & 17 year olds don't get picked for FC sides. Domestic selectors like to keep faith in more experienced players so it's unlikely you'll see a youth player in the set-up until he's around 19 or 20.

NZ is not like India in particular where a youth player is brought in to the national side on the back of just 1 solid FC season. It's very rare in any sport to see a 17 or 18 year old perform consistently at international level straight away. You might get your Wayne Rooney's, Tendulkars etc...but it's rare.

Right now..NZ probably have 4 or 5 youth batsmen who I believe will be on the verge of international selection within a year or two. In terms of talent..they are possibly some of the most talented players we have produced so far, but at the moment they are not ready for the step-up.

Likewise with the bowling. Dayle Hadlee down at the Academy believes NZ will have 4 extremely quick fast bowlers in the next 2 years or so (Richard Sherlock, Te Ahu Davis, Leighton Burtt & William Lonsdale). Whether they can produce results of course...remains to be seen.

Adding to that...look at Michael Clarke. Alot of people think he's only 20, but he's actually 24. He's done a 4 year apprenticeship for NSW and I think you can see the why he's able to achieve results almost immediately.

 

[tooextracool]

true they are nothing to write home about - my main point was trying to compare Vettori's performance in BAN to any other of the 'top' bowlers who have played there..............particularly as this side had looked to have improved under Whatmore when they were in AUS..........

and robbie peterson, jermaine lawson and paul adams took wickets at a cheaper rate than ntini,mcgrath and gillespie have against b'desh. does that prove anything?
the question is whether vettori has improved significantly since we(or at least i) last saw him?

 

[Tim]

I think he's been on the improve since the Natwest Series.

 

[tooextracool]

I simply cannot understand that decision. Based on their individual performances during the Indian series (Katich 276 @ 39.42 versus Lehmann 132 @ 26.40) I was positive that Katich would get the nod and Lehmann would be quitely thanked for his contribution to Australian cricket and put out to pasture.

because its not just to do with one series?
its amazing how short memories can be given that lehmann was the one who came out tops of the batting averages in SL, and lehmann was the only one to score over 100 runs in the first test at darwin against SL.

 

[Mr Casson]

yeah, and we have as much claim on him as you do on macgill, katich and nicholson

Again, hate to break it to you, but we don't want them anyway. In WA, defectors are not held in especially high regard. Katich and Nicholson in particular.

Linda, can I get an amen? She's got some good stories of traitors getting a lovely reception upon coming back to the WACA.

 

[shaka]

Katich could still replace Lehmann in the test side since he is under a fitness cloud. NSW have a potent side against NZ, I wonder what the figures of MacGill will be in the game.

 

[Craig]

Hopefully 0-158 for the whole match.

 

[Tim]

Vettori is also out of tommorow's match v NSW because of a sore shoulder.
So who becomes Captain then? Astle? Styris? Oram?...i'd guess Oram.

 

[Mr Casson]

Hopefully 0-158 for the whole match.

Why not 0-241?

 

[Kent]

Styris will captain NZ tomorrow - not sure of his past captaincy experience, but Oram has said in the past he's not overly keen on skippering NZ.

McMillan has been flown over as cover for Fleming, which seems bizarre to me with Papps being a much more logical fit to replace a top-order batsman. Perhaps they've listened to the South Africans' advice about not taking Papps anywhere near a fast deck.

Who would've thought Sinclair and Marshall might be experimented with as NZ's #2 and #3 in a seriously important test match? I guess it was a short-lived masterstoke with Vincent, but it seems like yet another high-profile tour that could end up just looking for 11 fit men (SA '00, AUS '01, ENG '04...).

The XI for tomorrow (reportedly in batting order):

Richardson
Sinclair
Marshall
Styris
Astle
Oram
Franklin
Hopkins
Wiseman
Butler
Martin

 

[Mingster]

Anybody paying much attention to this business about Fleming and his comments in his book about the Indian match-fixing scandal?

I saw Close Up on 7 (ala Holmes), and they had the accused Indian guy on, and he said pretty defiantly that those accusations by Fleming are false.

Hopefully this situation doesn't affect Fleming's performance on the field....

Good to see Chris Martin finally getting a go, interesting to see how he will go. Will there be any highlights of the game on TV in NZ let alone in AUS?

 

[Kent]

Channel 54 on Sky digital (Sky News Australia) might be the best bet. I've seen a minute or two of Aussie provincial cricket highlights on their Sportsline programme occasionally.

I imagine TV1 and TV3 will only have a couple of balls from a sh*tty camera angle.

 

[Mingster]

Isn't domestic cricket screened in Australia? If it was the case in NZ....even just the picture would be good if no commentary is provided....

 

[Kent]

I know Channel 9 covered India v. Australia 'A' last year because I heard Bill Lawry over the top of the highlights, and we sometimes see a classic catch from a Queensland Bulls OD game, etc.

I doubt NSW v. NZ would be covered by anyone though, which is kind of ironic after the level of "entertainment" we've been getting live from Bangladesh!

 

[marc71178]

I simply cannot understand that decision. Based on their individual performances during the Indian series (Katich 276 @ 39.42 versus Lehmann 132 @ 26.40) I was positive that Katich would get the nod and Lehmann would be quitely thanked for his contribution to Australian cricket and put out to pasture.

I wasn't at all shocked.

Lehmann is at this point in time a better player to have in the middle order - you can't write him off on one poor series (especially when Katich didn't exactly have a stellar one)

 

[marc71178]

Why not 0-241?

Doesn't want the Kiwis to have too much batting practise.

 

[LongHopCassidy]

I wasn't at all shocked.

Lehmann is at this point in time a better player to have in the middle order - you can't write him off on one poor series (especially when Katich didn't exactly have a stellar one)

I don't know about you, but 81 and 99 with plenty of double figures in between falls into my stellar category.

His healthy contribution was overshadowed by the streaky-haired wonderboy.