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May 11, 2008
Posted 2 days, 19 hours ago in New Zealand cricket
New Zealand aren't blessed with an array of world-class cricketers and begin the series against England as distinct second favourites. However, in Ross Taylor they have a batsman capable of forging an successful career and the top level. He already has a Test century against England, 120 in Hamilton, and produced some powerful hitting in the Indian Premier League.
In The Sunday Telegraph, Scyld Berry profiles Taylor and why he goes against the mould of many New Zealanders.
Blessed with a role model in Taylor, New Zealand can now spread cricket far more quickly among the one-third of their population which is not of European ancestry. To date, out of the handful of non-white Test cricketers they have had, only the wicketkeeper on their last tour of England, Adam Parore, can be said to have had a fair go.
Posted 2 days, 23 hours ago in New Zealand cricket
Sir Richard Hadlee, New Zealand's greatest player, tells the Observer's's Will Buckley that Test cricket should never be compromised by the shorter versions. He also talks about New Zealand's forthcoming series against England.
'The players we have are more suited to one-day cricket. We have made five World Cup semi-finals and the Twenty20 semi-finals. Tactically we are pretty good in the one-day game. We believe we can go and win. But in Test cricket we are inconsistent. You have to bat time, not overs, in Test cricket, whereas in the one-day game you bat overs, not time. We might score well in the first innings, but then be bowled out for a paltry score in the second innings. We may surprise, but England are hot favourites.
Mark Richardson, writing in the Herald on Sunday, is also not very optimistic about New Zealand’s prospects against England and thinks their best chance of winning a Test is at Lord’s.
John Bracewell has repeatedly called the current tour the second part of a six-match series and right now I can't see anything other than 5-1.
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One thing the team can draw strength from is that England doesn't have a particularly dominant record at the venue for the first test, Lord's. That can be put down to the motivating effect the occasion has on touring teams.
May 5, 2008
Posted 1 week, 2 days ago in New Zealand cricket
Stephen Brenkley in the Independent assesses New Zealand’s chances in England, with a side bolstered by the return of their five players who were competing in the IPL.
Now they are fully assembled, it is still not a prospect to float many boats. No doubt this is grossly unfair - and it may also play straight into the tourists' hands - but to think of New Zealand cricket is to think of an afternoon in dullsville.
May 4, 2008
Posted 1 week, 2 days ago in New Zealand cricket
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Brendon McCullum played fly-half for his schoolboy representative side
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| Steve James, writing in the Telegraph, reveals how Brendon McCullum, before making his name in cricket, once got selected over a future rugby legend while in school. Click here for the full interview.
We knew Brendon McCullum was talented. And now we discover he once kept Dan Carter out of a schoolboy rugby representative side. For the South Island secondary schools team McCullum played fly-half (or first five-eighth as New Zealanders prefer) and Carter came off the bench to appear on the wing.
In case you aren't aware, Carter, the All Black fly-half, is God's representative on a rugby field. He is that good, and McCullum was once deemed better. Wow.
James contends that McCullum is now in the big league…
He is the story right now. One felt sorry for Daniel Vettori at New Zealand's press conference in deepest Essex last week. After the bog-standard top table stuff where Vettori spoke with customary common-sense, the New Zealand captain was then left waiting alone in a corner, fiddling with his mobile phone while journalists surrounded McCullum, hanging on his every word. McCullum had better get used to it. There will never be another Adam Gilchrist but McCullum is now a pretty exciting alternative
The series against New Zealand will be Peter Moores' second home season as coach of England. He talks to Mike Selvey on the year gone by and the IPL. Read on in the Guardian.
You can imagine Peter Moores on The Apprentice. In fact you can imagine him winning The Apprentice. He is personable (not that that appears a necessary quality), diligent, wonderfully well-organised, enthusiastic, intelligent, innovative, ruthless where necessary, speaks management lingo as a first language and is such a dyed-in-the-wool optimist that he could find a positive at the bottom end of a Duracell.
April 27, 2008
Posted 2 weeks, 2 days ago in New Zealand cricket
Former New Zealand batsman Mark Richardson does not want New Zealand to head to Pakistan for their three-ODI series. In the New Zealand Herald he writes:
If Pakistan is to host the ICC Champions Trophy, then a three-match, one-day international series between New Zealand and Pakistan in Pakistan just prior to the tournament makes perfect sense - except for the fact that Pakistan should not be hosting the Champions Trophy and New Zealand should not tour there right now.
April 13, 2008
Posted on 04/13/2008 in New Zealand cricket
As New Zealand search desperately for international-standard players, the omission of Chris Martin from the one-day squad to tour England is odd, writes Dylan Cleaver in the Herald on Sunday.
No, he can't bat, and you wouldn't stake your life on him under a steepler, but he's a better fielder than Gillespie and not far behind Mason. Neither of those two are threatening allrounder status with the bat either, though Gillespie will always be remembered after fluking some runs in that epic Chappell-Hadlee run chase last year.
Martin's dumping is a nonsense; it's just a shame it is only his team-mates and not the selectors who recognise that.
April 5, 2008
Posted on 04/05/2008 in New Zealand cricket
Mark Richardson, writing in the Herald on Sunday, says the dumping of Matthew Bell and Mathew Sinclair from the England tour shows runs at domestic level are not enough to earn Test selection.
In fairness, Sinclair was given every opportunity to regain his early international form but showed he is not the player he was in 1999. So the selectors were able to ignore his good return for Central Districts again and his quite outstanding domestic record.
Bell, on the other hand, would have stimulated more debate. In 1998, Bell was selected on potential then dropped. In 2000 he earned his place back on sheer volume of runs and was dropped again. At the start of this year, he again showed top domestic form and gained re-selection then ended the year being dropped.
