Lawson raced hard but fair, unlike a certain Dutchman, but he's definitely not in the Latinos' good-books. Alonso, Perez and Colapinto obviously do not like him. Him giving the finger to Perez after being held up for a lap was such a Kiwi thing to do, I laughed then and still chuckle now. Very ballsy too, considering it was Perez' home GP.
"Cricinfo makes a relatively weak case that there are other youngsters knocking at the door to join Ravindra and O’Rourke, including Ben Lister. But the talent pool looks a lot shallower in long-form cricket."
I don't disagree but I kinda feel this has often been the case - the pool looks small, especially at opener and front line spin. But I think a large part of that is we simply haven't seen many tried in Tests recently (which is a separate issue, and why I'd like to see some new coaches).
We produce so few bona fide teenage stars (KW, Taylor, Southee, McCullum, Ravindra and maybe Boult are the only ones in the past 25 years).
The last 15 years or so we've relied on a sprinkling of young guns and finding/unearthing/developing sometimes unheralded older players who've been able to step up to the level required. I'd argue Conway, Mitchell, Blundell, Jamieson, Phillips, Henry & O'Rourke (so far) have have all had better careers than most of us would have thought when they were 18, 22 or even 25. Even that WTC team leaned heavily on the likes of Nicholls, Watling, CDG & Wags.
But we mustn't forget that our A team beat Aussie in their own backyard recently. The big thing is that we just haven't seen the next generation really given much of a chance in Test cricket so we don't know their true level or potential (part of the reason I want a major coaching refresh). However, we are beginning to see some new guys given a chance, like Hay (24), Smith, Foxcroft, Sears (all 26), Foulkes, Robinson, Ashok (all 22), Shipley (28) and Clarkson (27). Obviously not all will make the grade, but there's enough talent there that a few should
I may be dense and maybe there is a different newsletter I should be getting; but there was no comment on the story that gave me the most positive feelings over the last week. That was Chris Wood doing so well in the EPL. BBCs team of the week 2 weeks in a row in a competition of that quality is worth a mention. In reality I am a long time rugby and cricket fan, but the rugby is not really that much fun at present. The cricket I did enjoy, just not as much as Chris Wood
This is the first ABs test I can remember switching off or away from. And i think there were a number of factors at play.
1 - The Black Caps was edge of the seat thriller I couldn't ignore
2 - I had just watched thr NPC final and it made the ABs match feel pointless. No one expect anything but the ABs scoring 40+ points on Japan
3 - The actual rugby played in terrible weather in Welly in that final was significantly more enjoyable to watch, it was a true arm wrestle of a match.
Yes, it was remiss not to point to the NPC final. I definitely would have if BoP had won. It was a really good match but it never quite feels the same when one of the Big Three unions wins it - which is probably unfair on my part.
I was one of the few at the final and I honestly thought it was a superb atmosphere in the small crowd. It was great to see either travelling fans or Wellington residents who owned BOP jerseys too. It's such good rugby. It begs the question - if we have to play offshore ABs tests all the time just to make the revenue to pay the ABs wages, is NZ actually benefiting? The players certainly are, but anyone else?
Totally agree about the NPC final. It felt like "real" rugby (I'm not even sure what I mean by that), maybe more unstructured, more genuine passion, more sense of something is really on the line here, more interest in seeing players who haven't had much exposure get some on the national stage.... possibly seeing a new AB in embryo; of course, being a Wellington fan since the late 1950's when I became old enough to understand what inter provincial rivaly was all about certainly helped.
Just in. 1news.co.nz status has moved from "soon-to-expire" to shrink-to-survive (https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/tvnz-workers-called-into-all-staff-meeting-to-hear-strategy-plan-in-hunt-for-30m-cost-cuts/2U5FAOK4YVHCZAGDBTRTNBEJUE/), which I'm pretty stoked about TBH. A rare piece of good news in an incredibly bleak year for the media.
Lawson raced hard but fair, unlike a certain Dutchman, but he's definitely not in the Latinos' good-books. Alonso, Perez and Colapinto obviously do not like him. Him giving the finger to Perez after being held up for a lap was such a Kiwi thing to do, I laughed then and still chuckle now. Very ballsy too, considering it was Perez' home GP.
"Cricinfo makes a relatively weak case that there are other youngsters knocking at the door to join Ravindra and O’Rourke, including Ben Lister. But the talent pool looks a lot shallower in long-form cricket."
I don't disagree but I kinda feel this has often been the case - the pool looks small, especially at opener and front line spin. But I think a large part of that is we simply haven't seen many tried in Tests recently (which is a separate issue, and why I'd like to see some new coaches).
We produce so few bona fide teenage stars (KW, Taylor, Southee, McCullum, Ravindra and maybe Boult are the only ones in the past 25 years).
The last 15 years or so we've relied on a sprinkling of young guns and finding/unearthing/developing sometimes unheralded older players who've been able to step up to the level required. I'd argue Conway, Mitchell, Blundell, Jamieson, Phillips, Henry & O'Rourke (so far) have have all had better careers than most of us would have thought when they were 18, 22 or even 25. Even that WTC team leaned heavily on the likes of Nicholls, Watling, CDG & Wags.
But we mustn't forget that our A team beat Aussie in their own backyard recently. The big thing is that we just haven't seen the next generation really given much of a chance in Test cricket so we don't know their true level or potential (part of the reason I want a major coaching refresh). However, we are beginning to see some new guys given a chance, like Hay (24), Smith, Foxcroft, Sears (all 26), Foulkes, Robinson, Ashok (all 22), Shipley (28) and Clarkson (27). Obviously not all will make the grade, but there's enough talent there that a few should
I may be dense and maybe there is a different newsletter I should be getting; but there was no comment on the story that gave me the most positive feelings over the last week. That was Chris Wood doing so well in the EPL. BBCs team of the week 2 weeks in a row in a competition of that quality is worth a mention. In reality I am a long time rugby and cricket fan, but the rugby is not really that much fun at present. The cricket I did enjoy, just not as much as Chris Wood
This is the first ABs test I can remember switching off or away from. And i think there were a number of factors at play.
1 - The Black Caps was edge of the seat thriller I couldn't ignore
2 - I had just watched thr NPC final and it made the ABs match feel pointless. No one expect anything but the ABs scoring 40+ points on Japan
3 - The actual rugby played in terrible weather in Welly in that final was significantly more enjoyable to watch, it was a true arm wrestle of a match.
Yes, it was remiss not to point to the NPC final. I definitely would have if BoP had won. It was a really good match but it never quite feels the same when one of the Big Three unions wins it - which is probably unfair on my part.
I was one of the few at the final and I honestly thought it was a superb atmosphere in the small crowd. It was great to see either travelling fans or Wellington residents who owned BOP jerseys too. It's such good rugby. It begs the question - if we have to play offshore ABs tests all the time just to make the revenue to pay the ABs wages, is NZ actually benefiting? The players certainly are, but anyone else?
WHAT!!!!
Totally agree about the NPC final. It felt like "real" rugby (I'm not even sure what I mean by that), maybe more unstructured, more genuine passion, more sense of something is really on the line here, more interest in seeing players who haven't had much exposure get some on the national stage.... possibly seeing a new AB in embryo; of course, being a Wellington fan since the late 1950's when I became old enough to understand what inter provincial rivaly was all about certainly helped.
Maybe Gary Stead is beautifully managing the transition from old to new. God knows how hard that is, without sacrificing results. Just ask John Hart.