And I believe in you
I often get accused by my dad of being far too optimistic and supportive of the New Zealand cricket team. As I try to avoid jinxing them I will often speak very loudly about how they suck and how there is no way they can win. Anyone who knows me well knows that this is just for show and that inside I will be thinking they can win right up until they actually lose.
I'm not sure why my dad thinks that a secret part of me hoping maybe we can pull off a miracle even when we are 70/9 chasing 250 is a bad thing. Our team needs people to believe in them because a lot of the time they don't seem to believe in themselves.
We lost the game against Australia yesterday. Even with the result being so poor I'm actually very positive about the game.
Taylor again showed his class. He could be the next Martin Crowe. Yes, I know this was also said about Stephen Fleming and he's just never quite delivered but hopefully Taylor will succeed where Fleming failed.
Gillespie was, once again, troubling the batsmen and bowling nice and quick. Let's just hope he doesn't turn out to be as injury-prone as Shane Bond. I enjoy the thought of Gillespie and Bond bowling in tandem at the World Cup in March. It's not quite McGrath and Lee but, for New Zealand, it's pretty damn exciting.
Patel continued to impress me as a spin option. For many years I've liked Daniel Vettori but always said that I accept him only because he's the best we've got. Being the best we've got does not mean he's great. Some people tout him as our best ever, most brilliant spinner but in my opinion he's really rather average. To me Patel seems to be a much better option and would probably take Vettori's spot if it wasn't for two vital factors. Vettori is being groomed as our next captain so will have his place in the team assured for many years to come which is unfortunate if he's not the best spin option we have anymore. Unlike Australia, we continue to select the person who is our captain even when they are completely underperforming. (I adore Stephen Fleming but there have been many times he should have been dropped and sent back to Wellington to play domestic cricket and find his form again. Instead he is allowed to stay in the team purely because he's the captain) The other reason Patel will probably never take Vettori's spot is his batting. Vettori has proven himself to be pretty useful with the bat whereas Patel is very much a 10 or 11. (I'm not one of the MANY people who consider Vettori an allrounder. He is, most definitely, a bowler who can bat a bit in certain circumstances.)
Then of course there was Shane Bond. He is definitely not bowling at his best but he is getting back there. He's already said that he'll never again be bowling at the speeds he was before his injury but his speeds are looking pretty good. He was up in the high 140kmph's for a lot of his overs. Even his slower ball, which is so slow it bounced twice between the stumps and McCullum, is 131kmph! His hat-trick yesterday was bloody fantastic. Even better because it came after 22 runs being taken off his previous over. Yes, I know it would have been better if 22 runs hadn't been taken off his previous over but to come back with 3 wickets as your reply is excellent. It wasn't an easy hat-trick either. First was White then, because the batsmen crossed as the ball was in the air, Symonds. Now, that means he got both batsman who were on fire and had blasted him only one over before. The final wicket, that of Bracken, was by far his best ball and would have got a far better batsman than Bracken out. So, all in all, a stunning hat-trick.
So there's the good stuff. Now for the reasons we didn't win and what I think needs to be done.
Franklin. He's a good test bowler and has really been working on his batting recently. BUT he is not a ODI bowler and his batting is nowhere near good enough to justify his selection. He should be a definite for tests but should be kept out of the ODI side. The only thing continually selecting him is going to do, other than reducing our chances of winning, is destroy the poor man's confidence and reduce him to a pile of rubbish who isn't even useful at test level.
Our hideously long tail. As I've said before, one of New Zealand's strengths has always been our middle and lower batting order being able to dig us out of trouble. This was our batting order yesterday:
McCullum (previously batted at about 7)
Astle
Fleming (prefers 4)
Taylor (prefers 3)
Fulton
McMillan
Vettori (I think he is a genuine number 9, 8 at a stretch)
Franklin (Again, should be down at 9 or, preferably, 10)
Bond (should be 10 or 11)
Gillespie (without question a number 11)
Patel (absolute bunny)
I think that is probably one of the longest tails in world cricket at the moment. Just by taking Franklin out and replacing him with a batsman this problem would be on its way to being solved. Styris is the most obvious choice but he's injured at the moment so not actually an option.
I'm sick of this batting order stupidness as well. I can see why McCullum was trialled as an opener but it's time to give it up. I much prefer seeing him at 7 or 8. Preferably 7 so he has a chance to finish an innings for us without running out of partners. This leaves Vettori in the number 8 spot, not ideal but a hell of a lot better than what we've got now. Then there is the switching Fleming from his preferred spot (as he's said about a million times) of 4. There is no need to put him at 3 when Taylor is brilliant in that role and seems very stable there as well.
I feel Bracewell and the selectors made a vital error not blooding Ryder at the same time as Taylor (actually, I would have liked both of them to be selected this time last year). I don't approve of a young guy being blooded overseas, particularly against opposition like Australia but I think with Ryder we might not have a choice now. McCullum is not working as an opener so why not select Ryder who is a specialist opener and who looks to have all the talent and confidence in the world. Bring him in today and he can have his first match against England. England's bowling attack is so weak that it will still be a nice, gentle first match for him.
