Baz will brush aside doubters
PLUS: The Week That Was and the Weekend That Will Be.
Brendon McCullum has, as far as I can tell, coached exactly zero overs of professional red-ball cricket.
He is now coaching the biggest under-achievers in test cricket in front of a press corps with the most unrealistically high expectations in the world.
What could go wrong?
Quite a bit actually, which is what in part makes his appointment as head coach of the England test side so exciting.
It is amusing to contrast McCullum’s rise to the pinnacle of red-ball coaching with Gary Stead’s, who he will go head to head with in his first series, starting next month.
Stead was an academy coach at the high-performance centre in Lincoln for five years and while doing so revamped the country’s Level 3 coaching courses and its elite coach appraisal system. He coached the White Ferns to finals in both the world T20 and one-day cups. He coached Canterbury men to multiple titles.
McCullum has had a Hasselhoffian1 coaching career, taking charge of the Knight Riders at Trinbago and Kolkata.
(And let’s face it, there’s little the Hoff doesn’t know about cricket!)
McCullum has inherited a like-minded captain in Ben Stokes, so this England side should carry a “Made in Te Waipounamu” sticker with it everywhere it goes.
That will be an interesting dynamic. One of the things that made the McCullum-Mike Hesson axis work was the counterpoint they provided: McCullum was all blood, thunder and follow me; Hesson was reserved, organised and shone brightest in the background.
It’s hard to imagine either Stokes or McCullum ceding ground when the inevitable conflict arises, but perhaps I’m underestimating them both.
My gut feel is McCullum will prove to be a very good gamble for England. There was always much more to his cricket brain than the all-out-attack reputation he has. I always thought the “cultural revolution” aspect of his leadership caused people to overlook the fact that he was strategically astute and an often brilliant tactician.
His batting might have been too gung-ho, particularly in the last year of his career, but his captaincy was always thoughtful.
Anyway, Piers think it’s a good appointment, so it should all work out fine.
THE WEEK THAT WAS
Ajaz Patel makes his way back onto the list of the country’s 20 contracted men’s cricketers, a list he should never have been omitted from last year.
In a further sign Stead is going for a youth policy, 31-year-old James Neesham has been ousted for 31-year-old Michael Bracewell. Rachin Ravindra, who they have already invested a lot in, missed out.
Each player is ranked 1 to 20, below is my ranking. Obviously those who play red- and white-ball cricket get a higher weighting.
Kane Williamson, Tim Southee, Trent Boult, Devon Conway, Kyle Jamieson, Tom Latham, Daryl Mitchell, Henry Nicholls, Will Young, Matt Henry, Tom Blundell, Colin de Grandhomme, Neil Wagner, Lockie Ferguson, Mitchell Santner, Ajaz Patel, Martin Guptill, Ish Sodhi, Glenn Phillips, Michael Bracewell.
Tom Brady will earn more watching the NFL and offering the occasional insight than he will do in the entirety of his playing career.
Some of the numbers in this story are eye popping.
Brady, the most successful quarterback the sport has seen, will earn US$375 million in a 10-year deal for Fox Sports.
If you wonder why the network is throwing money at Brady like confetti, the New York Post’s Andrew Marchand explains:
The bottom line is that the NFL is the most powerful programming this country has ever had. Just last year, 75 of the top 100 shows were NFL games. The NFL just completed new 11-year deals with Fox, ESPN, NBC, CBS and Amazon for $110 billion.
Yep, $110 BILLION! If NFL Broadcasting Revenue was a country, it would have a GDP higher than 55 nations.
To be fair, Brady desperately needed the cash. He’s only netted $333m during his 22-year career and his wife, Brazilian supermodel Gisele Bündchen, is trying to make ends meet on a $40m salary and a net worth 10 times that amount.
It almost makes the £51.2m Manchester City move for Erling Haaland, one of the world’s most talented strikers, seem trivial.
It was hard to see how champions-elect City could get much better, but they have.
Writes Musa Okwonga in The Ringer:
It is like being told that the local tyrannosaurus has grown another molar. The beast was always going to eat you in the end; it doesn’t really matter that it has one more sharp tooth. Manchester City exert so much dominance over the vast majority of the football world that their recruitment of Haaland, a supremely accomplished center forward who is still only 21, feels like an indulgence. Yet Haaland’s imminent signing from Borussia Dortmund is much more than that: it represents a statement of intent, a desire to claim the UEFA Champions League for the first time in Manchester City’s history. For his new team, too, it will mean a significant shift in style, a greater directness of tactical approach—a little like watching a Shakespearean stage actor suddenly go off and star in action movies.
Dana Johannsen outlines what is at stake ahead of the release of the review into Cycling New Zealand, slated for Monday.
The conduct and decision-making of individuals within the Cycling NZ programme is still expected to come under the spotlight. Stuff understands four people have come under heavy criticism in the review. It is believed all four no longer work at the organisation.
If you were to ask me whether it’s a coincidence that the review will be released in Budget week, when the minister in charge of sport is also the minister in charge of finance, I would answer with a knowing wink and walk away impressed with you for having just the right amount of cynicism.
THE WEEKEND THAT WILL BE
If the Brumbies win tonight, we can safely say they’re the Real Deal. While that might be the juiciest contest of the round, I was half-pie considering going along to watch the Blues, but then remembered what a pain in the neck it is to get to Eden Park from my house.
Brumbies v Crusaders, Canberra, tonight 9.45pm, Sky Sport 1
Blues v Reds, Auckland, tomorrow 7.05pm, Sky Sport 1
The Warriors need a performance after offering nothing against an undermanned Sharks. Nobody expects them to win, but it would be nice if they tried to create something. You know, flick an offload, try to beat a man - that sort of thing.
South Sydney Rabbitohs v NZ Warriors, Sunshine Coast, tomorrow 5pm, Sky Sport 4
It’s been a rough couple of years for the Black Sticks women’s programme but they have been ultra-competitive so far in their four-match series against the Hockeyroos, drawing 2-2 and being slightly unfortunate to end up on the wrong side of a 2-1 scoreline in the second test.
NZ v Australia 3rd/4th tests, Auckland, tomorrow/Sunday 3.35pm, Sky Sport 3
It’s not an amazing slate of EPL matches, but the below has permutations for relegation and qualification for the Champions League.
Tottenham Hotspur v Burnley, White Hart Lane, Sunday 11pm, Spark Sport
The second-round Eastern Conference playoff series between the defending champ Milwaukee Bucks and upstart Boston Celtics is tasty - more basketbrawl than basketball. Oh, and Steven Adams is making an impact on the boards in the Memphis Grizzlies v Golden State Warriors series.
NBA playoffs, see ESPN for listings.
The IPL is a shocking time zone for New Zealand, the worst, but I’ll try to catch a replay at least for this one, with a loss pretty much guaranteeing that either Tim Southee (KKR) or Kane Williamson (SRH) will be missing the playoffs. I know it's silly to read too much into T20 form as an omen for a test series, but it would be nice to see the skipper back in the runs.
Sunrisers Hyderabad v Kolkata Knight Riders, Pune, Sunday 2am, Sky Sport 3
I sometimes forget how old I am so for those of you who have no idea what this lame joke means, “Knight Rider” starring David Hasselhoff and KITT the talking car ran for four seasons in the golden age of television from 1982-86.
The cynic in me says the NFL need all that money to pay for future law suits due to CTE. Insane money.
As for the cricket which is worse Vettori working with Aus or McCullum coaching England ;) ? The test series has certainly now got a little bit more spicey....