Black Caps v South Africa
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Squad
Southee
Blundell
Conway
Henry
Jamieson
Latham
Mitchell
O’Rourke
Phillips
Ravindra
Santner
Wagner
Williamson
YoungWell well, Henry Nichols dropped.
It’ll be interesting to see the mix they go with.
I’d be going with
Latham
Conway
Williamson
Mitchell
Phillips
Blundell
Ravindra
Jamieson
Henry
Southee
Wagner -
Surely we’re not picking Ravindra at 7 again….. he’s a bloody class opener and if we don’t give him the keys in the top 4 soon we may miss out on a bloody talented player
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- Tom Latham (or Conway)
- Rachin Ravindra
- Kane Williamson
- Daryl Mitchell
- Devon Conway (or Latham)
- Glenn Phillips
- Tom Blundell
- Kyle Jamieson
- Matt Henry
- Tim Southee
- Neil Wagner
Just pick Ravindra in his best position and make the tough decision now to move a horribly out of form Conway to a place that may be easier to score runs in anyway….
Having Ravindra and Phillips in the team means there’s less pressure on one of them to be the sole spinner. Can help with matchups too. Not ideal but it’s as good as we’ll get
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Latham will probably take the gloves in the First test With Blundells Hammy ,not good for a WK.
I think they will go with
Latham(wk)
Conway
Williamson
Mitchell
Phillips
Ravindra
Santner
Jamieson/O'Rourke. depending on how Jamieson gets through todays game.
Southee
Henry
Wagner -
@Yeahtheboys said in Black Caps v South Africa Tests:
- Tom Latham (or Conway)
- Rachin Ravindra
- Kane Williamson
- Daryl Mitchell
- Devon Conway (or Latham)
- Glenn Phillips
- Tom Blundell
- Kyle Jamieson
- Matt Henry
- Tim Southee
- Neil Wagner
Just pick Ravindra in his best position and make the tough decision now to move a horribly out of form Conway to a place that may be easier to score runs in anyway….
Having Ravindra and Phillips in the team means there’s less pressure on one of them to be the sole spinner. Can help with matchups too. Not ideal but it’s as good as we’ll get
I don't think myself Ravindra is a test opener, White ball yes but not in tests.
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Blundell is apparently under an injury cloud so could be missing the first test with Latham taking over, in which case it would make sense to move Latham down the order. If both Blundell plays and Ravindra plays too, I think Ravindra should at least bat ahead of him and maybe even bat at 5.
Phillips definitely deserves another test after his match winning performance in Bangladesh and should bat ahead of Blundell as well.
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@LABCAT said in Black Caps v South Africa Tests:
Blundell is apparently under an injury cloud so could be missing the first test with Latham taking over, in which case it would make sense to move Latham down the order.
In which case, Young probably comes in to open.
If everyone is fit, I think they'd pick Gunner's team - with Santner for Wags if they wanted to play a spinner (which they often don't). Interesting that Santner is in ahead of Ajaz.
They must be reasonably confident in Jamieson's fitness because O'Rourke is only named for the 2nd test squad.
I like this squad.
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@MN5 I think it's the right move. Give Ravindra the opportunity against a weak Saffa side and hopefully he can produce the goods.
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@Canes4life said in Black Caps v South Africa Tests:
@MN5 I think it's the right move. Give Ravindra the opportunity against a weak Saffa side and hopefully he can produce the goods and push for selection against the Aussies.
Nicholls test career over then ? Will be bloody hard for him to get in if Ravindra even does remotely well.
They obviously see the potential in Young too
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Big opportunity for Young. He needs to score heavily. So far I think he has underachieved and at his age I am not sure he will be given many more chances. He at least needs to show he is a better option than Nichols, something he has obviously failed to do so far.
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@Crazy-Horse said in Black Caps v South Africa Tests:
Big opportunity for Young. He needs to score heavily. So far I think he has underachieved and at his age I am not sure he will be given many more chances. He at least needs to show he is a better option than Nichols, something he has obviously failed to do so far.
I like the cut of Young’s gib. I hope he goes good.
If Nicholls career is indeed over it would be unusual in this day and age, most batsmen of recent vintage have bowed out on their own terms, last I can think of who hasn’t is maybe Jeet Ravel ?
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@MN5 said in Black Caps v South Africa Tests:
@Crazy-Horse said in Black Caps v South Africa Tests:
Big opportunity for Young. He needs to score heavily. So far I think he has underachieved and at his age I am not sure he will be given many more chances. He at least needs to show he is a better option than Nichols, something he has obviously failed to do so far.
I like the cut of Young’s gib. I hope he goes good.
Agreed. I like Young and I always think back a few years where he scored big in a series for NZ A, in Australia, against Aussie A who had, as I understood at the time, more than one of their first 11 bowlers. He was injured at the time too IIRC.
Ever since then I have been waiting for him to cement a spot. I hope now is his time.
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@Duluth said in Black Caps v South Africa Tests:
Anyone have an opinion on O'Rourke? How fast is he? Does he look like a long term option?
Hopefully.
Pretty handy first class record so far. Inexperienced but then again look at who he’ll be bowling against….
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@Duluth haven't seen him, cricinfo says this:
At well over six feet, he's among the tallest bowlers on the circuit. He has played for Canterbury and, with that height, he generates steep bounce. He can also touch speeds of 140kph.He's 6'4, so more Southee than Jamieson height.
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@Duluth said in Black Caps v South Africa Tests:
Anyone have an opinion on O'Rourke? How fast is he? Does he look like a long term option?
(he is only in for the second test, I'm not sure he will play at all)
I think he's definitely a long term option.
He's been looking close to test quality this season, IMO.
He was bowling mid 130ks in the ODIs. That is about 5kph slower than I thought he would have been based on watching him in domestics. But I recall one of this wicket-taking deliveries was 142 or 143 which is only time I saw hime break 140 according to the radar. But his rythym and effort levels look like that 135k appears 'effortless' and therefore can assume the consistency should be high (going forward). Watching him back in the U19s he used to fall over quite a lot after delivery (like Sears) with the amount of effort he seemed to be putting in to his pace.
The strength for O'Rourke is that his stock ball looks like it will be consistently threatening in test cricket. Tall and at 135k+, if you are putting that in the right areas you are going to be threatening. He doesn't have the more extreme elements of some of his comtemporaries challenging for upcoming spots (the inswinger of Foulkes, varieties of Smith, or top end pace of Sears). His is front-on bowling action and any swing he gets is inswing, so will be more threatening to left handers, especially when he comes around wicket,
