NZ v SA Test Series
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@MN5 said in NZ v SA Test Series:
Patel has taken one Michelle in 23 tests. He's also about 200 years old.
This ridiculous man love is beyond a joke and needs to stop now.
I struggle to see the point of playing him now, he's a better spinner than Santner, but he's not so much better it weighs out the player Santner could develop into. So if you can only play one it should be Santner
Same arguement with Ronchi & Broom
But I still think we mised out on one of our best spinners because of the way he was handled. And better judges than me are on board with that - Vaughan, Atherton, Agnew, Boycott etc have all been on the Patel train for years.
The other bit that I get pissed over is the sureal level of loathing against him a few years ago - especially re the SA tour, he never really under performed any worse than any number of players, yet he was always singled out for derision. Same way brain fades by some players over the years were let go - desperately defended in the case of some like Baz, but anything Taylor did that wasn't perfect cause a shitstorm.
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@gollum I struggle to see how Patel was mishandled, really. For most of his career he was our second best spinner, behind Vettori - so he only got to play when Danny was injured or the occasional time we needed two spinners. That's not mishandling - that's just bad luck for Jeetan.
I also don't think he's really been more severely lampooned than most other Black Caps. There's been very few who've escaped over the years, due to our general ineptitude and hence the punters' frustration with the team. Shane Bond and Kane Williamson among the few - for obvious reasons.
McCullum got years of derision on the fern, before finally winning most over at the end. The Baron pretty much gave up commenting on cricket threads because he reckoned the abuse of McCullum was way over the top (it was).
Anyway, Jeetan has finally removed Morkel and got his name in the wickets column.
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@gollum Sodhi wasn't as good vs Auckland at Eden Park according to the scorecard.
I went along to the first (and in fact only) night session in the ND-CD game as I was curious to see how the pink ball was under lights. When I arrived CD were 7 down and Sodhi had 6 of those wickets. He got one of the remaining 2 wickets and was troubling the lower order batsmen.
I'm not sure Hesson will pick him for Hamilton though even if it is a low and slow turner. Sodhi only seems to be used in white ball cricket for NZ.
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Patel's always seemed to me like the cricketing equivalent of someone who carves up in the NPC or Super 12/14/15/18, but for whatever reason can't take that same level of dominance up to the next/top level. Even if die-hard or prominent fans of that competition will forever sing their praises and say they should have been given more chances at the top.
The fewer the chances they get, the bigger the legend becomes, culminating in, say, Duane Monkley's status in the Waikato...
It's not about Patel being a bad or undeserving Test player, his test record just does very little to distinguish him from most international spinners, or even a few historical NZ ones. He has got a high calibre list of English backers there. Rightly or wrongly, I'd be more alarmed at what we missed out on if those names were prominent Indians, Pakistani's, or Stuart McGill though - outside of English conditions. (Shane Warne seems to fire from the hip a bit too quickly these days...)
Re: Taylor, for a player who will always deserve a discussion when talking about all time top NZ batsmen, people can be quick to fire shots at him. Especially given his Test record speaks for itself.
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@Donsteppa said in NZ v SA Test Series:
Patel's always seemed to me like the cricketing equivalent of someone who carves up in the NPC or Super 12/14/15/18, but for whatever reason can't take that same level of dominance up to the next/top level. Even if die-hard or prominent fans of that competition will forever sing their praises and say they should have been given more chances at the top.
The fewer the chances they get, the bigger the legend becomes, culminating in, say, Duane Monkley's status in the Waikato...
It's not about Patel being a bad or undeserving Test player, his test record just does very little to distinguish him from most international spinners, or even a few historical NZ ones. He has got a high calibre list of English backers there. Rightly or wrongly, I'd be more alarmed at what we missed out on if those names were prominent Indians, Pakistani's, or Stuart McGill though - outside of English conditions. (Shane Warne seems to fire from the hip a bit too quickly these days...)
Re: Taylor, for a player who will always deserve a discussion when talking about all time top NZ batsmen, people can be quick to fire shots at him. Especially given his Test record speaks for itself.
'His country record is outstanding blah blah blah'
Change the record boys, his test efforts are mediocre at best overall and that's what counts. The comparison to any number of NZ rugby battlers is very apt but Patels had 23 tests. More than enough to prove his mettle.
A comparison to Mark Ramprakash is appropriate ( county legend but pretty ordinary test cricketer )
Completely agree that Ross Taylor gets a hell of a lot of grief for a guy who would walk into any all time BC XI
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@Virgil said in NZ v SA Test Series:
So just when it looks like we have unearthed a 2nd decent test opener, the incumbent one whos been one of our best and most consistent batsmen in recent years falls into a heap!
Lathams form has deserted him just as we finally find him a decent partner.Keeping and opening in ODIs has really fucked him by the looks of things.
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Pretty dismal effort in the second innings, with only Raval and BJ coming out with much credit.
We've really been pasted here. Maharaj has eight wickets for the match and Duminy four.
Given the South Africans' supposed vulnerability to spin, that's not a good look.