In the same paper Paul Lewis looks at Aaron Redmond, New Zealand’s latest addition. Redmond’s father Rodney posted a hundred and a half-century on debut and never played again.
April 2, 2008
Posted on 04/02/2008 in New Zealand cricket
On Monday New Zealand will name their squad to tour England and in the Waikato Times, Ian Anderson looks at how few options the selectors have.
This season's programme has shown us we don't have 15 players who can automatically make claims for Test squad selection. We have ten then it's a scramble for the remaining spots. Batting is the major achilles heel – there's still no definitive opening combination and the top six has more obvious holes than a hastily-invented alibi.
March 26, 2008
Posted on 03/26/2008 in New Zealand cricket
It's headache time for New Zealand's selectors as they look for batsmen who will prosper in England next month, David Leggat writes in the New Zealand Herald. After losing 2-1 to England on Wednesday, New Zealand have some quick decisions to make before the return bout.
Top of the priorities will be sorting out a collection of batsmen who can not only survive but succeed in demanding early-season conditions in England. Stephen Fleming won't be there to nursemaid players along. Mathew Sinclair is unlikely to make it after having five tests to cement his place and failing to take it.
Chris Barclay, writing for NZPA, believes Ross Taylor offers a glimmer of hope for the post-Fleming era.
Tim Southee, who smashed 77 not out off 40 balls to end the third Test, is the subject of the Herald’s cartoonist Rod Emmerson.
March 25, 2008
Posted on 03/25/2008 in New Zealand cricket
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Why is he retiring?
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A fine farewell didn't mask the fact that Stephen Fleming still has plenty to offer New Zealand, despite retiring from international cricket,says Vic Marks in his blog on the Guardian website.
Why is he retiring? There have been some explanations: he would have preferred to remain as captain of the Test team; the move to Daniel Vettori may have hastened his departure. He has burgeoning business ambitions, a two-year-old daughter, a baby on the way, and a contract with the IPL. Yet he goes leaving us puzzled. He is not past his peak and in this era no Englishman, Aussie or Indian retires before their powers are manifestly in decline.
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Fleming, Shane Bond, Scott Styris, Lou Vincent have already opted for Twenty20 riches, whether in the approved IPL or the "rogue" ICL, all of whom might have been touring England in May but have chosen not to. There is also the complication of Daniel Vettori, Jacob Oram, Brendon McCullum, Kyle Mills and Ross Taylor going to play in India before the tour of England. An ugly compromise will be hatched between New Zealand's board and their leading cricketers over when they arrive in the UK.
March 23, 2008
Posted on 03/23/2008 in New Zealand cricket
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It is his elegance and grace with the bat that should, hopefully, be long remembered with extreme fondness
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Stephen Fleming could leave the ball with more style than most batsmen muster with a strike, says Chris Rattue in the New Zealand Herald. He's particularly unimpressed by the buzz surrounding Fleming's quest to average over 40 in Test cricket.
It's been obvious for years that Fleming's career would fall short of expectations if it needed to be judged by numbers, that his above-average talent would not be reflected in the averages column.
The last batsman to go out with so much emphasis on his average was Don Bradman, and that WAS important. In contrast, 40 is virtually a non-event as a benchmark in world cricket, even if Fleming's departure has seen it drummed up as mildly significant here.
Fleming's game was about far more than numbers or even captaincy, over which he is lauded by some and politely clapped by others.
It is his elegance and grace with the bat that should, hopefully, be long remembered with extreme fondness. It might be a long time before we produce another player to relish watching on this score.
March 22, 2008
Posted on 03/22/2008 in New Zealand cricket
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Stephen Fleming: A giant imprint on New Zealand cricket?
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Stephen Fleming wasn't a prolific compiler of big scores, he wasn't a great converter of starts, he wasn't able to thrust himself from the ranks of very good batsmen to the greats, but has any other New Zealand player left a greater legacy? For answers, read Dylan Cleaver's article in the Herald on Sunday.
Fleming's imprint on cricket in this country has been massive. Forget the fact he has been New Zealand's best, if under-achieving, batsman for a decade and think bigger picture. He took on the captaincy of a team at 23, a team rife with cliques, factions and ordinary cricketers.
In the same newspaper, Mark Richardson is excited after watching Tim Southee bowl on day one of the Napier Test.
Don Cameron pays tribute to Merv Wallace, who died aged 91 on Friday.
March 16, 2008
Posted on 03/16/2008 in New Zealand cricket
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James Anderson: England first, Auckland next
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Don't blame Auckland Cricket and Auckland coach Mark O'Donnell for James Anderson's bowling heroics on day two of the current test match, writes Mark Richardson in the New Zealand Herald.
If you want to blame someone, blame New Zealand Cricket- if you want to absolve the NZ top order of any responsibility. To leave O'Donnell carrying the can is too simplistic. What recent events have shown is a lack of cohesion between NZC and the provinces.
There will be a game within a game when New Zealand meets England this week in Napier in what is shaping as the series decider, writes Dylan Cleaver in the same newspaper.
The IPL continues to be a point of discussion. Paul Lewis, in the same paper, says, in terms of sporting endeavour and prestige, the IPL is to cricket what diarrhoea is to dodgy curry houses - an unfortunate by-product.
Richard Boock has some thoughts in the Sunday Star Times. "First it was burnout - deemed the crime of the century until the players saw the colour of India's money," he writes. "Now it's test match preparation. Overrated apparently. Not needed at all, if you listen to the New Zealand captain. If it wasn't so nauseatingly transparent it would be funny.
