Sunday, December 07, 2008
Black Caps squad for WIndies
Time to move on from all the wretched disappointment of the Bracewell era, ending as it did with the abysmal Bangladesh tour and the expected, but still gutting, losses to Aus. The Caps are at home to the Windies and we've got a seventh placing to claw back. The selectors must have kept an ear on public sentiment this week, as it looks like they've taken all the popular decisions in naming the Black Caps squad to face the Windies on Thursday.
Starting at the top Son of Rodney is another opening-bat victim, swapped out for yet another journeyman provincial player in the form of his life, Tim McIntosh. By the same criteria it could have been Matty Bell back for a third time. I feel that Redmond would have made a decent fist of things once back on familiar pitches and has missed out. He's also an extra spin option and a back-up keeper. To his credit he took the axing well, as I'm sure he's now gone the way of Papps, Cumming, et al. McIntosh needs to cement his spot in these two tests or we'll be scanning the form guide for the next victim before India tour in March.
Gareth Hopkins is out. We don't really need a spare keeper at home, although with Redmond out it does mean that Jesse the Body could be called on to do a few squats.
Grant Elliott can't compete at Test level and shouldn't have been asked to fill Jake's shoes. Now that Oram is back Elliot can go back to being a bloody good provincial player for the Firebirds.
Fulton should have been asked to fill Jake's shoes earlier but as it is he's had a one-Test recall. Probably seventh when seeking the best six batsmen in the country currently so I hope he has a cracker domestic season and gets more chances should anyone else fail or fall.
Oram returns to his number six spot and immediately makes for a better looking line-up, especially with James Franklin joining him after showing off his batting skills, polished by lots of batting practise while recovering from his knee injury. Our middle-lower order is world class with these guys joining Vettori and McCullum.
I'm pretty excited to have Franklin back. To me he is an 'in ink' player for the BCs along with the senior trio and Taylor. Franklin's inclusion comes at the expense of wonder-kid Tim Southee, who has been well-blooded overseas and on some different tracks. I hope his dropping reflects a good player development strategy designed to bring out the best in him.
Chris Martin is out, dropped nominally in favour of Mark Gillespie but really his spot has been taken by Ian O'Brien. We don't need two reliable bunnies. Probably a good decision on form and we do have a decent stck of bowlers currently, so keeping them all competitive makes sense.
The selectors have suggested a lineup change, recomending Daniel Flynn move to three from five, swapping places with Jesse the Body. I like the move. Flynn has a much better temperament for three, as does the Jesse the Body for five.
Lineup:
How
McIntosh
Flynn
Taylor
Ryder
Oram
McCullum
Franklin
Vettori
Gillespie
O'Brien
The questions:
How many more chances for Jamie How?
How many chances for McIntosh?
Taylor ahead of Ryder at four?
Franklin eight and Vettori nine?
Sorriest for Redmond or Martin?
Any better ideas?
Starting at the top Son of Rodney is another opening-bat victim, swapped out for yet another journeyman provincial player in the form of his life, Tim McIntosh. By the same criteria it could have been Matty Bell back for a third time. I feel that Redmond would have made a decent fist of things once back on familiar pitches and has missed out. He's also an extra spin option and a back-up keeper. To his credit he took the axing well, as I'm sure he's now gone the way of Papps, Cumming, et al. McIntosh needs to cement his spot in these two tests or we'll be scanning the form guide for the next victim before India tour in March.
Gareth Hopkins is out. We don't really need a spare keeper at home, although with Redmond out it does mean that Jesse the Body could be called on to do a few squats.
Grant Elliott can't compete at Test level and shouldn't have been asked to fill Jake's shoes. Now that Oram is back Elliot can go back to being a bloody good provincial player for the Firebirds.
Fulton should have been asked to fill Jake's shoes earlier but as it is he's had a one-Test recall. Probably seventh when seeking the best six batsmen in the country currently so I hope he has a cracker domestic season and gets more chances should anyone else fail or fall.
Oram returns to his number six spot and immediately makes for a better looking line-up, especially with James Franklin joining him after showing off his batting skills, polished by lots of batting practise while recovering from his knee injury. Our middle-lower order is world class with these guys joining Vettori and McCullum.
