*Official* South Africa A v New Zealand A 2025

[Immenso]

Learning to convert at the lower level, before elevation to test level, is a worthy thing to wait for IMO. e.g. the Fleming lesson.

Holding someone back for a year or two , to get a better lo g term output.

Hay cant bat top 6 of our test team IMO when he only has 1 FC hundred. He could bat 7 though, because of the magical 6 to 7 'line'.

At the moment if he made the test team his place is far too co-mingled with a Phillips at 6.

He is better than current Blundell , though.

 

[Immenso]

Did they have an alternative to Carter still on tour to captain and bat top order?

Carter must've slipped on the stairs on the way back up to the dressing room from the toss, the way Jacobs was pressed into a career-first of batting at No. 3 about an hour later.

They did, kelly.
But hes gone home injured.

 

[Kippax]

Dale Phillips should've played again, it seems to me.

 

[Prince EWS]

Learning to convert at the lower level, before elevation to test level, is a worthy thing to wait for IMO. e.g. the Fleming lesson.

Holding someone back for a year or two , to get a better lo g term output.

Hay cant bat top 6 of our test team IMO when he only has 1 FC hundred. He could bat 7 though, because of the magical 6 to 7 'line'.

At the moment if he made the test team his place is far too co-mingled with a Phillips at 6.

He is better than current Blundell , though.

Phillips originally made the side as a serious specialist batting talent. I genuinely think he's wasted as a meme X-factor type player, I'd love to see him take more responsibility at 6.

 

[Mike5181]

Learning to convert at the lower level, before elevation to test level, is a worthy thing to wait for IMO. e.g. the Fleming lesson.

Holding someone back for a year or two , to get a better lo g term output.

Hay cant bat top 6 of our test team IMO when he only has 1 FC hundred. He could bat 7 though, because of the magical 6 to 7 'line'.

At the moment if he made the test team his place is far too co-mingled with a Phillips at 6.

He is better than current Blundell , though.

If I was looking at Hay/Mariu for test cricket I would go:

Plunket Shield:
Round 1: 18–21 November
Round 2: 26–29 November (might have to skip)

West Indies (3 tests): Both in the squad
December 2nd - 18th

Plunket Shield:
Rounds 5-8 (4 games): 28th February– 30th March 2026

County cricket:
04 Apr '26 - Fri, 23 May '26. Based on this year's schedule, they could play like half a dozen rounds of County cricket.

3 Test series in England:
04 Jun - 25 Jun '26

 

[Mike5181]

The thing we want to avoid is new players with no experience getting thrown to the wolves at test level next year against Australia/England.

 

[Bahnz]

NZ's test schedule is pretty much always going to risk throwing new players to the wolves. 2026 is obviously a huge year, but between the 2024 India tour and the 2026 England tour, there are only 6 real tests scheduled. So anyone coming through was always going to be a complete and total punt by the selectors.

For the batsmen, there's no reason to be shy about debuting players in England next June. The English bowling attack ain't what it used to be and if recent summers are any indication the pitches will be flat af.

 

[Immenso]

So did Joe Carter get injured between the toss and the fall of the first wicket?

Or has he taken his PE Teacher playing in the boys first 11 role to the extreme of even batting below Ashok?

 

[Kippax]

Yes obviously option #1. Jacobs is still a very raw ballstriking talent in many ways and got stitched up having to bat at 3 here.

 

[SeamUp]

Tiaan van Vuuren playing Div 2 cricket next season our best bowler. Seem so strange that he got the jump to SA A whilst no one signed him for Div 1.

He is a handy cricketer though. Just has not consistently shown his talents until last season with bat and ball.

 

[Skyliner]

Carter has come out at number 9 and been dismissed for 1.
Has he got the batting yips?

 

[Immenso]

Replica of the Mariu dismissal.
Be interesting whether there is a spot on the pitch that is misbehaving , or if it is down to the bowler.

A nice test for Lister, if they bowl him from same end.

 

[Fuller Pilch]

Carter has come out at number 9 and been dismissed for 1.
Has he got the batting yips?

Probably unfit to bat yesterday and came in today and wasn't 100% or got a good ball/made an error.

 

[Immenso]

He looked a bit stiff walking out. Like a bad back, or something.

Then got an unplayable ball. So unplayable he probably wasn't actually out, tbh.

 

[ataraxia]

This is not what I meant with my second wish to genie, that Lennox do well

 

[ataraxia]

Ecstatic for Heaphy here. I'm aware it's not the most challenging of conditions but it's great to see his mindset paying dividends.

 

[SeamUp]

Was this tour originally scheduled for Jan-Feb next year?

 

[SeamUp]

Interesting start by Jordan Hermann after 5 sessions in the field.

 

[straw man]

Great to have not one but two young openers scoring big runs for the A team. International test opener is such a tough position that I still wouldn't want to bet either Mariu or Heaphy averages over 30 for NZ in five years time, but it's a lot better to have a couple of prospects than to have none.

 

[Skyliner]

Heaphy batted for just over 10 hours for his 190.