March 14, 2008
Posted on 03/14/2008 in New Zealand cricket
A cluster of post-lunch wickets in Wellington suggested WG Grace was wrong when he famously advised against ever bowling first, says Vic Marks, in the Guardian, on the first day's play between England and New Zealand in Wellington.
Five down and here we go again. Yet England don't always bow to the inevitable, either. And it was a new, fresh face that arrested the decline. Tim Ambrose came out and played without paranoia, as he did for Sussex, as he does for Warwickshire. He had the effrontery to hit Oram for two boundaries, doubling the number the big man has conceded in the series. The pitch was sleeping again. Was Vettori right to bowl? What's a good score? Er ... I'll tell you in two or three days' time.
"Short men are handy cutters and pullers sometimes as well, and [Tim] Ambrose is no exception. Little chance was missed to slash square or chop down to third-man. An occasional one went over the slips," says Mike Selvey on Ambrose's 97 which helped stem England's top-order collapse.
March 12, 2008
Posted on 03/12/2008 in New Zealand cricket
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Kyle Mills, along with Chris Martin, forms New Zealand's new-ball attack now that Shane Bond has signed for the ICL
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Some predictions for the second Test in Wellington from Sideline Slogger Paul Holden:
Stuart Broad coming in for Steve Harmison who fails a medical examination: his heart appears to be missing. Broad will be cited for verbal abuse at some point as well, despite being something of a babyface.
Ian Bell to score 100 and lift his Test match shirt to reveal an “I’m 100% Ginger And Proud Of It” tattoo on his belly, having visited a Cuba St parlour the night before. New Zealand’s only ever red-headed international cricketer erupts from the Basin bank to congratulate him. Who is it?
In the New Zealand Herald Chris Barclay writes that the post-Shane Bond era has started smoothly with New Zealand's new-ball attack - Chris Martin and Kyle Mills - revelling in their new found Test cricket responsibilities.
Dominion Post's Jonathan Millmow believes Jamie How's second crack at international cricket is proving more successful than his first and were they to call for nominations today for the country's most improved batsman he would be top of everyone's list.
Posted on 03/12/2008 in New Zealand cricket
"Whether it is a wind of change, helping England's team to blow hot rather than cold, or just a 60 miles per hour buster screaming through the Cook Straits, a cricket match in Wellington tends to test a team's aerodynamics as much as their mettle," writes Derek Pringle in the Daily Telegraph.
Richard Hadlee also says that the strong wind will be a factor in the second Test.
It is difficult for batsmen, bowlers and fielders to combat, and the constant wind gusts are very off-putting for bowlers in their delivery stride, batsmen picking up their bats in the back lift, and fielders trying to catch a swirling ball. There may be the odd still day but one thing is for sure, somehow the wind will play its part during the game as the ground is unprotected. The cold, southerly wind from the sea blows hard from mid-off to fine leg. The northerly wind, although usually warmer, blows from mid-on to third man. Swing bowlers often prosper, but someone has to bowl into it possibly for 20 overs in a day, which in itself is very energy-sapping exercise.
March 11, 2008
Posted on 03/11/2008 in New Zealand cricket
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Mike Selvey: 'Should Harmison be dropped, what should be done with him? Unless injuries crept into the squad, it would signal the end of his tour, and perhaps at the age of just 29 the end of his Test career.'
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"There have been a lot of amazing wins in between - The Oval 1999, Brisbane
1986 to name two - but the thing that connects Sunday’s amazing scenes with Headingley was that this was a team effort," writes Hamish McDouall about New Zealand's victory in Hamilton on Stuff.co.nz.
"We [England] are only 15 Tests away from an Ashes series and we don't even look like competing with Australia, never mind beating them," writes Geoffrey Boycott in the Daily Telegraph. "We seem to have learnt nothing from last winter's Australia debacle where we lacked preparation and commitment for the battle."
"Most pressing when the talking heads gather will be the fate of Steve Harmison, who has cut a forlorn figure and not just with the ball in his hand," says Mike Selvey in the Guardian. "Fundamentally Harmison is a decent, honest man, so it is genuinely saddening to see what is happening to him. No one can doubt that he tries and yet nothing is happening. He is finding fast bowling like wading through treacle."
After all the discussions, they may want to keep Harmison in the team on the premise that historically he does tend to get better as a series progresses. That, however, is no basis for his retention, although the decision might be easier if there were players hammering on the door and demanding inclusion. As it is, James Anderson came out of his match for Auckland with an innings defeat and not many wickets, and Stuart Broad is working hard on fundamental flaws in his action, which is hardly a resounding testament for his inclusion. Those who think he has pace like fire are misguided too: he is deceptively slow.
Angus Fraser writes in the Independent that "England cannot go into tomorrow night's second Test in Wellington with the same team as that comprehensively beaten by New Zealand on Sunday."
March 10, 2008
Posted on 03/10/2008 in New Zealand cricket
Overjoyed by the victory of 'the worst team in 40 years' over England, Paul Holden analyses the Hamilton Test in his blog the Sideline Slogger.
Let’s reflect on what brought England to its knees at Hamilton. I think it was a combination of momentum, clear leadership and sheer determination. We thundered into this Test match on the back of a one-day series win, with a captain leading the way and at the top of his game.
By contrast, England has a mish-mash of captaincy options. Collingwood steps aside for Vaughan while the ever-present chirper Kevin Pietersen is hard to ignore. He thought he was the captain in the one-dayers so presumably he throws his rand’s worth around in the Test match dressing room as well. KP may not be the asset to his captains that KP thinks he is.
Also listen to the Beige Brigade's podcast on 'Thumping Poms in the Tron'.
