Starts this Friday, a tri series consisting of NZ, Aussie and England with each team playing the other two teams four times. Aussie are clear favourites and then it seems us and the Poms are equally weak, we have a few key players out from injury (Oram, Styris and Mills) whilst England aren't playing good cricket at the moment, albeit in the longer form of the game.
The NZ squad has just been announced, which I thought I would give you a quick run down of:
Stephen Fleming(c)-one of my favourite players, a brilliant and elegant strokemaker who is one of the best batsmen in the world. He's in a bit of a bad patch of form but he always bounces back, and he is also a fantastic captain and a good tactitian of the game. Has the ability to anchor an innings very well.
Andre Adams-Will play a few games as a bowling allrounder. Hes been around a while now and has got a recall on the back of some good domestic form. His bowling is average medium pacers and he is a fourth change bowler. Can also be very expensive, but is a wicket taker. Batting Wise the guy has a strike rate of over a hundred and has the ability to come in and score a quick 30, although he looked a bit rusty in the Sri Lankan series.
Nathan Astle-Used to be one of the best one day batsmen in the world, Astle is an aggressive batsman who loves playing square of the wicket, which can also be his downfall. Astle either scores a high score and we win, or he gets out in the first few overs either being caught from cutting at point or behind, or chopping it onto his stumps. Astle will most probaly be coming in at number 3 to accomodate Fleming and Mcullum, which is a pity because he is much better at the top of the innings.
Shane Bond-One of the best bowlers in international cricket, Bond is the spearhead of our attack and can rip through any lineup. Bond bowls with genuine pace and swing, with a brilliant yorker. He bowls upto the 150 mark, although his pace has dropped after his injury. Bonds only problem is being injury prone, but if he's fit our team is twice the cricket team we are without him.
James Franklin-has ability with both the bat and ball, but has a habit of being incredibly inconsistent. Franklin is a swing bowler bowling at low 130s. If the pitch doesnt suit him he is very easy to score off. Relies on green pitches with lots of swing. Franklin isn't economical and it is rare for him to go for less than 50 runs off ten overs. Franklin has talent with the bat and is a good batsmen down the order. He has scored a test century against the Proteas, and won us a ODI recently against SL with a very mature innings of 45* coming in at number 8.
Peter Fulton-2 metre Peter is his nickname due to his height, Fulton is a decent batsman who is pretty new at the international stage. Fulton is yet to impose himself in our team but has showed promise. Fulton is good at pulling and hooking but is weak at balls pitched outside offstump.
Mark Gillespie-a new face in our squad, our current series against Sri Lanka is Gillespies first taste of international cricket. Is still to adjust to international cricket but Ive been very excited from what Ive seen so far, Gillespie is a genuine pace bowler who bowls around the 145 mark, and looks like the person to partner Bond opening the bowling.
Hamish Marshall-still manages to retain his place even though he looks out of depth at international cricket at the moment. With Mcullum batting up the order Marshall is vying for the specialist number 7 role, and he is good at prodding the ball around and picking off the ones and twos., but is not a boundary hitter. Marshall has a big problem with foot movement.
Michael Mason-Mason has been the best domestic bowler for donkies years but has yet to transfer that form to the international stage. Mason has the best line and length out of all our bowlers but is not as fast and as potent as Bond. Starting to show some promise, and picked up 4-24 last week in the 3rd ODI against SL.
Brendon Mcullum (wk) Mcullum is in my opinion the best glovesman in the world. He is very agile and acrobatic, very good at standing up at the wicket and has a very quick thinking mind. In our team he is just as important as Bond in taking wickets. Batting wise Mcullum is a very aggressive batsman who in the last couple of years was the best number 7/8 batsman in world cricket, as he was able to finish off innings very well. He is a very quick runner between the wickets, so also scores a lot of ones and twos. He seems to find the boundary almost effortlessly, and is very inventive. Mcullum has been boosted up the innings to open with Fleming for this series, as we try out a few combos for the World Cup, but in my opinion should stay down the order because he is a match winner at lower down.
Craig McMillian-yet another recall for Macca. NZ’s ,most hated cricketer, McMillian gets another recall on the basis of losing weight and good domestic form. McMillian will be very determined in this series with a point to prove as he trys to force his way into the team for the world cup. The talent is all there for McMillian yet he has this horrible inconsistency and cannot be relied on to keep his wicket. Macca is an aggresive batsmen and is coming in at number 6 to finish off the innings.