Arguments against bringing him over now are sound. We've ruined plenty of young guys before by bringing them into tours of Australia. Matthew Bell springs immediately to mind. I don't think he's ever been the same since his failures against Australia. BUT at this point, 2 months out from the world cup, with our team in total disarray we need to do something different, take some risks. This is something that should have actually been done a year or more ago and it fills me with anger that it wasn't.
Bringing in Ryder to open with Astle still leaves us with a slightly dodgy tail but it's acceptable. We don't really have a choice when our leading bowlers can't really bat to save their lives.
Ryder
Astle
Taylor
Fleming
Fulton
McMillan
McCullum
Vettori
Bond
Gillespie
Patel
Our bowling isn't even compromised with this since Franklin hasn't been bowling out his ten because he keeps getting blasted out of the attack. It still leaves us with 2 frontline fast bowlers and two spinners. So, 4 specialist bowlers. Now that McMillan is back in the team (for better or worse) when Styris and Oram come back I could happily accept replacing Patel with one of them if the it's not a wicket that's not going to produce much spin. Ryder can also bowl a little so our part-time options are looking pretty good. Bringing in Styris for Patel really fixes up our batting order as well and makes me a lot more confident.
The current Australian side seems unbeatable. They bat all the way down and have a bowling attack that can cause a batting order to completely collapse. They never take their foot of the throttle, never give other teams an inch. When this is the opposition's top/middle order you know, as a bowling side, you've got problems.
Gilchrist
Hayden
Ponting
Clarke
White
Symonds
What I wouldn't give for any one of those players in our side. However, they are still just a team and, while they seem unbeatable they're not. If we don't beat them even once on this tour then I'm going to be very disappointed. A very small part of me hopes we are completely destroyed now and again in the World Cup. That way Bracewell will be dumped as coach and hopefully we can get someone decent in who actually knows what they are doing. The flip-side to this is I'm very competitive so can't stand losing therefore will be depressed for ages if we do get crushed. Also, as it is probably Stephen Fleming and Nathan Astle's last world cup I don't want it to be humiliating. I admire the two of them far too much to wish that upon them even if it did mean more success for the team in the long run.
After the game yesterday I got a text from my cousin in Australia. He thinks, and I find myself agreeing more and more, that I should move over there, call myself an Australian and start supporting the Australian team rather than the Black Caps. The trouble is, I don't think I could ever commit to that 100%. I could call myself an Australian and outwardly support the Aussies but inside I'd still be crying whenever NZ lost to them.
Face it, I'm a Kiwi through and through. share this: facebook
I'm not sure why my dad thinks that a secret part of me hoping maybe we can pull off a miracle even when we are 70/9 chasing 250 is a bad thing. Our team needs people to believe in them because a lot of the time they don't seem to believe in themselves.
We lost the game against Australia yesterday. Even with the result being so poor I'm actually very positive about the game.
Taylor again showed his class. He could be the next Martin Crowe. Yes, I know this was also said about Stephen Fleming and he's just never quite delivered but hopefully Taylor will succeed where Fleming failed.
Gillespie was, once again, troubling the batsmen and bowling nice and quick. Let's just hope he doesn't turn out to be as injury-prone as Shane Bond. I enjoy the thought of Gillespie and Bond bowling in tandem at the World Cup in March. It's not quite McGrath and Lee but, for New Zealand, it's pretty damn exciting.
Patel continued to impress me as a spin option. For many years I've liked Daniel Vettori but always said that I accept him only because he's the best we've got. Being the best we've got does not mean he's great. Some people tout him as our best ever, most brilliant spinner but in my opinion he's really rather average. To me Patel seems to be a much better option and would probably take Vettori's spot if it wasn't for two vital factors. Vettori is being groomed as our next captain so will have his place in the team assured for many years to come which is unfortunate if he's not the best spin option we have anymore. Unlike Australia, we continue to select the person who is our captain even when they are completely underperforming. (I adore Stephen Fleming but there have been many times he should have been dropped and sent back to Wellington to play domestic cricket and find his form again. Instead he is allowed to stay in the team purely because he's the captain) The other reason Patel will probably never take Vettori's spot is his batting. Vettori has proven himself to be pretty useful with the bat whereas Patel is very much a 10 or 11. (I'm not one of the MANY people who consider Vettori an allrounder. He is, most definitely, a bowler who can bat a bit in certain circumstances.)
Then of course there was Shane Bond. He is definitely not bowling at his best but he is getting back there. He's already said that he'll never again be bowling at the speeds he was before his injury but his speeds are looking pretty good. He was up in the high 140kmph's for a lot of his overs. Even his slower ball, which is so slow it bounced twice between the stumps and McCullum, is 131kmph! His hat-trick yesterday was bloody fantastic. Even better because it came after 22 runs being taken off his previous over. Yes, I know it would have been better if 22 runs hadn't been taken off his previous over but to come back with 3 wickets as your reply is excellent. It wasn't an easy hat-trick either. First was White then, because the batsmen crossed as the ball was in the air, Symonds. Now, that means he got both batsman who were on fire and had blasted him only one over before. The final wicket, that of Bracken, was by far his best ball and would have got a far better batsman than Bracken out. So, all in all, a stunning hat-trick.
