Trans Tasman Predictions

I can remember the time New Zealand last held the Trans Tasman Trophy, which is another way of saying I'm starting to feel old. It was a series in which Border broke Gavaskar's record, Danny Morrison proved a difficult opposition on home pitches, John Wright was winding up his test career, and current kiwi coach Mark Greatbatch traded verbals with Merv Hughes.

It's all been one-way traffic since, and the current NZ test side don't look likely to reverse that trend even though the Aussies are a shadow of what the were a couple of years ago. I suppose the one thing in NZ's favour, assuming such elements do exist, is that this series is being played out in relative anonymity. With the IPL taking center stage, there are few takers for this series, and pretty much everyone believes the result to be a foregone conclusion; the perfect environment for a side which thrives on the underdog tag! It's just a pity their lineup appears even weaker than the one which drew 1-1 with Pakistan last November.

NZ of course aren't helping their cause with some questionable selections. Peter Ingram has been written off at number three, but the reason I'm puzzled with his selection is that the lineup is already chock-full of strokemakers; perhaps anchorman Daniel Flynn could've been recalled. Mathew Sinclair is on standby, and while his record against Australia is dire, his experience present a case for his inclusion. I'd also play Jeetan Patel ahead of Brent Arnel, but only for the sake of variety.

A post by Andrew earlier in the week offered predictions for the series, and if you've followed NZ cricket in recent times you'll end up agreeing with most of them. To add to his list, here are some of my own:

- Tim McIntosh will score one laboured half-century, and (almost) nothing else in his other outings with the bat.
- Shane Watson will continue his rich vein of form with the bat, condemning Philip Hughes to an extended stay on the sidelines.
- Mitchell Johnson will win at least one MoM award.
- Ross Taylor will top NZ's batting averages, but not fulfill his wish to score a century.
- Jeetan Patel will play in one test, bowl "extremely well without luck" early on, and then be taken to the cleaners.
- Michael Clarke will eventually be sledged at.
- NZ will manage to bowl Australia out for a sub-250 total once, but the batsmen will botch things up in the reply.
- Brendon McCullum will manage one 80-odd score batting with the tail, hitting out desperately before he runs out of partners.

As for the series scoreline, one draw would be most welcome. Australia don't do draws, so I'll call it a 1-0 win to them with one game curtailed by weather.