I'll save a detailed report of my observations on the Black Caps' tour of Sri Lanka for later. But watching the ODI defeats to Sri Lanka and India at the Premadasa has left me - how shall I put it? - scared. Scared about NZ's continued prospects as an international side.
NZ had a lot going for them in those two games - their preferred 50 over format, the return of two frontline pacers to boster the bowling, a surface that was sluggish more than anything else, and a toss in their favour in the final game. It's hard to come to terms with such insipid batting, but it appears that the top order is comprised of luxury models who insist on doing 0 to 100 in 3 seconds every time, even on a busy street. Unfortunately, this is probably the best batting lineup in country, talent wise. Ross Taylor isn't consistent enough yet to be able to arrest the side every time the top three fail. Grant Elliott might be a likely candidate for "Least appealing cricketer", but on the evidence of the last two innings, he looks more likely to crack test cricket than his colleagues. The rest simply haven't shown the stomach for a fight. Have the flat wickets and small grounds at home spoiled them?
On another note, it's great to see Ashish Nehra leading the attack once more for India. While his place in the pecking order will become clearer once Zaheer Khan returns, such competition for fast bowling slots can only be good for the side. Amazingly, India now have four frontline left armers - Zaheer, Nehra, RP Singh and Irfan Pathan - in the national reckoning.
Top Cricket From The Second Tier
13 years ago
2 comments:
My erstwhile favourite team (other than India of course),
NZ is now an embarassment. Friends with long memories now rib me about the best "fighters". I now wish I can erase NZ cricket from my consciousness. Are there no fighters left in NZ?
When India toured NZ early this year, I thought it was merely the effect of losing players to ICL from a small pool. I appears now that the malaise runs deeper.
Thanks for the comment, adverbin. NZ are in a real hole, and though I agree it looks as though there are no fighters in the team, i'm hoping those qualities may be acquired with experience. Don't underestimate the effect of that exodus to the ICL; the crucial thing was that NZ lost a pool of its most experienced players around the same time - including a couple of 'developing players' like Lou Vincent and Hamish Marshall - and as a result we have a top order of whom Ross Taylor, 17 tests old, is the most capped. So there really hasn't been anyone for these youngsters to learn from.
Most disappointing for me, though, has been the continued under-performing of McCullum and Oram. These guys have been playing tests for 6-7 years now.
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