New Zealand Herald's Chris Rattue writes that what was supposed to be a very good English team with Ashes-winning strains have been embarrassed by a melting pot of promise stirred by a couple of clever veterans in Daniel Vettori and Stephen Fleming.
The Seddon Park groundsman is celebrating as hard as the New Zealand team. "I am rapt," he tells the Waikato Times.
March 8, 2008
Posted on 03/08/2008 in New Zealand cricket
While England and Australia are sufficiently rich to keep their players at home, New Zealand and the West Indies can't hope to match the sums bandied about by the Indians, writes Geoff Cumming in the New Zealand Herald.
Until the Indian leagues came along, smash-and-bash cricket was dismissed as a garish hybrid to be used sparingly - a couple of games to whet fans' appetites at the start of a tour. Suddenly, it threatens one-day (50-over) cricket's role as the sport's money-spinner. Conceivably, cricket could go the way of sports like soccer and, increasingly, rugby - dominated by club/franchise competitions with few opportunities for meaningful international competition outside a world cup every four years.
March 7, 2008
Posted on 03/07/2008 in New Zealand cricket
"The music is a giveaway," writes David Leggat in the New Zealand Herald. "You replace the rock/grunge/pop at decibels designed to prevent conversation with the more sedate soft folk/gentle pop/string quartet sounds which lend themselves to reclining on the grass bank, indulging in the odd nap."
Between December 2006 and January 4 this year, New Zealand did not have a single Test at home. The focus was strictly on the ODI game in preparation for last year's World Cup in the Caribbean. It got New Zealand their customary semi-final finish. With due respect to Bangladesh: England are here, the ODIs are done and the real game is back with us. There's a proportion of the cricket public who'll yawn and get back to life's realities. For others this is what they've been waiting, well, years for: a true test of a cricketer's worth.
England played 11 Tests last year, including seven at home and Simon Wilde, the Times correspondent, is counting down the days to the end of this slow Test. He believes with Twenty20 taking control of everyone's thinking, it is hard to recallibrate the mind to the subtleties and tempo of a five-day marathon.
The Guardian's Vic Marks thinks if Lalit Modi, the chairman of Indian Premier League, had been at the Hamilton Test, he would have kept his cheque-book in his pocket.
February 27, 2008
Posted on 02/27/2008 in New Zealand cricket
Mike Selvey in his blog on The Guardian website ponders Jesse Ryder, a man locals describe as an accident waiting to happen.
Ryder, the fat boy made good in a sport where the levels of fitness required are now considerable, became an instant hero. A Test place beckoned for he played the ball late, technically better than a mere beefy biffer. A bit like Marcus Trescothick thought some. Then, in the Stock Exchange bar in Christchurch, he blew it.
On Monday, Ryder was paraded for the media, arm heavily in a sling, and the sight of his sad, bloated face mumbling out his prepared statement of contrition was genuinely one of pathos. Clearly he was embarrassed, although it was hard to tell if this was because of the deed or the public exposure.
Ryder drinks heavily after games but does so beforehand too. I asked one player about a report I'd heard that he was knocking back tequila slammers in the early hours before a Twenty20 international, and was told that this was the tip of the iceberg and by no means a one-off.
As might any young person who feels the need to drink to excess, often alone, into the small hours, Ryder needs help more than condemnation. This is not to suggest that efforts have not been made, because the cricket authorities of both Central Districts and Wellington have sought to help him, but he has not responded
February 16, 2008
Posted on 02/16/2008 in New Zealand cricket
Worried over the lack of worldbeaters in New Zealand? Well, Paul Lewis has a solution in the Herald on Sunday: Get Adam Parore to have a go at them, like he did at Jesse Ryder over his excess kilos, a move which apparently worked wonders. Parore has also congratulated the man whose selection he had questioned.
In the same paper, Mark Richardson deliberates over New Zealand's selection of Daniel Flynn in place of Paul Hitchcock.
February 15, 2008
Posted on 02/15/2008 in New Zealand cricket
Writing in the New Zealand Herald, Adam Parore offers his tributes to his former team-mate and skipper Stephen Fleming.
"There was a hard core of players in the New Zealand team, strong-minded individuals who needed some handling. Think of Chris Cairns, Dion Nash, Craig McMillan, Nathan Astle, Chris Harris and yours truly ... The couple of years preceding his appointment were turbulent. Things had been difficult when Glenn Turner was coach, but Fleming won the respect of the players."
Parore, who had earlier criticized the selection of Jesse Ryder, saying that international cricket has no place for fat men, offered his congratulations to the young man. " I tip my hat to Jesse Ryder. He copped plenty of flak from me, and others, when he was chosen to play England, but he came in and did exceptionally well in Hamilton. He took the criticism, kept his mouth shut and let his bat do his talking. It's not easy to go out and play in that manner in an ODI. Ryder gave a pretty strong response to those who'd doubted whether he was ready. Good luck to him."
February 11, 2008
Posted on 02/11/2008 in New Zealand cricket
Lou Vincent's battle with depression in modern sport is not just a one-off case in New Zealand, says Judi Clements, chief executive of the Mental Health Foundation. Clements reveals that an estimated 15% of elite athletes suffered from the condition. On the bright side, she adds that athletes are now more willing to talk about their problems rather than bottling it up inside. Read more in Sunday Star Times.
Clements said there was no doubt elite male athletes suffering from depression could find their testosterone-fuelled industry even more difficult to deal with, especially if they believed they needed to adhere to a certain role.
Posted on 02/11/2008 in New Zealand cricket
With all due congratulations to Daniel Vettori and New Zealand after rolling over England in Wellington, the match failed to stimulate the senses thanks to the lifeless drop-in pitch, writes Chris Rattue in the New Zealand Herald.