So there's the good stuff. Now for the reasons we didn't win and what I think needs to be done.
Franklin. He's a good test bowler and has really been working on his batting recently. BUT he is not a ODI bowler and his batting is nowhere near good enough to justify his selection. He should be a definite for tests but should be kept out of the ODI side. The only thing continually selecting him is going to do, other than reducing our chances of winning, is destroy the poor man's confidence and reduce him to a pile of rubbish who isn't even useful at test level.
Our hideously long tail. As I've said before, one of New Zealand's strengths has always been our middle and lower batting order being able to dig us out of trouble. This was our batting order yesterday:
McCullum (previously batted at about 7)
Astle
Fleming (prefers 4)
Taylor (prefers 3)
Fulton
McMillan
Vettori (I think he is a genuine number 9, 8 at a stretch)
Franklin (Again, should be down at 9 or, preferably, 10)
Bond (should be 10 or 11)
Gillespie (without question a number 11)
Patel (absolute bunny)
I think that is probably one of the longest tails in world cricket at the moment. Just by taking Franklin out and replacing him with a batsman this problem would be on its way to being solved. Styris is the most obvious choice but he's injured at the moment so not actually an option.
I'm sick of this batting order stupidness as well. I can see why McCullum was trialled as an opener but it's time to give it up. I much prefer seeing him at 7 or 8. Preferably 7 so he has a chance to finish an innings for us without running out of partners. This leaves Vettori in the number 8 spot, not ideal but a hell of a lot better than what we've got now. Then there is the switching Fleming from his preferred spot (as he's said about a million times) of 4. There is no need to put him at 3 when Taylor is brilliant in that role and seems very stable there as well.
I feel Bracewell and the selectors made a vital error not blooding Ryder at the same time as Taylor (actually, I would have liked both of them to be selected this time last year). I don't approve of a young guy being blooded overseas, particularly against opposition like Australia but I think with Ryder we might not have a choice now. McCullum is not working as an opener so why not select Ryder who is a specialist opener and who looks to have all the talent and confidence in the world. Bring him in today and he can have his first match against England. England's bowling attack is so weak that it will still be a nice, gentle first match for him.
Arguments against bringing him over now are sound. We've ruined plenty of young guys before by bringing them into tours of Australia. Matthew Bell springs immediately to mind. I don't think he's ever been the same since his failures against Australia. BUT at this point, 2 months out from the world cup, with our team in total disarray we need to do something different, take some risks. This is something that should have actually been done a year or more ago and it fills me with anger that it wasn't.
Bringing in Ryder to open with Astle still leaves us with a slightly dodgy tail but it's acceptable. We don't really have a choice when our leading bowlers can't really bat to save their lives.
Ryder
Astle
Taylor
Fleming
Fulton
McMillan
McCullum
Vettori
Bond
Gillespie
Patel
Our bowling isn't even compromised with this since Franklin hasn't been bowling out his ten because he keeps getting blasted out of the attack. It still leaves us with 2 frontline fast bowlers and two spinners. So, 4 specialist bowlers. Now that McMillan is back in the team (for better or worse) when Styris and Oram come back I could happily accept replacing Patel with one of them if the it's not a wicket that's not going to produce much spin. Ryder can also bowl a little so our part-time options are looking pretty good. Bringing in Styris for Patel really fixes up our batting order as well and makes me a lot more confident.
The current Australian side seems unbeatable. They bat all the way down and have a bowling attack that can cause a batting order to completely collapse. They never take their foot of the throttle, never give other teams an inch. When this is the opposition's top/middle order you know, as a bowling side, you've got problems.
Gilchrist
Hayden
Ponting
Clarke
White
Symonds
What I wouldn't give for any one of those players in our side. However, they are still just a team and, while they seem unbeatable they're not. If we don't beat them even once on this tour then I'm going to be very disappointed. A very small part of me hopes we are completely destroyed now and again in the World Cup. That way Bracewell will be dumped as coach and hopefully we can get someone decent in who actually knows what they are doing. The flip-side to this is I'm very competitive so can't stand losing therefore will be depressed for ages if we do get crushed. Also, as it is probably Stephen Fleming and Nathan Astle's last world cup I don't want it to be humiliating. I admire the two of them far too much to wish that upon them even if it did mean more success for the team in the long run.
After the game yesterday I got a text from my cousin in Australia. He thinks, and I find myself agreeing more and more, that I should move over there, call myself an Australian and start supporting the Australian team rather than the Black Caps. The trouble is, I don't think I could ever commit to that 100%. I could call myself an Australian and outwardly support the Aussies but inside I'd still be crying whenever NZ lost to them.
Face it, I'm a Kiwi through and through. share this: facebook
This entry was posted
on Monday, January 15, 2007 at 12:10 PM.
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1 Comments:
it corrupts the soul to support a team that never loses.
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