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*Unofficial* New Zealand Black Caps Thread

NZTailender

I can't believe I ate the whole thing
Nah sorry

Rae, Sheat, Lister, McKay, Pringle, Gulati and Younghusband the bowlers in the 4 day games. With Keene and I’m guessing Harrison as the all rounders.

No Ashok which is a real head scratcher. No K Clarke either
Ashok will be playing ODIs at the same time as the 4 day, but doesn't mean he couldn't play the List A matches. Same with K Clarke, unless you mean the other K Clarke.

Younghusband feels like a recognition pick. He possibly, maybe, might've deserved a T20I gig at some point, but it never happened so he gets this.
 

Fuller Pilch

Cricket Web: All-Time Legend
Sorry, don't have time to look it up and post (and can't remember), but saw A squads on Well Firebirds Facebook, so if someone has time...
 

kaetor

U19 Cricketer
I think generally decent squads. Agree that Younghusband being there is bizarre. I honestly think leaving O'Connor out is fine, he's very fresh and Sri Lanka could be tough - a good off season in wherever he ends up in Europe and then hopefully right back in to things for Plunket Shield later in the year.
 

Neil Young

International 12th Man
I think they had to pick Nicholls - tbf he's had an amazing last 9 months (scored big test runs for NZ in Zim then turned into Bradman for Canterbury in domestics)
Nah. The continued fascination with Nicholls reminds me of the 90s English selection policy with Hick and Ramprakash etc. They also cleaned up at domestic level time and again only to be found out at international level time and again. There is no merit to picking Nicholls in my world.
 

jcas0167

International Regular
Nah. The continued fascination with Nicholls reminds me of the 90s English selection policy with Hick and Ramprakash etc. They also cleaned up at domestic level time and again only to be found out at international level time and again. There is no merit to picking Nicholls in my world.
Not sure about Nicholls, but as a card carrrying member of the Graeme Hick fan club I need to pipe up. Hick did struggle initially at test level with the short ball but adjusted his backlift to enable him to play the pull shot more easily. He averaged 45 from 93 to 96. Duncan Fletcher wrote in his book that if he'd been coach in the 90's he would have never have dropped Hick (or Ramprakash).
 

Neil Young

International 12th Man
Not sure about Nicholls, but as a card carrrying member of the Graeme Hick fan club I need to pipe up. Hick did struggle initially at test level with the short ball but adjusted his backlift to enable him to play the pull shot more easily. He averaged 45 from 93 to 96. Duncan Fletcher wrote in his book that if he'd been coach in the 90's he would have never have dropped Hick (or Ramprakash).
Duncan Fletcher not dropping a fellow Zimbot? Well, I'll be damned! 😁

Without derailing the thread, I liked Hick also Remember watching him at the Basin in his (was it one?) year for ND. Horrible underachiever at Int'l level, though. As was Ramps. Did they deserve perseverance? Maybe. Dunno.
 

NZTailender

I can't believe I ate the whole thing
It's an interesting view that objects to Latham but has no problems with Young, Kelly and Tickner...
Hi Rod, thanks for joining CricketWeb!

Latham's form for ODIs has been questionable for a while, and his selection in T20Is is a joke. He really is only there because he's a senior player and red ball captain. he had a good domestic season though so being in the ODI side makes sense, less so the T20I but I guess it was that or hand the captaincy to...Blair Tickner?

Will Young had been ostensibly the NZ ODI opener for a few years, and generally the first choice reserve bat. He had a lean trot vs England and West Indies but considering most of the Black Caps are on IPL duty, it's not a stretch for the guy who has 1000 runs @ 38 in the subcontinent to make the ODI side still. He had two important partnerships with Mitchell against India which helped us clinch the series. Coupled with being a form player in the Ford Trophy, I have no issue with his selection.

Kelly and Tickner haven been in and around the side for a while now. I don't think they're the future but they're not terrible picks either. I'd rather the likes of Heaphy, Mariu et al play the 4 day stuff in Sri Lanka.
 
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Prince EWS

Global Moderator
Neesh is not in the ipl is he?
Don't think so. Maybe the dream has died. Hasn't died for Nicholls, though. Nicholls will go out on his own terms.
Neesham, Jacobs, Mitchell and Conway didn't get IPL deals but they're playing PSL which is on at the same time, I assume they're unavailable for that reason.

EDIT: Chapman and Bracewell too.
 

NZTailender

I can't believe I ate the whole thing
I think generally decent squads. Agree that Younghusband being there is bizarre. I honestly think leaving O'Connor out is fine, he's very fresh and Sri Lanka could be tough - a good off season in wherever he ends up in Europe and then hopefully right back in to things for Plunket Shield later in the year.
McKay is also a bit of a head scratcher - averaged 37 this season, and has a career average at 40. Toole on the other hand, had a great season and has a sub 30 average. Is this an anomoly where the selectors have chosen the younger McKay based on age? Or maybe they see something in McKay we don't.

Younghusband is a bit wtf, but less so when you realise Ashok and Lennox will be in Bangladesh at the same time, and I'm guessing they weren't going to ask Sodhi or Patel to 'step down' to A team duties. Being the SC they probably felt they needed 3 spinners. As I said earlier it's a bit of a 'reward' pick for mine, plus other guys on other duties. Guess they didn't want to go back to McConchie either. Relatively seam heavy as they've got 4 seamers and 2 seam bowling all-rounders.
 

Skyliner

International Regular
As much as Walter is a slave to the pecking order when it comes to selecting the top 11 from all fit and available players, he should also bear in mind that he will be judged on results, so he needs to sometimes step outside the straitjacket of conservatism in order to construct a side that can beat the best. I’m specifically thinking about the big test series’ ahead.
He has been forced to dig deeper into the hat of available names due to injury and the unavailability of players due to T20 league commitments, but that’s a case of having your hand forced rather than anything overly proactive.
 

Kippax

Cricketer Of The Year
McKay is also a bit of a head scratcher - averaged 37 this season, and has a career average at 40. Toole on the other hand, had a great season and has a sub 30 average. Is this an anomoly where the selectors have chosen the younger McKay based on age? Or maybe they see something in McKay we don't.
They'll be seeing a 140 man in McKay. He'd be one of the few I've seen left in NZ domestic creating wickets or forced errors when pitching it back of a length.
 

thierry henry

International Coach
I get that this guy Townes has obviously turned up here with an agenda - but he makes a fairish point tbh. Picking 33/34 year olds who we know aren't quite good enough isn't really much worse than picking 33/34 year olds who fall even further short of the required standard but have had fewer chances to prove it. Neither option presents any real likelihood of unearthing a genuinely up-to-standard player so we might as well pick the one more likely to help us win the series at hand.
 

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