***Official*** New Zealand in the West Indies 2014

[Prince EWS]

Also, has anyone mentioned that Anderson is out? That could make things interesting. I'm not sure they'd be happy with Neesh at 6, Watling 7 and then 4 bowlers (none of whom are an 8).

Maybe Latham will play and bat 6.

I actually don't think there's much difference between Anderson and Neesham as batsmen; hopefully it just means Watling bats 6 where he belongs. Latham should already be in the side as opener anyway.

 

[Howsie]

I actually don't think there's much difference between Anderson and Neesham as batsmen; hopefully it just means Watling bats 6 where he belongs. Latham should already be in the side as opener anyway.

Woah, woah, woah. Really? 100 times out of 100 I'm taking Anderson, especially in these conditions. As you said Watling should move up to six now but that tail looks reallllllllllllly long now.

 

[Prince EWS]

Woah, woah, woah. Really? 100 times out of 100 I'm taking Anderson, especially in these conditions. As you said Watling should move up to six now but that tail looks reallllllllllllly long now.

Watling should move up to six whether Anderson's playing or not.

 

[hendrix]

I like Watling as much as anyone else but he's awesome at 7 and Anderson has more to offer in the mid-term at 6.

 

[hendrix]

I actually don't think there's much difference between Anderson and Neesham as batsmen; hopefully it just means Watling bats 6 where he belongs. Latham should already be in the side as opener anyway.

Woah, woah, woah. Really? 100 times out of 100 I'm taking Anderson, especially in these conditions. As you said Watling should move up to six now but that tail looks reallllllllllllly long now.

That century vs India was pretty glorious.

 

[Flem274*]

Watling is more likely to play a long innings and need time to score his runs than either allrounder. He should be at six and it's only due to convention he's at seven.

 

[Flem274*]

Woah, woah, woah. Really? 100 times out of 100 I'm taking Anderson, especially in these conditions. As you said Watling should move up to six now but that tail looks reallllllllllllly long now.

Put Neesham in pink and it's closer than you're making out.

Anderson is better atm though.

 

[BackFootPunch]

If they play Watling at 6 and Neesham at 7 then Craig has to play and has to bat 8. Followed by Sodhi, Southee and Boult.

I still think Latham should bat in the middle order but meh, that's probably overly ambitious from me. I reckon we're gonna see 200 vs 200 in the first innings so picking two quicks and two spinners plus KW would be enough bowling imo. Don't need the allrounder.

 

[Flem274*]

Latham
Fulton (block bash dem spinners)
Williamson
Taylor
McCullum
Watling
Neesham
Craig
Southee
Wagner
Boult

I'd rather play Craig and Williamson as our spinners because if the pitches continue their trend of putting the ball down the other end and watching it turn miles then I want the two most accurate spinners to play. Sodhi has a lot of potential but he will waste the conditions unless his accuracy has improved considerably over the break imo.

Craig bats ahead of Southee because I'm under the impression he's the more responsible batsman, so the likes of him and Sodhi should be groomed as our number eight unless Southee wants to start batting like one. It's not as though Southee will run out of time to score his runs at nine.

 

[Prince EWS]

If they play Watling at 6 and Neesham at 7 then Craig has to play and has to bat 8. Followed by Sodhi, Southee and Boult.

I still think Latham should bat in the middle order but meh, that's probably overly ambitious from me. I reckon we're gonna see 200 vs 200 in the first innings so picking two quicks and two spinners plus KW would be enough bowling imo. Don't need the allrounder.

I'd pick Neesham even if he couldn't bowl though. I don't really see what picking another **** opener adds to the side.

 

[hendrix]

there's no way we're getting by with just 2 quicks.

I really wish Neesh would just work on his bowling so he could be a semi-permanent replacement for Wagner or Sodhi, depending on the conditions.

 

[BackFootPunch]

I'd pick Neesham even if he couldn't bowl though. I don't really see what picking another **** opener adds to the side.

I guess I just rate Latham higher than most (with the exception of Hendrix obviously). If it's a low scoring game in these West Indian tracks then I'd prefer Latham over Neesham or Anderson at 6 tbh. He's got experience batting in the middle order, knows how to construct an innings and is a whole lot less likely to get caught on the fence trying to break the shackles against a spinner.