It is tempting to take the gloss off Saturday night's win by pointing to a pitch that was to cricket entertainment what William Shatner was to opera singing. It's also the sort of track that Kiwi trundlers of the Gavin Larsen ilk prosper on.
The banners were out at the Westpac Stadium, with Jesse Ryder's mates making the mickey out of him. But the man sportingly laughed it off. Read more in stuff.co.nz
Ryder, 23, is keen to shed the party-boy tag and be recognised for his cricket but you get the impression nothing would keep him awake at night, especially not his mates from over the hill pulling his leg.
February 10, 2008
Posted on 02/10/2008 in New Zealand cricket
The Herald on Sunday has reported that Stephen Fleming will call time on his international career next month, after the third Test against England in Napier.
Fleming's wife, Kelly, is expecting their second child in June, and there is also bound to be some lingering resentment at the way he was shunted out of the Test captaincy.
February 9, 2008
Posted on 02/09/2008 in New Zealand cricket
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Chris Martin: Why hasn't he played more for New Zealand?
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Despite New Zealand's resounding win in the first ODI against England, Mark Richardson attributes it to the visitors misreading the pitch and voices his concern over the future, especially in the wake of the IPL and ICL. He writes in the Herald on Sunday:
England look a very useful side but they completely misread the pitch and did not play well at all. The Black Caps won't think this was a bad pitch - they'll love it to death - but it is a portable or "drop-in" pitch and it clearly hadn't been in long enough to be termed a quality pitch.
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Young players like Tim Southee and Jesse Ryder coming through are great. They really are a glimpse of the future, but you wouldn't want to be playing any more than one or two of them in a side if you can help it.
Yet if more senior players are going to go to India, our lack of depth will be exposed again. We have to find a way to retain our senior and quality players.
In the same newspaper, Dylan Cleaver analyses the ills plaguing New Zealand cricket and points out the factors that have put the game in a crisis in the country.
Cleaver wonders why Chris Martin hasn't played a whole lot of matches for New Zealand.
Okay, so he wouldn't be able to stake a claim as a specialist batsman in the Ratapiko thirds, and his fielding will never be compared favourably to Jonty Rhodes, or possibly even Wilfred Rhodes, but the boy can bowl.
Martin is 33 and yesterday was just his 16th ODI. Given New Zealand's lack of international class players that's a ridiculously low total.
He also says that Jesse Ryder is heading for cult status. Ryder's weight has been a point of debate of late, with a few having expressed doubts while others backed the player who made his ODI debut on Saturday.
Posted on 02/09/2008 in Twenty20
Chris Rattue, writing in the New Zealand Herald, asks whether Twenty20 is all it is cracked up to be.
Is Twenty20 really a salvation for a game that is struggling in some old strongholds, offering a thrilling new road ahead. Or is it sporting candy, a rush of excitement that invites a subsequent and depressing lull?
Twenty20 is here to stay. But what about in two years' time, or five years, or 50 years? And might Twenty20 cricket devour the game which gave it life? Or could it be a flash in the pan, a glitzy newcomer whose charms quickly wear thin and leave a ghetto behind especially with the rich Indian leagues threatening to drag the world's best players to their extravaganzas?
Posted on 02/09/2008 in New Zealand cricket
Two of Jesse Ryder's biggest supporters will be cheering on from afar as he opens another chapter in his rollercoaster life story, his one-day debut. One is Aaron Klee, chairman of Ryder's Naenae Old Boys club, and the other is his grandfather. Read more in stuff.co.nz
Says Klee: "I was texting Jesse before and he was asking if I'll be watching, and I said I'd have to go and find a pub somewhere to watch it.
Meanwhile, Jesse Ryder, in an interview in the New Zealand Herald, responds to Adam Parore's statement that fat men have no place in the modern game.
I'm not fussed with what he had to say - he wasn't an angel himself was he? It was easy to ignore. I'm a chilled-out sort of guy and not much fazes me. I've heard it all before mate. I'm still working hard on the fitness. It is an issue. Getting fitter can't hurt my game.
February 6, 2008
Posted on 02/06/2008 in New Zealand cricket
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Jesse Ryder scored 22 and claimed a wicket on his Twenty20 debut
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| Jesse Ryder, the New Zealand batsman who was criticised by former international Adam Parore for being too fat, has found support from Hamish McDouall, who takes on Parore in his blog Googlies and Grass Stains.
When Ryder was selected a couple of weeks ago Adam Parore launched. Ryder had a bad attitude and was too fat. Parore invoked portly Jock Edwards and David Boon as examples of players who would not be selected in today’s fitness-conscious environment.
On the bad-attitude charge it was surely a case of the pot dropping a line to the kettle to indicate the kettle was of darker hue. In the first few years of his international career Parore was a disaster zone in pads - the kind of player who should have klaxons sounding when he walked into a dressing room.
As for Ryder being too corpulent, I say if you’re good enough you’re thin enough. Parore after all played alongside Craig McMillan, a fairly large chap, for half his career, and played against the likes of Inzamam and Merv Hughes, neither of whom regularly ignored a pie-warmer. Shane Warne was never trim the entirety of his career, and is the greatest player of our generation. Parore, at his peak, had a wonderfully sculpted body - I know, I saw it when he took off his shirt in a bar in the West Indies trying to impress some American medical students. Chat-up lines clearly weren’t his thing. But why come out swinging at Jesse Ryder? Why not let Ryder do the swinging?
