Greetings from Beige Brigade headquarters in deepest, darkest Karori - a part of New Zealand's capital city that is allegedly the largest suburb in the southern hemisphere. It’s lovely to be with you as the new bloke on Different Strokes.
I put my hairy neck on the line before a ball was bowled in the current battle between the team with a firm grip on the wooden spoon in the half-baked Reliance Mobile Test Championship, and another side in the doldrums of the pecking order and just two spots above.
I still honestly thought New Zealand would swagger across to the People's Republic of Bangladesh, a land of rice and reckless batsmen, and destroy them. And I put it in print, albeit masquerading as the intimate and unspoken thoughts of the New Zealand captain.
But the Bangladashis have played pretty well, and the Black Caps (who wear a uniform that might be dark blue) have been a little less than ordinary. The defeat in the one-dayer to start the series was certainly ignominious, and the win completed in the last 24 hours is my nomination for the most painful New Zealand victory in our history of Test cricket.
If I was fair and took off my Ray-Bans to run a few numbers through the abacus, comparing the Test records of the Tigers and the Kiwis man-for-man is a surprisingly sobering task, even for a Beige Brigadier surrounded by amber liquid of various sorts, and theoretically wallowing in a rare New Zealand Test victory.
Witness an analysis using HowSTAT's "team comparison" function, a lick of my own gut feel from watching the grinding series on the gogglebox, and a dash of jiggery pokery.
Redmond v Tamim: These forward defensive addicts have both had less than 10 innings in Test cricket – but Tamim averages 25.33 to Redmond's 19.00. Bangladesh 1, NZ 0.
How v Siddique: Jamie H has this one for New Zealand. The Bengali may have peaked in the one-dayers but with just six runs in the Test, and a total batting existence of just 14 balls. B 1, NZ 1.
Ryder v Saleh: The ‘Deshi is a veteran compared to the media magnet frame of Jesse Ryder. By the end of their respective careers, the Kiwi will have a greater impact on the cricket scene than his rival - but not yet. I'm copping out - this one's a draw. B 1, NZ 1.
Taylor v Ashraful: Another mismatch in size and appetite - Ashraful plays the million-dollar shot relentlessly, but it only comes off one in a million times. Taylor's been below-par with 21 runs in the test but that is 19 more than his rival. B 1, NZ 2.
Flynn vs Mehrab: Both have demonstrated more grit than the Sahara Desert at times during the series, but this one is Mehrab's at present - his average is a couple of lazy digits better than the young Kiwi left-hander and he scored more runs in the Test. B 2, NZ 2.
McCullum vs Mushfiqur: It is McCullum by miles on paper, but he appears to have been taking batting lessons from the Bangladesh captain over the past few weeks - and he received the worst lbw decision in the history of the game yesterday. The rumour this South Island property magnate is distracted by a looming real estate slump in NZ is probably unfair, but he's had his own little slump this week. B 3, NZ 2.
Oram vs Naeem: Big Jacob Oram should snare the allrounder war, although a quirk of statistics sees recent debutant Naeem with a better bowling average after snaring the scalp of Flynn this week. Both were less than effective with the bat. It's a painful draw. B 3, NZ 2.
Vettori vs Shakib: The best No. 8 batsman and left-arm spinner in the history of Test cricket grabs this one after an unbelievable performance, although the Tiger representative was on the hairy shoulder of the bespectacled Italian with both bat and ball in this match. B3, NZ 3.
Mills v Mortaza: Mortaza by a whisker - 1/50 vs 1/101 in the Test. The heat is obviously getting to the New Zealander who was in a permanent state of perspiration/exasperation at Chittagong. B4, NZ 3.
Patel vs Razzak: Razzak might have been the only Bangladeshi to make the IPL but his Test record is ordinary at best. Wellington's finest claims this one with his 4/120 trumping Razzak's 4/144 match figures. B 4, NZ 4.
O'Brien vs Shahadat: Unfashionable but reliable - the NZ skipper is using O'Brien (famous for looking like Dr Cox from the sit-com Scrubs) as his “banker” in Test matches these days. And he’s delivering with determination in spades. The Kiwi has the edge of the honest toilers here and tips the scales in the Black Caps’ favour by a freckle. B 4, NZ 5.
Posted by: Jarrod Potter at October 22, 2008 2:12 PM
Whilst Vettori is the best No.8, I don't expect him to remain there for much longer.
Imagine him batting at 5 or 6 permanently. Look how he batted at No.3 with batsmen around him to make a spectacular 70. Give him people he can bat with, and bowlers to support him from the other end, and he could become Hadlee-esque.
Posted by: Dan B at October 22, 2008 3:16 PM
First of all, as a U.S. Beige Brigadier and cricket tragic, glad to see you over here, Paul.
Now what about Tim-may!? I was hoping to see him in this test series but I suppose he's not going to replace Mills, O'Brien was about as effective as you could hope for, and two spinners certainly seems the way to go in Bangla. You think we've got any chance at seeing Southee in the next test?
