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How the hell did Southee get 35 at a strike rate of 56? 156 I could understand, he loves a tonk. Maybe learning patience in his later years.
 
How the hell did Southee get 35 at a strike rate of 56? 156 I could understand, he loves a tonk. Maybe learning patience in his later years.
They had the field back offering easy singles expecting the spinners to do the damage. To Southee and Jamieson's credit they accepted the gift rather than being rash.

This is a good test match in fair conditions.
 
I really do blame Stead here. They've known since 2018 this group would age at the same time
Weve never been great at succession planning. Stems all the way back to when the 80s mob all finished. Then Flemings crew all finished around the same time, now this lot.....and the rebuild when u dont have a lot of depth is hard.

Ravindra shouldve played here for sure (somewhere in the top 4) and should be given locked in assurances for our next few series at least.

Feel sorry for Sodhi (and Patel) as the only way a spinner gets better is to play consistently......and he's never had that.

Really hope that when its Adi Ashoks time they manage him right.....id be giving him a go sooner rather than later.
 
Wickets can fall in a heap for Bangladesh. We should have hope of restricting them still

If the wicket does not fall apart then a measured chase of 300 is more than possible

Much more than that and it starts to become difficult
 
The first three overs after tea suggested that the batters have given up hope of batting this out.

Reverse sweeps, sweeps & slogs!
 
Sodhi can't be selected for the second test. And we need to blood new players in the next two years. Pop gun bowling, good on the Bangers - showing the worth of cultivating real spinners
 
A lot of criticism for the batting is valid. Latham is not under threat but dreadfully out of form.

Nicholls I'm sure has played his last test. He rightfully got first shot after his previous innings 200* but his record in the past 3 years is atrocious.

Considering Phillips has been the pick of the spinners, Ravi for Nicholls is a simple swap for test 2.

All that being said, my big concern is the bowling. Our two specilaist spinners have taken less than half the wickets between them and gone at 4 RPO - that is suicide in the sub-continent.

Wags in for Sodhi is my pick

1. Latham
2. Conway
3. Williamson
4. Ravindra
5. Mitchell
6. Phillips
7. Blundell
8. Jamieson
9. Wagner
10. Southee
11. Patel
 
A lot of criticism for the batting is valid. Latham is not under threat but dreadfully out of form.

Nicholls I'm sure has played his last test. He rightfully got first shot after his previous innings 200* but his record in the past 3 years is atrocious.

Considering Phillips has been the pick of the spinners, Ravi for Nicholls is a simple swap for test 2.

All that being said, my big concern is the bowling. Our two specilaist spinners have taken less than half the wickets between them and gone at 4 RPO - that is suicide in the sub-continent.

Wags in for Sodhi is my pick

1. Latham
2. Conway
3. Williamson
4. Ravindra
5. Mitchell
6. Phillips
7. Blundell
8. Jamieson
9. Wagner
10. Southee
11. Patel
Can't fault your thinking. This side has suffered from lack of cricket over the Covid period. The bowlers looked disinterested at times at the WC. The fire wasn't there. When you look at how many tests the other countries play you have to ask why are we always underdone?
 
Interesting the seamers did great with holding the rate, when Philips is your top wicket taker you’ve got issues

Feels like spinners are the ones taking wickets still, maybe just keep Ish in there to see if he can really improve when given the chance to persist. Or debunk that theory after the series

Though Rachin could replace him too, batting spinner, but what’s with those left handers not called Ravindra, atrocious batting

My gut feeling is Stead will keep the same team since we always improve a lot in the second test

Are they playing 2 or 3?
 
My gut feeling is Stead will keep the same team since we always improve a lot in the second test
Is there a problem with the coaching? Our batsmen seem to have gone backwards in a lot of areas and quite a few who used to be top performers are horribly out of form. This last test looked like many weren't up to putting the hard graft in.
 
