Somebody give me a gun. Please.
The New Zealand squad for the world cup has been named.
Shit it makes me mad. For one simple reason I am annoyed and that reason is the lack of Jesse Ryder. Bracewell is crazy, I can't figure out why he is continuously overlooking Ryder.
I wouldn't be so annoyed if it wasn't for the fact that the squad named is a 30-man squad and includes 3 uncapped players and a few others who I can't believe have been named. If you're going to name 3 uncapped players then what is the harm in naming Jesse Ryder?
Gareth Hopkins - Has played 5 (I think) matches for NZ but has only batted once. In that one innings he scored exactly 0. This is not a bowler people. He's a wicket-keeper and, yes, he's a pretty decent one but I think Chris Nevan would have been a better option as back-up wicket keeper. Or even Tim McIntosh.
Michael Mason - Well, I'm just not a Michael Mason fan so don't want him in the team. Hopefully I'll be proved as wrong as I was when I used to rant about the uselessness of Kyle Mills.
Nathan McCullum (Brendon McCullum's older brother) - I'll admit right now that I haven't really been following our domestic season this year but I definitely haven't noticed him do anything special. Right now I'll reserve judgement on him since I've never seen him play but, usually, when a players nearing selection for New Zealand I hear about them a lot.
Peter McGlashan - I don't understand this one. Obviously Bracewell is thinking in terms of post-world cup and post-Brendon McCullum as wicket keeper but McGlashan wouldn't be my pick for McCullum's replacement. His FC batting average is pretty poor and, as far as I know, his keeping isn't stunning enough to make up for that. Tim McIntosh would be a better future prospect - get him working on his wicket keeping at domestic level rather than being back-up keeper for Auckland.
Iain O'Brien - His FC economy rate is good. Around 2.5 but he can't bat AT ALL. I think in FC matches he averages about 8. We just don't need another bunny with the bat who's just bowling medium pacers. We can find all-rounders with O'Brien's bowling skill.
Mark Orchard - An all-rounder and a fairly decent one by all accounts. Averages about 30 with the bat for Northern. A medium pacer with a bowling average in the low 30's and an economy rate of below 3.
It's particularly when I look at the selection of Mark Orchard that I get fucking angry that Jesse Ryder hasn't been selected. It's an unfortunate fact that I have learned to live with that New Zealand players don't generally have batting averages above the mid-30's, even at first class level. I think this fact alone highlights why we have always had such a problem with batting collapses at the highest level of the game.
So, why has an all-rounder with a batting average of around 30 been selected when we have an all-rounder (who also happens to specialise in opening the batting - an area we area we are in strife with at the moment) who averages in the mid to high 40's at first class level? His bowling average is in the mid 20's and his strike rate is about the same as Orchards. On paper I know which player I'd be picking and I can't see any reason for Ryder's exclusion. He's been absolutely brilliant for Wellington so far this season. Mark Orchard's quite a bit older I think but that's a stupid reason to pick him over Ryder. (Ryder's 22 so hardly too young).
Grrrr Bracewell makes me so angry I can't even stand it.
Sorry for any mistakes in stats I've made. I haven't got much time so haven't checked everything on cricinfo, just taken the stats out of my head so it's possible I've got them wrong. I might check them up later and get them accurate but don't hold your breath! (Oh and please, no-one be scared that I carry these sorts of stats around in my head. Cricket is my passion and I can't help it.) share this: facebook
Shit it makes me mad. For one simple reason I am annoyed and that reason is the lack of Jesse Ryder. Bracewell is crazy, I can't figure out why he is continuously overlooking Ryder.
I wouldn't be so annoyed if it wasn't for the fact that the squad named is a 30-man squad and includes 3 uncapped players and a few others who I can't believe have been named. If you're going to name 3 uncapped players then what is the harm in naming Jesse Ryder?
Gareth Hopkins - Has played 5 (I think) matches for NZ but has only batted once. In that one innings he scored exactly 0. This is not a bowler people. He's a wicket-keeper and, yes, he's a pretty decent one but I think Chris Nevan would have been a better option as back-up wicket keeper. Or even Tim McIntosh.
Michael Mason - Well, I'm just not a Michael Mason fan so don't want him in the team. Hopefully I'll be proved as wrong as I was when I used to rant about the uselessness of Kyle Mills.
Nathan McCullum (Brendon McCullum's older brother) - I'll admit right now that I haven't really been following our domestic season this year but I definitely haven't noticed him do anything special. Right now I'll reserve judgement on him since I've never seen him play but, usually, when a players nearing selection for New Zealand I hear about them a lot.
Peter McGlashan - I don't understand this one. Obviously Bracewell is thinking in terms of post-world cup and post-Brendon McCullum as wicket keeper but McGlashan wouldn't be my pick for McCullum's replacement. His FC batting average is pretty poor and, as far as I know, his keeping isn't stunning enough to make up for that. Tim McIntosh would be a better future prospect - get him working on his wicket keeping at domestic level rather than being back-up keeper for Auckland.
Iain O'Brien - His FC economy rate is good. Around 2.5 but he can't bat AT ALL. I think in FC matches he averages about 8. We just don't need another bunny with the bat who's just bowling medium pacers. We can find all-rounders with O'Brien's bowling skill.
Mark Orchard - An all-rounder and a fairly decent one by all accounts. Averages about 30 with the bat for Northern. A medium pacer with a bowling average in the low 30's and an economy rate of below 3.
It's particularly when I look at the selection of Mark Orchard that I get fucking angry that Jesse Ryder hasn't been selected. It's an unfortunate fact that I have learned to live with that New Zealand players don't generally have batting averages above the mid-30's, even at first class level. I think this fact alone highlights why we have always had such a problem with batting collapses at the highest level of the game.
So, why has an all-rounder with a batting average of around 30 been selected when we have an all-rounder (who also happens to specialise in opening the batting - an area we area we are in strife with at the moment) who averages in the mid to high 40's at first class level? His bowling average is in the mid 20's and his strike rate is about the same as Orchards. On paper I know which player I'd be picking and I can't see any reason for Ryder's exclusion. He's been absolutely brilliant for Wellington so far this season. Mark Orchard's quite a bit older I think but that's a stupid reason to pick him over Ryder. (Ryder's 22 so hardly too young).
Grrrr Bracewell makes me so angry I can't even stand it.
Sorry for any mistakes in stats I've made. I haven't got much time so haven't checked everything on cricinfo, just taken the stats out of my head so it's possible I've got them wrong. I might check them up later and get them accurate but don't hold your breath! (Oh and please, no-one be scared that I carry these sorts of stats around in my head. Cricket is my passion and I can't help it.) share this: facebook
This entry was posted
on Monday, January 15, 2007 at 6:14 PM.
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1 Comments:
i've been waiting years for ryder to be selected and i can't understand why this hasn't happened yet. i HAD heard that he had some disciplinary issues when he was younger (but that was like, four or five years ago). What Bracewell is doing to the team is criminal.
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