The New Zealand Herald's David Leggat feels that Ryder answered his critics with a brisk 22 and a wicket on his Twenty20 debut against England
Meanwhile, Paul Holden, in his blog Sideline Slogger, pokes fun at England's Twenty20 squad in an article titled 'A slogger's guide to England'.
February 5, 2008
Posted on 02/05/2008 in New Zealand cricket
Scott Styris' retirement from Tests may have weakened New Zealand's batting but England will do well to watch out for Jacob Oram, writes Scyld Berry in the Telegraph. Oram will remind England of Andrew Flintoff, a player in a similar mould, though unfortunately ruled out of the tour with persistant injury problems.
The pair have played against each other since Under-19 level, and Flintoff always had the edge because of his superior bowling - but not any more. Oram, you would think, is one of those New Zealanders who grew up in the countryside carrying a sheep under each arm and playing rugby.
February 2, 2008
Posted on 02/02/2008 in New Zealand cricket
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Jesse Ryder's girth does not find favour with Adam Parore
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| Adam Parore, the former New Zealand gloveman, expresses his unhappiness over the selection of Jesse Ryder, the 23-year-old left-hand batsman, into the national ODI squad. His column in the New Zealand Herald has more.
For a start, the way Ryder presents himself is a bad sign.He's too fat. He's in no fit state to play for New Zealand and if I was still in the national side, I wouldn't want him in my dressing room.
He claims to have lost 10kg, in which case you can only wonder what shape he was in before that. This selection sends a poor message to other players. There is an implication that fitness parameters only apply to some players.
The days of picking Jock Edwards-types are over. Or David Boon, the tubby Tasmanian, for that matter. Boon was a fine batsman, and an exception to the rule. But those guys are the dinosaurs and have no place in the modern international game.
Then you consider Ryder's off-field track record, his problems with discipline and alcohol. He says they're in the past and good luck to him, but I wouldn't have him there until he'd tidied his act up physically for a start.
January 26, 2008
Posted on 01/26/2008 in New Zealand cricket
The Shane Bond-Indian Cricket League saga has gone quiet of late, which Adam Parore in the Weekend Herald sees as a positive sign that he might still play in the upcoming series against England.
Whether he plays will doubtless come down to the wording of his contract. From my experience his contract is unlikely to say "you can't sign" for an unsanctioned competition, more likely "you can't play in an unsanctioned event while contracted to New Zealand Cricket". Obviously he is not playing for an opposition league yet and until he turns up he will not be in breach of anything. To prevent him playing or even to leave him out of selection because he has signed to go elsewhere after his NZC contract has expired will be seen as a clear restraint of trade.
In the Press, Geoff Longley takes a look at the man with one of the toughest jobs in cricket at the moment - John Hansen, the New Zealand judge who will hear the appeal over Harbhajan Singh's three-Test ban.
January 16, 2008
Posted on 01/16/2008 in New Zealand cricket
"Wellington is supposed to be the sport's spiritual home in New Zealand," writes Tony Smith on stuff.co.nz. "We are constantly being told that the Basin Reserve is the consummate cricket venue. Yet how strong is the interest when only 4000 fans can be bothered going to the Basin on a sunny summer's Sunday to watch the rout of bumbling, fumbling Bangladesh? The Black Caps' mediocrity must take some of the blame."
January 6, 2008
Posted on 01/06/2008 in New Zealand cricket
Dylan Cleaver writes in the Herald on Sunday that the Shane Bond-ICL saga is proving just how much sway the Indian board has over New Zealand Cricket.
For all intents and purposes, they are playing puppeteer while NZC jiggles. This, apparently, is the brave new world of New Zealand Cricket - where we become a subsidiary of the BCCI. That chiselling sound is the engravers at NZC's offices, changing the brass-plate from New Zealand Cricket to Board of Cricket Control India, New Zealand Division.
In the Sunday News, Craig McMillan chats about his experience in the ICL this year.
"Neither have actually been sanctioned by the ICC. It seems to be something that people have run with and not corrected. The IPL has only been sanctioned by the BCCI and the last time I looked they weren't the governing body of world cricket. While NZ Cricket is very eager to do as the Indian Cricket Board says, it should be careful it doesn't devalue the international game by putting out a weakened team."
NZC must also be careful how it handles its players, according to Mark Richardson, who writes in the Herald on Sunday that Scott Styris can rightly feel aggrieved to be dropped from the Test team.
December 30, 2007
Posted on 12/30/2007 in New Zealand cricket
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What the team Daniel Vettori leads out to face Bangladesh look like?
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New Zealand’s team for their Test series against Bangladesh is announced on Monday and Dylan Cleaver in the New Zealand Herald believes the selectors will play it safe but urges them not to:
After a fraught selection meeting in Sydney during the midst of New Zealand's disastrous twin tours of South Africa and Australia the talk was of possible changes, of a new beginning in the five-day game. Now it appears a few cheap one-day runs and wickets against over-matched minnows will be enough to retain a status quo. The selectors will decide that it would be a mistake to make wholesale changes. However, with a test team that is so obviously failing every time it comes up against decent opposition, the biggest mistake is surely to sit back and do nothing.
In the same paper, Adam Parore has much the same view, but offers an interesting insight into how his first game back with the gloves after five years went. He also reports that Sky’s banning of New Zealand’s coach John Bracewell has delighted Bracewell “as he has better things to do with his time.” Parore has the solution.
Continue reading "Time to be bold and brave"
December 23, 2007
Posted on 12/23/2007 in New Zealand cricket
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Coach John Bracewell has drawn criticism for New Zealand's string of poor performances
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"Andre Adams is the dominant force in first-class cricket at the moment and, with Shane Bond injured, the best seamer in the country [New Zealand]," writes Dylan Cleaver in the Herald on Sunday.
