*Unofficial* New Zealand Black Caps Thread

[nzfan]

Summer details here: https://i.stuff.co.nz/sport/cricket...-triseries-with-white-ferns-australia-england

West Indies: 2 tests, 3 t20s
Pakistan: 2 tests, 3 t20s
Australia: 5 t20s
Bangladesh: 3 ODIs, 3 t20s

Plunket Shield starts mid-October, Super Smash starts December 24.

Way too many T20s for my liking... I can understand they would have scheduled this originally as a preparation for t20 world cup but that's now changed and why couldn't they add a test each against WI and Pak? Barely any ODIs and that's our strong suite. We only recently beat India, made the world cup finals and just 3 ODIs for the year. Don't know what our think tank is doing.

 

[Kippax]

Wil be interesting to see whether Spark bother investing in speed guns for the domestic T20 games this season. A couple of Sears deliveries flashing up as 153 in a televised game could easily be enough to get him fast tracked into a T20 debut v Pakistan later in the season.

Yes I'd also like Spark to really put that 'can we justify nice tech for NZ domestic' baby to bed. Swallow your pride and set up a GoFundMe, seeing the wider world's mathletes and numeracy mavens have already taken a real shine to Sears. Most of them will chip in $2 to pin a number to the name.

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1297831265022832641

 

[Flem274*]

'muh modern audience' sold to us by cricket boards reminds me strongly of how major video game publishers operate when they claim gamers love microtransactions and other shenanigans.

the 'modern audience' doesn't exist, but it's far better for nzc's bank account to sell 5 t20s for $50 each game at the gate and some number with broadcasters over 1 test match for one lot of gate sales and broadcast money.

 

[honestbharani]

I am not sure I get the broadcaster angle. Right now, they are hard pressed for content and won't a test match be better in that regard? As it actually guarantees you 5 days of live programming?

 

[thundaboult]

Yeah, the slow decline of Anderson to injury and form issues is really sad. I know kippax was always of the view that Anderson was just a mountain of muscles lacking in genuine talent, but from what I saw of him during that 2013-15 window when his body briefly allowed him to play some actual cricket, I thought there was a huge amount to work with. Not that he was ever the second coming of Mr X, but I felt there was a solid chance that we'd have a left-handed Shane Watson. Sadly it looks like his time has past.

Him and Milne have just....vanished. Neesham, CDG and Ferugson are miles ahead now. Even with CDG gone in a couple years (maybe even sooner), it looks tough for Corey to get back to it. Maybe he'll just play the occassional match like sodhi does these days lol.

 

[thundaboult]

If we don't return to the same lvl 1 restrictions as before, test cricket is almost better than ODIs because social distancing is much easier at tests on a grass bank than in a stadium

Speaking of, will these matches be played in front of crowds?

 

[SteveNZ]

4 tests, 3 ODIs and 16 T20Is... Clear where NZC's priorities lie.

This was attached to the fact we have/had two back-to-back T20 World Cups, right? I'm not advocating for it, I have little interest in T20 internationals apart from being a better alternative to another hit or miss Netflix series. The lack of ODI series' annoys me too. The ODIs v India last year were great.

 

[SteveNZ]

'muh modern audience' sold to us by cricket boards reminds me strongly of how major video game publishers operate when they claim gamers love microtransactions and other shenanigans.

the 'modern audience' doesn't exist, but it's far better for nzc's bank account to sell 5 t20s for $50 each game at the gate and some number with broadcasters over 1 test match for one lot of gate sales and broadcast money.

That's very true. I completely agree, the 'modern audience' is some **** the media makes up. I'm not going to believe for a second that Test cricket is ever going to go away, however. Not as long as there is pressure from powerful in-cricket stakeholders, the likes of former greats who hold more power than whoever is in the CEO chair and can very easily get a campaign going in the media if they need to...and the place of the World Test Championship in not really creating relevance as they say, but at least ensuring all sides need to play a certain amount of Tests. Plus the Future Tours Programme loosely holding them to it as well.

4 Tests does suck as a summer 'feast', however in the 12 months between Nov 21 and Nov 22 we're due to play 12. So that's encouraging.

The sooner they get a D/N Test at the Mount, the better. Best of both worlds. Do it in the 2 weeks after Xmas, you get the roll-up crowd at the ground and the viewership allows you to hit that night slot as well. That'll create a nice buzz. WAKE UP DAVID

 

[thundaboult]

Hey so who's our next probable batting coach? Any murmurs from the NZ camp?

 

[GoodAreasShane]

Chris Martin

 

[nzfan]

There were McMillan, Dan Vettori and Luke Ronchi during the world cup helping the team. I'm guessing Ronchi? Obviously Vettori can't help with batting although he could hold his own with the bat. Matthew Bell is the women's batting coach, maybe he can slot in?

 

[The Hutt Rec]

Stead’s been re-signed for another three years as coach ... #prayforhowsie

 

[RossTaylorsBox]

lmao

 

[kaetor]

Any news about the domestic schedule for this season?

 

[Moss]

Stead’s been re-signed for another three years as coach ... #prayforhowsie

3 years really? That's too much of a vote of confidence after the debacle in Australia. Not blaming Stead alone, but you'd hope there were some lessons learned after that tour.

 

[nzfan]

The calendar isn't out yet I presume. Looking forward to it.

Still disappointed there's way too many international T20s this summer but won't mind if we see some new talent come through.

Seeing how England have brought in Tom Banton, Pakistan many young players over the last year or so we need to do that. If we're going to see the same faces playing T20s like in the early 2000s I'd be pissed off.

Here's hoping Stead doesn't take couple of years to bring in new talent.

It's time to trail Conway, Young, Ravindra and Sears. Love to see all these given a go this summer but knowing the way NZ camp operates it's a good dream.

 

[GoodAreasShane]

Three years, and seemingly no performance clause

That's... Bold

 

[Moss]

Him and Milne have just....vanished. Neesham, CDG and Ferugson are miles ahead now. Even with CDG gone in a couple years (maybe even sooner), it looks tough for Corey to get back to it. Maybe he'll just play the occassional match like sodhi does these days lol.

Looks like Anderson has been absolutely dire in the CPL. Without a domestic contract the future looks quite grim, though CdG has shown it's possible to revive your career even after you've turned 30. His fitness will always be his worst enemy I guess.

 

[Bahnz]

The KW v Stead brouha is a definite count against him. The way the World Cup panned out I don't think can be counted as too much of a plus for him either - the build up to it was shambolic, and the team's form through the group phases was generally poor - narrowly avoiding losses to weak WI, SA and Bangerz teams and being nonchalantly brushed aside by Australia and England. Yeah it all came right in the SF and Final, but I think that was more in spite of the build-up than anything. And then there was the catastrophic Aus tour.

On the plus side was the 2018 UAE tour, and a series of strong performances on home soil (with the exception of the 2019 India ODI series when we were mucking around with fringe selections like Tastle and Dougeh). He also gets a pass mark for the SL tour.

I don't mind giving Stead longer, but he's going to need to be a lot more bold and forward thinking with his selections from now on than he has been in the first 2 years of his term, and he'll be necessarily working with less experienced and proven players going forward.

 

[nzfan]

Gary Stead interview

Going by his statements I don't expect much changes to the squad but there's going to be an A programme. Likely Conway will play that and get a chance to prove his creds.