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Is there a problem with the coaching? Our batsmen seem to have gone backwards in a lot of areas and quite a few who used to be top performers are horribly out of form. This last test looked like many weren't up to putting the hard graft in.

Can understand Conway and Latham still playing ODIs, what’s up with Nichols lol

Think Ronchi is the batting coach? Maybe we need to give Ross a call

I like our bowling coach but he doesn’t get enough youths to work with, hope we get a good replacement coming in

Even Scott Kuggle had potential and pace, apparently he’s dominating at domestic level now, but he’s like 32 or something lol, too old for the next World Cup cycle
 
Is there a problem with the coaching? Our batsmen seem to have gone backwards in a lot of areas and quite a few who used to be top performers are horribly out of form. This last test looked like many weren't up to putting the hard graft in.
Stead. His staff, his four years. We've gone hugely backwards in all areas in Test Cricket.
 
These guys have been playing a congested schedule in the sub-continent since September. They must be bloody exhausted.

As for our decline. NZ has been playing tests for almost 100 years now, and only twice have we had a truly competitive generation. It is what it is, you can't just magic up test quality cricketers. That was a great test match, and Bangladesh are becoming extremely difficult to beat at home.

A win would have been nice, players are certainly out of form. Latham looks like he needs some down time to refresh for our summer. I'd play Wagner and Ravindra for Sodhi and Nicholls
 
These guys have been playing a congested schedule in the sub-continent since September. They must be bloody exhausted.

As for our decline. NZ has been playing tests for almost 100 years now, and only twice have we had a truly competitive generation. It is what it is, you can't just magic up test quality cricketers. That was a great test match, and Bangladesh are becoming extremely difficult to beat at home.

A win would have been nice, players are certainly out of form. Latham looks like he needs some down time to refresh for our summer. I'd play Wagner and Ravindra for Sodhi and Nicholls
You can, with the foresight nz cricket has e.g. LOOKING AT THEIR DATES OF BIRTH :) know that a number of players will be getting to the end of their careers at the same time, and begin succession planning at least 5 years out e.g. 2018

Instead (no pun intended) there is no plan, just a stead(they somehow keep coming)y decline

You can't magic them up, correct. But you can build and develop and blood early.

And our focus on T20 has been to the detriment of all other cricket
 
You can, with the foresight nz cricket has e.g. LOOKING AT THEIR DATES OF BIRTH :) know that a number of players will be getting to the end of their careers at the same time, and begin succession planning at least 5 years out e.g. 2018

Instead (no pun intended) there is no plan, just a stead(they somehow keep coming)y decline

You can't magic them up, correct. But you can build and develop and blood early.

And our focus on T20 has been to the detriment of all other cricket
It is a double-edged sword. Squads only carry 14, and we have had a golden age of actually being in positions to win tournaments, test series etc through top shelf, experienced cricketers. I don't blame the selectors for trying to prolong that window for as long as possible. Within that 14 Ravindra has been part of the setup for several years. They backed the wrong horse (it seems) in giving Allen a long run, but it was the right idea. Despite their age Mitchell and Conway are newcomers, and you wouldn't turn your back on them for youth given their calibre. This is no different to other dominant nations in the past. Australia could have left Warner, Hazlewood and Starc out for this Cup on recent form in favour of youth, but that loss of experience might have yielded a far different result.

If they had genuine bowling potential waiting in the wings, I truly believe they would have included and spent time developing it. The NZA tours are still a feature of our calendar, but there will usually be a shallow talent pool in NZ.

The head scratchers for me have been the inclusion of a player like Tickner ahead of youth. They dropped the ball on that one.

This transition was always going to be an ugly one, it will be interesting to see what happens next. I think that the end of this World Cup will have been set aside for the start of a shift to new horizons.

Unfortunately, the focus on T20 is a worldwide plague. We've just had a WC built for those exact players too.
 
Gary Stead has been very reluctant to tinker with the batting lineup in his time as coach in the red ball format, but he just has to move on from Nichols.
Now is the time for Rachin
 
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