"It is fair enough to express disappointment and concern from the last few months' proceedings but it is unfair to judge them [New Zealand] solely on the past couple of months," says Mark Richardson in the Herald on Sunday.
The losses in Australia were bad and we would all like to see a better showing against the best. That showing will only come about if the players are prepared to take a good look at themselves with enough realistic self-assessment to sting them into action. I'm not saying they need to try harder or show more ticker or any of those other emotionally based, uneducated cliches; but what I am saying is that they need to be stung into a course of action that will enable them to raise their games to a level whereby they can play their best cricket more consistently.
"John Bracewell's attempts to stir up the Australians were an illustration of how low New Zealand cricket has sunk at the moment," says Paul Lewis.
"Not for the first time, Canterbury batsman Peter Fulton has been primed for a trouble-shooting role this time in a New Zealand batting line-up that has shown all the reliability of an Auckland bus," says Richard Boock in the Sunday Star Times.
Also in the Sunday Star Times, Michael Donaldson says, "If New Zealand were winning you could forgive John Bracewell his eccentricities. But the team is losing and Bracewell has now taken enough rope."
December 22, 2007
Posted on 12/22/2007 in New Zealand cricket
"Those who take Daniel Vettori at face value have him all wrong," writes David Leggat in the New Zealand Herald. "The New Zealand captain is amiable, polite and well spoken. When he made the national side at 17 he could have been confused for a choir boy. But those assuming his mild demeanour translates to a gentle-minded leader, reluctant to speak his mind, should think again. Vettori displayed a firm and forthright tongue during New Zealand's poor Chappell-Hadlee Trophy campaign in Australia."
David Leggat also outlines five things we learnt about New Zealand from their 0-2 defeat in the Chappell-Hadlee series.
"The Gilchrist affair was damaging to the New Zealand team's culture, and was disappointing because it was a completely meaningless distraction," says Adam Parore.
Posted on 12/22/2007 in New Zealand cricket
The decision to appoint him captain hasn't been a hit at all, and there's not a whole lot to smile about if you're a New Zealand cricketer, but Daniel Vettori says he has enjoyed his role on the field. Talking to the New Zealand Herald's David Leggat, Vettori puts team before individual and hopes to savour some better days in cricket.
December 18, 2007
Posted on 12/18/2007 in New Zealand cricket
Paul Holden, writing in his stuff.co.nz blog, salutes John Bracewell, a veritable humanheadline.
August 2003 - On meeting Stephen Fleming: “[It] left the hairs standing up on the back of my neck. He had a real presence or mana about him which needs to be respected and used to the best advantage.”
Meanwhile Hamish McDouall feels New Zealand need a bowler to tie up one end, to slow down the pace of scoring, to nick out a slashing batsman.
December 16, 2007
Posted on 12/16/2007 in New Zealand cricket
Daniel Vettori and Ross Taylor weren’t fans of being miked up for the Twenty20 in Perth last Tuesday. Both players were surprised by how much the Nine team called upon them for commentary throughout the game, though the Australians didn’t appear to be bothered. Read the full story in the New Zealand Herald.
November 24, 2007
Posted on 11/24/2007 in New Zealand cricket
John Wright, set to take over from Ric Charlesworth as New Zealand Cricket's high performance manager, looks ahead to his new role, the frustration at being overlooked last month as a national selector and the talented players to look out for. In an indepth interview to Jonathan Millmow in stuff.co.nz, Wright explains why struggling players like Michael Papps and Craig Cumming should be persisted with.
"I know Bruce Edgar and I were averaging in the mid 20s for the first 20 Tests of our careers but we were stuck with and backed and then we repaid them.You have to have specialists and they have to want to open the batting and you have to give them a chance, but having said that, if we are to get better at Test cricket then we have to solve that situation."
November 17, 2007
Posted on 11/17/2007 in New Zealand cricket
Even as Chris Martin zeroes in on records, Paul Holden, writing in the stuff.co.nz website, tracks the men who can bat ahead of Martin at the list of all-time Black Cap lower-order batting battlers.
November 14, 2007
Posted on 11/14/2007 in New Zealand cricket
'On Monday I wrote that Mathew Sinclair should be in the test team', writes Hamish McDouall in the stuff website. 'Two days and 243 runs later, the rest of the country agrees.'
Sinclair has been a nearly man for half a decade. His absence from the test team, considering three big test hundreds, another two ODI centuries and 11 international 50s, seems inexplicable when players like Papps, How, Cumming, Fulton and any number of Marshalls have been preferred.
Also read Paul Holden's blog in the same website writing on the naffest cricket merchandise…ever.
Meanwhile the saga that is Shane Bond's cricket career continues, says Sam Worthington in the Dominion Post. Bond touches down in Christchurch today after being invalided out of yet another tour.
November 13, 2007
Posted on 11/13/2007 in New Zealand cricket
Andre Nel intrigues me, writes Paul Holden in his stuff.co.nz website blog, Sideline Slogger.
If South African journalist Telford Vice reckons Scott Styris is cricket’s version of Banquo’s ghost, then in “Nella” we just might have gone one better and discovered the sport’s Shakespeare.
The beleaguered Black Caps can expect no respite from the short-pitched bowling barrage by South Africa's speedsters in the second cricket test at Centurion, writes Geoff Longley in the Press.
Meanwhile the New Zealand Herald are conducting a reader's poll. Is this New Zealand's worst ever sporting year? Read the selection of comments here.
November 12, 2007
Posted on 11/12/2007 in New Zealand cricket
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'Poor batting technique. Balsa wood bodies. This raises two key questions – how is John Bracewell improving batting skills and fitness?'