Jeetan Patel-probaly a unheard of name for most of you, Patel is our back up spinner. Patel is a very good offspinner and with all things considered, is one of the top five bowlers in our country and should really be in our starting eleven. However because he is not flash with the bat and we are a team very reluctant to play more than one spinner (as we already have one of the best in the world), he often gets overlooked. However when he does play he always impresses, bowls very good line and is very accurate, and picks up quite a lot of wickets, and is defintley another player to watch out for when playing.
Ross Taylor-NZ’s future for international cricket. Taylor is only 22 yet should have been in the team a few years ago. Taylor is a brilliant batsmen, and in his 3rd ODI scored an unbeaten 128. Taylor, an old boy from my highschool, is an aggressive batsman who comes in at number 3 or 4. Doesn’t have any real weakness in his game aside from a few footwork issues and the obvious; experience, and will only get better. Taylor is good down the wicket and through the covers, and even better square of the wicket. No boundary is too small for Taylor, Ross has great strength and finds the boundary with ease. Defintley one to keep an eye out for.
Daniel Vettori-In my opinion New Zealands best cricketer. A brilliant bowler and good batsman (ranked 4th in world cricket allrounders), with a very good understanding of the game, Vettori is pretty close to a complete cricketer. Easily the world’s best left handed spinner, Vettori is the only player Australia really fear, and don’t know how to beat. Vettori is a brilliant slow left armer who changes his flight and speed very effectively. Vettori wins matches for us not by taking wickets, but by coming in the middle of the innings and going for no more than 35. What. Vettori is an underrated batsman and although he has this homemade style of batting, he has the knack of finding of finding the gaps in the field and is very effective lower down the innings. Vettori has an incredible batting record in the test arena for a number 8/9 batsman, ( averages 25 with 13 50’s and 2 centuries) and a decent record in the ODI game (averages 15 with 3 50’s). Vettori was recentley tried as a number 5 batsman in the SL series which didn’t pay off, and will return to the lower order for this series. As I mentioned, Vettori has a very good understanding of the game and is our vice captain. What you guys might find worrying to an extent, is that although he’s been around for an age, he is only 27 and has got another 10 years of cricket in him at least.
The NZ squad has just been announced, which I thought I would give you a quick run down of:
Stephen Fleming(c)-one of my favourite players, a brilliant and elegant strokemaker who is one of the best batsmen in the world. He's in a bit of a bad patch of form but he always bounces back, and he is also a fantastic captain and a good tactitian of the game. Has the ability to anchor an innings very well.
Andre Adams-Will play a few games as a bowling allrounder. Hes been around a while now and has got a recall on the back of some good domestic form. His bowling is average medium pacers and he is a fourth change bowler. Can also be very expensive, but is a wicket taker. Batting Wise the guy has a strike rate of over a hundred and has the ability to come in and score a quick 30, although he looked a bit rusty in the Sri Lankan series.
Nathan Astle-Used to be one of the best one day batsmen in the world, Astle is an aggressive batsman who loves playing square of the wicket, which can also be his downfall. Astle either scores a high score and we win, or he gets out in the first few overs either being caught from cutting at point or behind, or chopping it onto his stumps. Astle will most probaly be coming in at number 3 to accomodate Fleming and Mcullum, which is a pity because he is much better at the top of the innings.
Shane Bond-One of the best bowlers in international cricket, Bond is the spearhead of our attack and can rip through any lineup. Bond bowls with genuine pace and swing, with a brilliant yorker. He bowls upto the 150 mark, although his pace has dropped after his injury. Bonds only problem is being injury prone, but if he's fit our team is twice the cricket team we are without him.
James Franklin-has ability with both the bat and ball, but has a habit of being incredibly inconsistent. Franklin is a swing bowler bowling at low 130s. If the pitch doesnt suit him he is very easy to score off. Relies on green pitches with lots of swing. Franklin isn't economical and it is rare for him to go for less than 50 runs off ten overs. Franklin has talent with the bat and is a good batsmen down the order. He has scored a test century against the Proteas, and won us a ODI recently against SL with a very mature innings of 45* coming in at number 8.
Peter Fulton-2 metre Peter is his nickname due to his height, Fulton is a decent batsman who is pretty new at the international stage. Fulton is yet to impose himself in our team but has showed promise. Fulton is good at pulling and hooking but is weak at balls pitched outside offstump.
