The Black Caps hmmmm….definitely a fading outfit. Guptill was definitely heading down the other side but it’s still hard not to feel sorry for him when other guys have been protected species. We had a bunch of guys establish themselves about the same time - Guptill, KW, Boult, Southee and I think it’s fair to say subsequent players have failed to establish themselves in the same way. Hence we’re left with a group of fading stars and ordinary players. Guys like Santner & Sodhi are maddening - have played so many games for NZ but have failed to stamp their mark on the team. We’ve also mismanaged some potentially very good players - Will Young springs to mind. Time for us to realise we’re not that good and reorganise the team instead of pretending all is ok in the world
The mismanagement of Will Young might go down as one of the saddest things I've seen. I can't even compare it to Lou Vincent and Mathew Sinclair. They were poorly treated but had serious flaws in their make-up and technique. Young has nearly everything you want in an international batter both from a personality and technique perspective - the only thing he's missing is the chance to establish himself in the middle order. Infuriating.
Agree wholeheartedly Dylan. Nice at least to watch a commanding partnership from Latham & KW, the most important aspect perhaps being the return to form of KW. I would love to see another 2-3 years of vintage KW but I’m realistic. Interesting too that someone (Craig McMillan) finally got honest about the fact he’d completely lost his touch. ODIs give him just that bit more time to work his way into the innings and Latham came in and had immediate impact, giving him just a bit more time again. But these fingers are still crossed that we’ll see more of the old KW
Love your test rankings but I'd swap one and two. Black Ferns vs. France and England were undoubtedly the two best tests of the year - indeed, two of the best tests of any year - but I have to bump the France semi-final just a teeny bit higher due to not having an early red card.
I'm not one of the "red cards ruin games!" brigade, by any means, but they do have SOME effect on the quality of the contest, and I can't quite say Black Ferns vs. England was the best match of the year as a result.
Fair call and well reasoned. I dare say if the red card and result were on the other foot, NZers might view that game very differently, but from a pure drama POV it was epic.
The Black Caps hmmmm….definitely a fading outfit. Guptill was definitely heading down the other side but it’s still hard not to feel sorry for him when other guys have been protected species. We had a bunch of guys establish themselves about the same time - Guptill, KW, Boult, Southee and I think it’s fair to say subsequent players have failed to establish themselves in the same way. Hence we’re left with a group of fading stars and ordinary players. Guys like Santner & Sodhi are maddening - have played so many games for NZ but have failed to stamp their mark on the team. We’ve also mismanaged some potentially very good players - Will Young springs to mind. Time for us to realise we’re not that good and reorganise the team instead of pretending all is ok in the world
The mismanagement of Will Young might go down as one of the saddest things I've seen. I can't even compare it to Lou Vincent and Mathew Sinclair. They were poorly treated but had serious flaws in their make-up and technique. Young has nearly everything you want in an international batter both from a personality and technique perspective - the only thing he's missing is the chance to establish himself in the middle order. Infuriating.
Agree wholeheartedly Dylan. Nice at least to watch a commanding partnership from Latham & KW, the most important aspect perhaps being the return to form of KW. I would love to see another 2-3 years of vintage KW but I’m realistic. Interesting too that someone (Craig McMillan) finally got honest about the fact he’d completely lost his touch. ODIs give him just that bit more time to work his way into the innings and Latham came in and had immediate impact, giving him just a bit more time again. But these fingers are still crossed that we’ll see more of the old KW
Love your test rankings but I'd swap one and two. Black Ferns vs. France and England were undoubtedly the two best tests of the year - indeed, two of the best tests of any year - but I have to bump the France semi-final just a teeny bit higher due to not having an early red card.
I'm not one of the "red cards ruin games!" brigade, by any means, but they do have SOME effect on the quality of the contest, and I can't quite say Black Ferns vs. England was the best match of the year as a result.
Fair call and well reasoned. I dare say if the red card and result were on the other foot, NZers might view that game very differently, but from a pure drama POV it was epic.