 

[Prince EWS]

I guess I just rate Latham higher than most (with the exception of Hendrix obviously).

Nah, Latham should be playing anyway; I agree he's better than Neesham at this stage. By "another **** opener" I meant Rutherford; if you play Latham at six you don't get to open with him as well.

 

[BackFootPunch]

Nah, Latham should be playing anyway; I agree he's better than Neesham at this stage. By "another **** opener" I meant Rutherford; if you play Latham at six you don't get to open with him as well.

Fair enough. Then in that case I probably rate Rutherford higher than most. It's not possible to be as good a striker of the ball as he is and not find a way to score runs. We've gotta back him long term.

 

[Prince EWS]

Fair enough. Then in that case I probably rate Rutherford higher than most. It's not possible to be as good a striker of the ball as he is and not find a way to score runs. We've gotta back him long term.

You could say the same about Neesham to be fair.

I'd play Neesham here even if he couldn't bowl, but I think we can both agree that it's a fairly close run thing either way, and given they're very likely to play both specialist spinners I think Neesham's bowling will get him over the line. It'll be annoying if Latham doesn't play at all though.

 

[Howsie]

Put Neesham in pink and it's closer than you're making out.

Anderson is better atm though.

Nah not a chance.

Neesham doesn't even bat in the middle order for Otago, hell he'll bat behind Nathan McCullum in first class cricket. I rate Neesham don't get me wrong, infact I probably rate his batting more than his bowling but he's still got a long way to go. I think long term he'll end up as a batsman who bowls but I don't see him ever batting four/five for New Zealand like Anderson will do one day.

I think the fact that I rate Anderson's bowling more than I do Neesham's would get called out a lot more than me rating them as batsmen

 

[Flem274*]

NcCullum shouldn't be batting ahead of Neesham though, so I don't see why it's relevant. The only people on the planet who think NcCullum is a better batsman than Neesham are whoever picks the Otago batting order.

 

[BackFootPunch]

You could say the same about Neesham to be fair.

I'd play Neesham here even if he couldn't bowl, but I think we can both agree that it's a fairly close run thing either way, and given they're very likely to play both specialist spinners I think Neesham's bowling will get him over the line. It'll be annoying if Latham doesn't play at all though.

Yeah can agree with all of that.

It's an interesting conundrum that, for once, whoever gets left out will have some reason to feel aggrieved. Wagner has a strong case for inclusion, so does Latham, and so does Neesham. Even with Anderson out, we're still gonna be leaving someone out who deserves to be there.

 

[Mike5181]

Latham
Fulton (block bash dem spinners)
Williamson
Taylor
McCullum
Watling
Neesham
Craig
Southee
Wagner
Boult

I'd rather play Craig and Williamson as our spinners because if the pitches continue their trend of putting the ball down the other end and watching it turn miles then I want the two most accurate spinners to play. Sodhi has a lot of potential but he will waste the conditions unless his accuracy has improved considerably over the break imo.

Craig bats ahead of Southee because I'm under the impression he's the more responsible batsman, so the likes of him and Sodhi should be groomed as our number eight unless Southee wants to start batting like one. It's not as though Southee will run out of time to score his runs at nine.

I hope they pick Wagner, too. I'd just feel a bit more comfortable with him there to back up Southee/Boult.

You could say the same about Neesham to be fair.

I'd play Neesham here even if he couldn't bowl, but I think we can both agree that it's a fairly close run thing either way, and given they're very likely to play both specialist spinners I think Neesham's bowling will get him over the line. It'll be annoying if Latham doesn't play at all though.

I don't know if I'd have Neesham above Ronchi as a batsman tbf. Both can look a bit dodgy at times, but the latter has proven himself to be one of the best first-class bats in the country in recent times.

 

[Prince EWS]

I hope they pick Wagner, too. I'd just feel a bit more comfortable with him there to back up Southee/Boult.



I don't know if I'd have Neesham above Ronchi as a batsman tbf. Both can look a bit dodgy at times, but the latter has proven himself to be one of the best first-class bats in the country in recent times.

Ronchi's injured.