Posted by: Samir Chopra at October 22, 2008 9:08 PM
Welcome Paul. Good to see a Kiwi on DS.
Posted by: Greevis at October 22, 2008 10:15 PM
Great to see the Sideline Slogger on Cricinfo. Bizzarely, he seems to have changed allegiances from Holden to Ford though?
Posted by: Warnesie at October 22, 2008 10:46 PM
Welcome aboard Paul, and congratulations on a great first article.
Even though I am an Aussie, (and man, oh man is it gonna hurt to say this...) I quite enjoy reading NZ cricket articles. There seems to be a wit and a style particular to Kiwis - and I like it.
Now, if only we could get you Kiwi lads to write about our guys...
Cheers mate, keep up the good work.
Posted by: Bullet at October 23, 2008 12:29 AM
Don't worry Warnesie - I'm sure there'll plenty written by Kiwi cricket scribes in the coming months about your boys, as we front up across the ditch.
Great fist article Paul, nice to see some one-on-one comparisons. I can only hope that the 2nd test yields a more comprehensive result for the Kiwis, both on the field and in exercises like this.
Posted by: Iqbal at October 23, 2008 1:54 AM
Enjoyed reading your article ...you should have been really here Paul to soak in the drama !
Posted by: Beige Baby at October 23, 2008 6:55 AM
"Holden" on stuff, and "Ford" on cricinfo...Yeah, what's with that?
Anyway, good to see you here in the big bad world. Good luck mate
Posted by: obi wan kenobi at October 23, 2008 8:11 AM
Great article, funny and perhaps one of the few articles i've read without bias-waiting to read your next article
Posted by: Plow at October 23, 2008 10:15 AM
Nice way to get off the mark Paul, a dab in the gap for an easy couple with a quick pause for a coldie at the non strikers end.
It was an excellent read, keepine the fun in cricket... just as it should be.
Look forward to your next one.
Posted by: Reg Corres at October 23, 2008 10:20 AM
Welcome aboard Paul. It is good to see Cricinfo bring a bit of colour (even it is a slightly beigey one) onto the site. I look forward to reading your next article on Different Strokes. All the best.
Reg
Posted by: Andrew at October 23, 2008 11:00 AM
He is better than any of our current specialist batsmen. If only our batsmen could actually bat.
Posted by: budgie at October 27, 2008 11:05 AM
can we bring back Michael Owens or Murphy Sua??? I think they would make all the difference... Maybe Grant Bradburn and go in with three world class spinners...
Samir Chopra lives in Brooklyn and teaches Computer Science and Philosophy at the City University of New York; his academic interests include the philosophical foundations of artificial intelligence and the politics of technology. In his third undergraduate year, he captained Mathematics in the departmental cricket competition (and lost to Chemistry in the first round). Samir played C-grade cricket in Sydney and makes guest appearances for his old club when possible (and desirable). Samir runs the blog Eye on Cricket and the cricket page at The Faster Times.
Paul Ford is a co-founder of the New Zealand cricket supporters' cult, the Beige Brigade. He was once described by a current New Zealand cricketer as "looking spastic" even mucking about with an Excalibur and a tennis ball in the backyard. Paul bowls right-armed Nathan Astlesque "nudes", his batting would make Ewen Chatfield look elegant, and he is a committed fielder. He sometimes grows a beard to hide his double chin and inhabits a periphery of cricket that Cricinfo is proud to be glimpsing through this blog.
Stephen Gelb grew up in Cape Town, a short walk from the beautiful Newlands ground. Always a better student of the game than player, his passion for cricket survived eight years as a student in Canada, where he learned to love baseball too. He lives in Johannesburg doing economic research at The EDGE Institute and teaching at Wits University.
Mike Holmans, a database consultant by profession, has spent thirty summers (and a few winters) going to the cricket. Brought up in one and working in the other, his dearest wish is for a season to end with Yorkshire winning the county championship by beating runners-up Middlesex by one wicket with five minutes to go. If it’s also a summer when England win the Ashes, so much the better.
Born in Colombo, educated at Oxford and now living in Brisbane - Michael Jeh (Fox) is a cricket lover with a global perspective on the game. An Oxford Blue who played first-class cricket, he is a Playing Member of the MCC and still plays grade cricket. His views on cricket might best be described as those of a "modern traditionalist". Michael now works closely with elite athletes in his job as a manager at Griffith University in Queensland.
Saad Shafqat takes special pride that his cricket-watching life began during the three-month interval between Javed Miandad's debut Test in Lahore and Imran Khan's 12-wicket haul at Sydney. Although a practicing neurologist based in Karachi, cricket has never been far from his activities. He has co-authored Javed Miandad’s autobiography Cutting Edge and has been a contributor to Cricinfo since 2005. His regular column Reverse Swing appears fortnightly in Dawn, Pakistan’s leading English daily.
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