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In the Stuff.co.nz, Paul Holden, a New Zealand fan, writes on the cricket commentary on the wireless in South Africa.
Meanwhile, here in Aotearoa, we’ve never had a female cricket commentator, as far as I can recall. It is total man-land on both RadioSport and Sky’s cricket commentary teams with no cricket commentary suffragettes on the horizon either. Possibilities from the ranks of those of the fairer sex who have pledged their allegiance to cricket at one time or another would include effective actress Jodie Rimmer, bespectacled Basin-loving politician Marian Hobbs or the voluptuous talkback host Kerre Woodham .
Hamish McDouall dissects New Zealand's woeful performance in the first Test against South Africa.
Exactly half Michael Papps‘ test innings have finished in single figures. Apart from providing a funny nickname (“Smear”) and a ridiculous haircut, what does he offer that Lou Vincent or Matthew Sinclair doesn’t? I think it is time to take the puppy out the back and shoot it. Craig Cumming’s vaunted technique against quick bowlers looked overstated in the face of superb Protea bowling.
Poor batting technique. Balsa wood bodies. This raises two key questions – how is John Bracewell improving batting skills and fitness? (After all, we don’t need finely tuned athletes, just blokes who can turn up for work…) And what the hell is High Performance Manager Ric Charlesworth actually doing?
November 4, 2007
Posted on 11/04/2007 in New Zealand cricket
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Laptops have become a mainstay of the coach's armoury
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John Morrison, the former New Zealand batsman, has attacked the modern culture of over-analysis (which was mentioned yesterday by Nathan Astle) and criticised New Zealand’s inability to think on their feet.
"I'm always worried when I go to a ground and see cricket coaches poring over laptops but the problem is, now if you say anything to the contrary you're called old and out of touch.
So instead we've created this industry of extras around the team who have to justify their existence by taking any decisions or responsibilities away from the players.
"So we've got this mollycoddled generation of sportsmen who might be great athletes but who have lost all ability to think for themselves.
Read the full piece at the New Zealand Herald, and check out John’s website.
November 3, 2007
Posted on 11/03/2007 in New Zealand cricket
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Nathan Astle made the revelations in his recently published autobiography
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New Zealand's cricketers run a form of "personality training" whereby the team are split up into groups to describe eachother, according to Richard Boock in the Sunday Star Times.
This is the much-trumpeted forum that as told in Nathan Astle's just released autobiography includes a session in which each player has to leave the room while the rest of side break into groups and dream up adjectives to best describe him, and a few things they believe he should try to brush up on.
Apparently the brainchild of a former Australian school teacher, the supposed aim is to improve the relationship-dynamics between the players, therefore imbuing the squad with a greater sense of trust and, as a consequence, helping to achieve more success on the playing field. That's the aim, anyway.
However, if you talk to Astle who describes it as personality training (not a long way from attempted brain-washing) or any number of genuine conflict-management specialists, they'll tell you it's an astonishingly naive system, lacking in any academic appraisal and with the potential to cause more damage than benefit.
[...]
It's true, Imran Khan was arrogant, Ian Botham was irresponsible and Javed Miandad was dangerously intemperate but I can't recall any complaints about the quality of their performance. Same goes for Shane Warne. He wouldn't have won any prizes for balanced thinking, but do you think his team-mates cared?
Maybe you only have these quack-fests when you have a struggling team.
November 2, 2007
Posted on 11/02/2007 in New Zealand cricket
In the past Chris Martin didn't always seem to be taking his cricket seriously. But now he has a target of 200 Test wickets, he tells Jonathan Millmow of the Dominion Post.
Martin is ninth on the New Zealand test wicket charts with 106 scalps, but a successful return in the upcoming two-test series against South Africa would see him overtake Bruce Taylor (111) and Richard Collinge (116)
Nathan Astle is retired from international cricket but he still remains a sought-after player as various tournament organisers turn to him to wow crowds, writes Logan Savory in the Southland Times
Astle feels the atmosphere surrounding the Black Caps was claustrophobic and the game made too complicated. Read Geoff Longley's piece in the Press for more.
October 28, 2007
Posted on 10/28/2007 in New Zealand cricket
Chris Cairns analyses New Zealand's fast-bowling bench strength in the New Zealand Herald and introduces Hamish Bennett, a hope for the future.
Now built more like a reconditioned All Black forward than a fast bowler, Bennett's size and action has more than a passing resemblance to Englishman Steve Harmison - something not lost on Bennett's former age-grade team-mates who often referred to him as 'Harmy'.
Also read Richard Boock in the Sunday Star Times where he looks ahead to Daniel Vettori's first challenge as New Zealand Test captain.
Vettori, who will become the first front-line bowler since Harry Cave to be the country's fulltime test captain, can hardly wait for the Wanderers' match to arrive - despite the degree of difficulty expected. "I'm looking forward to it and I'll be trying to keep a fun element about it, even though we'll be deadly serious about trying to win."
October 26, 2007
Posted on 10/26/2007 in New Zealand cricket
Mathew Sinclair is not terribly disappointed with not being picked in New Zealand’s squad to tour South Africa. Speaking to stuff.co.nz, he says,
“I haven't played any cricket over the winter and, from a selection point of view, I had no recent form to back my claims.”
Sinclair indicated that the contract with New Zealand cricket had been a boon.
"That was a little lifesaver really and has given me some stability financially.”
In another story, Gareth Hopkins, who made the team, says that the time spent with Glenn Turner helped him mould his batting.
"I remember one day I was in the nets and I asked him `did you ever have a couple of options for a ball when you were attacking the bowling?' and he just looked at me and said `yes Hoppy, three or four.’"
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