The Silver Fern

MCC agreed, that's why the dismissal was moved to the Run Out law to make it clear that it was the same as any other run out.

They were a bit average in the middle but Sri Lanka had a good start and finish, so 290 is a reasonable effort overall. Bit of scoreboard pressure on NZ - should be an interesting chase.

@MN5 Absolutely agree - time can give runs and 50s/100s to some degree (still need some level of quality to get selected and score runs, 50s and 100s), but it's very hard for top order batters to pad averages in the really long run.

@ACT-Crusader Can't remember if I've seen that particular interview but I've seen similar interviews where Akram says Crowe worked out how to play reverse swing quicker than anyone else, and how impressed he was with that.

I'm late as usual but excellent win today. Right call for Henry as player of the match with 4/19 off 10 - absolutely savage figures. Good on Young though, 90no is a solid day's work - score was enough that it could have been troublesome, and instead the BCs just blasted past it.

@MN5 said in NZ Cricket:

@Rapido said in NZ Cricket:

He's only 2 away from having the same as Crowe and Taylor combined (who have second and third most).

Can do the same exercise with Hadlee and 5-fers.

Paddles beats Vettori and Southee combined by one.

And played 86 tests compared to their combined 220 tests (113/107 respectively). Also bowled in 150 innings compared to their combined 377 innings (174/203 respectively).

@Bovidae said in NZR review:

Eight of the nine candidates were ratified. Rowena Davenport was not.

Update on New Zealand Rugby Board ratification process

Seems a bit random - any inside oil on why she wasn't ratified?

@MN5 and @Donsteppa for a cricket discussion, ideally while there's some good test cricket on.

After Southee gets a bat or otherwise 30 minutes before lunch tomorrow.

I think McCullum in an all time NZ Text XI is questionable as WK-batsman, but all time white ball XI isn't. Given this is an all format list, even ignoring T20Is (fair enough), McCullum is the best ever all format WK-batsman we've produced in that I think he's a lot better in ODIs than Watling, than Watling was better than McCullum in tests. If we had to send an all time XI to play tests and ODIs, say (so same XI for both), I think I'd pick McCullum over Watling as the all time keeper.

@MN5 Generally agree, as did the selectors since 'could make world XI' was a softer criterion - the stats highlighted in BMac's profile are first NZ test 300, fastest test 100 and first player to play 100 consecutive tests from debut along with the team culture under his captaincy.

BMac outlasted most of those players other than Gayle (2019), so there's possibly a time after Sehwag retired in 2013 when BMac would have been in contention for the other opener spot up until his retirement in 2016 (has a slightly better record than Warner in some of their overlapping years for example). Probably some other opener I've forgotten about though.

Also a phenomenal time for legendary WK-batsmen throughout BMac's career with Gilchrist, Sangakkara and AB DeVilliers all prominent, so he would have struggled to be first pick in that department whether as an opener or middle order dasher.

@MN5 said in Black Caps First Eleven for hall of fame.:

@antipodean said in Black Caps First Eleven for hall of fame.:

T20 play shouldn't qualify.

Indeed. It’s like choosing an All Black hall of fame and basing it on how a player went at sevens

If world cricket went to wholly separate series for T20 along the lines of rugby 7s, with 5 or 6 a side, maybe. Cricket doesn't do that though, so it's not really a fair comparison - sure, there are format specialists, but there is still plenty of player overlap between the formats at international level, particularly between ODIs and either Tests or T20.

Perhaps the point is more that T20 specialists aren't going to get far in an all-format selection where tests are always going to be weighted as most important and ODIs second, but T20 play might have something to offer as part of a balanced process.

Also, for the players in question (McCullum and Vettori), even if their T20 records were ignored, their ODI records were still phenomenal.

100+ applicants into 9 does rather leave some winnowing required.

Tough gig replacing a bunch of all-time NZ greats. We had the same 'joy' in the 1990s as well, particularly after the world cup.

@MN5 said in Black Caps First Eleven for hall of fame.:

@Godder said in Black Caps First Eleven for hall of fame.:

@MN5 Sir Paddles is still a viable selection for an all-time XI, where KW isn't currently although I suppose if he can score another 3,000 runs, he'd be getting close.

All time world XI ?

Yep, Paddles is an option.

Vettori and McCullum aren’t even certainties for an all time NZ XI if we’re being honest

Sorry, yes, all-time World XI.

Disagree about Vettori and McCullum - obviously it's possible to select a viable all-time NZ XIs for particular formats without either if selecting a particular team balance e.g. 5 batters, 5 bowlers and Watling at 6 would leave McCullum out of a test XI, and wouldn't be that hard to have 4-5 quality pacers and leave Vettori out of a test XI as well.

However, in ODIs and T20Is, they are top tier selections, so any all-format NZ XI really has to include them. Obviously the older players like Paddles didn't play T20Is, but their ODI play would give some indication of likely quality in T20Is as well.

@MN5 Sir Paddles is still a viable selection for an all-time XI, where KW isn't currently although I suppose if he can score another 3,000 runs, he'd be getting close.

https://www.nzc.nz/news-items/nzc-hall-of-fame-first-eleven-inducted/

@mikedogz said in Black Caps First Eleven for hall of fame.:

They might have a couple of ladies in it as well. Debbie Hockley.

Best men and women's players, so I think no women would be unlikely. Debbie Hockley is an obvious choice.

Great initiative though, no doubt will create plenty of discussion!

Would be great if Southee can finish with some big numbers to achieve some milestones - 400 test wickets , 6s and a batting century are the obvious ones. Great servant of NZ cricket.

Should be good. Southee retiring from test cricket after this series. I wonder if he got the nod, or if he just decided for himself. Looks covered in the other thread.