Mark Gillespie-a new face in our squad, our current series against Sri Lanka is Gillespies first taste of international cricket. Is still to adjust to international cricket but Ive been very excited from what Ive seen so far, Gillespie is a genuine pace bowler who bowls around the 145 mark, and looks like the person to partner Bond opening the bowling.
Hamish Marshall-still manages to retain his place even though he looks out of depth at international cricket at the moment. With Mcullum batting up the order Marshall is vying for the specialist number 7 role, and he is good at prodding the ball around and picking off the ones and twos., but is not a boundary hitter. Marshall has a big problem with foot movement.
Michael Mason-Mason has been the best domestic bowler for donkies years but has yet to transfer that form to the international stage. Mason has the best line and length out of all our bowlers but is not as fast and as potent as Bond. Starting to show some promise, and picked up 4-24 last week in the 3rd ODI against SL.
Brendon Mcullum (wk) Mcullum is in my opinion the best glovesman in the world. He is very agile and acrobatic, very good at standing up at the wicket and has a very quick thinking mind. In our team he is just as important as Bond in taking wickets. Batting wise Mcullum is a very aggressive batsman who in the last couple of years was the best number 7/8 batsman in world cricket, as he was able to finish off innings very well. He is a very quick runner between the wickets, so also scores a lot of ones and twos. He seems to find the boundary almost effortlessly, and is very inventive. Mcullum has been boosted up the innings to open with Fleming for this series, as we try out a few combos for the World Cup, but in my opinion should stay down the order because he is a match winner at lower down.
Craig McMillian-yet another recall for Macca. NZ’s ,most hated cricketer, McMillian gets another recall on the basis of losing weight and good domestic form. McMillian will be very determined in this series with a point to prove as he trys to force his way into the team for the world cup. The talent is all there for McMillian yet he has this horrible inconsistency and cannot be relied on to keep his wicket. Macca is an aggresive batsmen and is coming in at number 6 to finish off the innings.
Jeetan Patel-probaly a unheard of name for most of you, Patel is our back up spinner. Patel is a very good offspinner and with all things considered, is one of the top five bowlers in our country and should really be in our starting eleven. However because he is not flash with the bat and we are a team very reluctant to play more than one spinner (as we already have one of the best in the world), he often gets overlooked. However when he does play he always impresses, bowls very good line and is very accurate, and picks up quite a lot of wickets, and is defintley another player to watch out for when playing.
Ross Taylor-NZ’s future for international cricket. Taylor is only 22 yet should have been in the team a few years ago. Taylor is a brilliant batsmen, and in his 3rd ODI scored an unbeaten 128. Taylor, an old boy from my highschool, is an aggressive batsman who comes in at number 3 or 4. Doesn’t have any real weakness in his game aside from a few footwork issues and the obvious; experience, and will only get better. Taylor is good down the wicket and through the covers, and even better square of the wicket. No boundary is too small for Taylor, Ross has great strength and finds the boundary with ease. Defintley one to keep an eye out for.
Daniel Vettori-In my opinion New Zealands best cricketer. A brilliant bowler and good batsman (ranked 4th in world cricket allrounders), with a very good understanding of the game, Vettori is pretty close to a complete cricketer. Easily the world’s best left handed spinner, Vettori is the only player Australia really fear, and don’t know how to beat. Vettori is a brilliant slow left armer who changes his flight and speed very effectively. Vettori wins matches for us not by taking wickets, but by coming in the middle of the innings and going for no more than 35. What. Vettori is an underrated batsman and although he has this homemade style of batting, he has the knack of finding of finding the gaps in the field and is very effective lower down the innings. Vettori has an incredible batting record in the test arena for a number 8/9 batsman, ( averages 25 with 13 50’s and 2 centuries) and a decent record in the ODI game (averages 15 with 3 50’s). Vettori was recentley tried as a number 5 batsman in the SL series which didn’t pay off, and will return to the lower order for this series. As I mentioned, Vettori has a very good understanding of the game and is our vice captain. What you guys might find worrying to an extent, is that although he’s been around for an age, he is only 27 and has got another 10 years of cricket in him at least.
. Today, NZ plays Australia. My prediction, A shock win for the Black caps who chase down a good score in the vacinity of 270-280 with Fleming showing the class batsman he is with a score in the 80s