I'm pretty excited to have Franklin back. To me he is an 'in ink' player for the BCs along with the senior trio and Taylor. Franklin's inclusion comes at the expense of wonder-kid Tim Southee, who has been well-blooded overseas and on some different tracks. I hope his dropping reflects a good player development strategy designed to bring out the best in him.
Chris Martin is out, dropped nominally in favour of Mark Gillespie but really his spot has been taken by Ian O'Brien. We don't need two reliable bunnies. Probably a good decision on form and we do have a decent stck of bowlers currently, so keeping them all competitive makes sense.
The selectors have suggested a lineup change, recomending Daniel Flynn move to three from five, swapping places with Jesse the Body. I like the move. Flynn has a much better temperament for three, as does the Jesse the Body for five.
Lineup:
How
McIntosh
Flynn
Taylor
Ryder
Oram
McCullum
Franklin
Vettori
Gillespie
O'Brien
The questions:
How many more chances for Jamie How?
How many chances for McIntosh?
Taylor ahead of Ryder at four?
Franklin eight and Vettori nine?
Sorriest for Redmond or Martin?
Any better ideas?
Labels: blackcaps, john bracewell
Comments:
I agree that’s the likely batting order.
But can anyone tell me why Oram should be coming in ahead of Franklin?
But can anyone tell me why Oram should be coming in ahead of Franklin?
# posted by 
: 8 December 2008 at 09:30
: 8 December 2008 at 09:30
An average of 37 and five Test centuries against Franklin's average of 21 and solitary century suggest that Oram is a better batsman than Franklin. Franklin, however, is in the form of his life, is a fantastic middle-order prospect and is used to batting higher for the Firebirds, so its a bloody good question.
I had assumed sixth was Jake's best spot in a batting line-up, until I checked stats-guru. Oram has played 16 matches each batting at six and at seven, in a mix of home and away games, so a comparison is fairly easy. He averages 34.85 with two tonnes at six, but 41.86 and three tonnes at seven (helped by a few more not-outs). So Jake has delivered more at seven than six.
Sadly however, for Franklin to bat ahead of Oram (no problem with that suggestion in itself), a certain aspirant to "World's Best Keeper/Batsman" would slide further down the order than his recently displayed humility could bear.
A better question might be, can Baz face batting at eight behind Franklin and Oram? Or are you suggesting Oram should bat behind McCullum?
I had assumed sixth was Jake's best spot in a batting line-up, until I checked stats-guru. Oram has played 16 matches each batting at six and at seven, in a mix of home and away games, so a comparison is fairly easy. He averages 34.85 with two tonnes at six, but 41.86 and three tonnes at seven (helped by a few more not-outs). So Jake has delivered more at seven than six.
Sadly however, for Franklin to bat ahead of Oram (no problem with that suggestion in itself), a certain aspirant to "World's Best Keeper/Batsman" would slide further down the order than his recently displayed humility could bear.
A better question might be, can Baz face batting at eight behind Franklin and Oram? Or are you suggesting Oram should bat behind McCullum?
You're assuming I'd play Oram ahead of Patel? :)
I'd probably play Oram at 7 (less likely to get short-pitched stuff) and Prince Brendan at 8. Agree re the ego thing though.
BTW, don't forget who the better bowler out of Oram and Franklin is..
I'd probably play Oram at 7 (less likely to get short-pitched stuff) and Prince Brendan at 8. Agree re the ego thing though.
BTW, don't forget who the better bowler out of Oram and Franklin is..
# posted by : 10 December 2008 at 21:23
: 10 December 2008 at 21:23
Agree on line-up
The questions:
How many more chances for Jamie How?
He'll probably get too many.
How many chances for McIntosh?
Probably not enough, but he is from Auckland so who cares :)
Taylor ahead of Ryder at four?
Yes.
Franklin eight and Vettori nine?
yes
Sorriest for Redmond or Martin?
In the conditions (Wellington and against SA), Martin should play. On Redmond, don't know enough about where he plays best to see if he get another chance.
The questions:
How many more chances for Jamie How?
He'll probably get too many.
How many chances for McIntosh?
Probably not enough, but he is from Auckland so who cares :)
Taylor ahead of Ryder at four?
Yes.
Franklin eight and Vettori nine?
yes
Sorriest for Redmond or Martin?
In the conditions (Wellington and against SA), Martin should play. On Redmond, don't know enough about where he plays best to see if he get another chance.
# posted by : 14 December 2008 at 23:48
: 14 December 2008 at 23:48
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